The Aberdeen-born striker was the advance party for a mini Scottish invasion to Bristol City in the last 10 years or so and the impression he made during his two spells and 11 years at the club – he is 10th on the club’s all-time appearance list – might just have encouraged the npower Championship’s basement side to look northward for the next occupant of their manager’s office.
McInnes will formally bring an end to a successful four-year period at St Johnstone today when he is presented at Ashton Gate and Murray – who now coaches the clubs’s under-11s and works in the commercial department – feels the arrangement could be perfect for both parties.
While the club requires a shot in the arm to remove themselves from the clutches of League One while they undergo a transition to a new stadium, McInnes gets the privilege of taking the next steps on the coaching ladder at a well-supported club and to the backdrop of one of the more beautiful parts of the country.
The re-invigoration of the club under McInnes actually began a day early: fellow Scot David Clarkson, freshly recalled from a loan spell at Brentford, was on target in a closed-door game against Hereford.
“When I first moved down here I found out that the people are really friendly, and it is a lovely city,” Murray told Herald Sport. “There has always been a Scottish connection here. We have a few ex-players like Gerry Sweeney who still come down to games and I think Joe Jordan still lives in Bristol as well, so people do tend to fall in love with the place. I am sure when the new gaffer comes in he will love working here too.
“Everyone is really excited about him getting appointed. The job he has done at St Johnstone has been fantastic; he is an up-and-coming young manager and I think it is a coup for Bristol City get him here. The players just need a little bit of luck to go their way, a breath of fresh air, someone to come in and change things about a little. At the moment results aren’t going our way and the crowds have dipped a little bit but if things are going well you are talking 15,000-16,000 fans, so they do get behind their team and their manager down here.”
Other Scots on the payroll include former Hearts full-back Jamie McAllister – although he is currently injured – and Louis Carey, a centre-back who once appeared for the Scotland Under-21s. McInnes inherits a decent striker in Nicky Maynard, a former England No.1 in David James, a highly-rated winger, Albert Adomah, and a couple of Welsh internationals.
He also assumes control of a rather high wage bill and the decidedly difficult task of ushering Bristol City away from the foot of a division in which they are one of only five teams who have never featured in the Barclays Premier League – and received the parachute money that comes with relegation from it.
“Ashton Gate is a nice, historic stadium, but if you want to keep up with the big clubs then we need the revenue from a new stadium,” Murray added. “I have seen the artwork and it looks fantastic and we are hoping to get in there in the next few years. The main thing is to stay in the Championship until the new stadium comes around and then try to kick on after that. But you just need to look at West Ham to see how difficult the Championship is – they are paying Kevin Nolan something like £50,000 a week.
“Our wage bill at the moment is a lot higher than it should be, so Derek might have to get a few out on loan, or let a few go, before he can bring some in.”
Bristol City haven’t been in the top flight since 1980, but went close in 2008, Murray was on the bench as they lost a play-off final to Hull City. “Looking back, we probably got there a bit too early,” he said, “It would have been better if we had built success slowly.”
Doing so now is the kind of task which has McInnes’ name on it.
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