Will Hartley be the difference for Aberdeen this season?

Experience needed to bring the best out of new signings.

Although Mark McGhee was fairly confident of Aberdeen doing well in the build-up to the 2009/10 season, life wasn’t easy for the former Motherwell boss in his first season in charge at Pittodrie. Two humiliating cup exits kept the Dons form on a par with the cup form of previous boss Jimmy Calderwood but the slide into the bottom half of the SPL wasn’t predicted by many observers.

McGhee definitely got a lot less from the squad of players than the previous manager but of course, it wasn’t Mark’s fault. In the build-up to this season, McGhee has spent time explaining how some of the players had a poor attitude and couldn’t wait to get away from Pittodrie.

The current crop of Aberdeen players must prove McGhee right or he may find himself in a very shaky position.

To be fair to McGhee, we can see his point on this and we’ll certainly be looking to the new players and how they adapt to life in Scotland. The SPL isn’t rocket science and the right attitude and desire can go a long way.

Mark McGhee was honest enough to admit that his new players may be lacking in the quality some of the leaving players had…but they will be in a far better mental state for the new season.

We’re not the type of site to pass off Football Manager opinions or spout rubbish about players we don’t know, so we’ll stay quiet about most of Aberdeen’s new signings and give them the opportunity to make a name for themselves.

One new Aberdeen signing we do know a lot about is Paul Hartley, the new club captain and we think he can have a major role in the Dons team this season.

Based on his final season at Celtic, we expect Hartley to be more of a defensive enforcer for Aberdeen, whilst directing a lot of set-piece traffic. Hartley may have lost the legs and the ability to make lung-bursting runs but his reading of the game will stand him in good stead for the challenge ahead.

He’ll have to be loud, he’ll have to be strong and he will need to lead by example in an attempt to get the best from his new team-mates.

These are things well within the reach of Paul Hartley and if the midfielder can settle into Pittodrie life, we expect a stronger showing from McGhee’s team this season.

They will need to improve on the discipline problems that blighted them last season but Aberdeen may have a bit of solidity from which to build this season.

Dons fans, do you think Paul will be the Hartley and Soul of the club this season?

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