SHAY LOGAN expected to be in Aberdeen for six months. Instead, he’s signed a contract which will means his stay in the North East will last for six years.
The right-back’s new deal, until 2020, came as a timely boost for his team who have watched some of their best players leave and there’s no guarantee one or two more might head for the exit door during this window.
Logan, 29, is a right-back who knows how to defend and lives to get forward.
And the best thing about the Englishman is that he does it every week and was delighted to be given the chance to do so at a club he has come to love.
“I’m more than happy to do a deal,” he said. “I thought I was done and dusted after the first six months.
“It’s now going to be six years by the end of this deal. I’m more than happy to sign it on the terms that I wanted.
“I had been at Brentford and playing week-in, week-out and it just got to a stage where the manager dropped me for one game.
“The team then went on a 11 or 12 game winning streak. I understood why he couldn’t put me back in the team but on the flip side of it I’d been there for two and a half years and played every game bar one.
“It just got to a point where me and the manager said that if it came to January and I wasn’t back in the team I would have to look elsewhere.
“This opportunity came up to come up here. The manager phoned me and I was here within two days and then the next thing I was playing in a semi-final.
“The rest is history.”
Logan’s children live down south which is why a return home was on the cards not so long ago.
A change in his personal circumstance, a relationship ended, meant he didn’t have to be away from Aberdeen as much which helped shape his decision
“The thing is I’m more than happy up here,” he said. “I’ve been happy with the football at Aberdeen.
“The club have been more than generous to me in a lot of ways. I just felt it was the best thing to do in signing a new deal.
“I think I played every week bar maybe one when I came off the bench at half-time. That shows the faith the manager has but it also shows I’m doing something right.
“I wouldn’t expect to play if I wasn’t putting performances in on the pitch.
“I’m one of those players who likes to play every single week regardless of whether it’s Ayr in the cup of a friendly at Brechin. If I’m going I want to be in the team. For me it’s all about playing.”
And tonight he will be playing Široki Brijeg in the Europa League.
“Reaching the group stages would be amazing,” said Logan. “We have the team to get there. I’m sure of it.”
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