JONNY HAYES was only in Aberdeen a matter of minutes when he spotted a clash between football fans on Union Street.

The former Caley Thistle ace was not put off – in fact it was right there and then he knew he had made the correct decision to move to Pittodrie.

Hayes could have opted for the quiet life at Inverness or down south but he was bowled over by boss Craig Brown’s vision for Aberdeen.

The Irish winger bought into Brown’s plans to lift the club out of the doldrums after too many years of failure.

The fans are willing to fight for the jersey – and so is Hayes.

He said: “I knew Aberdeen was a big club but I didn’t know how big. The day I came up for my medical, I got off the train and was walking up to get a taxi.

“There was a couple of guys in Aberdeen tops and a few boys in Celtic shirts and they were almost having a fight with each other. I never saw anything like that in Inverness.

“It just shows this is a passionate club which, by its own admission, has been under-performing these last few years.

“Now the manager has put a good squad together and we have a great chance to push on in the next few years and do better and better.

“I came to Aberdeen because there is great potential here. That has only improved with no Rangers in the league. There is an extra European place now for starters.

“You have seen the ambition here. There are not many clubs that have improved their squads this summer. We can count ourselves lucky we are such a big club.”

It’s just as well Hayes made his choice based on the future rather than the past.

It is not being too harsh to say Aberdeen have been pretty grim in recent years, with three consecutive ninth-place finishes in the SPL an embarrassment to a club whose supporters have high demands.

Hayes said: “The games between Aberdeen and Inverness last season were pretty boring – they were horrible to be honest. But I could see the potential was there.

“The manager brought in good players and I was really impressed with the squad here as soon as I came in.

“It is a good mix. There is a feeling we can have a good season.”

Hayes has hit the ground running in pre-season. His lightning pace even had German fans gasping in the Dons’ 1-0 friendly defeat against Werder Bremen. It was a tough shift as the Bundesliga giants kept the ball for long periods but Hayes looked lethal on the counter-attack.

Perfect preparation for the Dons’ SPL opener at Celtic Park next week.

Hayes relished testing himself against the best and would love a crack at Europe for real next season.

The Dons round off their German tour with today’s clash with St Pauli and Hayes said: “The Bremen game was a good boost for confidence because if it was a European game you would bite the hand off for a 1-0 defeat away from home.

“Werder Bremen were probably the best team I have come across in my career.

“I wouldn’t say we were taught a lesson but it was a lesson in how to keep the ball. You don’t come up against teams of that calibre very often and you can only learn from them.

“Celtic are obviously a good side but if Werder Bremen were in our league they would win it no bother. That’s how good they were.

“I have not seen a team pass and move like that since playing against German and Spanish underage sides.

“So it was a great confidence booster, especially for the guys at the back, like Andy Considine who was superb.

“We nullified them for long spells. It is something we can use at Celtic Park because they will have the ball for long spells. Hopefully we can get chances to attack as a team when we can.

“You have to change your game for the opposition but we can take a lot of positives from that game.

“The manager briefed us before the start and you just looked through their team and could see the number of international caps.

“There were hundreds between them and players that costs millions. It is a different world to the SPL at the minute.

“But we showed a lot of heart and character. You want to test yourself against that kind of opposition every season.

“I’d imagine Werder Bremen will be competing at the top end of the Bundesliga and will be in Europe next year. There is no reason why we cannot push on this year and qualify – you never know, we could meet again in 12 months.

“We have not set targets but everybody knows the league is a lot tighter.

“There are probably six or seven teams going for Europe. We saw St Johnstone get there this year so there is no reason we can’t do it.”