DONS DELIGHT
McInnes turns down move to Sunderland
DEREK McINNES turned his back on a triple-your-money deal at Sunderland — after being promised significant funds to rebuild Aberdeen.
The Dons manager stunned football last night by snubbing the chance to take over from David Moyes at the Stadium of Light.
He was widely expected to move to the English Championship side after the clubs agreed a £1million compensation package for himself and assistant Tony Docherty.
But, in a statement last night, McInnes revealed he would be
staying put, saying: ‘I have ambitions in the game and, while there was interest from elsewhere, and I did talk to Sunderland, I feel there is so much still to be done here at Aberdeen.’ Still on holiday in Florida, the 45-year-old had spoken at length to Sunderland officials about their plan to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. But, having slept on the matter, McInnes simply felt his interests were better served by remaining in the Granite City, where he has enjoyed four successful seasons. Although he has lost a string of key players this summer, the Dons board have made it clear to him that they have no intention of seeing the club go backwards. The return to Pittodrie this week of former chief executive Dave Cormack also figured prominently in McInnes’ thinking. The 58-year-old, who sold his software company for £567m last year, went public this week with his plans to invest in his boyhood heroes and see them go from strength to strength. Last season, the Dons finished runners-up to Celtic in all three domestic competitions. And McInnes said the challenge of going one step further next season with a revamped squad was his prime motivation for staying. ‘We have improved season on season and that is not something I’m planning on changing,’ he continued. ‘While we have lost players from last season, they will be replaced by signings of similar quality and our first challenge is to reach the group stage of the Europa League after coming so close in each of the last three seasons. ‘The recent investment in the club from Dave Cormack, who has rejoined the board, now puts us in an even healthier situation financially and that will allow us to take the club to the next stage.’ McInnes had spoken about how much he values his relationship with chairman Stewart Milne in order to keep progressing. And last night Milne said: ‘I am absolutely delighted that Derek and Tony have agreed to stay and have never doubted their commitment to the club. ‘Given what Derek has achieved here, there is inevitably going to be interest from other clubs and, in making the decision to stay, he has demonstrated how much Aberdeen means to him. It is now up to all of us to show how much we appreciate having him at the helm by getting right behind him in every way possible. ‘It would have been a massive blow to lose Derek at this time, not only when we are about to embark on the new season, but knowing that so much more can be achieved with them driving the club forward.’ Meanwhile, Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain said: ‘We have been in talks with a number of candidates. In the last few days, we have been negotiating with Aberdeen and Derek McInnes. ‘But, after initial discussions, both ourselves and Derek have decided not to progress further and we will continue our recruitment process.’