I am not surprised to see Aberdeen return to the loan market which has served them so well in the search for new players.
The search for reinforcements at Pittodrie continues with two new intriguing potential targets emerging.
The Dons have already made six signings this summer as they gear up for the new season, which will include European group stage football.
But Aberdeen manager Barry Robson is eager to bring more new players to Pittodrie with Crystal Palace’s Killian Phillips now on his radar.
I know little of Phillips other than he had a good spell on loan at Shrewsbury Town last season where he earned rave reviews from Shrews boss Steve Cotterill.
Clearly if you can win the club’s young player of the year for only being there half of the season you are doing something right.
Phillips’ stock seems to be high too following links with Luton Town and Millwall.
If Aberdeen can land a player attracting interest from a Premier League team and a Championship side, even if it is on loan, then it would be a decent piece of business.
From Crystal Palace’s point of view, the chance to get regular game time and European experience would be advantageous too.
I know even less about the other player linked with the Dons, Israeli international Or Dadia.
At 26, Dadia, who can play in defence or midfield, looks to be a like-for-like replacement for Ross McCrorie in terms of the versatility he offers.
He looks to have a decent pedigree given he plays his club football with Hapoel Be’er Sheeva and we’ve seen other Israeli players such as Liel Abada and Nir Bitton adapt well to Scottish football.
I’ll be intrigued to see what Dadia can bring should he arrive at Pittodrie.
From what I’ve read it would appear Dadia would also be a loan initially but with a view to making the deal permanent should he do well.
I’ve no problem with that approach at all and it’s one which has served the Dons well in recent years.
Robson is spoiled for choice in his forward line
While the search for new players continues Ester Sokler has wasted little time in giving Aberdeen fans a glimpse of what he is capable of.
Five goals in 90 minutes of football is about as good as you could hope for your first two appearances for your new club.
Duk and Bojan Miovski, who should be back in the fold for this weekend’s game at Preston North End, combined to great effect as they scored 36 goals for the club last season.
Sokler looks as if he fancies the challenge of providing competition to the duo after racing out of the blocks in the two pre-season friendly wins at Turriff United and Fraserburgh.
With youngster Alfie Bavidge also getting off the mark in the 2-0 win at the Broch on Saturday Barry will be delighted with the four attacking options he has heading into the new campaign.
They are four players with very different qualities and that gives the manager great options in terms of mixing it up for the games to come.
Staggies showed how it should be done in the Viaplay Cup
It was quite the opening weekend in the Viaplay Cup with some established Scottish clubs being given a bloody nose by their underdog opponents.
Dundee United, St Mirren and St Johnstone all suffered shock defeats in their first games of the group stage with former Dons boss Jim Goodwin in particular bearing the brunt of the anger of the United support following the 1-0 loss at Spartans.
It baffles me when I watch some managers start with weakened sides and then look to bring on their experienced established players later in these games.
I’ve always been of the firm belief you start your strongest team, try to win the game in the opening hour and if you can then look to give other players game time.
That was certainly the approach Malky Mackay went with at Ross County and he was rewarded with a resounding 5-1 win at Stranraer.
Simon Murray scored a hat-trick as the Staggies got their campaign off to a terrific start and if they can follow that result up with another victory when Morton visit Dingwall on Saturday they will be well on their way to qualifying.
Doran still so important for Caley Thistle
It was impossible to ignore Aaron Doran’s contribution as Caley Thistle got their cup campaign off to a solid start with a 2-1 win against Bonnyrigg Rose at Caledonian Stadium.
He took his goals so well. The first was brilliant technique as he hit a ball dropping from the sky first time to open the scoring while the second was a superb effort from the edge of the box.
He’s one of the elder statesmen in the team these days but Aaron has always been a talented player and he will be a key man for his club this season.
Overall it was a controlled display from Billy Dodds’ side and you should not let the final score fool you – Inverness had around 80% possession and dominated the game.
Even when Bonnyrigg pulled a goal back at no time did I think they were going to force an equaliser and they approached the game with the plan of being hard to beat and staying in the tie.
With Caley Jags heading to Dumbarton tonight I’d expect a more attack-minded Sons side to give Inverness more space to exploit than they had at the weekend.
Saturday was my first chance to have a look at Adam Brooks and I’d describe him as a raw talent from my initial viewing.
Adapting from Celtic’s B team to men’s football is going to take time and he looked a little nervous up against stronger and quicker players.
I don’t expect him to be a regular starter at this stage but I’m sure he will grow into his new surroundings as the season unfolds.
