It has been another tumultuous week for the Dons, one in which they have lurched from crisis to crisis.
Following the embarrassments at Tynecastle and Darvel, and the highly unexpected decision by the Football Monitoring Board to keep faith in Jim Goodwin, the team rocked up at Easter Road last Saturday expected, by the decision makers, to show an “immediate improvement”.
Instead, they served up another shambles, suffered their heaviest defeat in over 12 years, and brought further shame to the club.
Almost immediately, the manager had gone.
Jim should have been spared the ignominy of his lonely walk across the Easter Road pitch, and having to clamber over an advertising hoarding in the full glare of the cameras. His time in charge proved to be a failure, but he did not deserve that; he should have been dismissed in the hours after the Scottish Cup exit.
The capitulation against Hibernian summed up Aberdeen’s fortunes since returning from the World Cup break, and it is extremely difficult to accurately forecast where they go from here.
The intense activity as the transfer window drew to a close – without a permanent manager in place – was another indication of the dark place they are right now, and that was followed by yet another defeat with Dons rejects, Curtis Main and Declan Gallagher, earning the midweek points for St Mirren.
There was much discussion over the early sending-off of Ross McCrorie, which clearly had a bearing on the outcome, but for me, it was undoubtedly the correct decision. Ross threw out his forearm in what appeared to be a deliberate action and caught Charles Dunne in the face; it was a red card all day long.
Fight and spirit shown
The loss, a fifth in a row, was another dagger to the heart, and the recent record in the Premiership – one win in nine – has left the side flirting with a possible relegation battle.
If that does not get turned round quickly, the Dons could see their relatively comfortable safety net eaten into, and you have to wonder if this side has what it takes to meet that kind of challenge.
The one plus from Wednesday night was the fight and spirit shown by the team. That should, of course, be a given, but those qualities have been sadly lacking of late, and Barry Robson at least managed to reignite them.
As ever, plenty names have been bandied about, some more fantastical than others, and it is hard to know which route the club should now go down in that respect.
Of Dave Cormack’s appointments, Stephen Glass was untried and untested, while Jim Goodwin was more experienced, but, it proved, not up to leading a club the size of Aberdeen.
Does he now go for an older head, someone with a proven track record at the top level? Is he prepared to give another younger manager the opportunity, or will it be a candidate plucked from left field?
The chairman has much to ponder, but whichever route he chooses to go down, he is going to have to get this one right, and take wise counsel from respected football figures when selecting the next incumbent.
If he fails to do so, the club risks spiralling yet further out of control, and that abyss could take a long time to climb free from.
January signings could be key in bid to beat the drop
As I highlighted above, the Dons are currently in danger of being sucked into a bottom six fight for Premiership survival. They will probably be okay, but strange things happen at this stage of the season, and they will have to be wary.
Kilmarnock and St Johnstone were the midweek winners, and Ross County picked up a useful point.
Much will depend on the success of the new boys brought in by the relegation rivals, and if they can settle quickly, we could see big changes to the league table.
Can Zak Rudden rediscover his goal touch for the Perth Saints? Will Simon Murray bring his Championship form to County?
Motherwell made massive changes, and are currently the worst team in the division.
Right now, they look favourites for the drop, and that makes Saturday afternoon’s match at Pittodrie even more important, for both clubs.
Conversation