MacLean and Paterson were too expensive to sign on loan

Aberdeen have blamed reduced television revenue for missing out on transfer targets Reda Johnson, Steven MacLean and Jim Paterson.

Johnson is poised to sign for Plymouth, the club from which the Dons failed to take Paterson and MacLean on loan.

Director Duncan Fraser said: "We are in a situation where we have to operate with an annual budget of £600,000 less than originally budgeted for next year.

"That has the potential to rise to over £1m over the coming couple of years."

With the collapse of broadcaster Setanta, the Scottish Premier League has agreed a new contract with ESPN-Sky worth half of what the clubs would have been expecting in the next five years.

And Aberdeen's managing director pointed out that, to plug that gap, they would need 4,000 extra fans at every Scottish Premier League game, or reach the Europa League group stages with a couple of lucrative ties.

Dons manager Mark McGhee had expected to sign Johnson, but Plymouth entered the equation while the Dons were negotiating a fee with the defender's present club, Amiens.

There is money available to strengthen the squad and we will support Mark as much as we can to bring new players in Aberdeen director of football Willie Miller

A bid for former Motherwell wide-man Paterson and ex-Rangers striker MacLean stalled because of the pair's wage demands.

And Aberdeen saw fit to issue a statement on the club website insisting that they would support their frustrated manager in the transfer market but were not willing to put the club in deeper financial difficulties.

Director of football Willie Miller said: "We tried to bring a couple of lads in on loan from a mid-table Championship side.

"But, given these guys were on £3,500 and £5,000 per week, respectively, we simply cannot compete.

"Equally, while we will do everything we can to support Mark, we have to ensure Aberdeen Football Club is still around in the future and, let's be frank, there are top clubs whose long-term future is by no means a certainty.

"Much has been made of the players we've lost and while the absence of Scott Severin is a blow, injury meant that Jamie Smith hardly played last season, while Lee Mair was not a regular starter."

McGhee made his first signing this week, former Norwich goalkeeper Stuart Nelson being brought in as cover for Jamie Langfield for Thursday night's Europa League qualifier with Sigma Olomouc.

The manager has insisted he is happy with the first-team squad he inherited from Jimmy Calderwood but believes he needs four new players before the start of the Scottish Premier League season.

"We must remain positive," said Miller. "We have a new management team in place, the return of European football and a new season just around the corner and these are exciting times.

"However, it is, I believe, only right that the supporters have some idea as to the conditions we are having to operate within right now.

"There is money available to strengthen the squad and we will support Mark as much as we can to bring new players in. That has started with the signing of Stuart Nelson."

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