Aberdeen must push to get maximum income from any transfer fees during the January window.
Manager Stephen Glass and the club will not want any of their top players to exit next month.
They will want to retain top players to help the push for success.
However, if players are going to move on, Aberdeen must secure as high a fee as possible.
It is the job of the chairman and the directors to maximise income if a player is going to go – after fighting as hard as they can to keep them.
Aberdeen have players that will likely attract attention from other clubs during the January window.
The Dons have already rejected bids for Ryan Hedges and Lewis Ferguson this year.
It is a compliment to both the players and Aberdeen they are being targeted.
People will look at players from Rangers and Celtic going for higher fees than clubs like Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts let stars exit for.
The harsh reality, however, is there is a limit clubs will go to in terms of taking players from Scottish clubs other than Rangers and Celtic.
If players do exit Pittodrie in January, it is vital Aberdeen have a plan B to bring in replacements.
Even if Aberdeen don’t lose key players during the winter window, I still think the squad will need strengthening – particularly up top.
United States international striker Christian Ramirez has been exceptional since signing for Aberdeen in the summer.
Ramirez has netted 11 goals already.
However, if Ramirez is injured there is not really a suitable replacement for the role the former Houston Dynamo striker is utilised in.
There are still one or two areas that need to be looked at in terms of strengthening – but there needs to be another main striker.
With January likely to be a key month for Aberdeen in the transfer window, it is vital they go into the winter break on a high.
It has been an up and down first half of the season for manager Stephen Glass and his team.
However, the Dons appear to be on the up now having racked up three straight Premiership victories.
They are back in the top six and are just nine points off third-placed Hearts.
Aberdeen also have a game in hand on the Tynecastle club.
Prior to the winter break, the Reds face Hibs, Dundee, Rangers and Ross County.
The Dons are more than capable of getting a positive result against league leaders Rangers at Pittodrie on December 29.
All four games are winnable games and nine points would be a strong return and 12 points is very much possible.
If Aberdeen can finish the year on a positive note, it would create real momentum for the second half of the campaign.
The first step of that will be against Hibs at Easter Road tomorrow evening.
Hibs have appointed a young manager in Aberdeen0raised Shaun Maloney, who will make his dugout debut against the Dons.
A big part of the managerial change at Hibs appears to be to have the same approach as Aberdeen in appointing a boss with the remit to play open, attractive football.
Maloney has vital experience working with the world’s top players as assistant to Roberto Martinez at Belgium.
The Belgians are currently ranked number one in the world.
Maloney can take all that experience to the Premiership.
He has rubbed shoulders with the best in the world and also has an excellent pedigree as a player with Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic and Scotland.
▪️ 47 senior Scotland caps
▪️ Five league titles as a player
▪️ Spells with Villa, Wigan, Chicago and Hull
▪️ Celtic Development Squad coach
▪️ Belgium Assistant ManagerShaun Maloney joins Hibs following a brilliant career as a player and coach so far… pic.twitter.com/dqzwLPVJBO
— Hibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC) December 20, 2021
Premiership winter break a blessing
Hopefully the Premiership can get to the winter break in early January without a host of postponements due to the coronavirus.
It is fortuitous that there is already a circuit-breaker planned into the season, which will hopefully help us to get past this rapid rise in Omicron infections.
The Scottish top flight enters a winter shutdown on January 3.
With so many positive cases, that break has come at the right time to allow clubs to close down to keep everyone as safe as possible.
It will be a case of batten down the hatches from January 3 and hope by the time the top flight comes back we can see some clear light.
Ideally top flight clubs can then get on with playing the games after the break.
However, there is no winter break for the lower leagues in Scotland and that is a concern.
You cannot shut your eyes to all the postponements in England due to coronavirus in recent weeks.
Most of the English Premier League games were postponed at the weekend.
However, Scottish football so far looks to be dealing with it relatively well.
The Premier League have confirmed that Saturday's fixture with Brighton has been postponed.#MUFC | #MUNBHA
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 16, 2021
The Omicron variant is so fast spreading though that can unfortunately change very quickly.
It is capable of disrupting the Scottish game.
Ideally Premiership clubs will get to January 3 with the vast majority of fixtures fulfilled.
Then that natural break comes which will hopefully allow things to settle down a bit before opening up again for the Scottish Cup.
Dick Campbell working wonders
The trend recently has been for young coaches, like Shaun Maloney, to be given managerial roles.
However, ‘golden oldie’ Dick Campbell is producing magnificent results at Abroath.
To be sitting top of the Championship with a part-time club is an absolutely incredible achievement.
Arbroath’s 2-1 defeat of Morton at the weekend took them to the top of the second tier.
It is a remarkable success story and the Red Lichties have only lost twice in 18 Championship games so far this season.
I have known Dick for many years and worked with him at Largs on SFA coaching courses.
Dick is a huge, larger than life character and has brought success to a small club.
He deserves tremendous credit for what he is achieving.
Dick’s success is putting pressure on all the other Championship managers.
Chairpersons and board of directors at full-time clubs do not miss the fact a part-time club are topping the table.
Anton Dowds fires the Lichties to the top of the table 😍#cinchChamp | @ArbroathFC pic.twitter.com/gn8qWkhsEw
— SPFL (@spfl) December 20, 2021
Especially when they are giving more resources to their managers, but they are then still trailing Arbroath.
That was shown at the weekend when Kilmarnock parted ways with manager Tommy Wright.
Kilmarnock are out of the promotion play-off zone and sit in fifth spot.
However, the Rugby Park side are only five points behind Campbell’s outfit, and have a game in hand.
Dick is doing something very special at Arbroath, though.
It is incredible and a fairytale type story. Let’s hope they keep it going.
