Robinson has 'two-fold' plan to bring success back to Aberdeen

New Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson has vowed to give the team an "identity and stability" to bring long-term success to Pittodrie - and has a two-phase plan to improve the Scottish Premiership side.

Robinson has left St Mirren to become the permanent successor to Jimmy Thelin, who left Aberdeen in January.

The Northern Irishman inherits a team who ended their defence of the Scottish Cup with defeat by Championship side Dunfermline last weekend, and are on a run of one win of 13 league games.

The new head coach says his first task will be to deal with the "basics" of tightening up the defence and sharpening the attack to get the points needed for survival, but is eyeing a summer rebuild.

A "delighted" Robinson said the opportunity to work with a bigger budget and facilities than he was used to was a major draw.

"As soon as I heard about it, I was excited about it," he told RedTV. "There was no way I could turn it down.

"It was an opportunity I'd waited for, to work at a club with the resources Aberdeen has. It's a huge football club. The facilities it has, the training ground, it's debt free... it's very, very rare in football."

Robinson believes the team's participation in the Conference League has played a part in their league struggles this season.

But he wants a final focus on the remaining Premiership matches before taking a longer-term view.

"It's two phases," he said. "First and foremost it's to get a settled team. There's lots of injuries. Europe took its toll and is the reason the club is in the position it's in.

"First, there needs to be points put on the board to make sure we are well away from the bottom. To do that you need one direction, one voice, a common theme of winning matches and everyone buying into it together.

"Then the second phase is recruitment in the summer.

"There's already players earmarked and we have to make sure we go into the next season with the ambition to make sure we're in the top six, aiming for European positions and doing well in cup competitions."

The Northern Irishman's appointment hasn't been universally welcomed by Aberdeen fans, but he defended his record and feels some critics of his style at St Mirren are ill-informed.

"Judge me on what you see," he said. "Some very loose comments inform people's opinions when they don't see us every week.

"I feel that over the last 10 years my work speaks for itself in terms of winning matches, European adventures with Motherwell and St Mirren, top-three finishes with Motherwell, top-six finishes three times in a row, and cup runs and semi-finals."

Reflecting on his exit from the Paisley club, Robinson admitted it would have been better to leave at the end of a season "in an ideal world" but couldn't turn down the chance to move.

"I've had an incredible time at St Mirren," he said. "I've enjoyed every minute of it. I've made memories for a lifetime. I've had total support from fans, from the board, from everybody."

Now, Robinson turns his attention to turning around Aberdeen's form and steering the club away from relegation worries.

His message to the fans was that their backing will be key to that fight.

"Stay together until the end of the season," he said. "Support the players. Players respond to positivity. Judge what you see on the pitch.

"We will put a team out to get the points we need to stay in this division, then we will recruit to make sure we have a real positive influence on the league.

"There are expectations at this club we have to meet and that's not something I'm going to shy away from.

"We need everybody to get behind myself, my staff and the players particularly because they are the ones that matter."