4 Ways Aberdeen Could Actually Challenge Celtic Next Season

4. They Must Keep All Of Their Star Players

This will be difficult for Aberdeen. While they have shown they are a good team, they have a similer budget to the rest of the league excluding Celtic - equivalent to a grown man living off pocket money from his granny. They will be easily convinced to sell players for half their value to English clubs, but they must resist the temptation and realise the benefit of keeping the core of the team intact. Players who will be in particular demand are Johnny Hayes and Peter Pawlett, the two wingers who are involved in most of the goals Aberdeen score with their fascinating pace and decent deliveries. Hayes has a particularly nice left foot, and displayed his impressive distance shooting against Forster at the weekend, ending the England goalkeeper's clean sheet run. Adam Rooney and Niall McGinn are the club's most exciting strikers, but often help out on the wings to allow Pawlett and Hayes to cut inside. This is a side to Aberdeen that is very attractive, the attacking players are versatile with their positioning and often help out in more areas than one would expect, making for more of a team performance rather than a performance reliant on individual focus. Then there's Willo Flood and Barry Robson who have proved to be huge players for Aberdeen in central defence this season. Flood is the aggressive, 'in-your-face' midfielder, while Robson is the playmaker - the one with the pass and the vision. This is the true core of the Aberdeen team right now, breaking them up would potentially be catastrophic if they are to have hopes of gathering a winning run next season. All of these players must not be tempted like the many SPL players in the past who have been lured in by the English Championship and League one due to wage boosts, for no one to hear their name again as they drift off into lower league wilderness.