Pittodrie legend Russell Anderson believes Aberdeen secured a signing coup in landing Scotland international David Bates.
Centre-back Bates arrived on a three-year contract from German Bundesliga 2 side SV Hamburg.
The former Rangers defender is set to make his Dons debut in Saturday’s Premiership clash at Motherwell.
Former Dons skipper Anderson hailed the capture as a ‘great signing’ as Bates has international experience, has played overseas and knows how to handle expectancy and demand at big clubs.
Crucially for Anderson, at 24-years-old, the defender’s best years are still ahead of him.
Anderson said: “David Bates looks like a really good signing for Aberdeen.
“He’s a young Scottish international with his best years ahead of him.
“And they’ve signed him on a long-term deal.
“You look at David and he’s got experience of playing overseas.
“It looks like it could be a very good signing for the club.”
Bates will handle Aberdeen expectation
Bates watched the 1-1 draw with Ross County at Pittodrie from the sidelines as Aberdeen awaited international clearance.
The defender made 28 appearances for Rangers before switching to fallen German giants and 1983 European Cup winners Hamburg in 2018.
In his debut season in Germany the defender was a regular starter for Hamburg but suffered an injury in a league clash against Paderborn in May 2019 that ruled him out for two months.
SV Hamburg would miss out on promotion back to the top flight on the final day of that season and that prompted a change in management and major cuts to the budget.
Capped four times by Scotland, Bates was subsequently sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday only to suffer an injury.
Last season he enjoyed a successful spell at Cercle Brugge in the Belgian top flight.
Having played for Rangers, Hamburg and in the Belgian top flight Anderson is confident Bates will not be affected by the expectation to deliver success at Aberdeen.
Anderson said: “He’ll soon realise, if he hasn’t already, that the expectation levels at Aberdeen are high.
“I don’t imagine that he’ll have an issue with what’s required in terms of the expectation levels of the fans and the club itself.
“Having played in Germany, it might give him a slightly different perspective of how football can be played.
“I think that can only help his experience.
“He’s also got plenty of experience from playing in Scotland so he’ll know what to expect.”
Fresh start!! Really happy to be here and can’t wait to get going 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/j8CfBTAy0X
— David Bates (@DavidBates_) August 29, 2021
A busy transfer window was needed
Anderson insists it was vital boss Stephen Glass strengthened his defence following confirmation Andy Considine will be sidelined until next year following cruciate ligament surgery.
He said: “You were looking at the squad and thinking that he (Glass) would be looking to strengthen that area.
“Especially at the point of signing David, they were still in Europe, and it’s well known that to be able to compete in those competitions, you need strength in depth.
“Obviously, with what’s happened to Andy as well, it probably reinforced the need to get somebody in.
“It was always going to be an interesting summer to see who they recruited because there was a bit of work needing done.
“It looks as though they’ve recruited well.”
Considine can bounce back from injury
The need to strengthen defensively intensified when long serving Considine suffered a serious knee injury in the 1-0 Europa Conference League play-off first leg defeat to Qarabag in Azerbaijan.
Considine caught his studs in the atrocious pitch and was stretchered off. He later had surgery and is ruled out until next year.
The 42-year-old, who lifted the League Cup in 2014 as Dons skipper, played alongside Considine during his two spells at Pittodrie.
Anderson twice recovered from similar injuries and has backed Considine to bounce back.
He said: “I feel for Andy. I suffered something similar twice.
“It’s really disappointing because he’s become such an important part of the team and the changing room. He’s been a model of consistency over the last few seasons.
“It’s never nice to see somebody get an injury like that.
Gutted I have managed to rupture my ACL. I have the best medical team @AberdeenFC to help me every step of the way with the recovery. Blown away with all love and support shown from everyone. See you all in the new year 👍🏼 cheers pic.twitter.com/opyR6Buumv
— Andrew Considine (@AndyConsie4) August 25, 2021
“Andy is a really good guy and a model professional so you’d look at him and think that he’ll have the right attitude and temperament to come back from the injury and force his way back into the reckoning.”
New signings need time to gel into team
Aberdeen boss Glass was pro-active in the summer transfer window and secured the majority of his signings early.
However he did make four signings in the final week of the transfer window with the permanent addition of Bates and Welsh international attacker Marley Watkins who penned a two year deal.
Rising Premier League stars Matty Longstaff (Newcastle United) and Austin Samuels (Wolves) were also secured on season long loans.
Longstaff and Samuels made starting debuts in the draw with Ross County prior to the international break.
Anderson said: “You’d love to do all your business right at the start of the window and get them in for pre-season, so they can gel and play together.
“It doesn’t always work that way unfortunately.
“A lot of it is outwith the control of the club when it comes to signing players.
“New signings need time to bed in.”
Aberdeen needed the international break
Anderson reckons the recent international break came at the ideal time for Aberdeen as it offered a window for the new signings to gel into the squad.
It also offered a welcome break for those players not involved with their countries to regroup after a gruelling schedule fighting on the European and domestic front.
He said: “They had a couple of weeks to work together before the next game and hopefully you’ll be able to see that in the performances going forward.
“Aberdeen have had a lot of football to play.
“You shouldn’t underestimate playing Sunday then Thursday when you’ve got the travel for the European games, getting yourself up for those and then coming back to domestic football on the Sunday.
“Trying to manage those fixtures while trying to get players fit, because it is still early in the season, it’s a lot for the manager to consider.
“The fact they’ve got a couple of weeks now for things to settle down, I would expect it to be one game a week for a while now.
“That allows them time on the training ground between games as well as the couple of weeks they’ve at the moment.”
Russell Anderson Foundation Golf Day
The Dons legend recently ran the Russell Anderson Foundation Golf Day at Hazlehead.
The former Aberdeen skipper launched The Russell Anderson Development School in 2012 with the goal of improving and increasing the provision of football development within recognised socially deprived areas of Aberdeen.
He said: “This is the first golf day we’ve had. We were supposed to have one last year but unfortunately, for obvious reasons, we had to cancel it.
“It was disappointing but understandable.
“The level of support we’ve had has been great. We’re lucky that we’ve got a lot of good people, good local businesses that have been really supportive over the last few years.
“That will be 10 years next year that we’ve been delivering the programmes.
“It really has grown a lot in that time.
“The last 18 months have just reinforced, and compounded a lot of the issues that we’re facing, that we’re trying to help the children.
“The demand is certainly there for what we’re doing.
“We’re working really well with the schools.
“We like to think that the children are benefiting from that.”