A MASTER OF ALL HE SURVEYS

ABERDEEN IT’S AN EXPERIENCE

DEREK McINNES insists he’s backing Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack’s bid to put fresh vibrancy into Pittodrie.

The new Reds supremo is looking for ways to improve the home atmosphere for Dons fans and a new scheme will be piloted at Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Dumbarton.

The game will see the Merkland Stand trialled as a traditional home end with unallocated seating as part of an effort to recreate the vocal backing provided by the Red Army at away matches throughout the country.

Cormack has a range of other ideas and plans for the club and McInnes welcomes the new initiatives.

He said: “We do surveys and we speak to supporters and they all want the same thing. They all want an atmosphere.

“What happens on the pitch has a part to play in that as well but off the pitch we are trying to get a better environment to get the fans to turn up.

“I’ve been out to Atlanta and there is nothing there the supporter can complain about.

“Everything is catered towards the best matchday experience. Dave

BY CRAIG SWAN is determined to bring that to Aberdeen and it is a challenge but I’m sure where there is a will there is a way.

“There is fresh energy and ideas and we have to applaud the efforts to make it work rather than just say, ‘No, nothing works’.

“Dave is in Atlanta most of the time but has his finger on the pulse. He is on the phone on a daily basis to me and other key members of staff to get things done the way he wants them done. “And that is his right. He just wants us to be as efficient as we can be on and off the pitch.

“You can already see aspects of that. More engagement, transparency, with the supporters on social media.”

Cormack’s outward approach saw him take an early slap on the wrists from the SFA for tweeting about Celtic player Kristoffer Ajer on Boxing Day.

It was a bold move but McInnes said: “It is his right, his prerogative, to be the chairman the way he wants to do it. He has put enough money into the club.

“Without his drive and investment the training ground wouldn’t have been completed.

“The collaboration with Atlanta that has been brought in as a result of Dave being here gives us a bit more strength.

“That collaboration should pay dividends.”