NO RED SMOKE
Burrows admits Dons have been frustrated in search for new boss
ABERDEEN’S hunt for a manager will run into next week after chief executive Alan Burrows acknowledged that a new boss is ‘unlikely’ to be appointed before tomorrow’s crunch league clash with Ross County.
The early departure of interim boss Neil Warnock on March 9 had triggered an undertaking from the Pittodrie hierarchy that they were looking to bring in a permanent replacement during the international break.
With the search narrowed down to a shortlist of two or three candidates, the Dons held further talks with at least one of them in midweek. However, the club are yet to reach agreement with a manager willing to accept the challenge of lifting the team clear of relegation play-off danger — and caretaker Peter Leven will take charge for the County match while the process continues.
‘The search for a new manager is ongoing,’ Burrows told the Aberdeen YouTube site. ‘I would like to think it’s now entering the very final stages.
‘Obviously, we said a couple of weeks ago that we hoped to appoint during the international break.
‘It looks unlikely, unfortunately, at this stage that this is going to happen during this international break.
‘But what I would say, and I want to re-emphasise, is that it’s absolutely important that we get this appointment right, rather than quick.
‘And whilst this whole process has gone on a little bit longer than anyone would have either hoped or anticipated, the key focus for us is to ensure the accuracy of the appointment, that it’s right in the long term for Aberdeen Football Club.
‘So, rather than panic and go into something to just get us through a timescale, it’s important that we get it right and that’s where we are now, but, hopefully, the process isn’t going to take too much longer.’
After Warnock’s exit following the 3-1 Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock at Pittodrie on March 9, Burrows (pictured with chairman Dave Cormack) had said the club’s aim was ‘to appoint a first-team manager during the upcoming international break.’
Appointed until the end of the season on February 5, Warnock and assistant Ronnie Jepson replaced the sacked Barry Robson but failed to win in six Premiership games.
The Dons now sit ninth in the league, just three points ahead of County in the relegation play-off place ahead of tomorrow’s showdown at Pittodrie. Asked about the expectation that someone would be in place before that game, Burrows said: ‘We had that expectation as well. But the reality is, during these parts of the process, things happen all the time and you have to react to that.
‘And that’s what we’ve had to do. We had to ensure that we didn’t lose focus on what was important — and what is important is getting the right person for Aberdeen.
‘We also have had to ensure that we didn’t lessen ourselves because we’re under some sort of pressure of time.
‘But, at the same time, we said that, we went public with that. Obviously, it was on the back of Neil leaving the club and we thought, at that particular time, that things were ready to finalise. Some things come along that you need to react to and we’re still there at that particular point, but we’re still hopeful that the person we have earmarked and the person we have identified is someone who we can appoint to the Aberdeen manager’s role very soon.’