Aberdeen have named Neil Warnock as their interim manager and expect to appoint a new boss for the 2024-25 campaign before the end of this season.
Barry Robson, who was fired last week after a year in command and the Dons’ eighth-place finish in the Scottish Premiership, is replaced by the 75-year-old.
At Ibrox on Tuesday, Warnock will be in charge of the league matchup against the Rangers.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge – Aberdeen is a big club with clear ambition,” he said.
Ronnie Jepson, his assistant, has also joined Aberdeen, while Peter Leven will remain the first-team coach.
After coming out of retirement a year prior, the Yorkshireman managed to keep Huddersfield Town in the Championship until his departure in September of last year.
“I’ve made no secret of the fact I’ve always wanted to manage in Scotland so when I spoke to Dave [Cormack, chairman] and Alan [Burrows, chief executive] and they asked me to help out it just felt like the right opportunity,” he added.
“By all accounts there is a good group of lads here and it’s my job now to get the best out of them.
“I’m hoping that during my time here the supporters will get behind the team and I can put a smile on their faces.”
For the fourth season running at this time of year, Robson left the post, following in the footsteps of Derek McInnes, Stephen Glass, and Jim Goodwin.
As chairman Dave Cormack has stated, “benchmarking the club against similar teams that outperform us in Europe” is one of the many tasks that the appointment will allow Aberdeen to complete before the end of 2023.
Having managed 1,626 league games in English league football over his 15 clubs, Warnock holds the record for most league games managed. He has also masterminded eight promotions.
His second stint with the Terriers, who he helped get promoted to the English second tier in 1995, was his prior employment with Huddersfield.
In addition, Warnock played two spells with Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace, helping the latter return to the Premier League in 2011.
He was also promoted to Sheffield United and Cardiff City to the Premier League.
He led Scarborough into the Football League early in his career and enjoyed multiple promotions while playing for Notts County.
“From the moment we first spoke with Neil his enthusiasm for managing Aberdeen was infectious,” Cormack said.
“He has had an incredible career, not only in terms of volume of games and winning promotions, but also of coming into clubs at short notice and making an immediate impact.
“We still have a huge amount to play for both in the Premiership and the Scottish Cup.”