Mince and Tatties 15 // Weekend Round-up (minus Dunfermline v St Mirren)

Aaaaah. That's better. Football. And none of your EPL fancy-dans with their high wages and their their temperemental wayward forwards. No. Proper football. Sendings off. High winds. Goalkeeping errors. The lot. Brilliant.

Now, I don't know which team you support dear reader, but I'll come clean. I support Aberdeen. Say it loud, say it proud. And there was a time that such a statement could only be made with confidence in an enclosed environment, usually in a darkened room away from everyone else for fear of attracting ridicule, but after Saturday's performance against St Johnstone there are, to quote Ian Dury, reasons to be cheerful. OK, so we didn't win the game, but we came as near as dammit, something Aberdeen have not done a lot against the team from Perth.

A sweeping move from midfield that started with Jack, Mackie, back to Jack on to Fyvie and, ehm onto the post, could have all seen Aberdeen get off to a happy start if only Vernon at the back post had been a little more alert (or stuck a foot or his head out) when the ball came crashing back from off the upright.

But no matter. Likesay, reasons to be cheerful, because it's not often you get to see silky sweeping football at Pittodrie, albeit with the aid of a force 9 gale blowing down from off the North Sea. Just ask Peter Enckleman, the Saints' goalie (and famous for this #facepalm moment, but it's not for us to dwell on the past) who repeatedly failed to deal with the filled bladder heading his way through gusty north-east skies, bending and swerving like a bending swerving thing.

Oh, and check out my boy Rickie Foster. The much-maligned captain of the Dons for this year sticking up two-fingers at the Merkland End with a couple of long-range howitzers. Nice.

So, what else happened this weekend?

Rangers' Ally McCoist gets off to a sticky start at home against Hearts. One full game into his tenure and already the "we back the manager" stories are appearing. We all know by now that these kinds of utterances from ex-managers and sage-like pundits are a precursor to months of crucification by the media into the competency (or not) of the person in question.

I always knew that McCoist would get his fair share of those as Rangers fall behind Celtic, but jings, didn't think it'd come after the first game . Oh, and the stories about 'bouncing back' are also somewhat early. Fair do's to Hearts though. They refused to do the obligatory and roll over to Rangers and so spoil what ought to have been a gala day on Glasgow's south-side. Bwhahahahahaha.

Up in Inverness Terry Butcher, just like Neil Lennon was not exactly happy with the early start to the season. Butcher thinks the whole thing is pure farcical, and goes on to demonstrate just how farcical by putting on display an inept piece of footballery and going down 3-0 to Motherwell. Celtic get their first three points on the board with an emphatic (OK, 2-0 ) win over Hibs. Former Hibee Anthony Stokes got proceedings of to a start. Do'h etc. Oh, Colin Calderwood get's the excuses in early.

If the brief highlights I saw are anything to go by, Dundee United and Kilmarnock play out an entertaining game. A 1-1 draw leaves everyone happy.

Tonight Dunfermline and St Mirren do battle. Pfffft.

Elsewhere, we found out just how much it costs to keep the Ugly Sisters apart (£2.4m it says here) while ex-referee and total fud Hugh Dallas has obviously gotten around to watching Angels and Demons and knows now quite what the Catholic Church is capable of. He avoids the inquisition by settling out of court.

Quick Release: An SPL Released Players XI

Inside Left takes a look through the transfer list and has a go at putting together a team made up of players released from their clubs at the end (or during the course) of last season.

And we're off!

Well, almost.

Yes, time to put away the bucket and spades, the After Sun, sombrero and sangria. Send mother up the stairs with the stepladder to fetch to scarves, rosettes and rattles down from yon attic. Polish the kids, straighten the flat caps and send faither off with the weans (or loons, depending on where you're from) to the stadium with enough money for the tram, a match day programme, a pint and a fish supper for on the way home. It's late July, it's 3pm, it's Saturday. It can only mean one thing: the return of FITBA!

'Tis the season to be jolly ..

.. or more importantly, t'is the season to be nice towards referees, nice to people of all religions and time to stop worrying about the money because, well, frankly there isn't too much of that around these days. Unless you're a referee that is ...

Yes, pissed-off referees, bigotry and financially stricken clubs - it can surely mean only one thing: a new season of Scottish football.

.. an Aberdeen FC season preview

A quick season preview I did for Scotzine.com from an Aberdeen FC point of view. It's been a while since I've written anything for insideleft.net, or even about football in general so it took a wee while to get back into the swing of things. See what you think. More stuff after the click ..