The Luck Of The Draw

Queen's Park? More like an episode of South Park. But that's all in the past now; gone, forgotten, forgiven.

However, my head almost exploded I screamed so loud while reading BBC's summary of the draw. Luckily for us though, lightning never strikes twice and we can all be confident we will walk it into the quarter finals. And I hope to God (has he forgotten about us?) that Jimmy Calderwood was only doing that thing manager's do before hitting a team for 6 when he said 'It is another very very difficult draw'.

After a sound humiliation at Ibrox on Sunday, where many a player was unable to pass wind, Jimmy and Jimmy have the chance to experiment again.

In goal, he's got two options. Play Langfield or get the boot.

outar's done nothing wrong alright, apart from concede 11 goals in 6 games. Give him a chance? He's had his chance, and his 2nd, and 3rd and 4th and 5th and 6th. I've failed to be impressed in every game he's played in so far. He is totally non-existent in cross balls and it was obvious as soon as Langfield came back the defence had much more confidence in him allowing them to push forward much more.

In defence, we've coped without Anderson. Michael Hart has shown consitency for 3 seasons on end now and has his name in concrete on the team sheet. In the middle we've got the two young anes - big Zander and Kaiser. Diamond's shown the form he did when he first made his breakthrough and is back to his best, thoroughly deserving the man of the match awards he's merited so far. Considine is more laid back than Abramovich but needs to keep switched on in the dying moments! In left back we have our replacement veteran in McNamara. Unfortunately he's really upset the team and the flow of the game, being the only one thus far to be able to pass the ball 10 yards to feet without fail, although to be fair Dnipro was a bad day at the office for him. However, he's injured at present and Ricky Foster is the only one that can fill in the gap, but I think a 3-5-2 would be an interesting formation since we're 'experimenting' after all.

In midfield we have our very own Scott Severin, who, to be brutally honest has been poor so far. I think the whole captaincy thing may be getting to him and he thinks there's some added pressure (which there is). I wouldn't be surprised if he passed on the armband at some point during the season. We also have Barry Nicholson, influential in our qualification for Europe last season. He was our equal top player in the first month of action this campaign but he hasn't had as much impact in the last two games. A goal is all that's needed for his confidence go through the roof and he'll be back to his usual business sooner than we know it. Another player with his name in concrete is Chris Clark. This man could run the length and breadth of the country and still sprint through the finish line. No need to say any more on that issue. Although he's been playing 'up front' for the past few games, Jamie Smith still has been sitting in that midfield area but he's got more confidence to push further forward now. Just tell him he's playing up front. And last but not least to make up the 5 we have the ladies' favourite, Jeffrey De Visscher. I think, well, I know we haven't seen the best of him yet and think he has a lot to offer. Give him a full run out this time and let's see if he can come up with the goods.

And finally we've come to the strikeforce. Nothing has split the red army like this since, well, the decision to re-sign Derek Young. First of all we have Darren Mackie. I hold my hands up, higher than anyone elses, I am Mackie's biggest hater. He can't pass, he can't head (...Darren Mackie is a red), he can't tackle and worst of all he isn't scoring. Sell him to Dundee United, no infact forget that, I'll drive him down to Tannadice myself and buy Eddie Thomson dinner, as long as he is as far away from the sacred turf of Pittodrie as possible. Secondly, Lee Miller. I have stuck with him for a while and was delighted when he finally got off the mark at Rugby Park. He's good at holding the ball up but his passing needs some work to be honest. He's a good poacher and player in general and all we need is a striker that can feed off him (Shaun Goater anyone?). Steve Lovell - too intelligent to play for Aberdeen. Knockdowns - tick, high balls - tick, passing - tick, lay-offs - tick, goals - tick. He's the best striker we have at the club. He's worthy of start but unfortunately deep down I'm quite aware he's more effective coming on for the last 10-15 minutes when everyone else is breathing via ars*hole. And lastly I come to the one and only Sone Aluko. You know something's wrong if an England under 19 international is being kept out the team by the likes of Darren Mackie and I'm afraid we're damaging his chances of staying in that team. If fit, he's a certain starter for me.