Barron compensation case 'dragged on too long'

Connor Barron returned to Pittodrie for a 2-1 defeat on 30 October

Aberdeen's wait for a fee from Rangers for Connor Barron has "dragged on too long", according to Pittodrie chief executive Alan Burrows, who believes the compensation case highlights the need for a new process.

The midfielder, 22, signed a four-year contract at Ibrox in June, joining under freedom of contract.

The clubs could not agree on a development fee for the player who had been with the Dons since the age of eight, hence the need for a Scottish Professional Football League tribunal.

Speaking after Aberdeen's annual general meeting, Burrows explained that SPFL rules prohibit him from revealing any details.

However, he did add: "This situation has dragged on too long, in my opinion. I am happy to say that."

When pressed on a likely tribunal date, Burrows continued: "All I can say is I hope it won't be too much longer."

And he hopes the governing body can learn from the experience.

"I think it should be a catalyst for us to have a better process when it comes to players who go out of contract then move to another club within the same league who can't then come to an agreement on what the value should be on the cost recovery," he said.

"It has been a long process, it has been a time consuming process, it has been something that has taken up a lot of management, staff hours and money to try and get to the point where we are."

Burrows also fielded questions on Jamie McGrath and Jack Mackenzie, who are out of contract at the end of the season.

"We remain in good dialogue with those players, we would like those players to stay," he said.

"We have also got to factor in our squad planning. The challenge for us is to try and not only look at the contracts of players who are up at the end of this season, but also making sure that we manage the contracts of the players who expire in 18 month's time as well and open those discussions early enough as well to try and get ahead of that situation too."

Manager Jimmy Thelin has made a remarkable impact at Pittodrie, starting with 14 consecutive victories.

The Dons have stumbled of late, going five matches without a win, but remain second in the Premiership.

"We appointed Jimmy as the anchor for this club hopefully over the next many many years to come," said Burrows.

"That is going to take patience, it is going to take time. He has only had one transfer window. The vast majority of players in the group he has inherited and it says a lot about him as a head coach, that most Dons fans see the progress that a lot of these players have made.

"The key for us is to continue to be humble, as Jimmy would say, we continue to take it in bite sized chunks, one game at a time, but we also know there will bumps on the road along the way.

"It is going to take multiple transfer windows to get it to the exact point where he is happy and he is kicking on as much as he possibly can be

'Short term success, short term bumps, they will come and go, but longer term that is what we are focused on."