FORMER Aberdeen full-back David Robertson has described the Pittodrie club’s appointment of Stephen Glass as their new manager as “a gamble” and urged the ex-winger to bring in an experienced Scottish coach to help him succeed in the high-pressure role.
Robertson spent 10 years working in the United States and had a spell in the dugout at Phoenix in the USL Professional Division – the third tier of the American league set-up – before moving to Indian outfit Real Kashmir in 2017.
He fears that Glass, who has spent the past two seasons in charge of Atalanta United 2 in the USL Championship, will find making the transition to the Premiership difficult even if he brings in current Celtic captain Scott Brown his player-assistant.
The ex-Rangers and Scotland defender believes the 44-year-old needs to have somebody who has coached or managed in the top flight in this country before alongside him in his backroom team in order to do well.
“I think it will be difficult for Stephen to move from managing in the United States to Scotland, particularly at a club like Aberdeen,” he said. “Alex Ferguson once said that after Celtic and Rangers he thought Aberdeen was the hardest club to manage in Scotland. He’s right. This appointment is a gamble.
“It’s a huge step for Stephen. He has obviously got something that has impressed Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack. But he has been managing Atalanta United 2 in the USL Championship. That is the second tier of American soccer. It is the level I managed at. I think it will be a massive, massive step up for him.
“I think he will need somebody who is a very experienced coach to help him and to guide him. It’s going to be tough for Stephen. He doesn’t have any management experience in Scotland. There will be huge pressure on him.
“It is going to get more and more difficult for whoever manages Aberdeen to do well. Celtic are stronger, Rangers are stronger. Hearts will come back up to the Premiership next season. It will be very hard for him.”
Robertson, who won the League Cup and Scottish Cup double with his home town team in the 1989/90 season, predicted that Glass will find it difficult to emulate the achievements of his predecessor Derek McInnes next term.
He suspects McInnes, who spent eight years at Pittodrie and won the League Cup in 2014, could be as difficult to replace as Sir Alex Ferguson was at Aberdeen and Manchester United and Arsene Wenger was at Arsenal.
“I don’t think Derek could have done any more than he did,” he said. “I was at Aberdeen when Ian Porterfield and Alex Smith were manager after Alex Ferguson left. They were both relatively successful – Alex won the League Cup and the Scottish Cup. But it wasn’t enough.
“Arsenal have struggled to replicate the success that Arsene Wenger enjoyed and Manchester United have spent years trying to get back to the level they were at when Alex Ferguson was in charge. Both of those clubs have struggled to replace those guys. Aberdeen could experience the same problems.”
The Quiet Man Roars: The David Robertson Story by David Robertson with Alistair Aird is published by Pitch Publishing and comes out on Friday, March 26.
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