A well-used phrase from Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack since he succeeded Stewart Milne in the Pittodrie boardroom has been “We might be wrong but we won’t be confused.”
Well, there’s not an awful lot going right at the moment and many Dons fans have been left scratching their heads by what is going on.
In 2021 we’ve seen a parting of the ways between Cormack and a long-serving manager in Derek McInnes before replacing him with an untried coach in Stephen Glass.
It had been clear for some time McInnes’ time at Pittodrie was nearing an end even if the split did come a few months earlier than anticipated and it was equally apparent for some time Glass was the hot favourite to replace him.
Following Glass’ appointment the chairman addressed the issue by insisting the club had gone through a rigorous process and the new manager had emerged as the clear frontrunner.
The arrival of a new coaching staff was accompanied by a desire to play attacking, entertaining football with Cormack waxing lyrical about wanting to see the team play the Aberdeen Way.
We still await some more information from anyone at the club whether it be the chairman, new director of football Steven Gunn or the manager on just what that should look like.
What fans have seen, however, is a root and branch overhaul of the coaching and recruitment operation of the club.
Time will tell if it pays off in the long term but the short term pain has been unavoidable with the Dons pointless in September before going into this international break ninth in the Scottish Premiership with eight points.
Dons have struggled to find their rhythm
Let’s focus on recruitment for a minute. There was no doubt the forward line needed to be overhauled after the paucity of the Dons attack in the second half of last season and Christian Ramirez, with six goals in 15 appearances, has made a decent start to his time in Scotland.
But the jury is still out on Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, a technically gifted player, perhaps one of the most talented at the club, but he hasn’t found the consistency to go with that ability.
Scott Brown was the headline act among the new arrivals and the former Celtic captain has been a fine addition. But he’s 36 and no matter how many interceptions and tackles he makes he cannot do it by himself.
With one clean sheet since Glass arrived at the club, there is no deliberation needed on what area needs to be worked on during the international break focused.
Calvin Ramsay and Jack Mackenzie are talented players, but they are learning the hard way that you cannot switch off for a second or you will be punished.
The central defensive area is, if you will pardon the pun, indefensible and the politest way to describe it is to say it has drastically underperformed.
Ash Taylor had his critics during his time at the club, but no-one is going to make a convincing case the current central defensive options of Ross McCrorie, Declan Gallagher and David Bates are superior to that offered by Taylor, Tommie Hoban and Andy Considine last year.
Put it this way, the loss of Considine has been devastating for the team and his return from a knee injury cannot come quick enough.
The coaching staff who work with McCrorie daily clearly see him as a defender, but you do wonder if his services could be better utilised in midfield.
Lack of track record has increased scrutiny on new boss
Glass’ comment after Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Celtic about the job being a joyless experience due to the run the team is on is also troubling and all the signs point to the Dundee game after the break being a defining one.
The Dark Blues had their own struggles this season, but if there was a team you want to play to turn your fortunes around right now it’s the Dons.
St Johnstone came to Pittodrie last month and won their first league game of the season. St Mirren then claimed their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Dons in Paisley. Celtic have now won their first away game since Valentine’s Day.
If you are Dundee, you are thinking this is a great chance to get your first win. If that happens, the chances of Aberdeen fans tolerating a 10th game without a win and five defeats in a row are slim.
Glass, due to his CV, has no track record to fall back on, no silver lining to offer to the dark cloud hovering over Pittodrie right now.
Let’s call it for what it is – a credibility problem. He is being judged on what he is doing now rather than anything he has done elsewhere because there is nothing of note elsewhere to put up as evidence to suggest he can turn this around.
We may not be clear on just what the Aberdeen Way is, but we can agree that what we are seeing right now is not it.
