Ash looks set to make his comeback tomorrow afternoon for the U20s in their Development League game against Dundee United. Last week he spoke to RedMatchday.

When you work on a budget – even a debt free budget as we do these days – you need to get your scouting spot on. There’s no money to waste if you want to succeed in this game but here at Pittodrie, just like every other facet of the club, our recruitment is coming on in leaps and bounds.

Back in June of last year, we plucked a hitherto unknown central defender from the ranks of Tranmere Rovers. When Derek McInnes said that Ashton Taylor might well be the buy of the season when he first arrived in the Granite City, an eyebrow or two was raised. Shame on those who doubted for after a string of accomplished displays at the heart of the Dons’ defence, it’s clear that the best motto round this way is “In Derek We Trust”.
Clearly the manager knew exactly what he was doing when he brought Ashton to Scotland having taken plenty of interest in the way he played at Tranmere Rovers, his home for many years.

“I grew up in the Wirral. People call it the posh side of Liverpool but I don’t know about that! It is quite separate from Liverpool as you need to go on the ferry or go through the tunnel to get to the city. It was a really happy place to grow up. Everyone knows everyone on the Wirral because it is quite small compared to Liverpool.
“Saying that, I lived close enough to Liverpool to understand how big a deal football is in the city. It is extremely intense. The red and blue noses would go at it all season, saying who was better, there is a lot of banter there. With Tranmere as well, there are three good clubs there because it wasn’t so long ago that Tranmere were pushing hard to be in the top flight of English football.

“The nice thing about the rivalry is that for the most part it is very friendly. Rival fans will sit beside each other. Families will sit together at Merseyside derby games even although they might be supporting opposing teams. In my family, my brother is a blue and my dad is a red, that is just the way it is with a lot of families.

“Me? I’m an Arsenal fan! I supported them when I was younger when they had the likes of Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira. I still support them to this day. They are not doing too badly at the moment, they just need a couple of players in key areas to strengthen it up at the back.

“But Tranmere was where I learned my football. I started there when I was nine and worked my way through the ranks. I managed to break into the first team when I was 18 and have not looked back since.

“Tranmere is a really family orientated club. It was a very good club to start my career with but like other clubs in League One and Two in England, they need a bit of money to get any further.

“Ronnie Moore was my manager to start with. He still texts me now to say he is keeping an eye on me! I enjoyed my time with him and I will always be grateful to Ronnie for giving me a chance. I will always only have good things to say about him.

“I also played under John Barnes and Jason McAteer who was his assistant. That was interesting. John wasn’t there for long, I think it was eleven games in total before he got the sack. I actually liked him. All he wanted us to do was play football. That was his philosophy.

At the time it was not really working with some of the players that we had. There is maybe a time for playing football and when you are near the bottom of the league is maybe not that time.

“Then the physio, Les Parry, took over and he managed to keep us up! In the last game of the season, we won 3-0 against Stockport and we avoided the drop. Les had been the physio for something like 20 years and he became manager for two years.

“I did experience the heartache of getting relegated last season. It’s not something any player wants to go through, not something you want on your CV. It was tough. We had a great squad and some good individual players, but we were not a team. It just would not come together. It was very disappointing.”

With relegation came a time to reassess everything and, for Ash, a change of scene was required to help him realise some of his footballing ambitions.

“It was the right time for me to move on. I was a part of the furniture at Tranmere. I was there for a lot of years and for me to progress as a player and move onto bigger and better things, I had to make the move. Any new club was going to be different for me, regardless of what league or country it was, so I was very open minded about it all.

“I only become aware of the interest from Aberdeen about a week before I actually signed. Things escalated very quickly and the next thing I knew, I was an Aberdeen player. The manager gave me a good idea of what the football was like and I thought it was a great opportunity for me.

“When you meet the manager for the first time, he is very impressive. His football ideas are brilliant and he is a genuine person. His honesty in terms of what he wanted from me and the football club was what I was after.

“I faced a number of challenges when I came to Aberdeen. I had never been used to a new team so I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I knew everyone at Tranmere that was involved with the club. For me to go to a new club was difficult – especially the language barrier! I am still coming to terms with the banter in the dressing room and trying to understand what they say! Seriously though, it was difficult, it took time to settle but everyone was really helpful and I have fully enjoyed every minute of my time up here so far.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind start. I was on my honeymoon when the players started back for pre-season training in June. I met the players for the first time when they were in Ireland. I flew in for a few days as soon as I returned from Las Vegas. Then we were into the European games, which was a great adventure, and before I knew it, the league season had started. It was maybe not the ideal way to start at a new club in the sense that I did not have a lot of time to settle in but Shay Logan helped me a lot. When I heard about the interest from the club, I spoke to Shay before I signed and he had nothing but good things to say about the place.

“I room with Shay at away games. Let’s just say it is interesting having him as a roommate! We are quite different characters. He just never shuts up! But he is a great lad who I have got on well with for years. He is a very positive person, the type of character you need in a dressing room. He brings out the best in people, and also sometimes the worst with his banter!”

Ash had a couple of months where he was playing a watching brief at the start of his Aberdeen career as Russell Anderson accompanied Mark Reynolds in defence but injury was to give him his opportunity in late August.

Replacing the irreplaceable is a tall order, I think we can all agree. It’s not a task that many of us would want to embark upon, but for Ashton, that’s been the task that confronted him, slotting into Aberdeen’s back four in place of bona fide Dons legend Anderson, ruled out for much of this season so far with injury. Ash himself has missed the last couple of months with his own injury troubles but looks set for a return to action shortly, which will give everyone a boost.

“When I arrived at the club in the summer the only ambitions I had were to force my way into the team and try and play every week and then to try and play consistently. I wanted to maintain a level of performance. The move has turned out to be a good one for me. It has been a great experience so far, I’ve been pleased with my performances to date.

“Sadly I got injured at a bad time for me personally. To miss out on playing at Hampden was a real disappointment. I was there sitting in the stands supporting the boys and that was difficult. I was with my wife and I was constantly going on and on, so it was a difficult afternoon for her as well!  It was hard to watch. Losing a semi-final is always hard for any player to take.

“That is part of being a footballer though. Injuries are part of the game. There is no point in looking back. I have been working very hard with the physios and hopefully I will be back very soon. There are a lot of big games coming up and I want to be back in amongst it as soon as possible.

“The boys in the dressing room want to progress and build on what they did last season. We will try and take as many points as we can between now and the end of the season and see where it takes us.”
With the remarkable string of clean sheets that were such a part of the recent long winning run, it’s obvious that the Dons’ defence have been a big part of the success so far this season. Ash, who signed a new deal recently that will keep him here until 2017, puts it down to good communication and building strong understandings.

“I have built up a partnership with Mark. It is all about trust with your defensive partner. If you trust each other, you can build a good partnership. It does take a while, but the more games you play, the more you get to know each other’s game and know each other strengths. I go and win the balls in the air and I let him do the running!

“We have developed our partnership but there are good partnerships all over the pitch. The clean sheets came about because the whole team is doing their job. It is not just the back four and the goalkeeper. As a team, we know if we keep can clean sheets then we can build from that. We work very hard on our defensive shape in training but the most important thing is that everyone does their job right and everyone communicates with each other – that is a big part of it.

“The manager has strengthened things at the back again by bringing in Donervorn Daniels. I played with him at Tranmere.

He came in towards the back end of the 2012/13 season. He is a very good lad. I have always got on well with him. He is one of the nicest people I have met in the game and a very good player as well. He has progressed a lot since I first played with him and he is going to be a great addition to the squad over the next couple of
months.

He has fitted in very well already. I have a good understanding with him, so if we have to play together that will be no problem.”

If he isn’t playing or training, Ash is busy doing his homework to try and improve his game.

“Away from work, I will watch quite a lot of games on the television like most players do. You do tend to watch a game to try and pick things up. We will watch the game from a completely different perspective to maybe a supporter. We are probably even more critical!

“There are a couple of defenders I especially look out for. John Terry has been outstanding and at 36, he can still perform at the highest level week in week out. He has been so consistent and is in a different league. He has been like that for years. I also have a lot of respect for Vincent Kompany. He is solid and can bring the ball out and play football.

“I think there is a lot of emphasis on central defenders playing football. You don’t really get your rough and tough defenders like Tony Adams or Martin Keown these days, whose first and only job was to defend. If they could play it was a bonus.

“I think Rio Ferdinard was the first player down south who started to change the way teams played because he allowed Manchester United the option of playing out from the back all the time. I think there is now maybe too much emphasis on playing out from the back and the standard of defending is suffering because of that.

“I like to play football. I like to get it on the ground and play it in to midfield but you need to know when to play and when to kick the ball out of the park!” Ash’s impressive form this season has not gone unnoticed and many have tipped him for international honours with his new country of residence. Taylor, who was born in England but represented Wales at under-21 level, qualifies for Scotland through his Scottish grandparents.

“Of course I would be interested if I did get a call. Every player would love to play international football and to win caps. It is a big honour for any player to play international football.

“I qualify to play for Scotland because of my grandparents. I was very close to my Nan and my Grandad. Sadly they have both now passed away but as I say I was very close to both of them. She was 100% Scottish and a very proud Scot. It would be a real honour to represent my grandparents. I know they would have been so proud to see me pulling on a Scottish jersey and I would love so much to do that for them. It would be a great honour.”