THE RED REVOLUTION
RANGERS boss Pedro Caixinha insisted Aberdeen were at the end of their cycle but Derek McInnes has recruited strongly as he prepares to fend off all challengers to the Dons’ best-of-the-rest status. Here, McInnes tells Sportsmail about the new signings he hopes will light up Pittodrie this season.
RYAN CHRISTIE
‘We already knew Ryan and his qualities because he was a big part of the second half of last season.
‘The biggest thing about Ryan is his goalscoring. He has nine goals in 23 games, which is a brilliant return for an attacking midfielder. He is only going to get better, anyone can see that. He is only going to blossom.’
GARY MACKAY-STEVEN
‘Part of our DNA is having real width and pace and it was important we tried to retain that. ‘With Jonny (Hayes) and Niall (McGinn) away we needed a ball carrier, someone at home playing in those wide areas who can stretch teams. You can’t always replace like for like but we feel Gary can give us that dimension. He’s started well and both he and Scott Wright can provide that type of width for us this season.’
GREG TANSEY
‘He has not put a foot wrong since he signed. Greg is a brilliant boy and will have a big part to play. I like the way he handles the ball. He has good set-play delivery, which McGinn gave us. ‘Every team needs a couple of good set-piece takers. That’s something we are always conscious of when we are putting a team together.’
GREG STEWART
‘You wouldn’t say they were identical players but I think Greg is capable of scoring the same number of goals as Niall McGinn and certainly providing the same number of assists. He plays off the wider area in a slightly different way to Niall but he manipulates the ball well, takes it up close to defenders and commits them. McGinn on top of his game was the most confident player you could get, he could turn a game on a sixpence. We feel Greg has something similar.’
KARI ARNASON
‘He knows the club and I’ve always thought the key area to accommodate experience is at centre-half. He will certainly give us size — he is a good first header and if we can have the Kari Arnason that has the focus and professionalism we see for his national team, then I think we have a good centre-back there.
‘Ash Taylor was a mainstay who played most weeks but I’ve always liked to have three or four centre-halves — and I’ll be looking for partnerships between Arnason, Mark Reynolds and Anthony O’Connor.’