Aberdeen set to appoint Stephen Glass as new manager with Scott Brown favourite to be named assistant

Former Aberdeen midfielder Stephen Glass is set to return to the club as their new manager, with Celtic captain Scott Brown favourite to be named as his assistant.

Glass, who also played for Hibernian and Newcastle, will leave his role as head coach of Atlanta United's reserve side in the US.

Aberdeen have been searching for a new coaching team since manager Derek McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty left the club earlier this month.

Glass is still in America, but could be in charge for the remaining five games of Aberdeen's league season and the Scottish Cup, assuming he arrives in Scotland in time to complete a quarantine period.

The 44-year-old is understood to have been earmarked for a return to Aberdeen - where he played in the 1990s - in some capacity ever since they agreed their strategic partnership with his current club, Atlanta.

The MLS side's president, Darren Eales, also sits on Aberdeen's board, while the Scottish club's chairman, Dave Cormack, is based in Atlanta.

Should Glass be joined at Pittodrie by Brown, who he played with at Hibernian, it would end the midfielder's trophy-laden, 14-year spell with Celtic.

He has won 10 Scottish Premiership titles, six Scottish Cups and six Scottish League Cups at Parkhead since arriving from Hibs in 2007.

Last week, Celtic interim manager John Kennedy said Brown - whose contract expires at the end of the season - would decide on his future once the campaign is over.

In February, Brown, 35, dismissed the idea of moving into coaching in the near future, saying: "I am still too young for that."

Aberdeen are currently fourth in the Scottish Premiership, seven points behind third-placed Hibernian.

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Sky Sports News reporter Charles Paterson

"This is not a surprise. Derek McInnes left Aberdeen two weeks ago but Stephen Glass' name had been mentioned to me even before McInnes had departed. McInnes was set to probably leave in the summer but that was accelerated by Aberdeen's poor results.

"Atlanta United and Aberdeen have got a strategic partnership and Dave Cormack, the Aberdeen chairman, is based in Atlanta. He knows Glass very well indeed.

"In Aberdeen, the rumours have been rife for months - that Stephen Glass could be returning to the club that he played for in the 1990s. He won the League Cup with them as a player. This is a homecoming for Glass, and I'm told that he was the outstanding candidate for the job from the moment it was clear McInnes would be leaving.

"Scott Brown wants to get into coaching. He's done coaching badges, he's been involved with the youth teams at Celtic.

"Glass and Brown played together at Hibernian at the start of Brown's career. Nothing has been confirmed but Brown has been tipped to join Glass ever since the news broke that McInnes was leaving Aberdeen.

"Given the uncertainty at Celtic about who's going to be the new head coach and if there's going to be a restructure, it would make sense for Brown to want to make a decision on his own future.

"He is the favourite to join Glass on the coaching staff - and perhaps play - at Pittodrie."