Spanish coach Ricardo Rodriguez has told Aberdeen he wants to become the next man in charge at Pittodrie.
Record Sport can reveal the 48-year-old - who is now a red hot favourite to land the vacant hotseat - has made it clear to the club’s top brass that he is deadly serious about following in Ange Postecoglou’s footsteps from Japan to Scotland. And we also understand that the Dons now consider Rodriguez as one of the top four contenders for the role with a further round of boardroom discussions expected to take place over the next 24 hours.
Newly appointed chief executive Alan Burrows is heading up the hunt for Jim Goodwin’s replacement and is determined not to have the club’s fingers burnt after Chris Wilder’s 11th hour decision to snub talks and take up the Watford job instead. It’s understood Wilder has subsequently explained the circumstances around his decision but, while Burrows accepts the Englishman’s reasoning, he is now whittling down a final list of candidates who are fully committed to the project of taking Aberdeen back to the top of the Scottish game.
And Rodriguez has made it clear that his personal ambitions, and those of the club, are in alignment. The Spaniard quit Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds in January to look for a big role in the UK - despite leading them to the Asian Champions League final which will be staged next month. He also guided them to a double by winning both the Emperor’s and the Japanese Super Cup.
And now he believes he can follow trailblazer Postecoglou who left the J-League to take the Scottish top flight by storm with Celtic.
Aberdeen, while wary of being accused of copying the Parkhead club’s play-book, are satisfied that Postecoglou’s success in Scotland does provide solid proof that it’s also not an insurmountable leap.
The hierarchy will hold more talks again on Thursday morning as Burrows prepares to endorse a final shortlist of candidates.
