BACK ON TRACK
But Logan fears Old Firm financial muscle will always prove too strong for Aberdeen
WITH a career path that has taken him from Manchester City to Aberdeen via spells at Stockport and Brentford, Shay Logan has a real appreciation of the chasm between the haves and have-nots in football.
He has certainly come to terms with the reality, following six seasons at Pittodrie, during which time the club have enjoyed their best spell since the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson yet only picked up a solitary trophy, in the League Cup final of 2014.
Logan accepts that the financial advantage enjoyed by Celtic and Rangers has turned this season’s Scottish Premiership into a two-horse race.
However, as he enviously watches the Old Firm return to Europa League action this week, he will have no sympathy for the big two if they fail to progress beyond the group stage and then blame it on a lack of cash compared to bigger Continental counterparts.
‘Rangers and Celtic have the means and the funds,’ said Logan after Saturday’s win over Angelo Alessio’s Kilmarnock helped steady the ship after a poor start to the season for the Dons.
‘I support Man City and they can do it, as can Man United and Liverpool.
‘I just think it’s funny that they (Celtic and Rangers) can go and play the likes of Porto or Valencia in the Europa League and use it as: “Oh but”. It works both ways.
‘Their funds are their funds and they have good money behind them but we have no debt. We’re a very well-run club. If Rangers can spend £7million on a winger (Ryan Kent), let them do it.’
Derek McInnes’ side finished above Rangers in the Ibrox giants’ first two seasons back in the top flight, but Logan acknowledges that repeating the feat is only getting harder. Embarrassing thumpings from both Old Firm clubs this term would support that. However, the defender is feeling a lot more positive after the Dons recovered from the trauma of a 4-0 home thrashing by Celtic with a 1-0 win at Hamilton followed by Saturday’s comprehensive win over Kilmarnock. It was Aberdeen’s first backto-back wins since May and, if nothing else, Logan expects the Dons to wrest third place from Killie after the Ayrshire club beat them to it last season under Steve Clarke. ‘We want to finish as high as we can but we know one or two games will be hard due to the teams from Glasgow,’ said the Englishman. ‘If third is the best we can do, then we want finish third. ‘Motherwell are there at the moment and having a good season but, no disrespect to them, we believe we are a better team than them. But we have to get results. ‘They are getting results and it looks like being a good fight but, in the long run, we believe we will surpass them if we keep doing the things we do.
‘It was a sore one to take against Celtic but we needed to bounce back and we have done that with six points out of six.
‘Now I’m raring to go and can’t wait to go and hit Ross County next weekend.
‘Everybody knew what we needed to do against Celtic and nobody did it, so to respond with two clean sheets and two wins is good. Hopefully, we can continue that up at Ross County.’
With Killie boss Alessio missing four regular central defenders on Saturday through injury and suspension, McInnes pushed Curtis Main up front alongside Sam Cosgrove to take advantage of the Italian being forced to pair midfielders Gary Dicker and Iain Wilson at the back.
The mauling that followed was no surprise. Wilson, whose only previous action this season was one minute as a substitute against St Johnstone, admitted: ‘It was a wee bit like being thrown into the lion’s den.’ The Scotland Under-21 international deserved credit for giving it a go, while Kilmarnock captain Dicker accepted the blame for two of three goals that amounted to their biggest losing margin since Alessio took over as manager.
It could have been worse in a match which saw 20-year-old Lewis Ferguson dictate play in the midfield for the Dons, surely adding to his manager’s fears of a predatory bid in January.
Cosgrove already comes into that category and took his tally for the season to 16 goals in 19 matches, with a thumping header that effectively wrapped up the win in 27 minutes after Main had put the hosts in front with a spectacular header of his own.
Scott McKenna’s late goal simply added gloss.
While Kilmarnock’s defensive problems may be temporary, their lack of goals appears more worrying after scoring just ten times in 12 Premiership matches this season. Only bottom club St Mirren have scored less.