Football Season Guide

Aberdeen had a bitterly disappointing season last time out, in which they ultimately battled successfully against relegation. They had a couple of changes in management last term, with Stephen Robinson ultimately leading them in the final weeks of the season away from the drop. There are fears around the club that Robinson will employ the physical and direct approach that worked well at Saints, where the expectations are not as high. The summer transfer business would certainly seem to point in the direction that Aberdeen are going down that route. It’s unlikely to be popular with fans. One of the important jobs this summer was cutting down the squad size, but a comparatively expensively assembled squad has not been easy to offload players from. Indeed, many of those to go have not necessarily been the players that Aberdeen would have wished to offload. Perhaps the most prominent of the players who will leave is Graeme Shinnie, whose status as a regular faded last term. The Dons have recruited primarily workmanlike players who have Premiership experience, including those who have worked with Robinson before. Toyosi Olusanya is among these players but inspires little confidence in his attacking role, where there are 5 centre-forwards currently challenging for 1 spot – highlighting the fact that Aberdeen simply have too many players. Connor Ronan promises to be a strong addition to the midfield. Similarly, Lewis Smith and Brad Lyons are potentially strong recruits in the centre of the park, where Stuart Armstrong provides the experience. This is another area of the squad where there are vast numbers and is likely to be cut down. Robinson also seems to have plans for a defence that conceded far too many goals last term. This has been underlined with several new recruits, including centre-backs Lewis Mayo and Dan Happe. Jack Milne still looks the pick of the players here, though Robinson will likely play 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. Equally, there’s a new recruit in goal in the form of Marius Muller, a veteran German who was a backup in Wolfsburg last term.