‘Fans will respond if Dons pick right man’

Gothenburg Great Stuart Kennedy believes Aberdeen is still a major draw for managers despite recent troubled times.

And the club legend reckons if the Dons’ hierarchy can get the next managerial appointment right, fans will respond by packing out Pittodrie.

However Kennedy warned the pressure is mounting on chairman Dave Cormack and the club’s board to deliver a manager who can bring success to the club.

When sacking Jim Goodwin following a 6-0 loss at Hibs it was the third time Cormack and the board had axed a manager in two years.

Stephen Glass was axed in February 2022 with Derek McInnes dismissed in March

2021.

Kennedy said: “Aberdeen will be a big lure for managers.

“It is a big job and there will be a lot of managers looking at it.

“Any manager looking at the post should be thinking Aberdeen can be a successful club.

“If you are successful as Aberdeen manager you can get 18,000 to 19,000 fans at Pittodrie.

“The fans are out there waiting, wondering what is going to happen. “They are thinking ‘Show us something with the new manager appointment’. “If Aberdeen do that, the fans will turn up in force.” Development phase manager Barry Robson, pictured, has been placed in interim charge of Aberdeen as the hunt for a new manager continues. Robson is assisted by Steve Agnew who has previously been No. 2 at Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, West Brom and Hull City.

Aberdeen’s board have some breathing space in the hunt to appoint Goodwin’s successor as the Dons have no game this weekend.

The Reds are next in action when travelling to Premiership leaders Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday February 18.

Former Sheffield United and Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder was on Aberdeen’s radar but is now out of the running.

The Dons had a discussion with Wilder’s agent but it is understood the 55-year-old views a different route back into management.

Aberdeen have been inundated with applications, but the Pittodrie hierarchy are willing to take their time to appoint a manager.

Aberdeen defender Anthony Stewart has been ruled out for a number of weeks after suffering a “freakish injury” during training with MK Dons.

Head coach Mark Jackson said: “He’s picked up a freakish injury in training. We have to assess it and look at it in more depth to see what the extent of it is.

“We’re hopeful it might not be too long, but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, just in case.

“It won’t be days, it’s going to be weeks but there’s no specific timeframe on it yet.”

Stewart, 30, who was Dons captain, completed a transfer deadline-day loan move to League One MK Dons until the end of the season.

It was a loan move sanctioned by interim Aberdeen boss Barry Robson who then made on-loan Wigan midfielder Graeme Shinnie skipper.

Centre-back Stewart is contracted to Aberdeen until summer 2024.

He has yet to make his debut for MK Dons as a suspension carried over from his time in Scotland prevented him from playing in last weekend’s defeat of Bristol Rovers.

Signed by former Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin from Wycombe Wanderers last summer, Stewart moved out on loan as part of a defensive reshuffle at Pittodrie.

Watford centre-back Mattie Pollock arrived on a season-long loan from Championship Watford.

Former Swindon Town centre-back Angus MacDonald was secured on a short-term, non-loan deal until the end of the season.

Pollock and MacDonald have both started the two games interim boss Robson has managed.

The injury is the latest blow for Stewart who was sent off twice during Aberdeen’s dramatic crash in form after the winter break. He was redcarded in a 3-1 loss at St Mirren in December 24 and against Rangers in the League Cup semi in January.