Why Derek McInnes should take the Sunderland job if offered

As he walked across the sodden Hampden turf to console and congratulate his players, Derek McInnes tried to put on a brave face. But the dejection, the deflation, the devastation, it was all was discernible.

Sunderland would be a good career move for Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes. Picture: SNS

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He had just watched his players, his team, stand up to a Celtic side 90 minutes from history. In the previous five meetings the Dons had been, in the main, well beaten. McInnes got his tactics correct and his players carried out his plan for the majority of the game. A ruthless streak, something Celtic possess in abundance, was all that was missing from turning a great performance into an exemplary one, from turning a hard-luck story to Scottish Cup victors. Seventy minutes was around the time his side faltered, heavy-legged they were pushed deeper and deeper, heads barely above water before Tom Rogic drowned them with a swift right-foot finish.

It could be an era-defining moment for McInnes and Aberdeen. Pedro Caixinha put some noses out of joint in the corridors of Pittodrie and, strangely, the footballing fraternity around the country when he pointed out that McInnes and Aberdeen were coming to the end of a cycle. Commenting on other teams is not the done thing in Scotland - a nonsensical unwritten rule. It was an astute observation, all the better that it was one which provoked plenty of gnashing of teeth.

Niall McGinn and Ryan Jack have opted to progress their careers away from the north east. Ash Taylor is set to follow. Three key men from the last few years as Aberdeen, under McInnes, have transformed from an irrelevance to the team best placed to challenge the Celtic hegemony. At least two will be difficult to replace. McInnes was in bullish mood when he spoke to RedTV after the game: “We feel we have more days like today in terms of cup finals to look forward to. I’m confident with the remaining players we’ve got, with the recruitment we’re gonna get in the summer, I’m confident we’ll have days like today but obviously a different outcome. I feel as though we’ve got a good thing going here and the plan is to keep it going.”

It was fighting talk from the former West Brom and Rangers midfielder. Speculation emerged in the build-up to the game, linking McInnes with the vacant managerial position at Sunderland - a move which Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers amusingly championed on the eve of the final.

If the offer comes to fruition it is one which should be taking with the utmost consideration. That’d be the case whether Aberdeen were victorious or not. If presented with managing a club of the stature of Sunderland, McInnes HAS to jump at the chance.

He admitted he made a mistake in moving from St Johnstone to Bristol City, though he wasn’t an outright failure. He kept the club in the Championship but failed to kick on. If a club on the same footing as the Robins came in for McInnes then it wouldn’t be a sure thing that moving from the Dons would be a step up. But the Mackems are a different matter altogether. Few clubs in the world earn such a fervent and large support, crowds regularly topping 40,000, when served with such dross on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.

Relegation may be the best thing to happen to them, coupled with David Moyes’ resignation. What is waiting for the next manager is a club and playing staff ready for a shake-up. They need a manager with confidence, authority, discipline, a tactical idea, empathy; one who doesn’t accept getting beat, doesn’t accept a drop in standards. Derek McInnes is that man.

Moyes, like Sam Allardyce before him, was left mystified when it came to the budget, both feeling they had been misled. The club are in serious debt and there’ll be a significant dent in the wage bill which was the 13th highest in the top-flight in terms of the average amount paid to first-team players, according to research by Sporting Intelligence. Yet, there’ll still be plenty of finance to work with. After all, McInnes has substantial experience of working to tight budgets, making the very most of what he has to play with.

Plus the squad isn’t that bad for a starting base in the second tier. He’ll have one of the finest young goalkeepers in the country, an improving Didier N’Dong, the promising ex-Hibs loanee Duncan Watmore and a few reliable Championship standard players. An array of loanees and under-performing players on short-term contracts will depart. This is a squad primed for a rebuild. McInnes can put his mark on the team, the same way he did when taking over from Craig Brown at Aberdeen.

It is going to be nigh-on impossible for a manager outside Celtic in Scotland to make the jump to the Premier League. Sunderland are a Premier League club with a Premier League stadium and a Premier League crowd. A club which, off the field has had its controversies, but connects with its community. They now need a manager who will connect with the players and most importantly the fans. They could do a lot worse than Derek McInnes.

If afforded the chance McInnes has to take it. He has built up plenty of credit in Scotland for the door to remain open if he did fail. The risk would be worth it. He has taken Aberdeen from their knees on to their feet, and it would say much about the job he has done at Pittodrie if he was allowed the opportunity to do the same at the Stadium of Light.