McGhee close to Aberdeen return after talks go well

Published on Monday 8 June 2009 22:39

MARK McGhee was close to being confirmed as the new Aberdeen manager last night after Willie Miller, the club's director of football, described talks with the Motherwell manager as "extremely encouraging".

Miller confirmed Aberdeen had received permission from Motherwell to talk to McGhee, whose interests turned to Pittodrie after learning he was not in the running to succeed Gordon Strachan as Celtic manager. He warned that the deal was not a foregone conclusion, but it does now seem to be only a matter of time before McGhee is confirmed as successor to Jimmy Calderwood, who parted company with Aberdeen last month.

"We have made contact with the Fir Park club and were given permission to approach Mark," Miller said. "While subsequent discussions have been extremely encouraging, I've been involved in the game far too long not to realise there are many pitfalls that can affect things at this crucial stage, not least of which is the agreement of compensation between Motherwell and ourselves.

"Obviously we are currently attempting to reach an agreement on all fronts as soon as possible. But, until everything is finalised, and despite some media reports to the contrary, it would be premature to confirm that Mark will be the new Aberdeen manager or place a definitive timescale on when we might be in a position to do so."

McGhee, 52, played for Aberdeen between 1978 and 1984, and said at the weekend there was "an element of going home about the Aberdeen job for me". Yesterday, though, Motherwell chairman John Boyle said on his club's website that he still hoped to dissuade McGhee from leaving.

"Aberdeen made contact with us at the start of the weekend seeking permission to discuss the vacant managerial position at Pittodrie with Mark," Boyle said. "The board have reluctantly agreed to this request and Mark will spend some time talking that over with them.

"Contrary to media reports, nothing has been finalised as yet and we obviously hope we can persuade Mark to stay.

"However, we will be proactive in preparing for all eventualities to ensure that the best interests of Motherwell Football Club are upheld."

Many Aberdeen players were stunned by the sudden departure of Calderwood and his assistant Jimmy Nicholl, and one of them, Derek Young, said yesterday his team-mates would welcome the appointment of McGhee.

"It will be a good appointment, especially after the amount that was said about the two Jimmys leaving and it being a surprise and everybody being shocked about it," he said. "It will be a good one. It will definitely get the boys in the side up for it again.

"It's a bit frustrating that a manager the boys liked is away, but there is nothing we can do about it, we just have to get on with it. Mark McGhee will be a fantastic appointment and I'm pretty sure everybody will get behind him."