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You can't just say "if you don't ask", that's just stupid. A total cop out. I don't have that much time for Cormack, but it's completely unfair on him and the club to put someone like solskjaer in the hat and say "if you don't ask". We aim to have a wage bill no higher than 60% of turnover. OGS on his own would be above that. So no, it's not "you don't ask", it's simply a ridiculous suggestion that we shouldn't even be discussing. Knutsen is a different matter, he'd be at the high end of our budget. But we have to also accept that the club will know about him if we do and they'll likely have made an approach if there's any chance of getting him. We all know what type of person Cormack is, he'd love someone like that. It's just that there's a little more to it than simply asking a guy, there has to be a reciprocal desire to be anywhere near the spfl and that likely rules out a large number of foreign managers. We're making it out like the club are picking from a small pool of managers, rather than there being a small pool of managers who we can realistically appoint. Very few people are against foreign managers, we just don't aimlessly choose "foreign" as an attribute that counts for more than ability. It's similar to the folk saying that it needed to be someone "young and hungry" when we appointed Glass as if age has any bearing on managerial ability (it doesn't). The reason I don't put forward any foreign managers is because I simply don't know any, other than the obvious ones already mentioned. I can objectively measure someone like Jim Goodwin because I've watched his entire career and seen his improvement. I think that on our budget he'd be a big improvement on Glass. I think he's intelligent and determined. I don't need to be inspired by him, because I'm not likely to be inspired by any manager we can afford to appoint. If we appoint a foreign manager, I'd likely just be ignorant of them rather than inspired. I'd probably get the five minutes of excitement that you get with a new car or sofa, but I'd be brought back down to earth upon drawing with Livingston or some shite. But I'm fine with that. I'm also cognisant that the manager is only a part of the puzzle. We have to employ a manager that's in line with our playing budget. A hugely expensive manager with Ojo for company isn't going to fire us into third. We simply wouldn't get good value from our expensive manager. OGS would be like winning the lottery and spending it all on a Van Gogh for yer caravan.

Aye, thanks Charlie. Whilst I know you're only being tongue in cheek, it's this sort of shite fae wanker pundits like Nicholas that really grates. His only rationale being that it "shows ambition". An entirely meaningless, nebulous buzz phrase. It's a product of idiots like him for the last thirty years being allowed to spurt useless pish out of his arse without anyone ever asking him to explain himself in detail and with evidence to back up his moronic points. It's fucking toxic, and it doesn't just happen in football unfortunately, a quick glance at question time confirms it. How does solskjaer fit into Aberdeen's strategy? How does employing a man well outwith our budget effect the playing budget? What does "showing ambition" even mean, and how does it relate to OGS, or Aberdeen in general? What qualities does he bring that are relevant to a team in Aberdeen's position and budget? How does any of his Man utd experience relate to managing Aberdeen? I could think of another million questions that Nicholas hasn't bothered with when he spews forth his bullshit. The worrying thing is that people actually repeat his shite. They apply zero critical thinking and regurgitate this "show ambition" bollocks. It then leads to a situation where no manager we employ can possibly be good enough based on the ridiculous parameters laid out by Charlie fucking Nicholas, who has zero understanding or involvement in our game and hasn't for years. He should fuck off back to his wanker sky sports studio and shut his hoop. In my opinion, anyway.

Do you want a hug? I know this new manager lark is stressful for all of us but try to remain positive pal.

It is not the equivalent. Not even in the same stratosphere. Ferguson would have to take a 80% pay cut. We matched Nicholas' wages as that's what we did back then because players weren't paid 63 mortgages a week. If Cormack has spent one minute considering these guys, he's not fit to be chairman.

What I recall from Ebbe was a man who inherited a team which had been decimated by a combination of poor management, terrible transfers (£850k for Brian O Neil, £300k for Nigel Pepper and several others), and a Board who suddenly made the decision they were in the shit financially so really put the padlock on the transfer kitty. First season yes we finished bottom of the league but the next season it was 7th, and then after that it was 4th and giving Hertha Berlin a run for their money. The guy had won 4 Danish league titles, and 3 danish cups with Brondby (and shown Aitken how to manage in European football), and even had a short spell in charge of Benfica. He had a good record of developing young players (including Anderson, MacNaughton and some donkey called Brian Laudrup). Ive still got my copy of the Red Final in which he signed a comic strip taking the piss out of him too. Before Ebbe we had Aitken & Alex Miller (Who gave away Billy Dodds), and after him there was Patterson (who I seem to recall was up against Ian McCall for the role), before finally getting a hint of success with Nichol and Calderwood, then right back down to earth again with McGhee and then Brown. With the new training facilites and healthier finances I'd say the club is crying out for an Ebbe Skovdahl

Thanks Rico, really interesting article. I'm fascinated by everyone's covid experience, here in the US is very different even state to state, like California and LA county to Florida for example, and different from Britain, Australia, New Zealand etc. Every culture has a different approach and attitude, and I think Brits in general are more likely to conform whereas in the US this country was founded on antiestablishment and freedom from places like Britain. I think that's a factor in mentality. One thing that sticks out to me is the ties between big pharma and the US govt., Fauci, and the CDC etc. We know the govt. is corrupt, just look at what is coming out about the 2016 election right now for example. It's hard to trust an agency who is financed by the very companies producing the drugs, especially when big pharma has paid out billions in vaccine lawsuits. They do make mistakes, and regularly. And you see this govt. went all in and it's hard for them to adapt as the situation evolves and science says otherwise, especially if it means speaking out, contradicting, or even going against the very companies that pay you so handsomely. Lastly, interesting what is going on with Joe Rogan and spotify. All of this is mainly as a result of his interviews with Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough. Those two are two of the most experienced and credentialed people in their fields relating to mRNA and internal medicine/cardiology. Who gets to determine misinformation? Who gets to fact check some but not others? Very difficult when very qualified and educated people say very different things.

Ebbe was funny but remember how crap we actually were with him in charge? We finished bottom of the league at one stage. The issue I have with a manager from overseas is it is so difficult to judge their past successes because we have little knowledge about the leagues they operate in. People are being suggested based on reading about someone on Wikipedia and at the same time people who have actually won things or reached finals in Scotland or are being totally dismissed. If Callum Davidson was Swedish he would probably be top of the fans wanted list. Nothing against foreign managers but at provincial clubs in Scotland has it ever worked having one in charge over a sustained period? It has usually been a total shambles.

Agree Rico, typical shite spouted by supposed "experts" and used to create dramatic headlines. A guy like Nicholas is so far detached from the reality of Aberdeen Football Club it is unreal. His only knowledge of AFC is from his time spent here as a player and that is fast approaching thirty two years ago, a time which I enjoyed, but doesn't qualify him to be an expert on what the of 2022 AFC should or shouldn't do

That would be me done for a very long time.

Westhill? Or maybe Milne took them for one of his new builds when he stepped down.