I HAVE always said that if any team can narrow the gap to Celtic to between 10 and 20 points then they are doing well. So the fact there is now next to nothing between first and second in the Premiership table shows how strongly Aberdeen have performed over this campaign. On the other hand, it also highlights the fact that, by their high standards, Celtic are not doing as well as they ought to be.

I think you should expect Celtic to be six wins better off than their nearest challengers over 38 games. Any fewer than that and you have to say the chasing pack have done well. By my calculations if the runners-up can get to within 15 points of the champions I think you can say they’ve had a good season. Celtic are, or should be, much stronger than the rest. They have the biggest budget, better players, can pay bigger wages, have a greater depth of squad, get bigger attendances – everything. That’s why they should win the league comfortably every year. The fact Aberdeen are breathing down their necks tells us Derek McInnes and his players are exceeding all expectations. It also tells us Celtic have been poor.

Their fans might look at Ronny Deila and wonder if the buck should stop with him. But I would look at the Celtic players as well and wonder whether they could be doing better. As a fellow coach I know Ronny will be analysing himself and wondering if he could be doing things better or differently. That’s what I would be doing in his position. But I would imagine he will also be looking at his players and wondering if they might be able to give him more.

At least they are keeping going to the end of matches and not chucking in the towel. They have had a rough week losing the semi-final to us and then in the league to Aberdeen but in both games they had late chances. At Hampden Leigh Griffiths missed his penalty and then our goalkeeper Scott Fox saved one with his feet late on. Even with a two-goal lead none of us were feeling relaxed until there were only about 30 seconds to go. And then at Pittodrie, Griffiths scored a consolation so there was a bit of fight late on.

Celtic will be glad it is only East Kilbride in the Scottish Cup today, and I mean no disrespect by saying that. The last thing they would have wanted this weekend would have been another difficult game away to Hearts or someone like that. This is a good fixture for them and you would expect them to run out comfortable winners.

But I can see Aberdeen hanging on to their tails in the league for the rest of the season. They had that horrendous run over the autumn when they didn’t win for six matches. Celtic could have moved out of sight at that point but they had a few setbacks of their own, drawing with Kilmarnock and losing to Motherwell. And now Aberdeen have come roaring back and will believe they can go on and win the league.

If they can turn it into a five-game mini-league then they will have every chance. If they can get to the split only a few points behind or even level then the pressure will start to mount on Celtic. That wouldn’t be great on Deila and his players, of course, but it would be fantastic for the league that for the first time in 30 years we might have someone winning the top division apart from Celtic or Rangers.

LAST Sunday might have been a difficult day for everyone at Celtic but it was a great day for all of us at Ross County. These are the afternoons that we have been building towards over the last few years and you could see at full time how much it meant to the players, management, staff and the fans. Days like that give you the belief that you can take on the big boys on a regular basis and having the final to come is something that should hopefully motivate everyone over the next month or so.

My only disappointment was reading Craig Gordon’s comments about our second goal at Hampden. I watched the game back and you see Griffiths blocking our goalkeeper at times. That just happens in a game. Craig had a pop earlier in the season when he took out Jackson Irvine in a game and said it wasn’t a sending off. I’m disappointed with these latest comments as sometimes it’s better just to lose with a big of dignity.

I’M sad to say this is the final column of my second stint writing for the Sunday Herald. Life as assistant manager at Ross County is hectic just now and so I’ve decided to concentrate on football for the time being. I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts every Sunday.