I snubbed Sunderland because Dons are going places says Mcinnes

place now where he can concentrate on just being him, and playing football.”

You can tell this appeals to Stewart after a madcap ten months at Birmingham. Not only was Rowett sacked the morning after a win, against Ipswich Town, the side were seventh in the league at the time. No wonder Mcinnes thought again about joining up at Sunderland, a club with a similar reputation for instability. Such unpredicta

- bined with the desperate need to return to the Premier League.

“We won the game the night before at home to Ipswich and were three points off third and we went into training the following morning and he (Rowett) was sacked,” recounted Stewart. “We were like: ‘What’s going on here?’ It’s a crazy world.”

“He (Mcinnes) could have done well in England and still be out of a job. We were doing well at Birmingham and were in the play-offs when the manager was sacked.”

But Stewart sounds far from disillusioned with life. He is desperate to remind Aberdeen fans what he can do after shining against the Pittodrie side for Dundee.

“You get ups and downs in football and, hopefully, I can learn from that and show what I’ve got,” he said. “I’ve not even thought beyond this season.

“I just want to get fit, get games, get my match sharpness back and prove a point to myself because last season was so disappointing.” given the greater financial incentives on offer south of the Border. But in a press statement just under a fortnight ago, Mcinnes announced he’d decided to stay with Aberdeen.

Sunderland owner Ellis Short’s desperate desire to sell the club was reckoned to have had a crucial part to play in his decision. But Mcinnes was reluctant to divulge what he learned about Sunderland from discussions with club officials.

“Was the ownership issue a factor? I don’t want to get into the ins and outs of it, to be honest,” he said. “I took my time, I thought long and hard about it.

“There was real transparency when speaking to them but after putting everything together a decision had to be made. And in