Barry Robson admits it was tough for Scott Brown to see his old teammate Stephen Glass sacked.
But the interim boss insists it's vital the club captain remains part of his backroom staff.
Glass along with assistants Allan Russell and Henry Apaloo were dismissed on Sunday with Brown, who has a player coach role, the only of that regime to stay on.
It has been a hard few days for a lot of the staff and in particular Brown.
Robson has been put in temporary charge for Tuesday's Premiership clash with St Johnstone.
He immediately went to his friend and former Celtic teammate Brown and asked if he would make up his backroom team, alongside Neil Simpson and fellow under-18 coach Scott Anderson.
Robson admitted: “It would have been difficult (for Scott). Obviously, it would be because he is close to Stephen, Allan and Henry and he came in with them.
“You would need to speak to Scott about it but, for me, he is a player I played with and we are good friends.
“He is a winner, he still wants to play football and still can. I said let’s do it together.
“You know Scott Brown and what sort of person he is and he is the exact type of person I would want in my team.
“He is the exact same person I would want beside me and we were open and honest about that.
“You have to remember he is employed by the club as a footballer as well.
“I don’t think there will be any issues at all with Scott.”
Robson wasn’t even at Cormack Park and was about to take his dog for a walk when he took the bombshell call from chairman Dave Cormack on Sunday, asking him if he would step up from under-18 boss to first-team coach in the short-term.
Robson stated: “He was open and honest. He was extremely disappointed Stephen had left the club, along with Allan and Henry.
“He was open and asked if I could take the team for this next game and maybe the next one after, we will need to wait and see.
“That hasn’t been clarified properly, I was just asked to help the club. That isn’t a problem at all for me.
“I am employed by Aberdeen and I want them to do well.
“It is never easy when a manager loses his job. I have experienced it many times as a player and as a coach.
“It is disappointing. I only found out on Sunday not long before all of you.
“I had a quick word with them on Sunday and did a bit on the training pitch today and they have been fine.”
Robson has seen and been in this movie a few times in his top-level career. He knows there will be players down and disappointed and others will be happy that the slate has been wiped clean.
Robson expects a reaction against St Johnstone and insisted top players should have that approach for every game - not just when the chips are down.
He insisted: “First and foremost, the players will need to perform better than they have been. They know that. “You can’t hide that in football.
“It is plain to see. It is not through a want of trying.
“There are times in football confidence goes down and you feel a bit heavy and tired and it doesn’t look great on the pitch. “As I said, that could be a confidence thing.
“My approach is to be open and honest.
“They knew me as a player and now as a coach and I will always be open and honest.
“That is the best way to be with them and make demands.
“All I demand is you give me 100 per cent. It doesn’t cost you anything. It doesn’t cost you anything to run.
“It doesn’t cost you anything to work hard, play as a team for your club, for your fans. That’s all I ask.
“And be brave. If you do that you have a good chance.”
Robson has played for Aberdeen and knows the demands and expectations. He is well aware that ninth in the table is not good enough and three points would at least put them back into the top six. They know they need to get the Red Army back on side.
“Just one game at a time,” Robson claimed. “I’m employed by the club, enjoy being at the club and they have been good to me.
“Obviously I’m on my learning journey and I have been doing a lot of things in the background that the club has supported me with.
“It’s still an ongoing process for me to be as successful as I can in the future.
“The games coming up are so important. We just want to get a win together for the fans.”
