CALDERWOOD WANTS BREWSTER

Last updated : 22 July 2004 By Pars Mad
The news that Aberdeen - managed by Jimmy Calderwood - have declared their interest in signing Pars hitman Craig Brewster can hardly be met with surprise by the East End faithful. Their method of doing so via the media will be just as equally unshocking to Pars fans, many of whom still have a bitter taste in their mouth after the way the two clubs last conducted business.

The sheer audacity of Aberdeen's attempts to unsettle Brewster with a reported £75k bid has not gone unnoticed by Pars chairman John Yorkston.

Yorkston's reply, surely a contender for quote of the year, pulled no punches when he was quoted as saying -
"It's just typical of Aberdeen. They do everything arse over elbow! They have to deal with us first, thats the way business is done but as we have seen in the past Aberdeen don't do it that way. There has been no contact from them or any other club and we would not welcome any contact.
"Mind you, we had no contact with Aberdeen until they had already done their deal with Jimmy Calderwood!"

The whole affair just seems to reek of an attempt by Aberdeen to justify themselves as the 'third biggest club in Scotland'.

The once-great club appear to be oblivious to the fact that they no longer have the stature nor the finances to act as arrogantly as they have done recently and carry it off with any kind of finesse in the way that a 'Big Club' would.

However, it is surely the attitude of Mr Calderwood that will anger Pars fans the most.
The Aberdeen manager - once admired by Pars fans - has shown the kind of arrogance and audacity typical of his new club.

In what must be one of the understatements of the century Calderwood was quoted in The Sun as saying -
"I think I caused ructions when I left Dunfermline and I don't want to cause too many ructions now. But sometimes in football it's the accountants who decide whats happening which can work in your favour or against you."

His quote in the Aberdeen Evening Express was the clincher though.

"We aren't going to pay them thousands of pounds for a 37 year-old" said Calderwood. "We will only agree a deal if Dunfermline ares sensible. I'm in no rush. I know what Craig can do so I want to look at the strikers we are taking in on trial before I take things any further."

One must wonder whether or not Calderwood truly believes that Brewster, nearing the end of his career, has the same lack of ambition that persuaded the Aberdeen boss to give up the opportunity of European football to join a club struggling in the lower reaches of the SPL.

Brewster, a bonafide legend at East End Park, was quoted in The Sun as saying
"Davie Hay has told me that he thinks highly of me and that's all I need to hear. Until I'm told otherwise I'm very much a Dunfermline player."

With the Pars Player of the Year recently signing a new one-year deal at the club, it would be hard to believe that a player as professional as Brewster would fail to honour a contract signed so recently.

With relations between the two clubs already somewhat strained, these latest developments do nothing but add flame to an ever-growing rivalry.

All I can say is roll on the 21st of August!!!