Aberdeen Manager Derek McInnes this week spoke to the Red Matchday Programme editor to give an update from the football department:

 

Q. First of all, as the crisis deepens, what is your message to the players, staff and supporters?

“It is very unusual circumstances that we face at the minute.

“The message is still the same as when I last communicated with the players face to face, that we just have to do what we can and take responsibility for our own actions.

“What we have seen in the last week is that the restrictions and requests on our daily life has forced us into this situation that we are in now. It is the only way that we are going to get rid and limit the damage that it has and will cause.

“We just want to reinforce to everybody, to those connected with the club and my players and staff that we just have to do what we are told to do, cut ourselves off and hopefully we can come out the other end of this.

“I think we are all appreciating the way of life that we had and the luxuries that we had.

“Football is a huge a miss for everybody, it is so important in all of our lives.

“But there are somethings more important than football at the minute and we have just got to adhere to living our lives right, sticking to the restrictions and hopefully we come out the other end of it.”

Q. The last time we spoke, the team was away to head down to Motherwell for a crucial match. Seems a long time ago now. How are the players responding to the isolation and the uncertainty?

“When we left Aberdeen on the Thursday evening, to travel down to Motherwell, we were all focused on the 90 minutes, the game couldn’t come quick enough for us. All week we had been chapping at the bit to go and set about Motherwell and go out and get the three points. It was such an important game.

“Things developed pretty quickly and when I woke up on the Friday morning, it felt wrong to be playing football. I think it was the right decision to call the game off.

“We spoke to the players before we left them about trying to keep themselves right and we would just try to respond as the situation changed.

“Since then we have been in regular contact with the players but it is difficult because players train for a purpose and the whole uncertainty around the virus and how it is going to affect the world, never mind just football, it makes it difficult for the players.

“From a general fitness point of view, it is important that the players go out and keep doing their bit individually.

“We have set them up on a programme, we want them to train at 10.30 in the morning so there is still that routine for them. We have set up a platform where we can oversee all of the work that they have been doing, the feedback comes back to me and our staff on our laptops.

“Even on a technical side, we have been looking at ways that we can analyse the players performance throughout the season, and we have started to pick up on that and give them feedback over the next week or so.

“There are still things that we can do to keep them engaged in football and it is important that we are ready for when we are back playing football. It seems as though it is going to be a long while to go until we are back. However, the general fitness of the players is still very important.

“We are still putting out work for them to adhere to. We can see through their monitors exactly what they have been doing. The players are very diligent anyway, we have worked with them for a long time. I think it has been enjoyable for them to stay active and to stick to the programmes that we have been giving them.

“Hopefully whenever we get together again, and we are able to train as a group that we can pick up where we left off and we will be ready for some meaningful games.”

Q. The guys are very professional and look after themselves, so much so I believe all the exercise bikes went missing from the gym!

“I know a lot of the lads have their own kit at home and we have had the luxury of Cormack Park and the facilities there but we don’t have enough bikes for everybody so the ones who were sharpest got to the bikes first!!

“Working on a bike is a great way of maintaining fitness.

“We are obviously limited to one bit of exercise outside a day and the players are sticking to that. They are trying to find a space in isolation where they can go and do their runs. They have got their gym programmes, they have all got their own weights, foam rollers and matts at their houses.

“A routine for any person, in particular professional sportsmen and women is so important.

“The players know the importance of not going days and days without any sort of activity or any sort of work. They have got a professional side to them, as we have seen, and it is good for them to keep doing right and keep doing the work that we are giving them until we are in a position to get together again.

“Whatever way they can find to do the work that has been given to them. Wherever that is hiring bikes, buying their own stuff and their own equipment or make do with what they have got, it is important that they still do the work.”

Q. We have got very good football staff at Aberdeen, who have adapted really well to the situation, but has it been difficult keeping in contact with them all?

“Not at all, we are on a platform that we can all interact.

“I speak to my staff on a regular basis to make sure that everything is okay. We have a couple of injured players in Greg Leigh and Scott McKenna who are in regular contact with the physios as they have still got to make that progression through their work, which they have been doing.

“Sometimes the physios have been on Facetime to them and watching the players and telling them what they need to be doing. Every member of staff has a role to play and it is important that we stay engaged in work mode as well as having to deal with our own family.

“We are used to being outside on the football pitch and working closely with one another and now we are cooped up in the house, it is an adjustments that everybody is making at the minute. The staff are all geared towards trying to keep the players right. That is the job of myself and my staff to make sure the players are as right as they can be.”

Q. When the football does resume, would you like to see the current season finished or is that becoming more and more unlikely?

“In an ideal world we would look to try and resume the season.

“I spoke about 10 days ago of the sporting integrity of finishing a competition and trying to get clarity on where you deserve to be and where you end up.

“Some teams have played more games than others, some teams have played more home games than others.

“It is ever changing.

“I do feel that we just need certainty in some of the decisions. It is difficult when there is so much uncertainty out there and football is part of that.

“In an ideal world we would get to finish the season, and everybody would pick back up where they finished off. We have a Scottish Cup that we want to try and win as well and we had done so well to get into the semi-final stage. Whenever we pick up on that it will be exciting again.

“I totally understand that if we run out of weeks and months that some sort of decision will have to be made in time.

“I felt that from our point of view, we were starting to pick up a bit of form and consistency of performance and we were looking forward to the season finishing.

“Whatever way the authorities and the league go, they need to decide to get that certainty, hopefully we can get those decisions soon which I think will help every club.

Q. Have you had any indication of when we might be playing again?

“No, I haven’t.

“I think the UEFA decision to leave it in the hands of each federation didn’t make things any clearer.

“I can understand that when you look at the news on a daily basis and the situation becomes far more critical as we go along then even thinking or talking about football seems irrelevant.

“It is the game we love, it is the industry that we are involved in and I think decisions are going to be tough, whenever it is safe for us to get back and playing football.

“I do feel if we can deal with the virus the way that we are at the minute with self-isolation then hopefully we can start to manage our working lives a lot better and go back to some sort of normality.

“Nobody can tell when we will get back to playing football.

“What I can say is it is not going to be anytime soon or in the next couple of months. Hopefully though we can get back to some sort of normality before long.

Q. It is a tough time for everybody, not just for football clubs but also for businesses up and down the country.

“This is a real test for us all and our way of life.

“For football it is a real test because it is going to put so much strain on most clubs and for ourselves, we are going to have to get through this.

“We will get through this together.

“We will deal with what we need to deal with.

“We have got a good board, we have got a great bunch of players, good staff and a brilliant support.

“We will look after our club and do what we need to do to get out of this at the other end. Hopefully we can then start to see the importance of winning games again and back to being the club we want to be.

“At the minute it is just making sure that we all stick together, stay safe and when we do get back to playing football making sure that we are still in a strong position as a club.

“To do that everybody is going to have to look out for each other.

“We are all clearly in need of the financial support, we could have done with the insurance money being paid that we were covered for, we could do with the semi-final money, we could do with the final league placing money.

“We could do with money coming in.

“Anybody who is in a position to put money forward into the club would be so welcome at this moment of time.

“I know that Dave Cormack and the board are doing everything they can to make sure that any sort of damage on us is manageable.

“As staff and as players we want to support the club in helping its way through this.”

Q. Finally, we’ve had supporters who have been able to help by purchasing season tickets early and it has been greatly appreciated.

“There will be supporters who buy season tickets out there religiously.

“There will be a lot of season ticket holders who will want to see the outcome of this situation and what signings are made and that is their right.

“At this moment of time there is no income coming into the club and payments that have been due to us have been stalled for one reason or another.

“We have a lot of outgoings like tax and national insurance and not a lot coming back in.

“It is tough on the club.

“If supporters do know they are going to be buying season tickets for next season and they are in a position to go and do that or they are in a position to take more corporate packages or take a box and show that commitment through hospitality and commercial, then it would be so grateful and welcome.

“Everybody is doing all that they can.

“Dave and the board are working many hours to make sure that we keep everything moving along and addressing the importance and seriousness of the situation. And it is a serious situation.

“The communication is good between myself, the players and the board.

“We all want the same thing, to make sure that we come through this strongly and together and to make sure that we are ready to do what we are paid to do and that is to win football games.”