CONCERNS about the lack of funds which would be made available to sign players and uncertainty over future club ownership resulted in Derek McInnes turning down the chance to take over as Sunderland manager, it has been claimed.
McInnes was widely expected to leave Aberdeen after four successful seasons in charge when Sunderland agreed to pay £1 million in compensation for his services earlier this week.
However, on Thursday evening it was announced the 45-year-old would be remaining.
The opportunity to move to Wearside and revitalise the fortunes of a club which was relegated from the Barclays Premier League last season — substantially increasing his income in the process — had seemed too tempting to refuse despite their recent difficulties.
It seemed highly unlikely that Sunderland, where former Rangers chief executive Martin Bain now performs the same role as he did during his tenure at Ibrox, would go to the trouble of making an official approach to Aberdeen unless they were certain that McInnes was interested in joining them.
However, it had also emerged last week that American owner Ellis Short, who is keen to sell his majority shareholding, held talks with a German consortium about a possible takeover.
David Preece, the former Aberdeen goalkeeper who started his career at his home town club Sunderland and now writes a weekly column for the local newspaper there, believes the Scot would have had limited finances had he agreed to succeed his countryman Davie Moyes.
Preece also feels McInnes would have risked being sacked — even if he had done a good job — once Short had offloaded his stake and new proprietors had come on board.
“I was led to believe that Derek was very keen on the job,” he said.
“Something must have happened to put him off. It is worrying for Sunderland fans. I am sure he doesn’t want to walk into another Bristol City. He wants to give himself the best chance of being successful.
“I am afraid the next Sunderland manager will simply be there to steady the ship until there is a takeover. Until the club is sold there won’t be a lot of investment. There is just too much instability around the club at the minute.”
Preece, though, believes it may not be long before another English club attempts to lure McInnes, who has led Aberdeen to three consecutive second-placed finishes during his time at Pittodrie, come calling.
“Sunderland’s interest in Derek and approach will have heightened his profile down south,” he said.
“I am sure it won’t be long before another club tries to get him.”
McInnes isn’t the first Aberdeen manager to turn down the chance to join a major English club during his time at Pittodrie — Alex Ferguson revealed in his autobiography that he had rejected “serious offers” from Arsenal, Spurs and Wolves as well as approaches from Rangers twice before finally deciding to take over at Manchester United in 1986.
Alex Smith, who won the League Cup and Scottish Cup during his four year spell in charge of Aberdeen between 1988 and 1992, feels that McInnes is correct to resist the temptation to move to a bigger club for more money.
“It’s a smart move from a football perspective,” said Smith, who is the chairman of the Scottish League Managers’ Association.
“Being able to work safe in the knowledge that you’re comfortable, that your job is reasonably secure, that you’re not going to lose your job if you lose a game, is a good situation to be in.
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