Calderwood wants more from fit-again Smith

[statto]

Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, admitted last night that he is tempted to play Jamie Smith at some stage of tomorrow's bottom-of-the-table game at Falkirk as the visiting side bid to remedy the shakiest of starts to their season.

The talented playmaker, who turns 28 next month, has been no stranger to the Pittodrie treatment room since joining Aberdeen from Dutch club Den Haag over three years ago. He has now recovered from a calf muscle pain, though, and Calderwood wants more appearances and more consistency from him.

"Jamie will definitely be in the squad for the Falkirk game," Calderwood said, "and I'm tempted to play him after having seen how good he is on the training pitch.
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"But he hasn't had a game in a while and we just hope his problems are behind him. This is his fourth season with us and for such a fit, strong lad, he's had a lot of injury problems."

Calderwood praised the midfielder's energy and diligence, but wondered if and when he will be able to steer clear of injury long enough to put together a series of performances.

"It has not been due to a lack of effort from Jamie," the manager insisted. "He is a really hard worker in training and he is one of the players you need to hold back.

"We know what he is capable of but there have been too many ups and downs with him. Too many times he has been a nine, in performance terms, and then dropped to a four. The injuries have not helped him and maybe he has been thinking about them at times. When he is 100% fit he is very special but we have not seen that enough."

Calderwood is refusing to panic, despite Aberdeen languishing at the foot of the league table, albeit on the same number of points as tomorrow's opponents. There were, he pointed out, just six points separating the bottom two from third place.

He added: "Both clubs are hurting at the moment but I think anyone in their right mind would expect us and Falkirk to be challenging for the top six again this season."

[mags69]

Lets hope he is really fit and back to his best this time. Bit embarrassing looking at the table at the moment.

[oscar]

When has Smith ever been at his best?
Has flattered to deceive for so many years now.
Can't believe he's 28.
Should have done a lot more in football.