12noon

Tonight's CIS League Cup tie at Pittodrie is OFF after 21 Aberdeen players were affected by a sickness bug.  It has been rearranged for Wednesday, November 6.

In today's local press, 'Well boss Terry Butcher hits out at the national press for criticising his side for their poor recent run of form:
"At the start of the season all the critics were tipping us for relegation because of the state the club was in.  However, after a reasonable start to the season they left us alone and concentrated on the teams struggling below us like Livingston and Hibs.  Now it seems everyone is having a go at us again, but I say bring it on.  We’re happy to be written off as underdogs, Indeed, it suits us better because that’s when we play some of our best football.  I read in one paper on Monday how we’d lost our last six games and John Boyle was going for crisis talks about the clubs future with the administrator Bryan Jackson this week.  Well, we’ve only lost five out our last six and unless John’s flying out to see Bryan when he’s on holiday, then I can’t see how talks can take place.  It just amazes me how people can print these lies about the club.  But it will only serve to fire the players up, especially as they’re calling the Thistle game a relegation clash. I mean we’re only 12 games into the season!"

 However, Butcher admits that Saturday's game against Partick Thistle is vital:
"It’s a big game for us as we didn’t play well against Partick at Fir Park last time.  Obviously, we’ve got the cup game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie before it and we hope to use that game to give us a much-needed confidence booster for Saturday.  I’ve a lot of admiration for the management team at Thistle as they’ve instilled a great work ethic, but we must try and get back to winning ways and quickly!  However. I’m sure the players will have been stung by the criticism in the papers and this will only make us more determined to prove people wrong.

"If you look at all the games we’ve played so far this season than you’ll see we’ve actually thrown away quite a few points.  I can accept when we’ve been beaten fair and square, but I think the players have deserved more for their efforts than they’ve had.  Certainly Livingston were down at the bottom, but you look at what a result like they one they achieved against Dundee Utd can do for confidence.  They’ve now scored eight goals in two games and I certainly believe we’re well capable of doing that.  However, I’m not going to make any drastic changes just because we lost so heavily to Livvy as I believe we are going in the right direction.  It’s just about the players having the belief to keep on going and if they do then I’m confident we can start getting some positive results."

James McFadden has completed his two-match ban and is available for the trip to Firhill, however David Partridge is still suspended.

Time for a new opinion poll!

Should Steve Woods be replaced when the transfer window reopens?