Your Team - The Half Way Point - How they doing - Discuss

Soldato
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So we are just coming up to the mid point of the respective league campaigns, time to rate how your teams are doing. Are they doing better than expected or are they likely to be a Xmas Turkey in Febuary. Which player has impressed you most and who has been the big let down. Where do you think they will end up compared to your start of the season predictions ?

Team Manchester United

After last seasons failed experiment, of David Moyes, confidence across the club was at an all time low, shattered and broken. The players were drained of it and it showed in a lot of early games. At the moment we're sitting in third and have put a run of 8 games together unbeaten. So I have to be pretty happy with that. We seem to have a bit of swagger back. A lot of this has to goto LvG for giving the players the belief.

Footballing wise I think were pretty easy on the eye. Despite 'results' against Liverpool and Arsenal, and a couple of games where we have dominated and scored a few, i'm still waiting for that performance where you come away and battered a team 4-0 and think **** that could have been 8 or 10.

Since September, it has been steady progress so no complaints.

The Gaffer Not a lot needs to be said. The Iron Tulip has restored confidence. You can see that in his press conferences the way he has the pressers in knots

Most improved Player Difficult one this given last seasons shennaigins . Are some players showing their true level of skill and ability or have they vastly improved. No real players stand out in terms of vastly improving, for me it's the level of consistency that some players are showing. Ashley Big Dave and Ashley Young have been consistent performers for us. Probably get hung drawn and quartered for Young but again it goes back to Confidence.

The Christmas Turkey Difficult one this with so many players only putting in a run of 4 or 5 games before getting injured. I guess for me RvP until very very recently was underperforming

End of Season Predictions
In the Season Predictions Thread, I said

1st Chelsea
2nd City
3rd Utd

FA Cup Utd

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26733768&postcount=42

Don't think I am going to go against that at this stage. For all the talk of a title challenge, there is still too much naievety in defence at Utd compared to the two teams above us. Just look at the penalty we gave away agains Newcastle. It's conceding goals like that cost you points later in the season.
 
Team - Aberdeen

In a word; superb. Two points behind Celtic at New Year is practically unheard of. Most fans now think we can push Celtic all the way, and with good reason. We've taken 4 more points off the other ten clubs than they have, and have been seriously unlucky (read cheated) in both matches against them thus far. Added to that, we've managed to get most off our best players signed up at least until 2017, which should hopefully help prevent the historic old firm tactic of putting in derisory offers for the best players in their closest rivals in order to unsettle them.

Great news off the park also, with the announcement that the club has managed to write off our £15m debt. Next up is the delivery of a world class training facility.

So much for the 'armageddon' predicted following the extinction of Rangers! The only clubs negatively affected are Celtic and the new club.

The Gaffer - Absolute legend. Has helped to revolutionise the way the club works on and off the park. His signings in the main have been excellent, but any turkeys have been quickly discarded. He's instilled a fierce competitiveness in the squad, and most importantly, managed to get the players to buy into the future of the club.

Most Improved Player - They've all been great, but Ash Taylor had a rough start, and has quickly become the dominant aerial presence at the back we were hoping for.

The Christmas Turkey - Robson. Brilliant in his day, but the legs have gone.

End of Season Predictions - Minimum: Second place and retain the league cup. Dreaming: Win the league

What has happened at Aberdeen recently. I am sure I read somewhere that they are now effectively debt free ?
 
In the early nineties, we overspent on players and the new stand in a vain attempt to keep up with Rangers who we now find out were financially doping their way to countless trophies. So we cut our cloth and endured some hard times, and ridicule. We were still being held back by having to service the debt. Thankfully, a couple who run a successful local business decided to invest in the club. So they agreed a deal with the bank to write off the £10m, while the remaining debt owed to the board was wiped out voluntarily.

We now have no debt and will turn a profit given we no longer have interest payments. Should also free up some more wage budget, though we still won't be paying transfer fees.

Excellent news that. It's great when you see teams competing. I beleive Stoke did something similar and they are the only team in the Premiership who do not have debt
 
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