Linfield 0-2 Aberdeen: Post Match Reaction

Jason Burke (host) is joined by Mo Brown and David Graham at the final whistle of Linfield's 0-2 defeat to Aberdeen in a pre-season friendly at Windsor Park.

*Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties and lost power which forced us to abandon the recording during discussion about the manager's future. Frustrating for us, but pre-season friendlies are useful for ironing out issues off the pitch too and it wont happen again. Apologies!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

This is Jason Burke for the Windsor Way podcast after Lindfield have lost 2-0 to Aberdeen in a preseason friendly at Windsor Park. I'm reluctant to even talk about the football because it's pretty shit, let's be honest. But looking at the notes that have made the starting lineup, it was pretty much a second string lineup. We started off with a 4-3-3 formation. I was particularly interested, Mo to see Charlie Chapman playing off the left and Kobe Moore playing off the right. And the reason why I say that, when we were here a few weeks ago talking to Chris Johns, asking him about preseason, asking about the new additions to the team, he spoke really, really highly of Chapman. His words were, wow, you know what a player. Have you seen this boy playing? And I had to be honest, I hadn't seen him play it until today. He said that the pace of Kobe Moore was something that he had never seen before, and he went on to say he was quietly confident about the season ahead based on some of the additions, some of the boys that have come back from loan. Did you see anything there, particularly in the first half, and particularly from those couple of players who Chris John's highlighted to us? Did you see anything to get you excited about the season ahead?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

No. That's it? No. Damn. It's very, very hard to get excited about that. You know, if you think we had the big game there on Thursday evening. I know there was we had a couple of fans, a couple of busloads out there pretty much. But that today just there was nothing exciting at all, Jason. And the what made it even worse, you just highlighted it. You couldn't even get a burger at halftime, you know. An absolute shit show. Nothing else, nothing more.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

I mean I was I was looking forward to today. It's been a while from we've had a decent uh big team coming over, so to speak, in terms of a glamour-friendly, but in terms of the match experience, leaves a lot to be desired. I reluctantly wanted a burger at half time and I couldn't even get one.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Um Jason, really poor. I think I highlighted the last ten minutes was the amount of seagulls um converging actually into the stand. I mean, there's a good twenty of them. Um whenever the fact that we're counting seagulls as opposed to counting them field chances shows you where we are today. Really poor all around you.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

I'm trying to remain positive and amongst all this. Uh I mean today I bought a match programme today. I don't normally buy a match programme, but the reason why I did was to get a quick look at the updated squad list, really, just to see who we had left. After 11 departures, four boys have come in, and you know the manager's already had his say, David, about some of the negativity surrounding all of that. And you know, we we want to give them a chance as much as possible, and we're not going to criticise anybody before they've even kicked the ball for Linfield. But I think what we do need is we need more bodies in to give these boys the best possible chance uh to succeed this season. The question to you, David, is do you think more signings is predicated on what happens on Thursday night, quite frankly?

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Uh yeah, and I think um a big shout out to the Seagulls so far. If our team showed the enthusiasm that those 20 other Seagulls showed throughout the season, it'll be a clean sweep. Um we'll win the Gold Cup, uh, the floodlit cup and everything else, they'll have to bring them back to try to keep the boys' enthusiasm in check. No, on a serious point, I actually think our best starting eleven is as good and can compete with anyone else's best starting eleven in this league, and I include Cole Rain in that. Where, and I think you know, even today demonstrated where the issues begin to arise is the fact that there are five or six players who will be in other squads benches who will would and could start for us. So I think in reality we are anywhere between three and six quality signings away from being able to mount a serious challenge on all fronts and all trophies, including Europe. To answer your question directly, in Europe, I not to be the bearer of bad news and just sort of providing an analysis of where we're at. Like if we are put out on Thursday night, that is utterly disastrous for us as a club. Um we've already ran over the finances at length on the Windsor Way, but this time next year, if we don't either qualify for the playoffs this season, or and or Trey Huma Sold, and we get our 10 odd per cent, uh, andor winning the league, then we we will be part-time this time next year. That's that's a fact. Um the only other outstanding thing is, and I said the two of you just before we came on air, we're playing money talks, unless that's some sort of subliminal message from the board that actually there's investment around the corner and and all our ills will be solved. But I mean in reality, it's such a weird situation that we don't look fully matched fit, and and really, in a way, nor we should. We're not even four weeks probably back in the pre-season, but our biggest game of the season is this Thursday night, um, by some stretch, and even if we get through that double header with Shelburne, is um is again huge, and it's a really strange position to be in. But actually, in a way, the season, in terms of the meaning of the financial rewards, can almost be over by the start of August.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Off the back of that, then Mo, we've we've lost obviously again here today, and you know, it is a pre-season friendly, let's be honest. We lost a Kalmark last week. But given how the season ended, the games that were lost at Windsor Park, it feels like quite a while, actually, since we've won here at home. We're gonna need a change in fortunes by Thursday night. We're gonna need, as David says, there like our our biggest performance is gonna have to come already, and we're not even out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

It it has to change on Thursday night, you know. And if it doesn't change on Thursday night, we're out of Europe, you know. You look at the league fixtures, our first three games are all at home. The first one against you know uh an exiled in field eleven from Balomena. Um and the last six-seven months all points towards it. If it doesn't change within the next four games at Windsor Park, then either there will be nobody left in the stadium or else a change will have to be made in the dugout or some some somewhere else. You know, you you you come into that today. Um we were promised that the squad would reduce in quantity and we would see a change in quality. I didn't see that today. And again, Aberdeen's a different a different ballgame. You know, they they they are a top six. It's hard to read too much in the case. It is, it is, and obviously Kilmorwick are a decent side, they they they'd be they'd be quite quite on a par somewhere. Aberdeen's first goal today, I think Brad Lyons took it really, really well. Shot from outside of the box, at speed, snap shot, something that we don't really see our team do apart from Kieran Offord. Um the second goal I thought was pretty, pretty poor defensively defensively as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Well, look, I think the obvious thing was they looked bigger, fitter, stronger, technically better, which they should in theory, because Stephen Robinson will be thinking we're aiming for at least top six, if not top four, in Scotland this year. You know, the people like Kevin Lisbeth who could experience Scotland International, Brad Lyons, Northern Ireland International. There was a big lad in the left wing who like Sean Brown literally was uh at full pace trying to catch him and he he was just ghosting past him. So that's not critical of us at all. Like it's you know, if we go out there and win today, friendly's are an absolute double-edged sword. If you win, like I remember when I was Rangers, we beat Real Madrid 2-1, within every three or four weeks you're struggling to compete with Simber and otherwise. So, like, it's in a way it's an absolute nothing. I think the wider issue that we've got, and and I know will probably lead to the speculation around the manager, like where we are at at the moment, until we have like four or five real quality signings in the door, um I don't think it I don't say it doesn't matter if he's in a dugout, but like you could Mourinho or Scott Alexanders pump in the dugout with a team of which is trying to compete with someone in Korean who've just re-signed Connor McMeneman, who's already been one of the best players outside of Joe Cooper, who's also in a Korean in the league in the last five years. So in a way we've got to be accepting of where we are right here, right now today. Um and I think it probably does lead us through to the speculation with the manager. I mean, for me, I think David Healy owes us absolutely nothing. I think that the trophies he's brought, I have seen it firsthand, the circumstances that he has to face as recently as this year, and we always have to do it.