If Derek McInnes needed confirmation that he made the right decision by rejecting Sunderland’s tempting – not to say lucrative – summer
offer to become their manager, it came with the news that second choice Simon Grayson was handed his jotters after just four months and 18 games in charge.
That is not to say the Aberdeen manager would have found himself in similar circumstances had he accepted the Black Cats’ invitation to lead from the Championship, their current home after relegation from the Premier League under David Moyes, and back into the top tier.
But whatever it is McInnes possesses that allowed him to recognise progress and career prospects would have suffered had he moved from the North-east of Scotland to the North-east of England, it has served him well.
Today, of course, he finds himself consumed by speculation over another position, that of manager of Rangers, speculation about which, he insists, he is content to shrug-off.
He is, however, concerned over the increasing trend of club owners and chairmen showing head coaches the door so soon after their appointments and cites the Dons and Hamilton Accies, their New Douglas Park opponents tomorrow, as clubs of a more stable nature.
“It was sad to see the news about Simon,” he said, “and it doesn’t give me any satisfaction seeing that because he is a good manager. He proved that before he went there and I’m sure he will prove that again elsewhere. It just shows you the difficulties managers have.
“They are not blameless for results, of course, but when things are as poor as that then it’s an indication that it’s more than the manager.
“It’s sad to see someone lose their job so early in the season like that but it’s clearly very difficult circumstances to be working in.
“I can only speak for myself and the way I felt at the time because I don’t know the ins and outs of what’s gone on there.
“Clearly it wasn’t going to be an easy job; you don’t get easy ones. So, it was always going to be tough and that’s how Simon has found it.
“My worry is that up in Scotland we are in a bit of danger of becoming like it is down south.
“We’ve seen a third of the managers in the Premiership sacked before November and there has been a lot of casualties in the Championship and elsewhere too.”
Now more than four years at Pittodrie and not inclined to be drawn into whether he will head imminently for Paisley Road West as Pedro Caixinha’s replacement, McInnes did not see the value in clubs making sudden changes in their management structure when teams hit a poor patch.
Read more: Rangers speculation won't affect Aberdeen or Derek McInnes, says Hamilton's Martin Canning
He held up those in charge in the boardrooms of Aberdeen and Accies as examples of chairmen refusing to trod that path.
“These days there seems to be more knee-jerk reactions,” he added. “It’s the modern way because you can quickly get a groundswell against a manager.
“The whole thing has completely changed. I think it’s totally different being a manager now compared to ten or fifteen years ago.
“We all know what we’re getting into when we take jobs, so you can’t complain too much. But that doesn’t mean you have to agree with what’s happening.
“Someone like my chairman, Stewart Milne, knows that results can fluctuate. But you have others who always think there is someone better round the corner, someone to do a better job.
“Results have always got to be there or a manager feels the heat. But it helps when you have a chairman who has been through a lot worse and understands the game. Hamilton are the perfect example.
“I’ve been at Hamilton games and while they don’t have the biggest support they can let you know when things are not going their way. But Hamilton deserve huge credit for their perseverance and doggedness.
“They are everyone’s favourites to get relegated at the start of the season but they keep proving people wrong.
“For every manager who gets harshly treated and loses his job too early there are good examples, like Hamilton and Martin Canning.
“The board recognised the challenges ahead and showed stickability and you would not bet against Hamilton being a Scottish Premiership team
again next season.”
But would you wager that McInnes would be named the Rangers manager, perhaps during the up-coming international break?
It was business as usual at Pittodrie, he stressed, and that he had no control over his name being associated with the post.
“We are another week on but we don’t determine speculation," he said. “We can’t dictate what is written or said.
“For myself and the players, it’s always about being professional and working towards the next game. That’s exactly the way it’s been this week.”
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