Former Don Willo Flood insists no one is better equipped to lead Aberdeen in the post-coronavirus era than manager Derek McInnes.
The Dons boss will celebrate seven years since he took charge of his first game on Wednesday and Flood was one of McInnes’s first recruits when he moved to the Dons in the summer of 2013.
Flood believes the Aberdeen manager can provide the stability and leadership the club will need once the lockdown restrictions have been lifted and it is safe for football to return.
He said: “Derek knows Aberdeen inside out. You need someone with that experience to guide people through a time like this.
“I’d expect that when football gets going again – if that’s in two months or six months – he’ll have them flying again pretty quickly.”
Flood, who left the Dons in 2016 to return to Dundee United, regards his relationship with McInnes as the best he enjoyed with any manager in his career.
The 35 year-old, who was a member of the League Cup-winning side of 2014, says one look at McInnes’s track record at Pittodrie proves the Aberdeen manager can bring further success to the club.
He said: “Staying seven years at any club is a huge achievement but when you have been successful like Derek has it’s even better.
“In the first two years he was able to keep the team together but after that every season he’s had to make big changes.
“If you look at the players who have gone through during his time it’s impressive.
“Kenny McLean, Ryan Jack, Jonny Hayes, Graeme Shinnie all moved onto other things, while loan players like Danny Ward and James Maddison were important players too.
“Continually rebuilding your team makes it tough and a lot of people don’t manage to do it once. But Del has been doing it year in, year out now. He takes pride in helping players move on to better things, but it’s a nightmare for him too.
“Boys have gone to Aberdeen, improved and become English Premier League or English Championship players.
“But once they’re gone, replacing them is difficult because to get the same quality costs a lot of money.
“I always remember when I first signed he said he had a lot of things he had to change and recruitment was top of that list.
“He’s done that and when you see signings like Cosgrove for £25,000 that shows it’s working.”