Barry Robson has bought Aberdeen – and himself – some much needed time after a solid start to his interim tenure in the Dons dugout.
A horrendous run of results came to an end on Saturday as Robson’s Dons ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Motherwell at Pittodrie.
It was a first win in six games for the club and only the second league win in the last three months.
But with two weeks until his club next takes to the field Robson and the board at Pittodrie can now pause for breath and take stock.
It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for the Dons with Jim Goodwin backed then sacked in the space of four days following a Scottish Cup exit at Darvel and a 6-0 thumping by Hibernian at Easter Road.
It has not been so much a case of going back to the drawing board for all and sundry at the club; more like time to invest in a new one altogether.
Interested parties growing but Robson in the mix
Former Caley Thistle and Ross County manager John Hughes is the latest man to publicly throw his hat in the ring for the job. Yogi was happy to tell the whole country live on radio he had submitted his CV to the Dons in the hope of being considered.
He follows Chris Wilder, Dwight Yorke and Czeslaw Michniewicz in making it known they would be interested in discussing taking over from Goodwin if the Dons fancy picking up the phone.
But two strong performances from the team, one in defeat against St Mirren after playing for 83 minutes with 10 men before Saturday’s 3-1 win against Well, has given Aberdeen time to be thoughtful as well as thorough in deciding which path they want to follow next.
There will surely be a sense of relief within Pittodrie that they can take their time on this one with under-18 coach Robson and the experienced Steve Agnew in charge for now.
Following two appointments which have lasted less than 12 months each, a period of stability is what Aberdeen need more than most.
It’s less than two years since Derek McInnes’ eight-year spell in charge came to an end but so much has happened it feels like a lifetime ago.
Caretaker has shown he can be trusted to take the helm short or long-term
Robson, at the very least, has shown himself to be a safe pair of hands and one who can be trusted to keep the first team squad ticking over for however long is needed.
After all, he did it before a year ago.
Maybe Robson’s time will be brief. Perhaps it will last until May. It might just become permanent.
But the last two displays have if nothing else made that option one to be considered internally.
The longer the former Scotland international midfielder can stay in post, and crucially get results, the better his prospects of landing the job on a permanent basis become.
For all the talk of experience and tactical knowledge, football managers succeed or fail on two key performance indicators – the ability to get the most of the squad and deliver results.
Robson can at least be satisfied with what he has got from the players in his two games in charge.
There was progress, and praise to be found for the losing effort against St Mirren in trying circumstances last midweek.
Saturday produced a repeat but only this time the same effort was rewarded with the points on the board and for that the fans and no doubt the board will be hugely grateful.
Dons chairman Dave Cormack and his directors will have the final say on whether to make Robson’s ascension to the role of first team caretaker a permanent one.
But he is certainly not doing his prospects any harm.
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