DEREK McInnes isn’t interested in changing England’s perception of Scottish football even if he would do just that if his Aberdeen team could beat Burnley.
It has become a national past-time south of the border to give our game a kicking by pundits, former players and journalists who have no idea what is going on up here but still believe they are well within their rights to tell us all where we are going wrong.
Adam Rooney’s move from Aberdeen to non-league Salford City had many rushing to tell us poor Jocks that this was a ‘new low’ for football in Scotland because it gets attention even if the point being made is completely wrong.
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Had Aberdeen wanted to keep Rooney, a fine servant but one whose best days had gone, they would have. He was hardly their best player as some have suggested.
Salford is a vanity project for Gary Neville and chums, backed up by Peter Lim a billionaire Singapore businessman.
The money in English football is not something to be pleased about. It is obscene. Everton paid £50m for Richarlison, a 21-year-old Brazilian from Watford, that’s Watford, who has no caps, medals, Champions League appearances or a goal since November.
For me, this is far more of a low than a fringe player being sold to a club with more money than sense.
“I am not bothered about people’s perception of Scottish football,” said McInnes. “People that don’t know Scottish football but still want to talk about it? That’s up to them but it’s not important to me.
"I know where we are and there’s a lot of good about Scottish football. Loads of players go from our league and go on to do very well and establish their careers at the bigger clubs in England. Last season two former players from our league played in the Champions League final for Liverpool.
“I’ve not got any time or interest to justify the Scottish League to people. We know where we are and from speaking to managers, scouts and recruitment people down in England I know there is a healthy regard for Scottish football.
“It’s like an opinion on anything. If you actually look at the subject and know what you are talking about and you still have an opinion on it then fair enough."
Burnley are in fact an English team that is easy to get behind. They finished seventh last season because their manager, Sean Dyche, is brilliant at his job at a club which lives within their means while punching well above their weight.
The Lancashire outfit have never beaten Real Madrid in a European final and never will. Aberdeen have two stars on their jersey, they beat Hamburg in the 1983 Super Cup, but in 2018 it is the club whose last major honour came in 1960 who is the ‘bigger’ of the two.
Money doesn’t so much talk in football, it yells. And while Dyche can spend millions, McInnes spends his time looking for bargains.
The Aberdeen manager was yesterday trying to sign a striker before the 11am European deadline but had got in Tommie Hoban on loan, a central defender from Watford, and goalkeeper Tomas Cerny.
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“It is more difficult to sign players (this summer) and we are not the only ones who are finding that,” said McInnes. “In certain positions there is a general feeling – and I get this from managers down south as well – that everyone is feeling it. It is difficult to get players in key positions.
“When you look at players on the out of contract list, as we do, or 18 months in advance, there is a dearth for certain positions. It’s not a surprise to be honest. If you ask the question on certain ones there is a chain effect because if clubs were to lose one, how do they find the money to find another.
“You get clubs inflating the prices of certain players which is maybe not an accurate assessment of where they are. That makes it even more or a challenge for us when we firstly go for out of contract players, then loan options and finally to try and buy a player, which is difficult.”
McInnes was delighted to get Hoban, a 24-year-old who may make his debut against Burnley at Pittodrie this evening.
“Tommie has had a lot of injuries in his career but he’s been given this opportunity to come here and play games and, if he stays free from injury, I think he will be a fantastic addition for us,” said the Aberdeen manager.
“I’ve got to know Tommie over the last ten days or so and I really like him as a boy. You get a gut feeling with all the signings you make once it gets to a certain stage and I have a really good feeling he will be a great signing for Aberdeen.”
Should Aberdeen beat Burnley, it would be one the best results McInnes has had.
“Real Sociedad finished seventh in La Liga and we were very close to getting a result here against them,” he said. “For a period in the second half, it looked like we might just have won that. They, for me, have been the best team we’ve played in the Europa League.
"However, Burnley will be as good as anything we’ve faced in Europe.”
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