DORIC COLUMN ROBBIE SHEPHERD

They travel in from Elgin,

The Broch and Peterhead. From the Hills and Glens o’ Donside To see The lads in Red.

THE DANDY DONS – JIMMY WRIGHT

Lots o ye roon aboot my age will myn on the Setterday dennertime programme ‘Saint an Greavsie’, televis’t jist afore we wid treetle awa tae Pittodrie wi high, high hopes an fyles trauchlin hame hingin-luggit bit plenty tae say on fit the manager shid dee neist. It wis former English striker Greavsie (Jimmy Greaves) at cam awa wi the quote, ‘It’s a funny old game’. Scottish internationalist Saint (Ian St John) wis a Motherwell player sell’t tae Liverpool in 1961 for a record transfer fee then o’ £37,500.

Dependin foo ye view the wird, ere’s naethin ‘funny’ aboot the tirravee doon Pittodrie wye es wee fylie back an neen wis mair shocked than me fin I first haard on Sunday at Stephen Glass the Dons manager, wi less than an eer at the helm, hid gotten’s jotters. I’ve been a keen supporter fae fan I wis a bairnie kickin my first ba, a season ticket holder at Pittodrie in ma earlier days an can still reel aff bi hairt the reg’lar team o 1947. Here goes:

Johnstone, Cooper, McKenna, Dunlop, Waddell, Taylor, Harris, Hamilton, Williams, Baird, McCall.

It trips aff ma tongue sae weel, bit afore ye tak me up on’t, at wisna the team that liftit the Scottish Cup at eer as my hero Willie Cooper wis injur’t in the semi-final an the team wis rejiggit wi McLaughlin takkin’s place.

Great memories an I can tell ye, afore the boss o the hoose dis, that I still get masel aa wirkit-up fin the Dandies ging tummlin doon the rungs o the laidder. We were spyl’t in the Fergie era bit it’s sad, haein upreetit his faimily fae America, at Glass didna get mair time tae sort things oot an surely it wisna aa his wyte at the Dons fin emsels in es picher. Lessons hae tae be learnt an I maun say I wis mair roos’t at the wye the directors saw fit tae get rid o Derek McInnes. A big mistak tae me an fa will occupy the haet seat noo? It his tae be somebody at unnerstans the Scottish Game an, at the time I screive es, my money is on Ross Jack, ay the same Ross Jack at wis dismissed fae Hibs fin they were in a lot better position than Aiberdeen. It’s a funny old game richt eneuch.

Management miss’t oot tee in the transfer windae an noo raikin aboot for players gyan spare an oot o contract. Jist dinna sign PM Boris. He his eneuch own goals tae’s credit aaready.

Och eneuch o fitba wi aa its tribbles – siller the reet o’t aa – as I turn tae the Winter Olympics tae sing the praises o oor ain 17-eer-aul Bucksburn Academy lass, Kirsty Muir, in lichtin up the ski slopes ower in Beijing. Be jings (sorry for the pun) didn’t she dee weel in gettin intae twa finals, an that muckle leaps pit the fear o daith in me. Tae think she did her trainin on the artificial ski-run ower at Kaimhill. Keep me awa fae there. I cwidna even keep ma feet in the Co-opie car park resultin in ma keeliper.

See ye neist wikkeyn.