Derek McInnes Q&A

[Tyrant]

Another relatively easy night for Derek last night as will be the case with the team going fairly well in the league. Below are some points that were made by Derek just off the top of my head. Anyone else who was there can feel free to add things that I've missed oot or forgotten. Also it's in no particular order.

 

Derek was asked if Tansey had a future at the club. The answer was more or less "No". Derek said that Greg wasn't interested in staying to fight for his place and went up north to go back to his "comfort" zone. Also stated that Greg initially didn't let on that he was injured and that if he did he may not have been out for nearly as long.

 

Derek said it was important to instil the belief in the players that we could go all the way in the league. Feels that 80 points will be a league winning total with 36 still to play for but recognises that there are two games left against Celtic, Hibs and Hearts as well as one against Rangers so it will be tough but he thinks they can keep pushing.

 

Seemed to almost reluctantly acknowledge that the games against the old firm haven't been good enough but is quick (and right) to point out that we're still in a strong league position.

 

Hibs and Hearts were desperate to sign Niall McGinn. Motherwell wanted Woodman because they were desperate to sell their goalkeeper to Celtic. Motherwell apparently told Newcastle that Woodman would sit on the bench here (which went a long way to further explain why Rogers was suddenly back on the bench) but there is no financial obligation to play him. Unlike Nwakali although no details were discussed.

 

 

Joe Lewis has targeted the Scottish Cup semi final for a return. (anyone would think we're there already!)

 

On the subject of Nwakali Derek said that he's "bonkers". Also that he was very popular but a bit thick. But that he is desperate to show us how good he is.

 

Derek was very critical of the fans and was clearly upset at the team being booed off at half time against Killie. He is often told by opposition managers that their aim is to get us on their backs. He is very keen for Pittodrie to become a partizan experience for visiting fans and players and hopes the new stadium will help towards that.

 

Critical of the fans for being so quick to get on Kenny McLean's back. Says that Kenny's work rate is up there with the best and that although he feels he should be adding more goals to his game his talent is probably underappreciated and that he'll be very hard to replace. Derek said that he sees Norwich as an ideal club for Kenny to go to. Kenny advised him some time ago that he wanted to head south but McInnes added that "Someone else once told him that too" but seems happy with the deal overall. Norwich signed Kenny in January because there were other clubs sniffing about and Norwich wanted to be sure of his signature.

 

Will continue to sub off Shinnie when possible to avoid further suspensions. (Already missing Hibs and Tim games ffs sake)

 

Hull offered seven figures for McKenna informally. Was please that the chairman turned the offers down and believe that McKenna will only improve. McKenna's attitude is exemplary.

 

Cosgrove is a signing for next season but Carlisle were keen to do the deal sooner so we've taken him early. He's built like Stockley but apparently more mobile (and hopefully less elbows?) Devlin was taken early so he could be looked after and hopefully hit the ground running when he's back from injury.

 

He was asked shite like what he watches on TV and how he keeps fit but I'm nae getting into that irrelevant pish. Someone else can if they want.

 

Is relieved at the council's stadium decision as our facilities are a cause of embarrassment. (same as he's been saying for years).

 

Would like the Scotland job in the future and would consider it if offered but he hopes he's offered it a few years down the line rather than right now. Mentioned Steve Clarke as a possible candidate.

 

That's all I can remember right now. I will add other stuff as and when I remember it. 

 

[rocket_scientist]

I wasn't aware this was on, not that I would've attended anyway. But it's a great idea so well done to him and the club.

 

Where was it and can you guess how many attended?

[Tyrant]

I wasn't aware this was on, not that I would've attended anyway. But it's a great idea so well done to him and the club.

 

Where was it and can you guess how many attended?

 

No need to guess because they told us. 189 I think was the number announced. (Derek was asked to pick a number between 1 and 189 and the ticket holder won a signed shirt)

 

It was held in the AAM Suite in the Dick Donald and his held annually and Black & Gold season ticket holder are invited to attend. 

 

The questions are mostly pre-submitted (and Derek obviously gets to see them beforehand) but there were a couple taken from the audience too.

[ayrshire_don74]

statements about tansey pretty strange given he wanted to spend money on him , appears our scouting , or his judgement is suspect, appears tansey doesnt have heart nor mindset to play at a higher level

[RicoS321]

statements about tansey pretty strange given he wanted to spend money on him , appears our scouting , or his judgement is suspect, appears tansey doesnt have heart nor mindset to play at a higher level

 

It wasn't heart or mindset, he doesn't have the attributes to play at a higher level. The heart and mindset might have almost got him to our standard, but he was clearly never good enough to play in a McInnes dons side. It was a bazaar signing.

 

Did anyone raise the following question:

 

"Nicky Maynard?"

 

 

[TheDeeDon]

The answer to the question about Tansey was pretty brutal, but this should have been picked up long before he signed. I wonder if his signing was anything to do with Shinnie, who is apparently very friendly with Tansey, just a thought.

 

I think McLean is a good player, but for whatever reason has under achieved overall in a dons jersey, which I believe is mainly how he is used in our team. I hope he does well at his Norwich though.

 

I think on the whole most fans are pissed off at seeing us do well against 9 teams in the league and then watch us capitulate to both the cheeks. If McInnes hasn't learned how much we detest them and what it means to get beat by them, in his 5 years here, then he never will.  The defeats we could accept if we put in performances, but for the most part we are woeful.

 

 

[RicoS321]

I think on the whole most fans are pissed off at seeing us do well against 9 teams in the league and then watch us capitulate to both the cheeks. If McInnes hasn't learned how much we detest them and what it means to get beat by them, in his 5 years here, then he never will.  The defeats we could accept if we put in performances, but for the most part we are woeful.

 

I think McInnes is very aware of how much we detest them, he's not an idiot. He's a very methodical and structured manager. He looks at teams and works out how to beat them - preferably if we can do that within our own preferred formation. He looks at the Tims (especially) and the huns and doesn't see a way to set our personnel up to beat them (most definitely not with our preferred line up v the rest) - hence the tinkering. It was the same against Apollon, who are roughly in the same league as us and those two. For what it's worth, I can actually see where his issue is. Other teams can gamble on the high pressing for 20 minutes and hope to get a goal and then sit in and catch them - they'll get lucky at least once a season. We don't have that, and we don't have a forward capable of providing it (perhaps May one day) in Rooney. McInnes has failed to address that and I think he struggles to see other ways of breaking the better teams down. Given that Nwakali looks like a black Willow Flood, it might offer us a little more coming midfield in this regard. Both Flood and - to an extent - Pawlett offered us that running around and hassling option in that top area of the pitch that got us success against the Tims a couple of years back. Otherwise, I'm struggling to see what formation and personnel we could currently use against the Tims (and away to the hun anyway) that would get us the win, and I've yet to see any suggestion of one on any of the forums aboot the place. It's not enough to just be "up for it", you need an actual workable strategy too.

[Guest kiriakovisthenewstrachan]

Did you not ask him about his 750K salary? 

[Kowalski]

So what does he watch on TV?

[Tyrant]

Did you not ask him about his 750K salary? 

 

 

Aye and I asked him for original copies of his bank statements too.

[manc_don]

Good read, thanks, Tyrant!  Amazed the Maynard question never arose!

 

Nice to see Hull actually did at least offer 7 figures, albeit informally.  Shows we've got some backbone, hopefully that's a sign to all that we're no pushovers anymore

[TheDeeDon]

I think McInnes is very aware of how much we detest them, he's not an idiot. He's a very methodical and structured manager. He looks at teams and works out how to beat them - preferably if we can do that within our own preferred formation. He looks at the Tims (especially) and the huns and doesn't see a way to set our personnel up to beat them (most definitely not with our preferred line up v the rest) - hence the tinkering. It was the same against Apollon, who are roughly in the same league as us and those two. For what it's worth, I can actually see where his issue is. Other teams can gamble on the high pressing for 20 minutes and hope to get a goal and then sit in and catch them - they'll get lucky at least once a season. We don't have that, and we don't have a forward capable of providing it (perhaps May one day) in Rooney. McInnes has failed to address that and I think he struggles to see other ways of breaking the better teams down. Given that Nwakali looks like a black Willow Flood, it might offer us a little more coming midfield in this regard. Both Flood and - to an extent - Pawlett offered us that running around and hassling option in that top area of the pitch that got us success against the Tims a couple of years back. Otherwise, I'm struggling to see what formation and personnel we could currently use against the Tims (and away to the hun anyway) that would get us the win, and I've yet to see any suggestion of one on any of the forums aboot the place. It's not enough to just be "up for it", you need an actual workable strategy too.

 

Being 'up for it' may not be the be all and end all, but it certainly helps. We are a team of fairly strong character and is evident in our ability in games to fall behind, but more often than not, will actually go on to take the three points.  When we play either of the cheeks it is like something is missing before we take to the pitch and our players take to the pitch looking devoid of energy and ideas.  I can handle the defeat, but it's the manner of them which hurts and for me DM takes the blame on that front.

 

 

 

 

[RicoS321]

Being 'up for it' may not be the be all and end all, but it certainly helps. We are a team of fairly strong character and is evident in our ability in games to fall behind, but more often than not, will actually go on to take the three points.  When we play either of the cheeks it is like something is missing before we take to the pitch and our players take to the pitch looking devoid of energy and ideas.  I can handle the defeat, but it's the manner of them which hurts and for me DM takes the blame on that front.

 

Again, I'm not hearing you/anyone explain what setup and personnel you'd play against the huns that would get the edge over them at Ibrox? We were up for it at Ibrox, we were just beaten by a better side. I accept that the circus surrounding McInnes in the previous couple meant we were very much out of sorts, but I can't believe anyone can't see that the deficiencies in our team are more pronounced against better teams and that has way more impact on results than belief or being up for it. Our weaknesses are way too easy to pinpoint if you have the players that can do it (something the other teams in the league don't).

 

I'm not absolving McInnes of blame here, I'm simply pointing to the fact that its more to do with his signings (lack of signings) in key areas rather than his ability to motivate.

[LA-Don]

Again, I'm not hearing you/anyone explain what setup and personnel you'd play against the huns that would get the edge over them at Ibrox? We were up for it at Ibrox, we were just beaten by a better side. I accept that the circus surrounding McInnes in the previous couple meant we were very much out of sorts, but I can't believe anyone can't see that the deficiencies in our team are more pronounced against better teams and that has way more impact on results than belief or being up for it. Our weaknesses are way too easy to pinpoint if you have the players that can do it (something the other teams in the league don't).

 

I'm not absolving McInnes of blame here, I'm simply pointing to the fact that its more to do with his signings (lack of signings) in key areas rather than his ability to motivate.

 

I don’t agree with you Rico, plenty of teams have taken points off the oldfirm this year and I don’t think they have better players than us in key areas. It’s 100% on McInnes and his tactics and belief. Take the game last year when Maddison scored his free kick to bail us out. As soon as we went a goal up DM shut up shop holding out for a 1-0 against a very shit Rangers team. The equalizer was inevitable and we were lucky to win. That was the chance to make a statement - give them a welcome back pasting and put them in their place but DM got his tactics very wrong and that fearful mentality continues to this day. Since rangers came back up they’ve got the better of us which shouldn’t be happening.

 

I was proud of our Scottish cup final performance. We had a go against Celtic and it’s the closest we’ve come to avoiding defeat (shit thing to say) to the tims in the last few years. That’s the way to play them but, like with Rangers, DM gets scared.

 

DM overthinks these games and his arrogance gets in the way. Let the players play their game and utilize our strengths. DM sets us up like we’re playing away to Barcelona. He overcoaches and does more damage than good. Our best form of defense is attack. We’re a fit team too, press high as a team and have ago. I think if we were to lose, all fans would prefer the Scottish cup final approach. DMs defensive approach has never worked and I don’t think we’ve come close.

 

In regards to motivation, I think he’s a very good motivator. The players also like him and play for him. However, against the old firm DM is the one that shits it and doesn’t believe we can win and his lack of belief I think clearly affects the players.

[RicoS321]

I'm not asking whether you agree/disagree, you've not answered the question. What team and setup do we deploy to beat them? I'm not talking about games in previous seasons. I'm talking this season (we took 6 out of 12 points off them last season so it's largely irrelevant anyway).

[rocket_scientist]

What team and setup do we deploy to beat them?

 

I think he's quite right in that these games have been lost before they've begun, mostly cos of McInnes.

 

This is the setup I would deploy v. Rangers: -

 

 

A triangle at the back - as every good team has - of goalkeeper, McKenna and Arnason or AOC, whichever is looking the best at the time. This begs the bigger issue that five years later and our manager has NEVER played a settled CB pairing and doesn't understand the value of stability in this key function.

 

Shinnie at LB, Logan at RB.

 

A midfield triangle of McLean, Christie and fuck knows who else, moving fluidly together to dominate the middle of the park. If Considine had ever been allowed to grow and develop into a CB, then AOC could be a holding midfielder allowing McLean and Christie to work up the triangle towards the goal.

 

GMS* on the left, McGinn on the right and an out and out scorer up front, May if he's fit, Rooney otherwise.

 

* I would far rather Scott Wright had been given game time and had his confidence developed but our manager disagrees. GMS is a lightweight twinkletoes for me, with good pace for sure but not man enough for big games.

 

[A96red]

This begs the bigger issue that five years later and our manager has NEVER played a settled CB pairing and doesn't understand the value of stability in this key function.

 

Well he has actually. First full season under McInnes he played Anderson and Reynolds in central defence most of the time  , and , generally , only changed that when Anderson was injured or needed a rest

 

After that Ash Taylor and Reynolds was the usual pairing (or certainly Deek's preferred pairing) when both were fit , as Anderson featured only occasionally

 

 

[RicoS321]

I think he's quite right in that these games have been lost before they've begun, mostly cos of McInnes.

 

This is the setup I would deploy v. Rangers: -

 

 

A triangle at the back - as every good team has - of goalkeeper, McKenna and Arnason or AOC, whichever is looking the best at the time. This begs the bigger issue that five years later and our manager has NEVER played a settled CB pairing and doesn't understand the value of stability in this key function.

 

Shinnie at LB, Logan at RB.

 

A midfield triangle of McLean, Christie and fuck knows who else, moving fluidly together to dominate the middle of the park. If Considine had ever been allowed to grow and develop into a CB, then AOC could be a holding midfielder allowing McLean and Christie to work up the triangle towards the goal.

 

GMS* on the left, McGinn on the right and an out and out scorer up front, May if he's fit, Rooney otherwise.

 

* I would far rather Scott Wright had been given game time and had his confidence developed but our manager disagrees. GMS is a lightweight twinkletoes for me, with good pace for sure but not man enough for big games.

 

That's a 4-2-3-1, which is what we went with. The "fuck knows who else" and "May if he's fit" is what I'm getting at here. I'll say it again, I'm not excluding McInnes from blame here, I'm saying it is his fault for making poor signings; that we're not good enough on the park rather than something more mental (the two wins last season would back that up I'd have thought). However, I've yet to hear someone - including you above - present a system that we could have used against the huns in the last game that would have beaten them. Rooney largely prevents the pressing game that other teams have used successfully and the lack of centre mid means we can't nullify and attack them on the left with Shinnie at fullback. I just think we're over-playing the "not up for it", when the evidence points to us being fairly deficient in key areas of the pitch.

[rocket_scientist]

That's a 4-2-3-1, which is what we went with. The "fuck knows who else" and "May if he's fit" is what I'm getting at here. I'll say it again, I'm not excluding McInnes from blame here, I'm saying it is his fault for making poor signings; that we're not good enough on the park rather than something more mental (the two wins last season would back that up I'd have thought). However, I've yet to hear someone - including you above - present a system that we could have used against the huns in the last game that would have beaten them. Rooney largely prevents the pressing game that other teams have used successfully and the lack of centre mid means we can't nullify and attack them on the left with Shinnie at fullback. I just think we're over-playing the "not up for it", when the evidence points to us being fairly deficient in key areas of the pitch.

 

I don't want to be included in what McInnes does and I think we're being too clever with 4-2-3-1's etc. Yes I see what you mean but I'm thinking about the game totally differently to him.

 

The triangle at the back is non-negotiable i.e. Leighton Miller McLeish, Schmeichel, Bruce, Pallister. McInnes doesn't understand this.

 

2 and 3 in front of the back 4 doesn't work for me either. I see Shinnie and Logan as attacking options too. The whole point of my triangle in the middle is to feed the flanks, GMS/Wright and Shinnie on the left, McGinn and Logan on the right.

 

I agree he's recruited shite in the summer resulting in still shoehorning Shinnie into his not best position but in order to win big games, you need to get the players to believe in the system let alone their teammates. My use of geometric shapes to describe set ups includes triangles and lines. It's how I think. It's easy to follow. Traditional thinking doesn't use enough simplicity. Even diamonds aren't as effective because unlike my geometry, they don't apply both in attack AND defence.

 

It's very simple. We could beat Rangers and Celtic if the manager imparted the requisite belief. If he doesn't believe it, game over.

[LA-Don]

I'm not asking whether you agree/disagree, you've not answered the question. What team and setup do we deploy to beat them? I'm not talking about games in previous seasons. I'm talking this season (we took 6 out of 12 points off them last season so it's largely irrelevant anyway).

 

I think we play our best team and stick to the tactics that give us success in every other game. This isn't complicated. 4-2-3-1 is a given. Tactically press high to give limited time and space, neither of the old firm are particularly strong at the back. Shinnie has to be in midfield but McGinn left to support Considine, although GMS has gotten better at that. Considine gets exposed when we sit back, then don't sit back. Force the opponents wide players to defend.

 

In terms of personnel obviously we have a keeper injury and Christie doesn't play against celtic. Arnie or OConnor play with McKenna. Shinnie drives our team forward in midfield, we need him there. McLean has been good of late in there too. A fit May up top will give opponents more of a headache but fit is the key word there.

 

I don't think it's overly complicated tactically, we showed in the cup final what we can do if the attacking mentality is taken.

 

[TheDeeDon]

Again, I'm not hearing you/anyone explain what setup and personnel you'd play against the huns that would get the edge over them at Ibrox?

 

Nobody needs to explain what tactics/set up is needed to beat them as that is what McInnes is paid for. He has had plenty of time to fashion a squad of players to cope with what is thrown at him, yes he has a smaller budget than the cheeks, but a club like us should be looking to supplement our squad with youth, something we haven't really done under DM and if being honest I don't think we ever will with him in charge, but that is another argument.

 

We have enough to beat both the cheeks, Celtic, I admit, we would need everything to go our way to get a result as they are undoubtedly a better team than us, but not without their weaknesses, but I honestly don't think Rangers are and their results this season have shown that and on more than one occasion and it is not down to each team who get points from them playing the same tactics against them and we cannot match that. 

 

 

 

[RicoS321]

Nobody needs to explain what tactics/set up is needed to beat them as that is what McInnes is paid for.

 

It's a fitba forum, where we discuss fitba, nobody needs to do anything. I'm not actually Derek McInnes looking for advice. I'm simply intrigued why people think it's a mental thing (against the huns) and not just the fact that on the day this season, they've had the better players. I don't think "it's a mental thing" holds water and isn't backed up by the evidence (we beat them twice last season). I'm wondering how people would have set up in our last game against the huns that would have got us the win, because as far as I good see we played our best team, but were deficient in the striker area and in centre midfield. All people seem to say is "press them high up the park", which is all very good, but we have Adam Rooney doing the pressing which means you just take a few steps to the side and you have 3 seconds advantage, and now your pressing midfielder is way out of position. They simply change to 3 at the back and play Tavernier high up the park doubling up on Considine. Which is what happened, and was always going to happen. If I was a manager of any team from Hearts upward just now and we play the team that we did against the huns (even with McGinn in for Stewart), I'd be confident of getting a win against us. Not because of the "mental" side, but because there are very obvious ways to play against us that - if you have good enough players - you'll get the win. Rocket's formation/style would work a treat, but we don't have the personnel to do it and certainly didn't the last time we played the huns.

 

We have enough to beat both the cheeks, Celtic, I admit, we would need everything to go our way to get a result as they are undoubtedly a better team than us, but not without their weaknesses, but I honestly don't think Rangers are and their results this season have shown that and on more than one occasion and it is not down to each team who get points from them playing the same tactics against them and we cannot match that.

 

I agree, I think that with Celtic we'd have to ride our luck a little, hope that they have injuries and that we have our best team out. I wouldn't put them in the same category as the hun, although I think we should be aiming for 4 points off them in a season (one win at home and a draw in the remaining 3 fixtures). Again, our deficiencies in midfield and striker are going to mean we struggle - we played Stockley against them in the cup final last season, which at least allowed us to try and hit the long pass at a target an they kept a couple of guys back because of this.

 

As for other teams, they generally play either a big striker or a quick striker up front, which allows them to be either direct, or to press. Usually they play a midfield 5 and a back 3 which counteracts the width of the hun/tim and if they get brutal enough in midfield they can pick up the point on the day. We've seen how bad our defence are with a back 3 as we don't have the discipline at left wing back (we did with Hayes), and if we take Shinnie out of midfield there is no adequate replacement there either. There are very obvious ways for other teams to play against the hun/tim which gives them a slight chance to win. They still need a hell of a lot of luck, determination and hope that the other team take their eye off it - which I'd say happens more against other teams than us.

 

[rocket_scientist]

I'm simply intrigued why people think it's a mental thing (against the huns) and not just the fact that on the day this season, they've had the better players. I don't think "it's a mental thing" holds water and isn't backed up by the evidence (we beat them twice last season).

 

I'm surprised that you're intrigued. I'm surprised this debate is still running.

 

Evidence, you say. The two defeats whilst our manager was considering an offer of employment were arguably two of the worst performances we've ever seen under McInnes. It was a tactical disaster at Ibrox, compounded by Tansey being a fucking idiot the first game and Christie not being fit the second time down there. Four days after the first debacle, it was the most listless display I've ever seen. Even after they when down to 10 men, there was zero urgency to get the ball and get at them and but for a teenager with a free kick, we weren't close to scoring and didn't deserve a point.

 

I'm also surprised that you think they had better players. I don't see it. The table doesn't back this up. Fans of the clubs that have beaten them this season - including Luxembourgers - won't think that they're a good side. I think they're pish. I don't think we're great either but man-for-man, I would expect that AFC playing at 75% could at least compete and should be able to beat Sevco playing at 75%.

 

The difference in any sport, not just football is mentality. Attitude, hunger, desire, cal it any of these things. The manager failed to inspire and motivate our team and it was obvious in the inept performances on the park.

 

I have no wish to prolong a discussion on something that should be quite straightforward. Some of us think that mindset played a big part in the Rangers defeats, 9 points thrown down the toilet as far as I'm concerned. I'm not saying that we had a devine right to win all three games. I do know that with a better attitude and if the players believed they could win, it would not have been 9 points gained by them. For this, the manager failed big time and given the circumstances for the two games in December and his prolonged discussions looking at the prospect of a move to his first love, it's not really any surprise he failed to get AFC mentally prepared correctly.

[Ten Caat]

I certainly don't think sevco have better players than us......just a helluva lot more players to choose from on any given date, thus they can drop out of form players and cope with injuries easier than we can.

 

The Dhims are a different kettle of fish, sadly their financial muscle shows when compared to us and as such as said before we really need to be on top form and them either having an off day or a barrowload of injuries for us to compete.

 

The general consensus is that DM is too defensive in his approach to playing the cheeks and we need to press them high up the park ( as they do to us when we are in possession). Also the consensus is we cannot do this whilst Rooney is on the park, given that he is about as mobile as an aircraft carrier. A fit May could allow us to do this (but will he ever really be 100% fit ever again?) but if Stewart ( and to a certain extent GMS) are on the park we are still as badly off as if Rooney was playing as neither of them are really cut out to be harrying and chasing down opposition players.

 

Cosgrove is an unknown quantity. Supposedly as physical as Stockley but a lot more mobile, hopefully he could be the answer to our problems. I've heard it said he was really signed with next season in mind but I hope we see him get 30 minutes in every match from now till season's end and a full 90 minutes at least a couple of times against  St Johnstone / Dundee / Thistle / Motherwell.

[Lencarl]

Derek McInnes today insisted he understands why fans are frustrated at the lack of recent wins. He accepts the Red Army want to know why the Dons are four games without victory following a 0-0 draw at relegation battlers Partick.We lost to Hibs who are a good team and we needed to play better there.We also lost to Celtic who are top of the league. There have been two draws in the last couple of games so it is hardly a disaster.

But we are well aware if we are to meet the demands that we want and have set for ourselves, we will have to get winning again soon. McInnes has put that demand on his players to deliver in the Scottish Cup and is confident they can rally from the dip in form. He said: “It is very important for us to get to Hampden.

“We have always stressed the importance of that and I don’t mind putting ourselves under that demand, pressure and focus to get to cup finals. This is an opportunity for us as a club to get to our sixth semi-final in five years.

 

Walk the Walk........