‘Aberdeen have pulled off a great signing’

Aberdeen this week signed Calvin Zola, who hit 16 goals for Burton Albion of League Two last season, becoming Derek McInnes’ third summer signing. Despite having several offers on the table, the 28 year old striker revealed that it was his good friend Zander Diamond who finally persuaded him to come to Pittodrie. RedMatchday spoke to Zander to find out how he helped Zola make up his mind.

“I first came across Calvin when I came to England and played for Oldham and then had the opportunity to play alongside him when I came to Burton Albion. I certainly enjoyed playing with him more than I did playing against him!

“What Aberdeen are getting is a big powerful striker as you can see from the size of the lad. He has a physical presence but he can also play on the deck. He is quite skilful and he can put the ball away in the air or on the floor. He is a player that fans take to because he gives everything.

“He will do a good job for Aberdeen. I was at the St Mirren game in Paisley at the end of the season and there were a lot of good wide balls coming in from Niall and Jonny and it just needed someone to get on the end of them. Calvin is your man because nine times out of ten he will put the ball in the net. I don’t think 15 or 20 goals is an unrealistic target for him. If the big man can hit the ground running, he will certainly become a fans favourite.

“I don’t think many defenders in Scotland will enjoy coming up against him. He will do a great job leading the line as he is very good at bringing other players into play. I also think he will be very difficult for SPL defences to deal with at set pieces because of the quality of Barry Robson’s delivery.

“On his day, he is unplayable. I’m sure a number of the Aberdeen fans watched the play-off games against Bradford at the end of the season. In the first leg, he was unbelievable, but he played very well in all the big games we played last season. As well as being excellent in the play-off games, we played Championship side Leicester City earlier in the season in the Capital One Cup and he gave their central defenders a torrid time all evening.

“He called me to ask about the ins and outs about the club. I told him that if he bangs the goals in, he will become a hero with the Red Army. It might take him a bit of time to settle in – he has been in England all of his career so it will take him a little while to adjust to the game in Scotland. If Calvin does not score in the first two or three games, it is not the end of the world and if that happens, people need to be patient because it will be worth it. Over the season, I know he will score goals.

“I hope he can help fire the team up the league and bring success to Aberdeen. I told him how much it would mean to everyone if the club tasted success and I know how ambitious he is as a footballer to win things.

“He is a very, very nice guy off the park. He was a very popular figure in the dressing room but when he was on the pitch, his serious head would come on. He was always in the gym working away, always the first player in in the morning doing his stuff. He has a lot of experience and I am sure the young boys will learn a lot from the way he conducts himself off the park. I think Aberdeen have pulled off a great signing.”

Zander is enjoying is life south of the border. After leaving the Dons in the summer of 2011, he joined Oldham Athletic where he captained the side before joining Burton Albion at the start of last season.

“I am enjoying my time down here. There was obviously the disappointment of missing out in the play-offs at the end of last season, but we have another year’s experience of being in the league under our belts and we are all ready to go again and looking forward to the new campaign.

“The play-off game was disappointing as we were 2-0 at Bradford and missed a great chance to go 3-0 up, and then they went up the park and won a penalty. Fair play to Bradford as they took their chances in the second leg, but it was a sore one to take and took a while to get over it. I was pleased that Rory McArdle went on to win the play-off final with Bradford. I have seen Rory a few times when we have played Bradford, and I have also met up with him. I also have been up to see Mark Howard who is playing for Sheffield United.

“Our expectation levels at Burton have risen because of our home form. We had the best home record of all the teams in the four leagues in England but League Two is hard with a lot of good teams in it and we have to play a lot of games, with games on Saturdays and most midweeks. To do well, you have to have all your players firing on all cylinders. If we have the same kind of run as we did last year, I don’t think we will be too far away.

“It is a physical and a tense league and therefore very similar to the SPL. A lot of people knock the SPL, particularly down here in England, but I still think it is a very good league. A lot of players leave Scotland to go to the Championship and there are a good number of ex SPL players in the Premiership including Kevin McNaughton, so it can’t be too bad a league if English clubs keep coming up and taking our players”.

Zander still looks back fondly on his time in the North East and he was upset after a newspaper article appeared last year where it appeared he was having a go at the club.

“Words were twisted in the media, but that is life I suppose. I was doing an interview and at the end, when I thought the interview was over, I was asked about Ryan Fraser. I never said anything negative about the club and my words were twisted. I phoned Duncan Fraser and Craig Brown to explain what had happened and express my disappointment with the article.

“I know some fans have been critical towards me but you get that in any walk of life, people will always want to knock you. I left Aberdeen because it was the right time for me to leave. I spent 15 years at the football club so everything I knew was Aberdeen – my little nephew grew up in an Aberdeen strip. I want to see the club do well and I said that to Calvin. I want to see to see them challenging for trophies. I do not want to see them in the bottom six. The new manager seems to have a plan and if he can get the club going in all competitions, including the league, I will be delighted as any Aberdeen fan

“As a former player, you want to see the team doing well. I still have a lot of good friends in Aberdeen and at the club. I had a lot of good years at Pittodrie and have many happy memories, particularly the European run in 2007/08. Looking back at it now, it is probably one of the greatest achievements by a Scottish club in Europe. I don’t think we got the credit that we deserved at the time from the media. I think they were concentrating on Celtic and Rangers. Although we let ourselves down in the cup semi-finals, we still had a very good season. To get to the last 32 was a remarkable achievement with the budget Jimmy had to work with.

“Calvin did not know about Aberdeen’s European run! One day the two of us were sitting chatting and I was showing him photos and telling him all about the games. We played some of the very top teams in Europe that season. I hope Calvin gets to enjoy some of those special European nights during his time at the club. I wish him and everyone at Pittodrie all the best for the season ahead.”

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