I apologise to our fans... they deserve better ...I am embarrassed humiliated & shell shocked at events of the last week
Dons chief Cormack struggles to find words as events at Pittodrie go from bad to dismal
The emotion in the tearful eyes of Dave Cormack could not be disguised as he offered an apology to Aberdeen supporters which was heartfelt.
But the Dons chairman will know the damage of dithering over his decision on the future of Jim Goodwin was partly behind yesterday’s six- goal drubbing at Hibs.
A dead man walking and a boss on the brink of one bad result putting him over the edge was never going to be an enduring scenario and was always going to have a sour end.
And so it came to pass at Easter
Road yesterday as Cormack welled up in a post-match press conference where he read from a statement before putting more meat on the bones on another quick-fire managerial exit.
It’s now the start of another era which begins this morning with a recruitment plan.
He said: “We wi l l gather tomorrow as a group and have a conversation. We haven’t even discussed it, I’ve been around each of the directors of where we are today. I feel for Jim and his family today and for Sharpy, his assistant. They are two guys who have lost their jobs.
“Jim is a very honourable and decent man, honest , trustworthy, transparent and I feel for him. This is a decision that both Jim and I said we immediately needed to make.”
Goodwin lasted just 343 days at Pittodrie and Cormack, who will delay plans to fly to America which were scheduled for today, believes everyone involved in Aberdeen’s football department must take their share of the blame for failure.
He said: “I apologise to our fans because they deserve better. It’s not a lack of investment, when running a business, whether it’s a football club or in my background in software companies, it’s about having a strategy and a vision. That’s all fair and well but it’s down to having the right people in place at the right time that are able to execute it.
“I’m determined from my perspective and the board’s to continue to drive this forward. We’re obviously looking for a new stadium to build, I won’t say anymore about that.
“Embarrassed, humiliated, just shell shocked at the last week are the words I have. That’s how our fans feel and I feel for them, I apologise to them.”
to cement the future of a manager under ‘ last chance’ pressure then it was delivered in the capital yesterday. But Cormack believes the writing has been on the wall during weeks of dismal displays.
He said: “The results since the World Cup have been completely unacceptable. We had 1700 of them here today, I used to be one of them. I was one of the 5000 here when we won the league back in 1980, when we won 5- 0.
“I feel for them. Personally I feel I have let down the supporters. I met with Jim and he is a thoroughly decent man as most of you know. He came and gave me a hug and said it wasn’t good enough. We really did not need
to say much more than that. He has given it everything he could but the simple fact is the results since the World Cup have not been good enough.
“Our away form has just been abysmal, totally unacceptable.
“The players need to take responsibility too. It is always the managers who get it. I am chairman of the club, 64 now. I first went to Pittodrie when I was about six and fell in love with the club then.
“Now I am the chairman and I take responsibility when things go wrong as they have now.
“You make decisions. Yes, I have got a board who are there but it really does not matter that things off the field commercially and otherwise have gone well.
“Our academy has gone well but at the end of the day first team results are what matters.
“It has been a really tough week. I lost my 90-year-old uncle who was a second dad to me growing up and he was at Pittodrie al l the way up to Christmas. I stayed on to go to his funeral this week.”
Cormack was asked if a more experienced boss should be on his radar after the failure of two relative rookies but he insists his focus is on reaching out to the Dons fans.
He said: “We’ll deal with that in due course, I’m here talking to you because I want to talk to our fans and I want them to know I feel that I’ve let them down. It’s not a lack of investment and we’re determined to get it right.”