Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack’s refusal to take no for an answer was fundamental in securing boss Jimmy Thelin, reveals chief executive Alan Burrows.
Elfsborg were desperate to retain Thelin who led them to a runners-up finish in the Swedish top flight last season.
Burrows admits it would have been easy for the Dons to look for a manager elsewhere in the face of resistance from Elfsborg.
However he says Cormack was “relentless” in his bid to secure the 46-year-old who is revered as one of the top managers in Sweden.
Cormack won the fight with the Dons signing Thelin on a three-year contract.
Now Burrows hopes Thelin is such a success the Dons will also face a battle in the future to keep him.
He said: “Dave (Cormack) was a driver.
“It would have been very easy for us to pivot as a club and go in a different direction when we were coming up against the opposition that we were.
“Elfsborg were very keen to keep Jimmy.
“However Dave being Dave, when he has that enthusiasm for something and wants something to happen then he is relentless to try and get it done.
“He was the one pushing harder than anyone and refusing to take no for an answer to a certain extent.
“Dave wasn’t going to let it go and it probably made Jimmy feel good about things.
“You want to go places where people are fighting for you and want you to be there.”
‘Dave was adamant he was going to get him’
English Championship clubs Sunderland and Swansea were linked with a move for Thelin in December.
A Belgian club, understood to be Westerlo, were also tracking Thelin.
He was also linked with the Swedish international job following the departure last November of Janne Andersson.
Elfsborg held firm amidst interest and retained their manager who also delivered a league runners-up finish in 2020.
Thelin would then go on to sign a new extended deal with Elfsborg earlier this year.
However Cormack refused to give up his pursuit of the manager he believes can bring success back to Aberdeen.
Thelin was officially confirmed as new Dons boss on April 18.
However he opted to remain at Elfsborg until the Swedish top flight went into a summer break on June 1.
Burrows said: “When the board made the decision then Dave was adamant he was going to get him in.
“We had to bend and flex a little ourselves.
“Ideally, we would have liked him in before the end of the season and to get a chance to assess the players.
“With Peter Leven staying on there is a bit of continuity and Jimmy has been watching a lot of our games since the appointment was made.”
Success will bring interest in Thelin
Ultimately Burrows wants to be in a position where the Dons have to fight off interest in the Swede.
Because that will only happen if Thelin makes a major impact at Pittodrie and brings the glory days back to the club.
He wants the Dons to be “fighting people off with a stick” like Elfsborg did in their bid to retain Thelin.
Burrows said: “The nature of football is that guys who have significantly longer stays, particularly in the UK market, are very rare.
“When managers do well it becomes harder to keep them.
“I would prefer to have a good manager for a short period of time than a poor or average person for a long time.
“We don’t want it to be here today and gone tomorrow clearly but at the same time we would like success.
“If success means fighting people off with a stick like Elfsborg did for a long time then that is fine.
“I would rather be doing that than the opposite.
“The onus is to drive for success on the pitch, to match our success off it.
“A part of that will be longevity, patience and a bit of reshaping.
”Hopefully, that leads to a situation where we are trying to protect him for a period of time.”
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