Derek McInnes may have the better win ratio in his first 100 league games but the Aberdeen manager is the first to admit he has a long way to go before he can match Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievements at Pittodrie.
This Saturday’s trip to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock will be McInnes’ 100th league match in charge of the Dons.
Ferguson won 47 of his first 100 league games with the Dons, while McInnes is seeking his 57th win tomorrow.
But the Dons manager admits he is embarrassed by comparisons between himself and the man who guided the Dons to three top flight titles and the Cup-Winners’ Cup.
He said: “Of course it is – because how can you be compared? It’s my 100th game but to me it’s just another match and chance to get three points.
“What the record does show is that in the last two-and-a-half years we have shown a lot of consistency.
“The challenge is to improve on it again and, hopefully, I’ll be sitting here after 200 games with a similar win record or maybe even better.
“We would love to improve it. The record shows how hard everyone has worked and the players deserve a lot of credit for the way they’ve performed.”
McInnes said he was pleased chairman Stewart Milne identified delivering a training facility for the Dons as his top priority at this week’s annual meeting.
The Aberdeen manager said: “The chairman is fiercely ambitious and determined to deliver the new stadium and the training facility.
“The most significant thing off the pitch in the last year has been getting debt free because that is huge for the years ahead.
“Now we have to maximise what we’ve got as a club and the stadium and training facility is part of that.
“If we can increase revenue through getting a new stadium and improve things on the park through a training ground then that’s what we’re aiming to do.
“Not having a training facility has been a hindrance and not having a new modern stadium is also a hindrance. But we’re all doing our best with what we’re working with and the chairman is working hard to make it happen.”
McInnes, meanwhile, dismissed reports linking Dundee United defender Ryan McGowan with a move to Pittodrie.
He said: “There is nothing in that story. I don’t want to be answering every time I have been linked with a player but in that one specifically there’s nothing in it.”