It’s fair to say season one went far better than I could have imagined. I turned up at Aberdeen, replaced most of the squad with CM legends and strolled to the title despite two of those legends leaving on transfer deadline day. Yes, it’s fair to say the only way from here is down.

But first, the main perk of winning in the Scottish League is that you enter the Champions League with access to riches Scottish clubs can normally only dream of. Except Rangers, they’re pretty flush…for now. Anyway, the negative is we have to enter the Champions League at the preliminary stage

That doesn’t leave us long to prepare and get some fresh blood in. I secured the signature of blog-friend Bjord Heidenstrom during the World Cup

Add to that young Robbie Keane who will be going out on loan, it’s good to know that if a Devine situation happens again I’m not left without anyone.

A striker for the here and now is most important and I’m delighted to land Nevland from Man Utd.

He arrives on the day of the first leg, but it’s two of my title winners who get the job done

The away trip though is a great time for not just the Nev but the whole of Aberdeen. Just hope for an easy draw in the final qualifying round

Sadly though another has flown the nest. Darren Young started complaining last season and as he won’t sign a new contract, it’s no surprise he nips off to Rangers at the first opportunity.

Silly boy. Still, some people would rather go to Ibrox than face Henry, Trezeguet and friends

Bloody hell.

Still, at least John Collins is leaving. That’ll help. Also, why?

You know I don’t think they need Paul Ince. Arsenal have managed to snare another England International though

Shearer nearly always signs for Man Utd so this is a bit of a surprise, but Ferguson isn’t one to be denied. He spends £6m on…Steven Pass.

I’ve never been happier to be in Scotland, away from this madness. Speaking of which, our domestic season gets underway with a draw, which I’m quite pleased with having been two down inside 15 minutes.

That is just the prelude to the main event. Aberdeen welcome Monaco to Pittodrie and I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful experience.

These boys though. A famous night in front of a strangely not full stadium

The problem is, Monaco will be rampant at home. That away goal might be crucial.

Or it could be the greatest night of my managerial career

We’re in the groups! Our reward is Ajax, who I know a thing or two about, but also two clubs I’ll fancy taking 12 points from

We’ll revisit our European tour later.

Back on the domestic front and after a couple of draws to start the season, the first win is a welcome one, if not without incident.

Ridiculous scenes. Though not as ridiculous as the Nev netting five times away at Dundee.

It’s official though, Celtic are not a threat.

THIRTY-FIVE shots. Celtic were lucky to get nil.

There’s a hint that Rangers are on the wane

However it turns out first division sides have built an unbreakable forcefield around their goal, as we find out in the semi-finals

Yes, their keeper saved those three pens. I didn’t want to win it anyway.

Still, we might not be able to beat St Mirren but Ajax…

We even managed to draw in Amsterdam earlier in the group

We look well set to make it through, we’ve plundered goals against Zabrze and FC Croatia in the two meetings so far, so let’s hope for more of the same here.

A few other bits and pieces. Marc Emmers is paggered

That’s given an opportunity to young Ricky Gillies, who has recovered from whatever massive injury he sustained last season. Likewise Martin Lauchlan, who you may recall as the 16 year old whose pelvis we shattered in training, is back and playing left wing back after Young left.

It’s not all good news though. My suggestion that Rangers are on a downward spiral couldn’t be more wrong

Losing your keeper after two minutes is less than ideal.

Jim Leighton left, somebody actually paid for him

I pinched Hearts’ goalkeeper to make sure we have backup for Dida

And despite things generally being as good as they could get, some people are never happy

Good luck finding another Champions League club. Let’s look at what happened to two others who chased the glory

Having said that, Chelsea are at least top of the table

Looks like Dalglish has scrubbed the entertainment out of Newcastle.

We are not top of the SPL. So maybe Devine has a point?

Long way to go yet. We’re going to win the Champions League anyway…

See you next week.

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