I’m doing my badges but top job might be my Glass ceiling
Dons gaffer’s run of bad luck is enough to put Hayes off becoming manager one day
JONNY HAYES is doing his coaching badges but admits he’s being put off becoming a manager after seeing bad luck hit his boss.
The Irishman has watched Stephen Glass be without much of his defence all season and several other key men as Aberdeen have bobbed around the bottom six.
The Dons beat Livingston on Wednesday night to move to the same points as sixth-placed Hibs, although their Edinburgh rivals have two games in hand.
Hayes knows Lady Luck hasn’t been smiling on Glass’ side. He said: “I wouldn’t even say refereeing decisions. Look at the injuries and reshuffling the manager has had to do.
“And the Dundee United game, with all the incidents, seemed to sum it up. We went down to 10 men and all the niggles and injuries we’ve had.
It doesn’t make you want to become a manager.
“I’m doing my coaching badges. They teach you how to deal with a player when he loses possession.
“But I can’t imagine what it’s like when you have four players and your whole defence injured at the same time.
“We haven’t had much luck this season. It’s a case of getting the head down and working hard and hopefully that will help us in the long run.
“We’ll come back because we have a good squad and it’s about showing those qualities.
“Look at Funso Ojo, he’s played here, there and everywhere and he can play in a number of positions.”
Hayes knows the importance of backing the victory over Livi with another win when St Mirren head to the northeast tomorrow then building beyond that again.
He said: “I have to be honest, I don’t look at the league table. I know the standards that are expected here and the league table hasn’t made for pretty viewing in recent months.
“We just keep our heads down, keep working hard and try to pick up as many points as possible.”
Aberdeen have been regulars at the top end of the league, in Europe and cup finals. Hayes is well aware that is the level they need to get back to.
It’s taken time as Glass has come in and tried to put his stamp on the team. Hayes said: “It’s hard to put a label on what can be achieved. We have set standards at this club.
“Everybody wants European football and the team to be fighting at the top of the league and fighting for cups. We still have a bit of work to do to get there.
“Look at the Livi game and we got a little bit of a rub of the green with the Jackson Longridge sending-off and that might have gone against us in previous games. Hopefully more moments like that can turn into more three points. We haven’t won too many games consecutively and so when we win games we need to take confidence from them.
“Now we just want to try and take the next three points.”
Ryan Hedges was a key man in the win over Livingston. Hayes hopes Aberdeen can keep him long-term because he is so important to the team.
He added: “Ryan is brilliant and pivotal to the way we play.
“He links defence and attack really well and gets into pockets of space. He’s a very good footballer and at times he, JET and Marley link up well.
“We need to try and get that together more consistently.
“Bates and Ross were also brilliant at the back and I don’t think Livingston had a chance all night.
“That gave us a good solid footing to go and build for the three points.”