DON OF A NEW ERA
Pedro warns McInnes the good times are coming to an end for Red Army
PEDRO CAIXINHA reckons Aberdeen made the most of Rangers being absent from the top table but he’s warned next season will be the dawn of a new era in Scottish football.
The Ibrox boss has been impressed with the Pittodrie club establishing themselves as the second force in Scotland in recent seasons.
But all good things come to an end and he is convinced Dons’ spell as Celtic’s main challengers will be under major threat next term.
Caixinha can see a changing of the guard in the Granite City this summer with skipper Ryan Jack – a player he admitted he’s got his eye on – out of contract, along with Niall McGinn going and Peter Pawlett heading to MK Dons.
The Portuguese gaffer has a rebuild of his own for the new campaign but he believes Derek McInnes will also need revamp after years of relative stability. His frank assessment of his club’s rivals is sure to touch a nerve up north ahead of tomorrow’s Ibrox clash but Caixinha insisted he’s not bothered about beating Dons for second – because it’s all about catching Celts.
He said: “At the start of their current cycle, of this project, Rangers weren’t in the Premiership.
“Aberdeen took good advantage of it because they were the second team in the country until now but if we can reduce the distance we will be looking for things to be different next season regardless of whether the difference is one point, three points or even if we are on the same points.
“I believe that football goes in cycles. Derek did a fantastic job but I do believe Aberdeen’s cycle is about to, not end ... but it needs to be renewed.
“Teams have cycles, teams have good cycles, three years or four years where they are doing good, but I believe they need to change something. I’m talking about the immediate side.
“When I analyse the teams we are going to play I know Jack is going to be out of contract, I hear McGinn is going south, you hear that maybe another couple of players may leave the club.
“It means they need to have a new beginning, a new cycle and they need to make a new renewal.”
Not that what Aberdeen do to refresh will concern Caixinha.
It’s all about finishing first for the Gers boss.
He said: “I’m not caring about them. We are the only team in the world that comes from the fourth division to the Europa League qualifiers and all the time the team has been growing.
“To arrive on the top you need to be detail orientated.
“Sometimes a short or a small step needs a lot of work.
“I believe we are a couple of steps
behind but we need to establish the next step with maturity and experience in order to establish the levels, the base and the core regarding the future.
“I believe this is the moment to do it and the work that we are doing will get it next season and the season after.
“Here, we always think about the first position.
“It’s not quite the same but you can think of an example where you have eight swimmers in lanes.
“The difference between the first one and the rest can be one second sometimes.
“Do you think the guy who is just below the first one is going to look to the seventh position? No. He’s going to look to whoever is first. That’s what we are doing.
“Our aim is to be up so we can’t look for Aberdeen.
“If we finish, say, three points or one point below them, that’s nothing. That’s nothing in a season. You need to take care of yourself, know that the steps you are taking are the right ones and keep working.”
Caixinha admitted second spot is out of reach this season and third is secured but that doesn’t mean Rangers can freewheel in their final two games of the campaign.
He has been giving a few of his squad the tap on the shoulder to say their services won’t be required next season, such as Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos, and there will be others having the chat later this week.
But Caixinha is demanding full focus to finish the campaign on a high and he’d love to sign off at Ibrox with a win against the Dons.
He said: “We looked at the last seven games of this season, starting with the last match against Aberdeen.
“We established with the boys that these seven games were going to be our domestic league, our internal league. We want to end up first in that.
“Right now we are one point below Celtic – and six points ahead of Aberdeen in that table. We have two more matches and we keep going.
“Every game can give you ideas of things to set up to keep players motivated and show the real value. We want them to be focused all the time.
“The boys who played more games have recovered fantastically. It’s a good environment.
“This is the last week of this season but the boys are coming at it like they are just starting. I’m very happy with that.”