McInnes opts to stay at Dons – again
Derek McInnes last night decided to stay at Aberdeen – for the second time this year.
The Pittodrie manager turned down the chance to become Sunderland manager in the summer, and he rejected Rangers’ overtures last night.
Six weeks after sacking Pedro Caixinha, the cashstrapped Glasgow club finally made their move for McInnes on Tuesday, but Aberdeen rejected their request to speak to the 46-year-old.
It is understood that it would have cost Rangers around £1million to secure McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty.
Now McInnes has chosen to stay at Aberdeen after talks with chairman Stewart Milne. Milne said in a statement: “We agreed that he could have some time to think about the approach and talk it through with his family. Having weighed up the opportunity, he has taken the decision to remain as Aberdeen manager. “Derek appreciates all that he has at this club and wants to keep driving the club forward.” McInnes said: “I’ve had a lot to consider and I appreciate it’s been a testing time for everyone, including my family, and I’m pleased to be now totally focusing on purely on-thefield matters.”
Rangers, who have confirmed that caretaker Graeme Murty will stay in charge until January at least, took a thinlyveiled swipe at McInnes in a statement that claims they only approached Aberdeen for permission to hold talks because they wanted to “assess” whether he was up for the job.
They said: “We continue to consider candidates but will only appoint someone in whom wehavefullconfidenceandwho feels he is ready for the job.”