Sunday’s new look RedMatchday Magazine is a bumper 84 pager! And still only costs £3.
In RedMatchday 04 there is an in-depth interview with Mark Reynolds
“I said before a ball was kicked this season that when I had a similar experience at Motherwell in starting the season very early, it set us up nicely for the domestic campaign and we went on and had a good season. “To be honest, when you speak to supporters, they look at you in disbelief when you try and explain the difference between four and seven weeks off! Most people would be very grateful to have four weeks off from their job.
“The buzz phrase that everyone throws about is ‘being burnt out’. As soon as you have a bad game or look a bit jaded, people say that it’s because of that shorter break, but I don’t think that it is an issue. With the sports science now that we have at the club, if there is an issue then it gets flagged up very quickly.
“We all wear the heart rate monitors, we have the GPS tracking, so they know exactly what is happening to each of us, they know exactly how hard we are working and how much ground we are covering.
“Graham Kirk will tell the management if a player needs a rest or if they need some more training to sharpen them up, so there is no problem. We are very well looked after and I’d say that we are all feeling fresh and feeling ready for the new campaign.
“These are changed days, even from when I started playing at 18, 19. It is completely different the way preseasons are done and the school of thought on how training is done. If you look at the top players in the Premiership who are playing international football, they are playing 50-60 games are season, every year, and not suffering from it.
“Looking back at it now, if we had gone out in the first or second round, then it might not have been so nice coming back early as we would have had dead time between the games and the season actually starting. To peak for the European games then to tail off and then have to try to peak again for the game today would not have been ideal but the way it has worked out has been really good for us, much better than playing friendlies. The three ties we have played have gradually got harder and harder and it has set us up perfectly for the upcoming season. There is an interview with former Aberdeen and Dundee United keeper John Gardiner, who was at both clubs during some of the glory days.
What do you remember about your debut for the Dons? “I think my first full game was at Morton on a wet and windy night at Cappielow Park and I remember Andy Ritchie was playing for them at that time. I think I acquitted myself ok in that game and had a number of saves that night. One of the Morton supporters sent me a letter to say that I played well and one of my saves I made from an Andy Ritchie freekick was one of the best he had seen. Nice gesture and I have still got the letter to this day in the old scrap book.” At Dundee United you had to face competition from another club legend in Hamish McAlpine. What was he like as keeper and a man? “Hamish was another great goalkeeper and it was like jumping from one fire into another to be stuck behind him! It was hard to take as the year that I signed the team went onto win the League that year for the first time ever- just my luck! I had a great understanding with Hamish. He was one of the best kickers of a ball that I have come across and not too bad at penalties as well! He was a gentleman.” Plus articles from all our usual columnists including Manager Derek McInnes and skipper Russell Anderson, there is an interview with Peter Pawlett, the usual in-depth history section, a club news section with all the latest on what is happening behind the scenes at your club and a world football section. How to Buy RedMatchday 04 is available from the programme sellers in and around the ground. It is on sale now from the AFC Club Shop and you can also buy a copy online by clicking here. Feedback We always welcome your feedback. Let us know what you think about the new look programme or what you would like to see included in future editions. You can contact the programme editor at [email protected]
What do you remember about your debut for the Dons? “I think my first full game was at Morton on a wet and windy night at Cappielow Park and I remember Andy Ritchie was playing for them at that time. I think I acquitted myself ok in that game and had a number of saves that night. One of the Morton supporters sent me a letter to say that I played well and one of my saves I made from an Andy Ritchie freekick was one of the best he had seen. Nice gesture and I have still got the letter to this day in the old scrap book.” At Dundee United you had to face competition from another club legend in Hamish McAlpine. What was he like as keeper and a man? “Hamish was another great goalkeeper and it was like jumping from one fire into another to be stuck behind him! It was hard to take as the year that I signed the team went onto win the League that year for the first time ever- just my luck! I had a great understanding with Hamish. He was one of the best kickers of a ball that I have come across and not too bad at penalties as well! He was a gentleman.” Plus articles from all our usual columnists including Manager Derek McInnes and skipper Russell Anderson, there is an interview with Peter Pawlett, the usual in-depth history section, a club news section with all the latest on what is happening behind the scenes at your club and a world football section. How to Buy RedMatchday 04 is available from the programme sellers in and around the ground. It is on sale now from the AFC Club Shop and you can also buy a copy online by clicking here. Feedback We always welcome your feedback. Let us know what you think about the new look programme or what you would like to see included in future editions. You can contact the programme editor at [email protected]
