AS GOOD AS IT GETS FOR DONS?

Caixinha insists Aberdeen are at a crossroads and that their cycle of success may be about to end with summer exodus of star men

PEDRO CAIXINHA sees a squad in a state of flux. One where the loss of key players will provoke some hard thinking this summer. Although the description might apply, he is not referring to Rangers. Instead, it is the situation at Aberdeen that has caught his eye.

Six points clear and with a vastly superior goal difference, tomorrow evening’s visitors to Ibrox have trumped Caixinha’s side in pursuit of second place in the Premiership.

The Portuguese believes, however, that the ‘cycle’ of success and stability enjoyed under Derek McInnes is approaching something of a crossroads. New blood will be required.

Caixinha yesterday spoke publicly of his admiration for Aberdeen captain Ryan Jack, a declaration that may antagonise McInnes ahead of the simmering rivalry between the clubs being renewed.

But the Rangers manager also offered a wider assessment of the scenario at Pittodrie where Jack is not the only stalwart approaching the end of his contract.

Winger Niall McGinn is expected to head for England, while Peter Pawlett has already agreed to join MK Dons. Centre-back Ash Taylor is also yet to sign an agreement to keep him in the north east next season.

Keeping together a successful pool of players has enabled Aberdeen to establish themselves as Celtic’s closest challengers for the past three seasons.

Caixinha, though, believes the expected summer alterations will present an obvious challenge to that continuity.

‘I think at that moment they (Aberdeen) started this cycle of the project, Rangers were not in the Premiership,’ he said.

‘I think they took good advantage of it because they were the second team in the country until now.

‘If we can reduce the distance (before the end of this season), 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.

‘But I do believe that football goes in cycles. Derek did a fantastic job but I do believe that Aberdeen’s cycle is about to, not to end, but needs to be renewed.

‘Teams have cycles, teams have good cycles, three years or four years when they are doing good, but I believe they need to change something.

‘I am talking about the immediate side. When I analyse the teams we are going to play, I know that Jack is going to be out of contract. I hear that McGinn is going south. You hear that maybe another couple of players may leave the club.

‘It means that they need to have a new beginning, a new cycle and they need to make a new renewal.’

Whatever the issues confronting McInnes, the renewal Caixinha is planning for an underperforming Rangers squad will be more substantial. The number of new players being sought could enter double digits.

That is perhaps one reason why he does not consider victory tomorrow night as having any particular significance in terms of setting down a marker for next season. The personnel at work in August should be radically different.

Rather, Caixinha is only looking for a positive finale to the current, deeply underwhelming campaign.

The 3-0 success recorded at Pittodrie last month is the biggest feather he has placed in his cap since taking up the reins at Rangers in March. And the 46-year-old also revealed that match marked the start of a mini-league challenge he set the current squad.

‘We looked at the last seven games of this season, starting with the last game against Aberdeen,’ said Caixinha.

‘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.

‘In this moment, 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 ideas of things to set up to keep players motivated and to show the real value of playing for Rangers. We want them to be focused all the time.

‘This is the last week of this season but the boys are coming at it like they are just starting. I am very happy with that.

‘The boys who have played more have recovered fantastically and there is a very good environment.’

The challenge beyond for Caixinha is to restore Rangers’ relevance at the upper end of the Premiership. He insists that is about more than simply trying to edge ahead of Aberdeen next term.

‘Here, we always think about the first position,’ stated Caixinha. ‘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 is going to look to whoever is first. That’s what we are doing.

‘Our aim is to be up, so we cannot look for Aberdeen. If we are just coming now and we finish, say, three points or one point below them, that’s nothing in a season.

‘You need to take care of yourself, know the steps you are taking are the right ones and keep working.

‘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 at the top, you need to be detail-orientated. Sometimes 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 in order to establish the levels, the base and the core regarding the future.

‘I believe this is the moment to do it and I believe the work that we are doing will get it next season and the season after.’