We’re set for new stadium and training ground, we are debt free and have a valuable side ..but the one thing fans crave most is to win a trophy
McInnes wants to deliver silver and crown new era
IT’S taken five years and lots of spit and polish to bring the shine back to Pittodrie.
Now Derek McInnes insists all that’s missing is a trophy. Few could argue the Aberdeen boss has lit a fire at the club since arriving in 2013 but one League Cup win remains the only piece of silverware to show for it. A Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell looms and the 46-year-old insists it’s another building block that will always be more important than bricks and mortar. McInnes said: “We have a training ground and a new stadium to look forward to and that’s all positive but ultimately you want trophies to show for it. “I’m sure the supporters will be grateful for a new stadium but it’s not the most important thing to them. It’s not the most important thing to me or the players either – it’s actually winning trophies.
“What we’ve done in the last few years has been a lot of good work from everybody on and off the park.
“There’s been a lot of good energy. We’re now debt free after coming in when we were so many millions in debt and didn’t have a team of value on the pitch.
“We’re now knocking back offers of over £1million for Scott McKenna and we had seven players away on international duty last month. We now have that team of value on the park.
“As a manager, a group of players or staff you just want to improve as a club so that you leave it in a better place.
“I still feel there’s more to achieve and days like the Cup Final last year whets the appetite for more. We’ve won one but lost two and lost a couple of semis as well. But at least we’re putting ourselves in position to win things. “Some good teams have beaten us but hopefully we can get back to another final and go on to win it this time.”
The last time Aberdeen locked horns with Motherwell in cup business it was a knockout blow by a three-goal margin.
But McInnes insists not a word of that Betfred Cup quarter-final loss in September will be used to prep his side for a revenge mission tomorrow. A 2-0 win at Fir Park for the Dons is more the here and now ahead of a Hampden clash, rather than one he regards as ancient history.
He said: “It won’t come into the team talk. We’ve played them three times since then and the most recent game which we won 2-0 is the one I’d make most reference to.
“There’s no doubt in the Cup – you’re in or out it. In the league it’s still in our own hands to finish second.
“The importance of the players to grasp the chance to get to a final is big. We made mistakes that night in the League Cup and were punished by a rampant Motherwell side who sniffed blood.
“The intensity was lacking in the game but it has been better in the games since.”
Anyone expecting a thrill-aminute encounter once the ball starts rolling in Mount Florida will be disappointed to hear that McInnes has learned from previous semi-final experiences not to expect a classic.
He said: “I’ve been involved in enough semi-finals but I can only think of one that was a really good game – when we beat St Johnstone 4-0 at Tynecastle.
“We played really well and it was an enjoyable experience because it was clear from early in the second half we were going to the Final.
“But I’ve been involved in a lot of these games as a player and a manager where they have been awful games with too many players fearful of making costly mistakes.
“It’s just all about winning them really and hopefully that’s what we’ll do on Saturday.”
West Brom are the latest club rumoured to be after McInnes’s managerial services. He has already snubbed Rangers and Sunderland in recent times but doesn’t believe a cup final appearances vindicates his decision to stay at Pittodrie.
He said: “I don’t think it does. I have to be comfortable with my own decisions and I’ve nothing to get hung up on.
“You live and die by your decisions and I believe while the chairman Stewart Milne is here and I’m here we can be good enough to be competitive.
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted Aberdeen to be. We weren’t that for a long time but we certainly have been for the last few years.
“There’s still a fine line between winning trophies and putting yourself up there but sometimes you need luck on the day to get through cup ties.”
I feel there’s more to achieve and days like the Cup Final whet the appetite DEREK McINNES