McInnes bashes the bookie

Aberdeen boss named as the Ladbrokes Manager of the Month... but refuses to pose for pictures after company’s betting blooper

ANYONE with money burning a hole in their pocket these days is spoiled for choice in terms of how to kiss it goodbye. If darkening the doors of one of the nation’s turf accountants is your kind of thing, then infinite possibilities present themselves.

How about a wager on Katie Price becoming the next Prime Minister? Fancy a few quid on Lord Lucan riding Shergar to a Derby victory? Or what about a punt on the outcome of a high-profile murder trial?

They may sound like ludicrous propositions, yet f i nding a bookmaker willing to take your hard-earned cash on such matters isn’t overly difficult.

And the fact that bookies not only take bets on football’s so- called ‘sack race’ but actually encourage it should surprise no one.

There is, though, no little shuffling of feet when the firm concerned just happens to be your main title sponsor. A backer of the game, some might say.

And therein lies the difficulty: Scottish football has never been in a position to pick and choose which companies it associates itself with on a commercial basis. These past three years, when there has been no sponsor whatsoever, there’s been a strong whiff of desperation ation about the situation.

Deals with bookmakers have always been marriages off convenience. The money that flows in is — naturally — most t welcome.

Yet there’s undoubtedlyy another side to a tie-up with h the gambling industry that t doesn’t always sit well.

Few can blame the e Ladbrokes of this world forr simply doing what they doo whether they have a sponsorship contract with a league or not. Where there’s a punter with a spare tenner in n his pocket, they will providee the market of his choice.

Equally, though, it’s not t difficult to identify why somee of the leading personalities in n the leagues with whom they y are now linked occasionally y take umbrage at theirr methods.

For Derek McInnes, what t should have been a routinee Wednesday afternoon became e anything but when word d reached him that Ladbrokes s had suspended betting on him m being the next top- flightt manager to leave his post.

How much money was lumped d on this bizarre scenario remains ns a mystery. The cynics would d suggest not a great deal, thatat there’s the hint of a publicityty stunt about the whole affair.

Certainly f or t he Dons ns manager — named by a curious us quirk of fate as the Ladbrokeses Manager of the Month h yesterday — there was a sense thatth t a line had been crossed.

‘I was baffled by the whole thing, it was bizarre,’ he said. ‘ I’m not saying I’m 100 per-cent watertight, but I am in a secure position here.

‘I have a good chairman who I’m tight with. I have players on longterm contracts and I have the staff I want. We have everything in place here for the long term.

‘It’s my players, it’s my staff — this is my club because I’ve committed to a four-year deal. I am in a strong position but there was still enough to cast doubt on that.

‘So it must be more difficult for guys who are going through real difficult ti mes and have the spotlight on them.’

Alex Smith, head of the League Managers’ Association, has already called for bookmakers to show more respect by refusing to accept bets on who is next for the chop.

‘I think Alex was right because the job is difficult enough,’ said McInnes yesterday.

It’s fair to say McInnes could have done without the aggravation. Having seen his side rip up the record books in the early part of the season by winning eight consecutive matches, defeats to Hibs, Inverness and St Johnstone meant the international break did not come a moment too soon.

Quite why some feverish social media rumours and a few quid placed on his departure created the waves it did remains perplexing.

‘You need to ask yourself what the intention was,’ McInnes added. ‘What other people think is the same as I do — it was baffling and unusual. The club shouldn’t need to put a statement out to shut people up because of rumour.’

Back in the real world, McInnes and his players have a trip to Dingwall to contend with tonight.

Given the start Ross County have made to the season, it would hardly be the Dons’ destination of choice as they seek to get b back on track.

‘Jim McIntyre’s form with Ross County has been outstanding since the turn of the year and they will be formidable opponents,’ McInnes warned.

‘When we played them here last season we won 4-0 really comfortably.

‘At that time they looked all over the place, so the work they’ve done to get to where they are now is incredible.’

Mark Reynolds should make a timely return having been absent since dislocating a shoulder against Shkendija in early July.

‘It’s been horrendous,’ said the defender. ‘You just get so used to playing that you start taking it for granted most of the time.

‘It’s a great club to be involved with and when that’s taken away you realise just how lucky you are.

‘ I’ve had a f ew i njuries but nothing really serious or long-term. That’s the first major one I’ve had since turning professional, so it’s been difficult.’

Reynolds is confident that three successive defeats can quickly be flushed from the system.

‘Things get magnified when you are top of the league and then go three games without a result,’ he said.

‘ The good t hing about t he international break is we got a couple of weeks to settle down and get over it.

‘If someone had offered us this position before a ball had been kicked, we’d have been happy.

‘It’s just the way things have gone in the past couple of weeks that people have started to panic. We’re still the same group of players with the same qualities.

‘We are still capable of getting the same results we got at the start of the season and grinding them out game after game.’