MARK McGhee last night praised Derek McInnes for turning down the chance to manage Sunderland to remain at Aberdeen – but predicted it will only be a matter of time before the “red hot” Scot is lured back down to England.
McInnes had last week appeared set to join the Stadium of Light club, who had agreed to pay compensation in the region of £1 million to their Pittodrie counterparts, after holding talks with their chief executive Martin Bain in Florida.
However, the 45-year-old, who has led the north east club to second-placed finishes in the Ladbrokes Premiership in each of the past three seasons, surprised both English and Scottish football on Thursday when he when opted to remain in his current position.
McGhee, the Scotland assistant manager who spent a spell in charge of Aberdeen, admitted he had been surprised the former Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dundee United midfielder had rejected the opportunity.
But the ex-Leicester City, Wolves, Millwall and Brighton manager feels McInnes will receive a more tempting offer than Sunderland, who have just been relegated from the Barclays Premier League and look set to be sold, from down south in the near future.
“I’ve been in that position lots of times and usually I made the wrong decision,” he said. “It is easy to do that. I still look back and think I shouldn’t have walked out on Leicester City. I looked at it and saw a massive opportunity at a huge club in Wolves. I felt it was something I had to take, but looking back I shouldn’t have.
“Sunderland are so much bigger than Aberdeen in so many ways, but Derek was able to look and see there was something that didn’t suit his needs. It shows a lot of intelligence that he is thinking it through and not just jumping at the next job that comes along.
“But I’m astonished that Aberdeen managed to keep him given the interest from down south. Derek has his reasons, but he is red hot and it won’t be long before someone else is trying to get him. It might only be a matter of time before there is something Derek fancies.
“He has made a name for himself after coming back from Bristol City. I know how difficult a job Aberdeen is. It is not easy.”
McInnes made his decision just days after it emerged that Dave Cormack, the Aberdeen-born United States-based multi-millionaire businessman, had made a significant investment in the Pittodrie club and had rejoined the board.
McGhee is confident the former St Johnstone and Bristol City manager will be able to rebuild his side after losing Jonny Hayes, Ryan Jack, Niall McGinn, Peter Pawlett and Ash Taylor and finish runners-up ahead of Rangers once again in the 2017/18 campaign if he remains in his current role.
“I think any funds he gets can keep them ahead of the rest, definitely,” he said. “I don’t think Derek would have stayed on if he didn’t have contingency plans to make further success possible.
“It is going to be a difficult thing to close the gap on Celtic as they have the Champions League money. To keep his profile high Derek has to keep ahead of Rangers.
“It is totally conceivable they will stay ahead of them. He has already done it and reached two cup finals last season.”
Meanwhile, McGhee, the former Celtic striker, has admitted he can understand Brendan Rodgers’ decision to sign Republic of Ireland internationalist Jonny Hayes from Aberdeen in a £1.3 million deal this weekend.
“Apart from anything else, he will make Aberdeen less of a threat,” said McGhee. “So there’s that.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here