Dons chairman Stewart Milne is delighted his management team are staying at the club after Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty decided to reject Sunderland’s approach and stay at Aberdeen.
McInnes, who is on holiday in Florida, broke the news to the Dons chairman on Thursday night he will remain at the club and Milne is thrilled his manager will continue to lead the club next season.
Derek McInnes is staying with the Dons having turned down Sunderland
Milne said: “I am personally absolutely delighted that Derek and Tony have agreed to stay and have never doubted their commitment to the club.
“Given what Derek has achieved here, there is inevitably going to be interest from other clubs and in making the decision to stay, he has demonstrated how much Aberdeen Football Club means to him.
“It is now up to all of us, the board, staff, players and supporters to show how much we appreciate having him at the helm by getting right behind him in every way possible.
“I make no bones about it, it would have been a massive blow to lose Derek at this time, not only when we are about to embark on the new season, but knowing that so much more can be achieved with them driving the club forward.”
Following McInnes’ decision to stay at Pittodrie the focus now turns to rebuilding a squad which has suffered from the departure of five key players since the Scottish Cup final following the departure of Niall McGinn, Ryan Jack, Ash Taylor, Peter Pawlett and Jonny Hayes.
Milne has vowed the board will do all it can to support the manager in his efforts to strengthen the squad and lead the club into a new era, hopefully in a new home.
He said: “Derek is not only ambitious for himself, he has real ambitions for the club and we are all on the same page as to what we would like to achieve over the next period.
“We are in the process of rebuilding a strong squad to ensure we continue our on-field progress, we need to deliver the new training and community facilities and subsequently the new stadium.
“Over the last four seasons, I have built up an extremely strong relationship with Derek and that has been very important through this current challenging time and I am convinced that by continuing to work closely together, and with the rest of the team, that relationship will go from strength to strength.”
