Derek McInnes appreciates the support he has received – but insists his focus is on righting Aberdeen’s stuttering season.
The Dons have won just once in their last nine games and have not scored in their last five, which has seen critics turn on McInnes over results and his style of play.
The task does not get any easier for the Aberdeen manager as he takes his side to Celtic tonight, who up until recently had been going through their own tumultuous period and saw their own supporters call for Neil Lennon to go.
McInnes has spoken to his counterpart at Parkhead and acknowledges the backing he has received during Aberdeen’s loss of form.
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However, the attention now has to be on correcting their slump before the season is lost.
He said: “We speak now and then, we message regular. But there’s been lots of support externally, from people within the game, from people in the media and people I’ve had good relationships with. I think we all recognised as managers when you’re in a tough situation and there’s an understanding of what can be a challenging situation.
“For myself at the minute, we take responsibility for the situation that we’re in, we’ve got to deal with the situation and hopefully we can work our way through it by finishing the season strong. That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s nice to have support but at the end of the day it’s about results and we’re trying to finish the season stronger certainly than we have been in the last few weeks.
“Football can change pretty quickly but there’s obviously been a huge focus on Celtic’s campaign this season for obvious reasons. There was a lot of spotlight on ten in a row. It was always going to be difficult. They’ve been a very successful club over a period of time but this year there was a lot of scrutiny on them and obviously they’ve not been able to get that consistency that they’ve normally shown in the Premiership to be closer to Rangers.
“There’s a lot of fallout from that and being managers, when more is expected, you get criticised but I think in general it can change quickly. In Neil’s case, the evidence is there. He’s been a successful Celtic manager in the past and will continue to be that I’m sure.”
The Aberdeen manager believes those in the profession have a greater understanding of the challenges of management, following the support he has received.
McInnes added: “I think managers certainly have a better grasp of it. You’re not expecting it to be a bed of roses all the time. You’ve got to deal with the good times and enjoy that but you’ve as a manager at the front of the club, you’ve got to lead so many people and try get your club through it.
“We are responsible for where we are at the minute. We’ve got to deal with it. We’ve been through times before and come through it. There’s no reason to think we can’t come through this as well.”