GREG, JOE DON DEALS
From Back Page on for an extra two years. He’s been magnificent from day one here and he’s a big hit with the fans.
“Joe is an integral part of what we want to do here and I’m absolutely delighted he’s staying.”
Lewis will be joined at Pittodrie by Birmingham striker Stewart who is set to move on a season-long loan.
Blues boss Harry Redknapp claimed Scottish clubs couldn’t afford Stewart’s wages after the Dons, Motherwell, Dundee and Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibs were all interested.
But Aberdeen have won the battle for the 27-yearold’s signature as McInnes looks to bring in new faces after losing key payers.
Stewart hit 32 goals in just over two seasons at Dundee and Birmingham splashed out an initial £500,000 fee for the frontman.
But he failed to hit the target in 22 appearances last term, struggling for starts under Gary Rowett, Gianfranco Zola and Redknapp.
McInnes is also still hopeful Maloney will join his hometown club as he mulls over a two-year offer with a 12-month extension on the table at Hull.
But it was the news Lewis had committed to the club until at least 2020 that pleased the Dons boss yesterday and the keeper admitted Pittodrie was the only place for him.
He said: “I’m thoroughly enjoying my time here and it was an easy decision to make to stay longer.
“My family love it here and have settled in really well and from my perspective I want to win trophies here after coming so close last season.
“The opportunity to play in Europe regularly is another bonus and one that cannot be underestimated.” OF all the candidates lining up to give Rangers chairman Dave King a verbal kicking, Kenny Black should be at the head of the queue.
Whether it’s taking exception to the two-in-a-row comment regarding Celtic or his devaluing of the league in Rangers’ four-year absence the Bradford assistant boss bristles at every word.
That lack of respect for the best of the rest in Scottish football is an incendiary slight on the man who worked under Stuart McCall during the season Motherwell finished second after Rangers were shunted into the bottom tier.
Two successive runners-up spots were then racked up by the Fir Park club and Black said: “You have to think there’s a serious bit of gamesmanship going on with King and his comments.
“Listen, in the real world you can’t take away what Celtic have achieved with or without Rangers, whatever way you want to look at it. They’ve just had a fantastic season and nothing King has said can diminish that.
“The first season when Rangers were demoted right to the bottom division in 2012 we actually finished third. But when Rangers were demoted it projected us into second place and qualified us for the Champions League qualifiers.
“That in itself was a remarkable achievement for a club like Motherwell no matter how you want to look at it. Nothing and nobody can take that away.
“To have Fir Park hosting Champions League football was great. For a club that could attract between 5000-7000 fans to their home games it was a great honour to be involved in the draw. In the