Of all of the Pittodrie football management team who provide the infrastructure to make Derek McInnes’s task as pain-free as possible, Head of Recruitment Russ Richardson arguably enjoys the lowest profile. However, Nottinghamshire based Russ, who has been with the Dons for two years and worked with the manager and Tony Docherty at Bristol City, has a crucial role to play in ensuring continued success at Pittodrie going forward.

“My role is twofold,” explains Russ, “Along with a team of scouts, I provide comprehensive information on the teams that we are going to be playing and that is tied in with the video analysis that is produced by video analyst, Greig Thomson. That gives the manager and Doc sufficient material to present to the players in detail how we approach the game, how we want to play, what we need to be wary of and how we can hurt the opposition. All of the set plays are studied and we basically try and prepare as best we possibly can on a game by game basis.”

The other aspect of Russ’s job is to leave no stone unturned in the recruitment of players. “It’s my task to Identify, monitor, track and hopefully find players who fit the bill in terms of what we need and, of course, who are in line with the financial parameters that we have at the club.

“The idea is to try and reduce the risk. We have a very good database of players and an excellent IT support network, which helps greatly in building up profiles of players. I’m in regular contact with the manager and we have lots of formal and informal conversations looking at what we’ve got in the squad right now, looking at the contract situation, when are we likely to require one type of player, when will we need another, all of the various scenarios, for instance, have we got the facility to cover if this occurs, etc. 

“This applies both to the first team and the academy and what we might need for one transfer window may well change for the next one. We’re almost always pretty much working window to window.”

The Dons youth academy has provided a conveyor belt of talent for the first team squad through the years and that is certainly something Russ sees as absolutely fundamental going forward. “The challenge is there for what is already a very successful youth department to carry on the good work and the challenge is for them to keep knocking on the first team door. 

“We also need to keep scouring Scotland for younger, better players who we feel we can improve such as Graeme Shinnie and Kenny McLean. We are committed to trying to be as good as we can be in our own backyard and that’s exactly how it should be.”     

Unsurprisingly, there is no such thing as a typical week for Russ. “Sometimes I can be taking in two or three games a day, but with the video access these days to games, you can actually use an office better and, rather than being stuck on the road, you can do a lot of the early work watching videos which, of course, can be from anywhere in the world. We can get to know players that bit better but the manager will always want to see a player himself and meet him face to face. 

“While you can find out a lot about a player and his character from other people who have played and worked with him, the manager always wants to see and meet any player before we move to sign him so that he be convinced in his own mind that the player has the same kind of belief, desire, work ethic and approach that we all have and I firmly believe that aspect is so important coming to a club like Aberdeen.

“There is a trust throughout the club from the Chairman right through, there’s a way of working and a two way trust. In my time, the board have always said, if there’s something there, come and put it to us. If there’s an investment and the club can see the benefits, I’ve found they’ve been really supportive.”
The progress that the Club has made in recent times has of course made coming to Aberdeen a far more attractive option than perhaps it was in the past.

“When the manager phoned me to see if I’d be interested in coming to Aberdeen, the first thing you say if ‘well that’s some way away’ and that’s often how players react initially but we’ve worked hard to get players to become more open minded and certainly the phone is a lot busier now because there’s a trust and an interest in Aberdeen and how we’ve progressed. 

“A lot of agents have found what I’ve discovered in that there’s a class about the club and an honesty and integrity. A way of working and a protocol. We’re known for that and long may it continue.”