Niall McGinn was delighted to see manager Derek McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty commit their futures to Aberdeen and is already targeting more success under their charge.
The Dons boss and his No 2 have penned new contracts which tie them to the Reds until the summer of 2022.
Since the appointment of McInnes and Docherty, Aberdeen have finished second in the Premiership on four occasions, third once, in 2014, and fourth once – last season.
The duo guided the Dons to League Cup glory in 2014 – ending a 19-year wait for silverware – and have also taken the club to three more cup finals.
McGinn has enjoyed working under McInnes and Docherty and is hoping they can claim more silverware in the coming seasons as well as make further progress in Europe.
The Reds have lost out in the Europa League third qualifying round on four occasions, while last term they were knocked out a round earlier by English Premier League Burnley.
Reaching the group stages is Aberdeen’s ultimate ambition and McGinn hopes that can be achieved.
The winger, who turned 32 on Saturday, scored at Pittodrie in the first leg of the first qualifying round tie with RoPS Rovaniemi in a 2-1 win.
The same scoreline in Lapland on Thursday saw the Reds progress 4-2 on aggregate and their second round tie with Georgians Chikhura Sachkhere will begin in Tbilisi on Thursday.
On McInnes and Docherty committing to the Dons, McGinn said: “It’s brilliant news, they’ve been first class since they came here and helped the club move forward. They have been brilliant with the players and personally I’ve really enjoyed working under them.
“They’re always very intense and put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes.
“That’s reaped rewards with us doing well over the years in the league, getting to cup finals and winning the League Cup in their first season.
“The European nights at Pittodrie have always been special as well.
“It’s great for the club that they have tied themselves to the club for a longer period.
“It’s great for the likes of myself and Andy Considine, who have been here for a long time, to see them carry on and show their commitment.
“It’s good for the senior players as well as the youth and the talent that’s coming through at the club as well. When you get to cup finals and semi-finals you want to go that extra step and win trophies.
“We’ll be doing our utmost as a team this season again to keep progressing as a team and do as well as we possibly can in the league.
“Hopefully we can go a bit further in the Europa League and keep challenging for cups as well.
“There’s a long way to go in Europe and we just need to take each game as it comes.
“The ultimate goal is to get as far as we can and to make the group stages would be special for the club.
“But we can’t look too far ahead, we’ve just got to take each game as it comes because we know every game in Europe is very difficult.”
McGinn is now in his second spell with Aberdeen.
Having been signed by Craig Brown in the summer of 2012, he departed two years ago for South Korean side Gwangju.
But such is his relationship with McInnes and Docherty he kept in touch with them and when McGinn decided he wanted to return to Scotland, Pittodrie was the best option.
He added: “Even when I was away from the club I always kept in close contact with the manager and Doc. They’ve always been brilliant with me and there’s good honesty between myself and them.
“They’ve enjoyed working with me and I’ve enjoyed working with them and I was more than happy to come back and it’s been great.
“I’m here for this season and then there’s another year on my contract after that.
“So all in all I’m very pleased to be here and working with them.”
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