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Press and Journal
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Richard Gordon: Kusini Yengi has the potential to be a talisman for Aberdeen but Dons need more attacking options
It is still over a month until the Dons kick-off their 2025-26 campaign, but the next few weeks are going to be vitally important, and give us a few clues as to what lies ahead. The club announced a list of pre-season fixtures, some of which will feature a Dons XI, others more likely to offer a better indication of Jimmy Thelin's preferred line-up. The first of those will be at Balmoral Stadium on July 12 against Cove Rangers, and it will be interesting to see if more new faces have arrived by then. So far, Jimmy has brought in left-back Emmanuel Gyamfi and three Aussies, goalkeeper Nick Suman, winger Nicolas Milanovic and striker Kusini Yengi. Of that quartet, it is Yengi who will be of most interest. Last season, Kevin Nisbet was the only one who looked capable of scoring on a regular basis, and even then, it took him until the turn of the year before he really hit form. Kevin finished on 14 goals, the only player to make it into double figures. Given what we have seen so far of the other strikers at Thelin's disposal, there has been nothing to suggest any will fill the void. That means the spotlight will fall on the former Portsmouth hitman. He was by no means prolific at Fratton Park, and did not net a single goal for the club last season, but his previous campaign was more impressive, and he has a highly credible record at international level, notching six for Australia in his eleven appearances to date. He clearly has something; it will be up to Jimmy and his coaching staff to coax that out of the striker. But he will need back-up, and I have to imagine it is an area the club is still looking to strengthen significantly. As well as doing so, they have to be looking at moving a few players on, and there are some in the squad who clearly look surplus to requirements. With the additional demands of a European campaign ahead, in whichever of the leagues the Dons find themselves, they are going to require not only a bigger pool, but one which offers strength in depth when it comes to quality. That will hopefully mean more game time for the club's most promising youngsters. Jack Milne proved in the Scottish Cup final he has the required attributes, Fletcher Boyd has obvious potential, and Alfie Bavidge caught the eye while out on loan at Caley Thistle, earning a place in the PFA Scotland League One team of the year. A trio of players – Adam Emslie, Findlay Marshall and Dylan Lobban – played more than 100 between them for Cove last time round, and I saw them develop significantly over the course of the campaign. Not all will get a chance, but it would be good to see at least some of them feature more regularly during 2025-26, giving the squad more of a local identity. The next month is likely to be a busy one on the training ground, and on and off the pitch, and by the end of it I would hope the team is ready for what seems certain to be a challenging and demanding season. The excitement for the new campaign ramped-up last Friday with the announcement of the Premiership fixture list. Disappointingly, the first weekend will see one solitary Saturday 3pm kick-off – Kilmarnock v Livingston – with a trio of games on the Sunday. Because of the demands of the television companies, and Thursday night European games, Sundays often now feature more of the bigger games, and that will again be the case. It will certainly be something the Dons are going to have to adapt to if they are to have a successful season. Getting off the blocks positively should help – although that did not exactly work out last time – but Aberdeen have been handed a tough start with Celtic at home on day two, either side of trips to Tynecastle and Tannadice. It was no surprise that Sky chose the Hearts game for the Monday evening, and the meeting with Derek McInnes will be some appetiser for the top-flight campaign.
The Herald Scotland
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
£29m funding boon if Aberdeenshire rail stations reopen
A petition launched by North East MSP Liam Kerr last year has received more than 1700 signatures from supportive local residents. The appeal has been backed by football team Cove Rangers, as well as the Campaign for North East Rail (CNER), which has long urged the Scottish Government to expand rail services to Aberdeenshire. Kerr said: 'These figures send a strong message to the Scottish Government that reopening both Cove and Newtonhill stations is a no-brainer. 'The huge benefit-cost ratio, as well as the low operational costs, underlines the significant economic opportunities that these stations would unlock, not only for Cove and Newtonhill, but the wider North East region.' The North East of Scotland has long suffered from poor rail connections ever since the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s, when thousands of miles of train lines were axed. Campaigners have claimed that Fraserburgh (12,900) and Peterhead (19,800) are the two largest towns in the UK without a direct rail link. Kerr called on the Scottish Governemn to invest in the project, noting: 'Cove and Newtonhill need new stations to connect residents with the jobs, education and leisure opportunities that will make these communities an even greater place to live and work. 'We know the money is there from the Scottish Government because they opened a new Hairmyres train station last month, but far too often North East rail is being abandoned for other parts of the country. 'However, I'm delighted this report is another major step in the journey to finally reopening Cove and Newtonhill railway stations.'
Daily Record
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Airdrie captain calls for 'clean bill of health' after injury-ravaged season
Adam Frizzell hopes the Diamonds got their bad luck out of the way last season Airdrie skipper Adam Frizzell says avoiding any disasters in pre-season will be key after the club was decimated by injury last season. The Diamonds saw a whole host of key players missing during the 2024/25 Championship campaign and that contributed to them sitting bottom of the table for most of the season until Hamilton Accies' 15-point deduction saved them. Airdrie then went on to ensure their survival in the relegation play-off with Cove Rangers. But Frizzell knows a clean bill of health to start 2025/26 will be vital. He said: 'Pre-season was very successful for us last season. We got through the Premier Sports Cup and won our first game against Raith Rovers, and everything was looking great – but then the injuries hit. 'You need to keep everyone fit, especially at a club with a smaller budget like Airdrie, and you don't have the luxury that some of the other teams in the division do, so it's so important to keep everyone fit and mount a charge. 'Hopefully the bad luck is out the way and we can go for it this year.' Airdrie started their summer signings with defender Craig Ross, who is coming in from Stranraer, and is a player Frizzell has knowledge of. He said: 'I saw Craig Ross when he was very young at Kilmarnock, when I was coming back from injury and playing with the reserves. 'I thought then he was very good, and I've heard good reports, so I think he'll definitely be a positive signing for us. 'He was very young at the time, but even playing in the reserve games I thought he stood out – he was aggressive, looked assured on the ball, and he went on to play a lot of games at a very young age. 'I think he'll be well capable of making the step up.'
Press and Journal
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Former Aberdeen midfielder urges Dons to back Jimmy Thelin's European push
Former Aberdeen midfielder Derek Young insists Scottish Cup winning manager Jimmy Thelin will need more backing if the Dons are to be competitive in Europe next season. Cup glory at Hampden last month means Aberdeen will have guaranteed group stage football in either the Europa League or Conference League in the next campaign. It will be the second European campaign in three seasons for the Dons, who struggled with juggling domestic and European commitments under former manager Barry Robson in 2023. Young knows strength in depth will be vital for Thelin. He said: 'We're all looking forward to Europe again but the manager is going to need some money to build his squad. 'There's enough young boys in there, I'll say that. 'The three lads who played at Cove Rangers this season, Adam Emslie, Findlay Marshall and Dylan Lobban, are all ready to make that push. 'They were fantastic for Cove so hopefully one or two of them will get a sniff this year. 'But we need some players in because it's going to be a huge challenge for the squad.' Young was part of the Dons' UEFA Cup squad which reached the last 32 of the competition in the 2007-08 campaign under Jimmy Calderwood. The memories of trips to Dnipro, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich remain treasured today and he is thrilled the current squad will get the chance to create memories of their own under Thelin. He said: 'I've been there, done it and got the T-shirt. I know how much it adds to the squad and the club, and how amazing it feels to go and do that. 'What a good experience Europe is and that's why I'm pleased for a lot of the guys who are in the dressing room, and of course for the fans.' Young believes the joyous scenes at Hampden following the Scottish Cup win provided the perfect fairytale ending to one of the most erratic and unpredictable campaigns in the club's history. He said: 'I actually forgot at the time what winning the cup actually meant. 'The league didn't go our way so to win the cup and qualify for the group stages of Europe was amazing. What a perfect end to the season. 'The first half of the season, we were all doing great, but we fell off a bit during the second half of the season. 'So, to do what they've done at the end of it is incredible, and Europe is the icing on the cake to it all. 'Getting right into the European group stage, it's amazing. It's been an unbelievable couple of weeks. 'There's one play-off round and then we'll see what happens but to have European football right up until Christmas is fantastic.' Young, who works as a coach with the AFC Academy and the SFA's Performance School, had the privilege of watching the Dons beat Celtic in the penalty shootout at Hampden from the commentary position with the club's RedTV channel. He believes the players and coaching staff should be proud of what they have achieved after devising and executing a cup-winning strategy to stun the Hoops in a matter of days. Young said: 'Honestly, the amount of folk that jumped on me and were giving me congratulations, I feel as if I played. What a day. 'It was great soaking it up, watching the staff on the pitch who I've known, running about going daft. They didn't know what to do. 'It feels so special I think because so many people had doubts. 'Nobody was expecting it. But when I was doing the game on Red TV I said: 'anything can happen in football.' 'Thankfully, defensively we were absolutely solid. The manager changed it. He changed players and went with some guys he maybe didn't think would start. 'He was so bold, and his team came out the right side of it at the end with the cup. 'A lot of credit to the manager and his staff for doing that, and of course a massive pat on the back to the players because they've only had a week there to change things. 'They listened to everything, executed the plan brilliantly and walked away with the Scottish Cup at the end of it.'
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Falkirk begin new season at Brechin
Falkirk will begin the 2025-26 season with a trip to Highland League Brechin City in Premier Sports Cup Group McGlynn's side return north to face Cove Rangers before home matches against Queen's Park and The Spartans.
