Alarm bells are now ringing for the Dons after the loss at Rangers and they must quickly find out how to fix it.
Aberdeen’s form hasn’t been good and that has to be addressed by the manager and team.
The 5-0 loss at Ibrox ended a bad week for Aberdeen.
Not only did they exit the League Cup on Wednesday at Hearts after being so close to reaching the semi-finals, they have now suffered a heavy defeat in Glasgow.
Those results came on the back of scraping past Livingston 2-0.
There has to be the acceptance that some things are not right.
That is something that has to be addressed first and then efforts made to resolve them and turn the situation around.
That will be where manager Derek McInnes will be in his own mind at the moment.
In my experience when you put in performances like Aberdeen did against Livingston (a 2-0 win) you can only get away with it now and again.
You don’t get away with it for very long and the truth eventually comes along and hits you. That has happened.
After recent results Aberdeen can expect pressure to be put on them.
However, it is how you handle that pressure and come out the other end that ultimately matters.
McInnes has enough experience to analyse what has happened this season and put it right.
With eight players ruled out for the trip to Ibrox he will be bemoaning the injuries the squad have suffered.
However, injuries are a reality of football and you must have a strong pool to deal with it.
That is possibly an area Derek should look at and discuss with Aberdeen’s directors.
Then maybe in the January transfer window they can strengthen the squad by getting more players in.
That way youngsters are not being exposed to Rangers at Ibrox when things are going badly.
They will only be exposed to Rangers in Glasgow when things are going well.
Injuries have hit the Dons this season but so has losing key players in transfer windows in recent years.
Trying to replace those influential players with the same quality is very difficult.
Replacing former captain Graeme Shinnie, who exited for Derby County at the end of last season, has been tough.
Shinnie was the heartbeat of the Aberdeen side and initiated the high press.
As well as Shinnie, replacing players like Kenny McLean and even going all the way back to Jonny Hayes has been difficult.
Replacing them is a tough task but one that has to be addressed and turned around.
There are still questions around the signings that have come in this summer as to whether they can reach the standard of players that have left the club in recent years.
When you look at the summer signings, Ryan Hedges was very bright in the European games but that has drifted. Jon Gallagher began like a train and was really energetic but that has tapered off.
James Wilson has not made an impact. Funso Ojo did okay but is now injured, as is Craig Bryson.
It is a combination of new players coming in and trying to live up to the expectations the manager and Aberdeen supporters all have.
Sometimes the new signings are finding it difficult.
It is still early in their Pittodrie careers but you don’t get much time in this game to get it right.
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