ABERDEEN’S achievements over recent seasons, at least according to Rangers chairman Dave King, don’t count for much.
And, indeed, the team which has been closest to Celtic for the past three years will be swept aside in the coming campaign by the men from Ibrox. After all, they have signed plenty of players, including Aberdeen captain Ryan Jack, while the men from the North East are, on the face of it, haemorrhaging talent.
However, a closer inspection at what has been happening at Pittodrie, and what could occur over the next few weeks, paints a far more positive picture.
First of all, Derek McInnes stayed after realising his career would suffer if he had taken on Sunderland. True, he has lost good players – and Rangers also want key midfielder Kenny McLean – but his recruitment so far has been canny to say the least.
Greg Tansey is a proven Premier League player. So, too, Ryan Christie who will play in red for one more season, as will Greg Stewart who scored 32 goals in just over two seasons for a poor Dundee team before moving to Birmingham City.
McInnes wants Shaun Maloney, who today is set to reveal his next move, and if he were to join his hometown club then even at 34 the former Scotland talisman would stroll it up here. Same could be said for St Johnstone’s former striker and cult hero Stevie May, now at Preston, who is at the moment being lured to Aberdeen.
And yesterday, the club revealed that goalkeeper Joe Lewis, who enjoyed a superb season including an outstanding display in the Scottish Cup Final, agreed a deal until 2020. This is all good news.
Keeping McLean, a fine playmaker, and getting Maloney will be vital, but the notion Aberdeen are a spent force or coming to the end of a cycle, as Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha put it, is sheer nonsense.
McInnes is still there and has done more than enough to prove he is an excellent manager. The likes of Adam Rooney, Graeme Shinnie and Shay Logan remain, and while Jack, Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn will be missed, it may be that their absence won’t be as keenly felt as suggested.
For me, Aberdeen remain the favourites to finish second which, and let’s be honest here, is all anyone else apart from Celtic can hope for. Rangers should improve; however, why anyone believes this automatically means they will leapfrog their old pals from the north east is utterly baffling.
We have been told that the Rangers are coming for a few years now. Aberdeen are already there and those at Ibrox should note that they will take a bit of moving.
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