The latest international break came at just the right time for Stephen Glass and his beleaguered Dons team.
They went into the last one still unbeaten in the league, but off the back of a disappointing home draw with Ross County. Four straight defeats have followed, and the side has plummeted down the table.
With only Livingston, County and Dundee below them, it has been an unacceptable start to the campaign, and the early season optimism has drained away.
Already, the rumbling has begun among the support, and there are those demanding a change in management. It is far too early to even consider such drastic action.
When Stephen was appointed, there was certainly divided opinion.
For some fans it was too much of a gamble, he was viewed as untried and untested, lacking in managerial experience, and the accusation was floated that he got the job simply because he was friends with chairman Dave Cormack.
I was in the other camp. After Derek McInnes’ long – and largely successful – reign, I felt a new approach would be beneficial, that the squad needed a massive overhaul, and some fresh thinking would be welcomed by the players.
I was not blind to the inherent risk in appointing a man who had previously only had limited exposure to managing a first team, but I had been told good things about him, and I liked the way he spoke about his aims and ambitions for the club.
Has it worked out? Right now, in terms of results, you would have to say no; there can be no other conclusion. It simply has not been good enough.
But this is not the time to panic or for knee-jerk reactions.
There are a number of issues that Stephen and his coaching staff have to resolve, and they will have to find the answers pretty quickly, but they have to be given the breathing space and support to do so.
The two main priorities are at either end of the pitch, both of which have clearly contributed to the team’s alarming slump.
The Dons have played 21 games since the new manager took over and kept just one clean sheet. They have conceded 35 goals during that time. Various combinations have been tried, and Joe Lewis was dropped for the Celtic match, but nothing they have attempted has worked.
That suggests a fundamental change is required, either on the training pitch or how the side is directed to play. Now might be the time to get back to basics, to keep it simple, to concentrate on defending their box.
Scoring goals remains an issue too. In seven of the 21 matches, the Dons have failed to find the net, and too often the players have snatched at chances and looked bereft of confidence.
It has been a perfect storm and one which has derailed the team’s hopes.
The management will have been doing some serious thinking, and I would hope there has been a lot of hard work put in at Cormack Park in the past week. With the looming fixture list, October is going to be a seriously demanding month.
By the end of it, we might have a better idea as to whether the new regime is ultimately going to be a successful one.
Nervy night at Hampden awaits
Following the national team is rarely, if ever, a comfortable experience, and it promises to be as fraught as ever in the coming weeks.
Just when the qualifying campaign looked in danger of petering out, Steve Clarke’s side pulled off a couple of narrow wins to revive our dreams, and the 1-0 victory in Austria could prove to be pivotal.
With familiar opponents next up at Hampden this evening, we can be fairly certain another nervy 90 minutes is in store. Win that one, and we have the opportunity to clinch a play-off place before Denmark visit Hampden in the final group game next month.
The trips to the Faroes and Moldova will inevitably present their own problems, but for now the Scots must be entirely focused on the meeting with Israel.
It would be lovely to imagine a two or three goal margin, but the likelihood is that if we do win it, it will be another gut-wrenching 1-0 scoreline.
