SECOND’S OUT
Shay: I knew Gers would struggle to go from the Championship to finishing runners-up in top flight
SHAY LOGAN insists he was well aware that Rangers would struggle in their first season back in the top tier.
The Aberdeen right-back looked on with interest as his ex-Brentford boss Mark Warburton failed to guide the Ibrox outfit to better things before he left the club two weeks ago after 19 months in charge.
The Light Blues sit third in the Premiership, behind Dons, but Logan is not surprised.
He is adamant he knew it was always going to be tough for the Gers to keep up with the Pittodrie outfit.
And he’d seen enough football in the Championship while Warbs was leading them to promotion to make up his mind that the leap to challenge Celtic would be too much.
After Gers lost at Inverness last night, Aberdeen can move nine points clear of them with a win over Ross County today.
And Logan said: “Maybe something is going on there that we don’t see from the outside. It’s irrelevant to us. Maybe the ones who own Rangers think they should be in a better position than they are.
“It’s good to have Rangers in the league. It makes it a stronger and more entertaining league.
“There’s a lot more hype around the Aberdeen and Rangers matches and the Old Firm matches.
“But I said at the start of the season that Rangers have to worry about teams like us and Hearts. They came up from the Championship and the top tier is a totally different league.
“There are a lot of stronger teams. Rangers fans love their team but they have to understand the Premiership is a much stronger league.
“Maybe this is the year that Rangers think, ‘It’s harder than we thought’ and go about it a different way next year.
“We don’t worry about them, just ourselves. No disrespect to the Championship, I’ve never played in it, but I know from last season that Rangers were walking over teams.
“I knew, and everyone else knew, it’s totally different when you face Aberdeen and the St Johnstone away.
“St Johnstone might not be the best team in the world but it’s a tough place to go and they’ve got a good manager who knows a style to play.”
The 29-year-old pointed to the steely approach the Dons have under boss Derek McInnes and wondered if Rangers could match that attitude.
He said: “Do Rangers have the same character as us? Maybe they haven’t. The only time I think about or see Rangers is when I see a game they are playing in.
“I don’t listen to the news. I don’t read anything about them. I couldn’t tell you about the club’s history or anything else.
“That’s not being arrogant. I’ve just never been part of Rangers so it doesn’t involve me.
“We just worry about ourselves and I’m sure Mark maybe thought it was the best choice to leave.
“Whether it was or not, only time will tell.
“We’ve got a good manager, who runs a good team, runs a tight ship and wants the best from our players.”
Logan has made 133 appearances for the Dons and will face Ross County at Pittodrie today, just two weeks after his late strike at Dingwall put the Staggies out of the Scottish Cup.
He’s upbeat about his team’s form but is unconcerned that Celtic are away out in front at the top of the table.
He said: “It’s not frustrating because they have a good team. Brendan Rodgers has recruited quality like Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair.
“Celtic have a massive budget and have a really strong manager, they have a good following behind them as well.
“They’re in the position that they probably feel they should be in.
“The last two seasons when I’ve been here it has always been quite close towards the end of the season but they’ve raised it.”
Defender Logan is also hoping to continue a remarkable scoring record against the Highlanders today.
He said: “I’ve got five goals in the last five or six games against County and they just seem to be a team that I normally take my chances against.”