Former Aberdeen captain Darren Young believes getting the players and fans to buy into the philosophy is the key to the next Dons manager being successful.
The search for a new Aberdeen manager is nearing an end with the club expecting to name the new boss before the return to domestic action next weekend against Ross County.
With Dons chairman Dave Cormack and his board of directors casting the net far and wide in their recruitment search, supporters could welcome only the second overseas appointment in the club’s history.
Elfsborg manager Jimmy Thelin has dropped out of the race as the process nears its conclusion.
Young played under former Dons boss Ebbe Skovdahl and was named captain by the Dane during his time in charge from 1999 to at 2002.
The 45-year-old, who is manager of Stirling Albion, believes the success stories in Scotland are the figures who have been able to get their ideas across.
He said: “Players have to adapt and buy into the manager who has to get his philosophy across.
“Look at Ange Postecoglou. A number of people wrote him off when he arrived at Celtic, just as they did with Philippe Clement at Rangers before he was even in the door.
“These guys succeed or fail dependent on the players they sign and how they get them to fit into the style they want to play.
“That’s the important bit. If fans can see what a manager is trying to do and are buying into it then it will work out fine.
“It’s when you are not getting the players to buy in, not getting the results and not getting the fans behind you that you run into problems.
“That grey area in between, where the performances are there but the results are not coming buys you some time but there is always an expectancy that you have turn those displays into results at some point.”
‘Players have to adapt or they are out the door’
Skovdahl’s introduction to Scottish football was a difficult one at Pittodrie as the team failed to score a goal in a six-game losing streak to start the 1999 season.
It took until the 10th league game for the Dons to pick up their first win courtesy of a remarkable 6-5 victory at Motherwell.
The Dons finished bottom of the SPL but reached the final of both domestic cup competitions before Skovdahl led the side to a seventh-place finish in his second season in charge and then fourth place in the 2001-02 campaign.
Young believes the evolution of the game has made the appointment of a foreign manager a less risky strategy for clubs.
He said: “It would be an easier transition today certainly than it was under Ebbe Skovdahl if Aberdeen go down that route.
“Nowadays players have to adapt to a manager or else they are out the door.
“Everything is more professional and geared towards performances and results. Players can still enjoy themselves but it is a different culture today.
“Again, look at Postecoglou when he went into Celtic. He was able to put his ideas into the club and they had great success.
“He earned himself a move to the Premier League in England, the biggest league in the world, and has been able to implement his ideas at Spurs now.
“You can see the effect having the right man and his ability to get his ideas across can have at a club.
“You need good players as well but using Postecoglou as an example, how they are playing this season compared to recent years is night and day under him.
“I know they have taken some heavy defeats but the fans are loving how they are going about their jobs even if their players are not winning every week.”
Dons have struggled for consistency
Cormack has long clamoured for an attacking and entertaining brand of winning football since replacing Stewart Milne as chairman at the club.
Young, however, knows it can be difficult to achieve both, as former Dons managers have discovered.
He said: “There were one or two managers in the past who were finishing third or fourth, reaching cup semis and finals, and getting into Europe every year while there team maybe wasn’t playing great.
“But what they had was teams who could fight and scrap. It comes down to what you want.
“Do you want results or do you want a team which plays pass, pass, pass and is easy on the eye but is struggling to win games regularly?
“Everyone wants both wins and entertainment and I’ve had this at clubs I’ve been at myself.
“The spells after Jimmy Calderwood and Derek McInnes have not been great for Aberdeen.
“I look at the players these guys lost consistently year on year because they were doing well. They were signing guys on frees or for £50,000 then selling them on for big profits.
“When you find a gem, as soon as they do well they have the opportunity to treble their wages and you can’t do that at Aberdeen so you have to accept a bid, sell them on and try to do it all over again.
“It’s hard to always find that gem.”
Aberdeen need a period of stability
Having watched the Dons appoint three managers in Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin and Barry Robson since Derek McInnes left the club in 2021, Young believes the club needs stability.
The former Dons skipper, whose side faced Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup earlier this season, says it is natural for players to feel uncertain due to the managerial changes.
He said: “Every manager should be given an opportunity to make a go of things when they come in.
“If you are a club and you have appointed a manager I’m of the belief you need to let them have a real attempt at building something.
“Bringing a manager in now is clearly with a view to next season. You may get a wee boost from their appointment.
“That’s why I struggled to understand Neil Warnock’s appointment.
“Here was a guy coming in who wasn’t going to be there next season and some players might have been wondering what was going on.
“I wouldn’t have, I ran about daft anyway whoever I played for, but I do wonder if the club looks back and thinks they’ve wasted some valuable time with their approach.
“But when the new manager is in everyone is on their toes and has a spring in their step.
“A new gaffer brings a response straight away as it’s clear what is happening and who players have to impress.”
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