Aberdeen to speak to 7 candidates about the vacant manager’s job? Wow! Imagine Celtic doing something like that??

Aberdeen are leading the way in the art of hiring a manager.

Apparently, they have come up with an innovative system whereby they interview more than two potential candidates.

Hold on to your hats.

According to Record Sport, the Dons have spoken to seven managerial prospects over the past few days about the vacant job at Pittodrie.

Seven.

Imagine that?

A proper recruitment system.

Celtic could learn a thing or two from this in our bid to emerge from the 20th century.

Here is how the Daily Record laid it out:

Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel and chief executive Adrian Bevington have together held discussions with various British and European options.

Various options.

British and European.

Not one name, handed down from on high and nodded through by the people who matter.

One has to admire our intrepid board’s drive and determination to bring Celtic kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Honestly, it’s inspirational stuff.

But we still have a long way to go.

And we sure could learn a thing or two from Lutz Pfannenstiel and Adrian Bevington.

They’ve gone nuts and decided to interview seven candidates.

Aberdeen have even drawn up this thing called a managerial shortlist, not to be confused with a ‘short list’.

Because a ‘short list’ is usually what Dermot Desmond uses.

A very short list.

You would be forgiven for thinking that was as far as the Pittodrie madness went, but no.

The Record tells us the pair have put a criteria together for what the club wants from their next appointment.

A criteria.

Before they have even picked the man.

Then there is the preference for a traditional head coach rather than a traditional style manager, which means somebody sat down and thought about what kind of person the club actually needs.

Take a moment to let that sink in.

After that, a second round of discussions will cut the options down again, and the shortlist goes to chairman Dave Cormack and the board.

Process, in other words.

You know, the thing that every other business in the world has for hiring its most important employee.

And look at who is running it.

Pfannenstiel has a wealth of experience from his time in Germany and with St Louis City in Major League Soccer.

Bevington, who has only just arrived, can draw on massive experience south of the border.

Two men who have actually worked in football, doing the hiring of a football manager.

Radical, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, Stuart Duff has been put in interim charge for the Kilmarnock game, so the club isn’t left in limbo while the work gets done.

Imagine knowing who is picking the manager, and why they are qualified to do it?

Some of us can only dream.

Don’t get me wrong, they might not get their ideal candidate.

Which seems to have been the case for Aberdeen over the last few years.

They sacked a Scottish Cup-winning manager in Jimmy Thelin, and now Stephen Robinson has followed him out of the door after a four-goal defeat to Hibs left them second-bottom of the table.

The Record also reports that the Dons could be facing further boardroom change, with Dimitrios Efstathiou reportedly set to leave his role at Atlanta United.

So nobody is pretending Pittodrie is a model of stability.

Far from it.

Their recent history is a mess, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you otherwise.

But at least they’re going about it the right way.

A proper interview process.

More than two candidates.

And men who have a fair idea of what it takes to land a football manager leading the charge.

Who knows, they may even get it right this time.

Then again, they might not.

At least they will have given themselves a fighting chance.

Oh, wait a minute, forward thinking and innovation are forbidden at Celtic Park.

Of course they are.

The Celtic board could learn a thing or two from all of this.

But why would they?

When you have been doing it your own way for years, and nobody in the boardroom is ever held to account, why change?

Our club doesn’t do structure.

Our club doesn’t do a transparent search.

Our club does whatever the absent meddling golfer says, and the rest of us find out about it when the decision has already been made.

Because Dermot said so.

Welcome to the weird and wacky world of Double D, the double billionaire!

Cheers Dermot…

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