Barry Robson must feel as if he is running round in circles as he faces the same questions about his future as Aberdeen manager.
Today marks Robson’s one year anniversary as Dons boss which, given recent years, is a notable achievement.
Robson has lasted longer than Jim Goodwin and Stephen Glass in the Pittodrie hotseat which is no mean feat.
But not for the first time this season the Dons boss finds himself wandering into win-or-bust territory with the Aberdeen support.
It should be nothing new for Robson at this point. It’s the nature of the beast as a football manager.
Barry Robson has had his feet close to the fire already
The clichéd ‘you are only as good as your last game’ is the issue as there have been several poor performances or results which have left the fans frustrated and asking questions.
Kilmarnock’s 1-0 win at Pittodrie on December 6 had fans chanting for the manager to leave.
But two home wins over Hearts and Eintracht Frankfurt quickly turned those jeers to cheers in the space of eight days as chants of ‘bring on the Rangers’ ahead of the League Cup final rang out.
The same unrest resurfaced in the final game of 2023, a shocking 3-0 home defeat by St Mirren.
Once again Robson was firmly under the spotlight and he decided it was time to act.
All change heading in 2024
The 3-5-2 formation, which had served him so well since taking charge, was disbanded in favour of a more resolute 4-2-3-1 formation.
It brought an excellent 3-0 win at Ross County before the winter split and continued with a 2-0 Scottish Cup win against Clyde in the first match back from the winter break.
But those doubts still remain in the back of the minds for some and one point on the road from trips to St Johnstone and Hearts last week have put Robson back to square one.
So here we are, watching an Aberdeen manager in need of a big performance and result to win over the doubters.
Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Hearts was viewed as win-or-bust for some in terms of the Dons’ hopes of reeling in the Jambos for the second year running.
The first half performance was very good but from the moment Hearts opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the second half Aberdeen’s belief seemed to wilt.
The end result of the morale-sapping loss is the Dons now find themselves 19 points adrift of Hearts.
Europe is still there for the Aberdeen despite weekend loss
That ever-increasing gap is perhaps the biggest factor which has counted against Robson.
Take the Jambos out of the equation and the Dons, if they win their three games in hand, would be level with fourth-placed Kilmarnock.
That would be enough to secure Europe again.
But after trips to Hacken, Helsinki, Frankfurt and PAOK this season the Red Army are hungry for more.
The path to the group stage of European football is so much tougher for the fourth-placed team in the Scottish Premiership than the side which finished third.
To be clear, there has been little noise coming from Pittodrie giving the impression a change is imminent.
If anything the arrival of Killian Phillips on loan from Crystal Palace on Sunday suggests the powers that be at the club are not prepared to write this season – or their manager – off.
But Robson is not daft.
He is only a year into the job but he has been in the game to know football is a results business and he needs to get them on a regular basis.
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