Delusions, Fantasy and Wishful Thinking Written & Posted by JCS for the Rangers Media Who is Andrew Southwick I hear you cry! Well, he’s clearly a delusional Aberdeen fan in urgent need of immediate psychiatric help. Now, I don’t make that claim lightly but, rather, on the back of the outlandish claims he makes in his Daily Record (North – east edition) article of 6 June 2013. Determined to tell us all just how little Rangers were missed in the SPL last season, he asks; “Would Pittodrie punters be bothered if we never saw Ian Black and Lee McCulloch in the north-east again, if instead we had Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid to contend with regularly?” I confess, when I read that, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Isn’t this the team that finished 8th in the SPL, behind neighbours, Ross County and Inverness Cally Thistle? Isn’t this the team that finished in the bottom half of a failing, unattractive and utterly toxic league? A team utterly incapable of making the top six split, never mind competing for a Champions League or Europa League place! Andrew is the archetypal, Rangers-hating Aberdeen fan, who frequently takes to his Facebook account to try and persuade those willing to lend credence to his inane ramblings, that Rangers are a new club. You know the type…the kind that make complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority and end up with egg all over their face! Andrew is probably one of the hardy (or perhaps, insane) souls who make up the 10,503 average attendance at Pittodrie. On the other hand he could be one of the many Aberdonians who refuse to ‘darken the door’ of Pittodrie; one of those who forced the club to close the upper tier of the Richard Donald Stand for the forthcoming season to ‘save costs and improve the atmosphere’. “Europa League qualification next season has to be a priority,” says Andrew. “No disrespect to Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibs who have all earned their spots but they’re where we should be. They should be the ones firing admiring glances our way.” There you have it then. The pinnacle of success for Aberdeen next season will be a place in the Europa League. Now that’s a tough task and, perhaps, a bridge to far for Aberdeen but, to be fair, Andrew is getting his priorities right and setting his sights pretty low (although, personally, I think he should set them a little lower). He’s nothing if not realistic. He knows that the SPL title, the Scottish Cup and League Cup are probably beyond Aberdeen, but if they could just raise their game a little, they might achieve the dizzy heights that Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibs did last season! Now I understand that Pittodrie can seat up to 22,199 spectators; but I’m pretty sure there won’t be many Bayern Munich or Athletico Madrid fans flocking to fill the remaining 11,696 seats this coming season, or the next……in fact I’m pretty certain there won’t be many Aberdonians flocking to fill the remaining 11,696 seats either. And, let’s face it, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibs are equally incapable of doing so. Remember the epic fail that was Sell Out Saturday Andrew? Andrew goes on the point out that he doesn’t miss Rangers at all, “Am I wishing them back into the SPL? Not even a little bit. I’ll take my chances and hope we draw them in one of the cups. Aberdeen don’t miss Rangers. What we miss is success.” I understand Andrew’s last comment – I really do – honestly. If my team hadn’t won a league championship in 28 years, I’d be unhappy too. Yes, I know they won the Scottish Cup in 89/90 and the League Cup in 95/96, but 18 years is a long, long, time. So long, that I suspect Andrew has to consult the Oxford English Dictionary to discover the definition of the word ‘success’. That’s understandable; after all, it’s not a word often used by Aberdeen fans. “Am I wishing them back into the SPL? Not even a little bit”, says Andrew. Probably just as well he’s not working for the SPL’s Sponsorship Department then! Andrew is undoubtedly one of the many Rangers hating SPL fans who is mired in complacency, and content to sit ildy by whilst the SPL wallows in mediocrity and ultimately fades into the mists of oblivion. He has clearly failed to learn the lessons of dwindling attendances, empty seats and the utter apathy that pervades Pittodrie and the SPL in general. Strangely, though, he would like to draw Rangers in one of the cup competitions. I wonder why? Might it be that we could help fill the enormous void in their revenue, and help with the ‘costs’ problem they have identified. Certainly we could fill the vast bulk of their 11,696 empty seats and bring some much needed ‘atmosphere’ to a stadium that is clearly devoid of it. Andrew points out, “That winning mentality has to return to the club. The thirst for success, the feeling we should be on the big stage; it should be written into the contract of the Dons players. This talk of reaching the top six, or of simply getting to a semi-final for a day out, is nonsense. It’s that mentality that has us winning nothing for 18 years and missing a match against a Second Division side. I don’t miss Rangers. I miss being better than them, and at the moment we should be. Let’s make season 2013/14 the year we prove we are.” Sorry Andrew, it’s not just the ‘mentality’ that has you ‘winning nothing for 18 years’, it’s the fact that you have had a consistently poor team, unable to compete meaningfully in any competition and consistently rejected by the good people of Aberdeen. A top six finish, or a cup semi-final is probably the ultimate aspiration for Aberdeen at present. Little point in aspiring to ‘be better’ than Rangers when the unassailable fact is that you never will! That’s the stark reality I’m afraid. Yes, of course, you miss a game or two against ‘a Second Division side’ like Rangers, because we are capable of filling your empty stadium and injecting the atmosphere that Pittodrie so noticeably lacks. Playing this second division side would undoubtedly motivate your team – a team that utterly failed in the league this year, and has failed every year for the past 28 years! Playing Rangers would undoubtedly inject the much needed motivation that your team so desperately needs and, at the same time, help to financially revitalise your ailing club. Even a wounded Rangers in the second and third division of Scottish football continues to eclipse your mediocre club. I appreciate that you (and many, many others) are fixated on Rangers; so much so, that you are incapable of discussing your own club without also, simultaneously, discussing ours. You hate us, yet it’s abundantly clear that you can’t live without us. You say you don’t need us, yet you want all the benefits that having Rangers in your league will bring. You fantasise about ‘being better’ than us although, deep down inside, you know you never will be. Andrew Southwick may be a committed Dons fan, but he’s certainly isn’t a realistic one. In fact there may be some who seriously doubt his sanity. Andrew’s Daily Record article is, at best, wishful thinking. I don’t blame him for his delusions and fantasies in these difficult and straightened times. But the real world for Andrew is a half empty Pittodrie, with stands closed because the people of Aberdeen just don’t give a damn. The reality for Andrew and Aberdeen, is an SPL top six finish….if they do really, really well. Time to wake up and smell the coffee Andrew! #Clark#
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:57:09 +0000
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