Saints thank Bristol-bound McInnes for ‘excellent job’

ST JOHNSTONE chairman Geoff Brown has paid a warm tribute to departing Derek McInnes, who was last night appointed the new manager of Bristol City.

After the Championship club confirmed that they had tied-up McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty on a two-and-a-half year deal, the McDiarmid Park chairman said: “We wish Derek well because he’s done an excellent job in his four years as St Johnstone manager. Our fans will be just as upset that he’s leaving as I am.”

McInnes has taken the same route as his predecessor Owen Coyle, who headed to Championship club Burnley – leading them to the Barclays Premier League before he took the reins at Bolton.

Brown recognises that he will always have a battle to hold on to promising managers when they are on the radar of richer clubs south of the Border.

“Unfortunately the facts are that St Johnstone will always be a stepping stone. Let’s hope the next manager can do just as good a job. He’ll have a difficult task to do that,” added Brown.

St Johnstone will receive a six-figure payment from Bristol City to compensate for McInnes’s departure, but Brown will take his time with the search for a successor.

While names of up-coming managers such as Gary Bollan and Paul Sheerin – ex-players who are now in charge of Livingston and Arbroath respectively – Brown insisted he is in no rush to appoint his next manager, confirming that youth coach Alec Cleland will take command of the team against Dundee United in the Tayside derby clash at Tannadice this weekend.

“We haven’t even started the process,” he said. “But people who are applying for the job will have to realise where we are in Scottish football. We won’t be throwing about big bucks on