Dave Cormack has insisted Stephen Glass hasn’t got the Aberdeen job because he is his pal but because he is the best man for the job.
The Aberdeen chairman has denied that the Atlanta United 2 team coach was always lined up for the job and insisted he was only offered it on Monday night - after getting the unanimous backing of the Pittodrie board.
Cormack claimed Aberdeen spoke to other candidates and went through the process but it was clear Glass, who is set to bring in Scott Brown as his No.2, was the outstanding candidate.
Cormack stated: “I know Stephen and I have got to know him over two years.
“People will say that is how he got the job. Absolutely not!
“People who know me, know we want to be successful and the last thing I and the board are going to do is to appoint a manager we don’t believe can take us forward.
“The benefit of knowing Stephen and his personality.
“When you are interviewing other people you are only getting one or two hours to make a decision but we are getting an Aberdeen guy, who knows the Aberdeen way and is committed to being successful with the club.”
Cormack admitted there was a lot of interest from experienced managers but the board wanted to appoint an emerging talent of a manager, to follow in the success of the likes of Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard.
He felt that best fitted their attacking-philosophy.
Cormack explained: “One of the things about being in the States is out of sight out of mind, in a number of ways.
“When we look at merging talent and when we talk about Scotland and England we seem to have an aversion to emerging talent and we go with the merry-go-round of experienced managers.
“The most recent example of emerging talent is Steven Gerrard from the under-23s at Liverpool.
“Look at their season and how they are playing. “Another example is Pep Guardiola, he was coaching younger teams before he got the Barcelona role.
“It is similar with Zinedine Zidane.
“Outside Scotland and England, Germany, all over Europe, America and the Americas, this emerging talent is absolutely the way forward.
“You have Jesse Marsch at Leipizig. He was an assistant coach at a university in the States just a few years ago.
“Now he is seen as one the pre-eminent managers in Europe.
“With that being said, the emerging talent, then Stephen, by far, ticked all the boxes. “For example, he knows the Aberdeen way and he was mentored and taught by Teddy Scott, Alex Smith and Willie Miller.
“Put that together with the experience he has gained was a key rationale behind appointing Stephen.”
Cormack has also vowed to back Glass with funds to rebuild this summer with some big-names coming in, with Scotland defender Declan Gallagher likely to be amongst them.
Cormack, speaking to RedTV. confirmed: “Absolutely, the fact we have a number of players out of contract that we didn’t have last season, although we still brought players in during that window.
“Stephen will be supported and he will work with Stephen Gunn, our director of football operations, and the team who are there.
“Stephen will be supported this summer and he will be able to recruit the players he feels are necessary.
“At the same time, he wants to take a really good look at the emerging young players we have.”
The Dons chief also admitted they are still in discussions with Aberdeen City Council over the building of a new stadium in the Beach area.
