McInnes criticises Cardiff for Hayes bids
DEREK McINNES, the Aberdeen manager, claimed Cardiff City had no real desire to sign Jonny Hayes who remains at Pittodrie despite three bids coming in for him during the transfer window.
The 29-year-old was the subject of two £500,000 offers, each with different payment structures, and then a third £600,000 bid was placed by the English Championship side which, like the previous two, was flatly turned down.
A relieved McInnes remained adamant the highly rated winger would have opportunities to sample a higher grade of football and despite a strange couple of weeks would show his worth to his side in the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Celtic at Parkhead tonight.
Had he left it would have made Aberdeen’s fight for second place a far more difficult task.
McInnes revealed that the third effort to lure the player south came in just before Aberdeen’s convincing win against Dundee last Friday night.
“That final offer fell way short of our valuation,” he said. “I won’t criticise another club but I don’t think there has been a real desire from Cardiff to get it done.
“Cardiff made an attempt to sign Jonny, it wasn’t a good enough attempt so we move on.
“Jonny is a very important player to us, he will get more opportunities but it has to be right for everyone.”
The Republic of Ireland international is held in high regard by his manager and is expected to be at the forefront of their strategy to deliver a decent result against Celtic.
McInnes had hoped to bring in one or two new faces during the transfer window, and expressed his satisfaction with having secured the loan signing of Ryan Christie from Celtic.
Aberdeen haven’t managed a league win at Parkhead since October 2004 and McInnes recognised the huge task ahead for his side.
“A lot of good teams and good managers haven’t managed to do what this [Celtic] team has done,” he said.
“We have to commit to being on the ball, being aggressive and trying to play the way we have in the past.”