Geoff Brown: Derek McInnes won’t leave Aberdeen until he knows who’s in charge

GEOFF BROWN knows how to run a stable business.

So the St Johnstone owner-turned-horse-breeder isn’t surprised a thoroughbred manager like Derek McInnes turned down Rangers.

Brown handed McInnes his managerial break just a little over 10 years ago after recognising the then Saints midfielder as a “born chief”.

The pair enjoyed a close, fruitful relationship as the Perth club’s fledgling gaffer led them to the Premiership.

But when Bristol City came calling, McInnes jumped at the chance to spread his wings in England.

Brown, who remains close to his former gaffer, reckons the lack of a similar connection with City’s owner soured McInnes on the prospect of working under uncertain conditions ever again.

That, says the ever-passionate construction millionaire, is why Rangers – with their absentee chairman in Dave King – didn’t stand a chance of luring him away from Aberdeen.

“I don’t know if his decision to stay at Pittodrie is all that notable,” said Brown.

“When Del left St Johnstone and went to Bristol City, we were in regular contact. His basic problem was he didn’t know who he was actually working for.

“The club was in the process of changing hands, and he was looking, thinking: ‘What the heck do I do now?’

“Now, if Del had taken the Rangers job, I would ask who was he going to be answerable to?

“When Rangers had David Murray, it was quite clear that David Murray was the one the manager would be answerable to.

“But who is he answerable to now?

“If you want to be a success, you’re never ever going to be a success unless you’ve got somebody there to support you.

“And frankly, didn’t Derek effectively make the same decision by not going to Sunderland in the summer?

“Was that not the same position? It’s certainly not dissimilar.

“By refusing that job, was there not a wee precedent set there?”

Now 74, Brown is far from retired in the traditional sense.

You’ll still find him in his office most mornings, from where he takes a hands-on role in the riding and breeding stable he owns in the Carse of Gowrie, just outside Perth.

He breaks off mid-chat to orchestrate gritting the yard ahead of a child’s birthday party planned for the following day (“You can’t have a parent telling their child their party is cancelled,” he explains) before finding another angle on Rangers’ current off-field issues.

Typically, it’s as sharp as they come.

“Was Derek McInnes going to go in and wave a wand?” wonders Brown.

“The company itself has to be put into a shape whereby the manager can take it forward.

“We had it with Celtic. What state was Celtic in when Fergus McCann came in?

“Celtic are where they are now because Fergus McCann came in with a plan and carried it out.

“I keep saying they can have all the statues they like outside Celtic Park – but the one that’s missing is his.”

After knocking back both Sunderland and Rangers, McInnes’ careful nature has been laid bare.

Clearly, he wants his next move to be the right one.

That said, Brown is steeped enough in football to understand that there is something beyond the nature of the opportunity that could tempt McInnes.

“The one thing that should never, ever be taken out of the equation is money,” he continued.

“You can have the happiest manager in the world, but if somebody is offering a lot more money, there will be a great deal of temptation.

“There is no manager in the English Premier League working for less than £2m a year.

“If you’re at Aberdeen, why would you stay if an offer like that came along? There are a lot of wealthy clubs.”

That it will take such wealth to lure Aberdeen’s manager these days speaks volumes about McInnes’ ability – but also about Brown’s astuteness.

After all, the ex-St Johnstone chairman was the first to gamble on his raw qualities.

They have now been refined over a decade in the dugout.

But Brown reckons they all boil down to one thing that will see his old employee right, whatever happens next in his career.

“I am a great believer that in life there are born chiefs and born Indians,” he explains.

“Certainly in the football world, you have to look at someone who can be a leader.

“Del McInnes – way back at Morton he was captain there – Millwall, West Brom, Dundee United, all the places he had been he was made club captain.

“That, to me, shows there’s an element of respect. He’s been respected by whoever was the manager at the time.

“You don’t have to be a genius to work out that the players then have respect for the individual.

“That’s where I took it as read he would have the ability to be a manager.”