Aberdeen
chairman Stewart Milne, flanked by actor and Gary Tank Commander star
Greg McHugh, and comedian John Bishop at the Street Soccer Scotland
annual dinner. Picture: SNS
CELTIC’S imminent qualification for the Champions League group stages
is good news for the rest of Scottish football, including last season’s
nearest challengers Aberdeen.
That is the rather surprising conclusion reached by the Pittodrie
side’s chairman Stewart Milne, considering it will swell the Parkhead
side’s spending power by a further guaranteed £30m. As counter intuitive
as it sounds for their title hopes, it is worth remembering that
Aberdeen - in addition to the blanket £250,00 which all Scottish clubs
got for Celtic’s
efforts - received in excess of £1m of the Parkhead side’s money for
the services of Jonny Hayes, and have positioned themselves cleverly to
take the club’s cast offs such as Gary Mackay Steven and Ryan Christie.
Milne, indeed, would dearly love to see Celtic’s continental involvement
stretch beyond Christmas.
“I think it is great news for Scottish football,” said Milne, speaking at a Street Soccer Scotland/Sir Alex Ferguson fundraising night at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow. “I think we all really want to see Celtic doing well and it would be fantastic if they could get beyond the group stages. I think this is possible if they get a decent group.
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“It is going to be very difficult to rein in Celtic in the league, especially with it now looking fairly certain that they are going to qualify for the Champions League for a second season,” he added. “That is going to give them a bit more buying power before the window closes. But I do feel excited about this season, I think Scottish football is in the best place it has been for a long while. I think we are going to see a very competitive league.
“I think it is great news for Scottish football,” said Milne, speaking at a Street Soccer Scotland/Sir Alex Ferguson fundraising night at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow. “I think we all really want to see Celtic doing well and it would be fantastic if they could get beyond the group stages. I think this is possible if they get a decent group.
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“It is going to be very difficult to rein in Celtic in the league, especially with it now looking fairly certain that they are going to qualify for the Champions League for a second season,” he added. “That is going to give them a bit more buying power before the window closes. But I do feel excited about this season, I think Scottish football is in the best place it has been for a long while. I think we are going to see a very competitive league.
“Brendan has done a fantastic job since he came in. He has turned the
club around, and built an extremely powerful team there - which we were
on the wrong end of last season. But we want to be able to give Celtic a
good challenge. We have Hibs back, and we will hopefully see a strong Hearts coming through and a strong Rangers coming through. St Johnstone will be there and a few other teams. It is going to be a really good season.”
With Stevie May banging in the goals, Kenny McLean and Graeme Shinnie still at the club, and the likes of Christie, Mackay Steven, Greg Stewart and emerging star Scott Wright all chipping in too, Aberdeen are entitled to feel pretty good about their transfer window so far. Milne would not welcome any further interest from Rangers in the services of McLean and feels the Pittodrie side are probably stronger if anything than last season’s group.
“I think Derek is finished now, or I hope he is!” joked Milne. “I think we have ended up with a very good squad. We are every bit as strong as we were last year and maybe a bit stronger when they all gel together. I think the players we have brought in are going to contribute a great deal this season.”
The real game changer for this Aberdeen team, of course, is their quest for planning permission for a new, 20-000 capacity, council owned stadium at Kingsford. The club’s bid for a new facility has been an 18-year odyssey, a process which has dragged on even a seasoned property developer like Milne. A timetable is now in place - a pre-determination meeting on September 13, and then a full council session on October 11 - and in an ideal world work could be underway on the new site by the end of the year. But even in the event of a positive outcome, Milne knows that protesters against the move could kick things back into the long grass again by requesting a judicial review. He feels that any setback for the scheme could set back all the progress the club have made under Derek McInnes in the last four and a half years, and leave a residue of anger about the city.
“I have never been a great believer in giving up but I think there would be a lot of anger expressed if we did fail this time around,” said Milne. “But I want to be positive. I would like to think there is a genuine desire in the city to deliver something. Aberdeen badly needs this right now, because the last three years have been severely challenging in Aberdeen and the North East with what has happened to the oil industry.”
While Aberdeen and Jimmy Calderwood didn’t exactly part on the greatest of terms, Milne reached out to the former Dons boss at the tail end of last week when it was revealed that he was suffering for dementia. “We all feel for Jimmy,” said Milne. “Although in hindsight when we did part company with Jimmy it might have been handled a bit differently, in some people’s eyes better, I have always said that he did a fantastic job for Aberdeen FC and he will go down as one of the best managers there has been at the club. We all know he is a fighter and he will battle this as hard as he can.”
With Stevie May banging in the goals, Kenny McLean and Graeme Shinnie still at the club, and the likes of Christie, Mackay Steven, Greg Stewart and emerging star Scott Wright all chipping in too, Aberdeen are entitled to feel pretty good about their transfer window so far. Milne would not welcome any further interest from Rangers in the services of McLean and feels the Pittodrie side are probably stronger if anything than last season’s group.
“I think Derek is finished now, or I hope he is!” joked Milne. “I think we have ended up with a very good squad. We are every bit as strong as we were last year and maybe a bit stronger when they all gel together. I think the players we have brought in are going to contribute a great deal this season.”
The real game changer for this Aberdeen team, of course, is their quest for planning permission for a new, 20-000 capacity, council owned stadium at Kingsford. The club’s bid for a new facility has been an 18-year odyssey, a process which has dragged on even a seasoned property developer like Milne. A timetable is now in place - a pre-determination meeting on September 13, and then a full council session on October 11 - and in an ideal world work could be underway on the new site by the end of the year. But even in the event of a positive outcome, Milne knows that protesters against the move could kick things back into the long grass again by requesting a judicial review. He feels that any setback for the scheme could set back all the progress the club have made under Derek McInnes in the last four and a half years, and leave a residue of anger about the city.
“I have never been a great believer in giving up but I think there would be a lot of anger expressed if we did fail this time around,” said Milne. “But I want to be positive. I would like to think there is a genuine desire in the city to deliver something. Aberdeen badly needs this right now, because the last three years have been severely challenging in Aberdeen and the North East with what has happened to the oil industry.”
While Aberdeen and Jimmy Calderwood didn’t exactly part on the greatest of terms, Milne reached out to the former Dons boss at the tail end of last week when it was revealed that he was suffering for dementia. “We all feel for Jimmy,” said Milne. “Although in hindsight when we did part company with Jimmy it might have been handled a bit differently, in some people’s eyes better, I have always said that he did a fantastic job for Aberdeen FC and he will go down as one of the best managers there has been at the club. We all know he is a fighter and he will battle this as hard as he can.”
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