Stephen Robinson promised to give Aberdeen a new identity and direction after being confirmed as the club’s next manager.
The Northern Irishman insisted he’d no hesitation in leaving St Mirren for a new challenge in the Granite City once the Dons belatedly made their move for him on Wednesday morning.
The Pittodrie club sacked Jimmy Thelin in January and have slipped to ninth place in the Premiership table while relinquishing their hold on the Scottish Cup under interim manager Peter Leven.
But Robinson, whose first game in charge will be at home to Falkirk on Saturday, feels he can quickly get a struggling side back on the right path.
‘When this opportunity arose, there was no way I could turn it down,’ said the 51-year-old after signing a deal until 2029.
Stephen Robinson has been handed a deal at Aberdeen until 2029 after leaving St Mirren
‘Aberdeen has a tremendous history and there’s no mistaking it is a huge club. The facilities and resources that will be at my disposal are excellent and more importantly, the fan base is tremendous so I’m excited to work for a club of this size and strive to take it forward.
‘I appreciate it has been a tough period for everyone, but players respond to positivity, so we’ve got to stick together going forward.
‘We will put a team out on the pitch to get the points we need to finish this season as strongly as we can.
‘Aberdeen have clear ambition, but it needs an identity, it needs direction and I aim to give the club that, so we need everyone to get behind myself, the staff and the players.’
Robinson leaves St Mirren after a period of prolonged success which saw the Buddies secure three successive top-six finishes, European football and this season’s League Cup.
He previously took Motherwell to two cup finals and gained further experience from his spells in charge at Oldham and Morecambe.
Brian Kerr, his long-standing assistant, has also move with him to Aberdeen.
‘We are pleased to welcome Stephen and Brian to Pittodrie,’ said chairman Dave Cormack.
‘Stephen is a proven leader with a strong track record of overachieving at Motherwell and St Mirren, where he delivered three Cup Finals, including winning the Scottish League Cup this season, multiple top six league finishes, including a third place and qualifying for Europe twice.
‘He has demonstrated he can consistently deliver strong results, punching well above the resources he’s had to work with, during the last eight years in Scottish football and proven he can build resilient, competitive teams with solid foundations.
‘There is a strong desire to re-establish a clear identity for our club, to become harder to play against and restore competitiveness in our matches.. For those reasons we believe Stephen is the right Head Coach to deliver exactly that.
‘He has also developed a number of young players at previous clubs which fits with our overarching ambition to be the best developer of young talent.. Solidifying that pathway for our young players will be vital to his success here at Aberdeen.
‘Nobody within the football club would dispute that performances and results this season have been unacceptable and well below that of what is expected here at Aberdeen.
‘However, during these testing periods comes an opportunity to sharpen focus and re-evaluate where changes are required and given recent results, we recognised the need to make the permanent appointment quickly.’
The pursuit of Thelin’s successor turned into a saga with the club targeting a number of candidates from overseas including Eirik Horneland and Sandro Schwarz.
With the club exiting the Scottish Cup at the hands of Championship Dunfermline on Saturday, though, Robinson became the top target.
‘Results have clearly not been what we had hoped for or expected in recent weeks,’ said sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
‘The board and I recognised we needed a new Head Coach in position sooner rather than later and Stephen, who was part of this process from the outset, was the clear candidate to take on the role now.
‘He is a highly experienced coach with a strong track record of delivering results in this league and we believe he will bring stability in the short term whilst also providing the vision to build success for this club in the future.’
Meanwhile, St Mirren have put an interim management team of Craig McLeish, Jamie Langfield and Allan McManus in place as the search for Robinson’s successor begins.
McLeish, a former academy coach, has been involved with the first team for several months.
Saints welcome Rangers to Paisley on Sunday.
