Alex Ferguson advises Aberdeen in search for new manager

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson has urged him to find a new manager who aims to win in Glasgow.

Cormack is considering the first managerial appointment of his Pittodrie career and has had the benefit of listening to the man who set the standards that all Aberdeen managers will aspire to get somewhere close to.

The Georgia-based businessman denied rumours that Atlanta United 2 head coach Stephen Glass had already been offered the job and promised to conduct a thorough process to recruit a successor to Derek McInnes.

Under-20s head coach Paul Sheerin is set to take charge of Saturday’s Scottish Premiership match against Dundee United with the support of coaches Barry Robson and Neil Simpson.

Cormack told the club’s Red TV: “I talked to Sir Alex Ferguson. He called me on Friday and reminded me that – in his opinion, and I agree with him – that Aberdeen Football Club is the hardest club to manage outside of Celtic and Rangers, and the hardest club to be chairman of. It’s a prestigious position for anyone.

“He said to me ‘Listen, Dave, as you look forward and make this appointment, the relationship between the chairman and manager is critical. You make sure that you do your due diligence but you pick someone who is the right person for yourself to deal with and for the club’.

“He reminded me that we have a clear strategy in how we want to play and that Neil Simpson for example is a great asset and suggests that Neil Simpson is involved with the first team, because the guy is an absolute winner through and through and epitomises what it means to be an Aberdeen player.

“He reminded me as well that there’s lots of people, perhaps pundits in the media, that don’t want Aberdeen to do well and probably don’t want me to do well. Ignore that.

“He said ‘listen, you find a coach that you can work with, someone who can go to Glasgow and aim to beat Celtic and Rangers, don’t look for second best and someone that is on the offence’.

“He asked me how I was feeling and I said: ‘Well, Sir Alex, I’m nervous but really excited as well’. He said ‘Good, that’s exactly the way it should be’.”

Cormack added: “Sir Alex has made himself available for me to use as a sounding board as we go through this process and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will take him up on that.”

The Dons chairman was set to discuss applications and “approaches we have made ourselves” with fellow board members.

He added: “Just to make it clear, no one person has been offered the job or guaranteed the job. Myself and nobody else that I know of is isolating in the Crowne Plaza in Aberdeen.

“We will go through a process and it will take as long as it will take. It might be two weeks, it might be longer.

“People that know me, (know that) I am a real process guy. We have got a clear criteria of what we are looking for.”