Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has turned down moves away from Pittodrie and has reiterated his commitment to the Dons.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton and Hibernian’s Alan Stubbs have both been repeatedly linked with jobs south of the border, but the work by McInnes at Pittodrie has also been noticed.
The Aberdeen manager has already sampled life in the dugout in English football, having been sacked by Bristol City in January 2013, six months after saving the club from relegation from the Championship.
McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty signed four-year contract extensions in June to remain at Pittodrie until the summer of 2019.
Saturday’s trip to Kilmarnock will be McInnes’ 100th league match in charge of the Dons and the 44-year-old, who ended his club’s 19-year wait for a trophy by guiding the Dons to the 2014 League Cup, has much to achieve with Aberdeen.
McInnes is now the fourth longest-serving manager in Scottish football and said: “There have been opportunities had we courted a move and given it any encouragement.
“But we have quickly squashed that and moved on with this job as I don’t think there is any really benefit to any uncertainty.
“I am totally focused on this job and Tony and I signed new deals at the end of last season. We wanted to do that for loads of reasons, but the biggest was to crack on with the job here and hopefully see it through.
“We want to maximise what we think the squad and the club is capable of and I want to be part of that. While we may get linked with other jobs there is a lot to be said for being happy at your work. When we signed the new contracts we were really happy and nothing has changed. We still have work to do here.”
McInnes is still mulling over whether to investigate the possibility of extending Josh Parker’s stay at the club.
The Red Star Belgrade attacker, whose loan spell ends next month, has made 10 appearances for the Dons.
McInnes said: “We will just see how things go over the next two or three weeks.”