Niall McGinn believes Dave Cormack deserves enormous praise for the way he is leading Aberdeen through the COVID-19 crisis.
The winger knows his new chairman has had a baptism of fire as football – and everyday life – has been put in self isolation to try to combat the spread of coronavirus.
It has left Scottish football on its knees financially and Cormack previously admitted the Dons could have been left with a £5million-£6million hole without football for the majority of this year.
The US-based software tycoon has since come up with a rescue plan that has seen £2m put in with
investors and Derek McInnes and his players also agreeing to wage deferrals.
McGinn said: “The club has had good leadership from the chairman, to the manager down to the captain.
“I do have some sympathy for Dave Cormack. He has come into the role at a very difficult time. I’m sure it meant a lot to him and his family when he was named chairman of Aberdeen as he is such a big supporter.
“But to be in charge during a crisis like this, there is a lot of responsibility suddenly put on his shoulders.
“However, he has dealt with that pressure and been on the front foot throughout.
“He has done a lot of good work and also put his hand in his own pocket.”
The Aberdonian has already brought more than £14m into the club and that has helped them to build their impressive new Cormack Park training ground.
McGinn said: “He invested in the training ground to make it a reality and has put money in now to help the club navigate through these difficult times.
“It is huge credit to him and his fellow investors.”
Manager McInnes spoke to his players and between them they voluntarily agreed to take wage deferrals of 15 percent to help the Pittodrie club through this financial minefield.
McGinn admitted it was given universal backing by all the players, especially as it meant safeguarding jobs at the club.
The 32-year-old said: “Speaking personally, I am very pleased to be able to help other people and help the club out in these difficult times.
“The deferral was something everyone agreed to.
“The manager (McInnes) had different meetings with the chairman and other people at the club and then spoke to us all.
“We have a group chat and spoke through that. The players spoke amongst themselves too.
“Overall it was plain sailing. Everyone was in agreement with what we needed to do. It was about doing the right thing and to help the club out.
“A big point coming from the manager, and something all the players agreed on, was the importance of keeping everyone in their jobs.”
McGinn has also praised the Aberdeen support for the part they have played in recent weeks.
They have snapped up more than 2000 season tickets and bought AberDNA memberships.
The Aberdeen management team have put double sessions in place and it means McGinn and his team-mates aren’t getting too much downtime.
He said: “We have training programmes to be getting on with. We are into our third week. We are all in this together.”
