One of the great strengths for the Dons over the last two or three seasons has been the consistency of selection, most notably in defence. Shay Logan has formed part of that regular rearguard and a couple of games ago playing his 120th game for the club after joining us from Brentford, initially on loan.
Shay recently spoke to RedMatchday Magazine:
Having had problems filling that right-back spot in the past, Logan has gone on to become the best in the country, having been selected in the SPFL team of the season for the last two years, an impressive achievement. The fact that the Dons have called upon the same nucleus to make up the back three or back four, depending on the system, is something that Logan is very pleased with, pointing out that the familiarity they enjoy with one another helps ensure everyone knows what they’re doing.
“I think it is down to organisation. There is a phrase that you should defend from the front and that is something we do. We might let the ball go out to the left-back or the right-back and then a striker will move over.
“It’s something we work on in training. If the ball is one place, then everyone in the team should know where they need to be. If you do it repetitively, then it becomes natural. I think a lot of teams are doing that and you saw in the European Championships that some of the smaller nations were doing it very successfully.
“It is not all about out and out ability. If you are organised and work hard, you will always have a chance in a game of football. And then it is about taking your chances at the other end.
“We have done a lot of defensive work in training. Sometimes that work is not always the prettiest, but it has benefited us. Even just five or ten minutes at the end of a session, working on things like our communication, that can make a difference. It is a good thing for a defensive unit to do.
“On a personal level, I feel I am a better player than when I joined. For a start, I have over 100 games under my belt. I have seen it all in this league now, I know what I am up against and I have confidence in my ability. I just go out there and give it 100%”.
The one regular change in the defensive make-up of the team over the last couple of seasons has been in goal. Shay is hopeful that might change in the years ahead.
“Joe Lewis is quality. I knew Joe from my time in England. I was genuinely surprised when we signed him because I knew how good he was. I am more than glad to have him. It is always good to have good players playing with you and he is one of them.
“He used to come and train at Manchester City when I was there, that was when I first met him. I also played against him a few times. He is a big lad and gives the defence confidence, knowing we have him behind us.
“He is also one of the funniest people you will meet. His banter is up there! I sit next to him in the changing room and it is good to have him about the place. All the new boys are great. Jayden is hilarious. Connor is the new Willo Flood – the angriest man in the dressing room! Burns is a funny lad. Miles is funny because of his Birmingham accent. And I really enjoy a bit of banter with Callum.
“It is nice now the season has settled down a bit.
August was tough for us with a lot of travelling, September was a very good month and hopefully October will be the same.
“As a team, our aim has to be to be better than last season. We have to believe that we can be up there challenging again. We were up their last season and I think this season we have a stronger squad, albeit the teams round about us are stronger as well. Celtic have a decent manager who has brought in some good players. At the end of the day, we know that on our day, we are a match for anyone, so we have to bring a performance to every game every week.
“We did very badly in the cups last year which was a disappointment for the whole team and the supporters. We owed it to them to have a cup run this season and we are all looking forward to the semi final. There is no reason why we can’t win a cup.”
“We did very badly in the cups last year which was a disappointment for the whole team and the supporters. We owed it to them to have a cup run this season and we are all looking forward to the semi final. There is no reason why we can’t win a cup.”
