DEL HITS BACK AT THE SNIPERS
Del slams ignorance over Rooney transfer
DEREK McINNES has hit back at clueless pundits who have criticised Adam Rooney’s switch to Salford.
A “flabbergasted” Jim White asked if the striker swapping the Premiership for the National League was a new low for Scottish football on talkSPORT.
But Aberdeen boss McInnes knows the perception is that his club had a top player nicked by an English fifth-tier side who can outspend them.
The truth, though, is that the Dons were happy to receive a six-figure sum for a 30-year-old with his best days behind him who wouldn’t be guaranteed game time.
It represented good business otherwise McInnes wouldn’t have sanctioned it and it’s radio rental for Scots presenter White to suggest otherwise.
And McInnes points to Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk who both featured for Liverpool in last season’s Champions League Final as proof of Scottish football’s quality. McInnes claims English-based critics are ignorant about the game north of the border as he dismissed their opinions on the Rooney transfer.
McInnes said: “It’s people who don’t know Scottish football but still want to talk about it.
“If you know what you’re talking about and you still have an opinion on it then fair enough. “People can be too dismissive of Scottish football but I’m not really bothering about changing perceptions. I’ve not got any time or interest to justify the Scottish league to people. “We know where we are and from speaking to managers and scouts down in England I know there is a healthy regard for Scottish football. “There’s a lot of good about Scottish football. Loads of players go on to do very well from our league and establish their careers at the bigger clubs in England. Last season two former players from our league played in the Champions League Final for Liverpool.”
McInnes will try to strike a blow for the Scottish game on the park when his side face Burnley at Pittodrie tonight in the first leg of their Battle of Britain Europa League qualifier.
He is preparing for his fifth consecutive European campaign in charge of Aberdeen while the Clarets have not played in Europe for 51 years.
But McInnes insists the Premier League side represent his toughest challenge since taking on Real Sociedad in 2014 when they lost 5-2 on aggregate.
He said: “There’s a game to be won there and we’ll be trying to do our best and they will too.
“In terms of the differences of where we operate financially, this is the biggest challenge we’ve faced in knockout football.
“Sociedad finished seventh in La Liga and we were very close
to getting a result here against them. For a period in the second half, it looked like we might just have won that. “They have been the best team we’ve played in the Europa League. Burnley will be as good as anything we’ve faced in Europe. “Sean Dyche is very capable, very competitive. Sean has gone on to do brilliantly in recent years and there’s no surprise that he’s been linked to other jobs. “He gets everything from his players. He’s done exceptionally well. “I’ve come across him playing and managing but I don’t know him so well. But he does the job right and he works hard to get results, just like his team. “We’ve had better results away from home in Europe but we’ve had good performances at home. The home and away thing is maybe not as important as it once was. “We’re happy to travel. Our league record on the road has been good in my five years here. Ultimately we’ve been put out of Europe, not through away performances, by losing a goal at home.
“That’s come back to do us in and we know the importance of keeping a clean sheet at home.”
Aberdeen’s reward if they can overcome the Clarets is a daunting trip to Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir lying in wait for the winners.
McInnes said: “The draw hasn’t been kind to us in terms of that progression. We’ll try to win this tie first if we can then we’ll look at that.
“We’ve got our hands full trying to put two performances together at this early stage of the season that can beat a team of Burnley’s calibre.
“As soon as the ball rolls we’ll be after it. We’re experienced in European football, it’s a home leg and we’ll try to win.
“You have to get that balance right between attacking and defending. We’ll try to be cute with our work, aggressive, and give ourselves a chance to go through going down to Burnley next week.”