Forget second Dons... you’re in a fight for third spot
Kane reckons Pittodrie players should get real as he hails recruitment at Easter Road
PAUL KANE was part of an Aberdeen side dubbed the “nearly men” after finishing second to Rangers in every competition 28 years ago.
Twelve months later they split the Old Firm again, ending the season as runners-up to Walter Smith’s rampant Gers while Celtic continued to toil way behind their rivals.
That was the minimum standard accepted under Willie Miller as the Dons legend strived to recreate the glory years he enjoyed as a player with Alex Ferguson at the helm.
Almost three decades on and the Reds have second spot in their sights again – at least if the soundbites coming out of the Pittodrie dressing room are anything to go by.
Twice in recent weeks an Aberdeen player has insisted they can finish above Celtic and snatch the second Champions League spot, only to go on and drop points in the next game.
Andrew Considine said it last month before they went on to draw with St Mirren and Jonny
Hayes repeated the mantra on Friday before Derek McInnes’ side were dismantled 4-1 in Dingwall by Ross County.
Five points down the drain at a time when Celtic are frittering away almost as many.
Kane, who knows what it takes to split the Old Firm when the Hoops are struggling, reckons McInnes’ side can forget about being best of the rest behind Rangers.
Right now they’re not even nearly the nearly men.
With his boyhood club Hibs leapfrogging them into third and a Livingston side unbeaten in nine closing in on both, the Dons are in a three-way battle for third – not second.
Kane said: “Aberdeen have to put all their focus on third spot.
“Even that has slipped out of their grasp. You might think the defeat at Ross County was a shock result but I don’t.
“County have just brought in John Hughes and you can see a change in the tide there already.
“Aberdeen, by contrast, aren’t winning games right now.
“Yes, they have games in hand but it’s like Celtic having games in hand over Rangers – they’re no use if you don’t win them.
“You’re better having the points on the board.
“Derek has said it doesn’t look like they will be buying any players this month but Hibs have already gone and brought in a keeper, Jackson Irvine and Chris Cadden, who I really liked at Motherwell.
“These players can bring an edge to the Hibs squad.
“Derek has always brought in decent players to Aberdeen in the January market but if they don’t get that this month then they might suffer.
“Hibs are back on track and the battle for third depends on how Aberdeen deal with their games in hand.
“If they don’t win those then I’d strongly fancy Hibs to finish third with the players they have brought in.
“They’ve got the League Cup semi-final coming this weekend and if they win that, that will lift their whole season.”
Kane accepts the landscape has altered dramatically in the three decades since he was at Pittodrie.
And he reckons finishing third now would equate to the runners-up spots his Dons side achieved.
He said: “Back then Rangers were in the midst of their ninein-a-row era.
“We were the second force. Celtic were struggling before the arrival of Fergus McCann.
“Willie Miller was trying to recreate the Fergie days – it’s what he’d been used to as a player – but Rangers were paying top dollar to bring the best players up from England.
“Willie was desperate to try to achieve what he had done as a player. We were close but not close enough. That was the standard but even that wasn’t acceptable for some Aberdeen fans. Expectations have dropped since then.
“Rangers and Celtic are so far ahead financially.”