CLINGING ON TO A SPECIAL BOND
Strong relationship with chairman Milne essential to McInnes staying at Aberdeen
SO much for the magnetic attraction of English football, then. So much for money not just talking but barking orders from the rooftops. And so much for loyalty in the game being a concept that belongs to a bygone age.
When Derek McInnes returns from his family holiday in the US tomorrow, there are many who feel his final yards back into Pittodrie should be made on a sedan chair.
The Aberdeen manager’s decision to shun Sunderland in order to extend his stay in the Granite City beyond four years was remarkable in many senses. Not least of which was that it disproved the theory that personal satisfaction and professional approval can only be obtained by hopping over Hadrian’s Wall at the earliest possible opportunity.
In line to triple, perhaps even quadruple, his salary had he moved to the Stadium of Light, the 45-year-old was naturally open to hearing what Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain had to say when they spoke at length in Florida on Thursday.
The former Rangers chief executive seemingly talked in figures that resembled telephone numbers: Turnover. Wage bill. Average gates. And eye-watering salaries and bonuses.
A last recorded debt of £110.4 million together with a possible takeover by a German consortium are unlikely to have figured too prominently in his sales pitch, however.
While many a man might have glossed over the devilish detail in the face of such handsome personal remuneration, Bain simply could not offer McInnes a guarantee of the two things he enjoys most at Pittodrie — as good a relationship with his paymasters as any manager could wish for and a stable working environment. In the final reckoning, those things simply meant more to the Dons boss.
It’s impossible to put too much store in how much McInnes values the rapport he enjoys with his chairman Stewart Milne and chief executive Duncan Fraser.
After Sunderland were granted permission to speak to the Dons boss on Wednesday, the former is believed to have made an impassioned personal plea for his manager to stay but his words of praise for what McInnes has achieved were superfluous.
A huge mutual respect between the boardroom and dugout have been the cornerstone of the club’s success since McInnes was appointed in April 2013. And it will take a great deal for those ties to be severed any time soon.
There’s little question, though, that the reintroduction of Dave Cormack to the equation has increased not only McInnes’ desire to keep the club highly competitive, but has fuelled his belief that it can be done.
Last year, Cormack, who was chief executive between 2000 and 2001, sold his American-based software company for £600m and this week returned to Pittodrie as a ‘major shareholder’ promising to make a ‘substantial investment’. By any stretch of the imagination, he is a serious player.
Promising to oversee a new digital marketing platform and use innovative business ideas to grow a club that is now debt-free, Cormack’s expertise is likely to be every bit as useful the hard cash from his deep pockets. Navigating the club through the planning and funding maze which leads to a new training centre and stadium will be on top of his in-tray.
While news of Cormack’s return was only made public this week, McInnes is believed to have been aware of it for some time and will recognise its game-changing potential for the club.
The upwards trajectory it points towards contrasts sharply with the uncertainty that engulfs any club that’s been relegated from the English Premier League.
Even accounting for a parachute payment, Deloitte’s Sports Business Group estimate Sunderland will be between £55m and £65m worse off than last season. That equates to player sales and a reduced wage bill while still requiring to go straight back up. It’s not hard to surmise that McInnes might well have dodged a bullet.
Perhaps then, for all its limitations and petty squabbles, Scottish football has a new-found appeal.
Brendan Rodgers claims he’s never been happier in his working life than he’s been at Celtic in the past year and the same seems to apply to his Aberdeen counterpart.
After a period where insolvency was rife, there seems a realisation the game in general can only prosper if clubs live within their means. Those lamenting the ‘downsizing’ of recent times are missing the point entirely. The early noughties — when money was spent like it was going out of fashion — were completely artificial. The prudence of today was always closer to our reality. It’s sustainability that keeps the administrator at arm’s length. In England, the chickens still haven’t come home to roost. Bolton’s debt was recently recorded at £172.9m. Queens Park Rangers weighed in at £179.6m. All a consequence of believing the Premier League TV cash gravy train would never hit the buffers.
The pockets of Scotland’s clubs will never be bulging with the riches of their Anglo equivalents but nor will we be ruined by it like so many down south have been. As McInnes will doubtless concur, there’s a lot to be said for being strong and stable.
Those Aberdeen fans who viewed the departure of their manager as a desperately low blow after the loss of no less than five first-team players are now viewing the future with optimism again.
Shaun Maloney is one possible signing. Steven Naismith’s name has been mentioned. Both represent a calibre of player that might not have looked twice at Aberdeen had McInnes taken Sunderland’s shilling.
‘It looked to be a surprise, but I think that Derek would look to weigh up all the circumstances,’ said former Scotland and Aberdeen manager Craig Brown.
‘I’m sure he sees, and he has stated, that there is unfinished work at Aberdeen.
‘The big attraction to remain at Aberdeen would be the fact that he is almost guaranteed European football every year.
‘Everyone I have spoken to is delighted that Derek and Tony (Docherty) are staying and the impact will be considerable.
‘It would have to be an exceptional club before Derek would be tempted to go down south and have another interview.’
For the meantime, at least, that’s simply not a concern.
There is huge mutual respect between the boardroom and dugout