Prior to this term, Aberdeen had only experienced seven seasons in the club’s history containing a winless run extending into double digits. Never have they endured one in which it has happened twice.
The class of 2022 will head to Glasgow at the weekend requiring an unlikely victory on the territory of the defending champions to avoid that stain besmirching their yearbook.
Their chances of achieving it appear slim, but not as slim as they would have rated the likelihood of ending up in such an unprecedentedly unsuccessful situation when they began their campaign. How their targets have fallen.
For a club with relatively lofty ambitions on and off the field, going months at a time between match wins is plainly neither acceptable nor sustainable.
There are many things which go towards attaining UEFA Top 100 status, but it must be assumed that winning the occasional game is among the principal criteria: it may be one whose difficulty was seriously underestimated by a Pittodrie revolutionary force which looks increasingly either naive or blithe as the project’s first season totters on.
Jim Goodwin’s answerability for the latest skid, only arriving two-thirds of the way through it, is almost zero. The longer he goes with that figure in his personal win column, the likelier it becomes that it will also represent what he retains from the hand he was dealt.
But conversely, should Aberdeen clank their way to a finish around where they currently sit, Goodwin personally may gain power to implement major changes should he wish. Those above him will be unable to dispute the problems in the building, and equally unenthused at the prospect of being seen to be responsible for their persistence.
Aberdeen’s football operation must be tempted to pass Goodwin the parcel, and retire to the shadows to see what he unwraps.