Get the red and white scarf at the ready. It won’t be long before another new Aberdeen manager is paraded at Pittodrie.
This has become an annual event in recent times with Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin and now Barry Robson all coming and going over the past three years.
Every new appointment marks the start of a new chapter in the life of a football club.
Dons chief executive Alan Burrows said the club was “entering the very final stages” of the search for a new manager in an interview last Thursday.
A lot has happened since Barry Robson was sacked on January 31 but, all being well, Aberdeen’s new permanent manager will soon be unveiled.
In that first press conference, the new boss is offered the chance to set out a vision of how they will bring success to the club.
It can be a tricky interview to get right.
Set expectations too high and you are under pressure to deliver on those promises from the start.
But trying to keep expectations low can polarise the support and have them wondering why the new manager emerged as the preferred candidate.
If in doubt, it’s always better to give the fans some reasons for optimism as a new era gets under way.
When Robson was named the permanent Aberdeen manager in May last year following a remarkable spell as caretaker boss, he vowed to deliver a team that would “work hard, win games and get the fans on the edge of their seats.”
Unfortunately he wasn’t able to replicate the amazing form which earned him the job on a permanent basis.
Derek McInnes wanted the city of Aberdeen “to fall in love with its team again” while Ebbe Skovdahl appealed for time to implement change in his first press conference.
The Dane said: “I’ve signed a two-year contract here and if things work out well, I’ll be here longer than that because I won’t achieve what I want to achieve overnight.”
Jimmy Calderwood was determined to make Pittodrie a fortress again after succeeding Steve Paterson.
“I have always been a very positive thinking manager, especially at home,” he said.
“I remember the days when Aberdeen were almost invincible at Pittodrie and I want to get that back.
“It will only happen if we go out and have a right go at teams.”
Stephen Glass’ first press conference took a worrying turn when he was asked about his relationship with chairman Dave Cormack, who he knew from his time in Atlanta, and replied that his family friend was “probably the guy that could fire me at some point.”
That seemed an ominous thing to say on day one.
Jim Goodwin will have probably wished he hadn’t said “fixing the defence is the easy part” in the early days of his tenure.
Neil Warnock wanted to have “a little bit of fun between now and the end of the season” when he was named interim boss at the start of February but that upbeat mood quickly turned and after a mere 33 days the experienced man of many clubs had departed Pittodrie.
New managers can have lengthy manifestos with promises on everything from the formation, the style, getting young players in the starting line-up and creating a team with an identity.
But supporters will normally be pretty content if managers can achieve one thing – winning games.
A backs-to-the-wall, gritty 1-0 victory will always keep a manager in a job for at least another week but if you can win with a bit of style and panache then even better.
When a young Alex Ferguson was confirmed as Aberdeen manager in 1978 he knew the type of team he wanted to create at Pittodrie.
He said: “The most important people are those who pay the money, the fans.
“I intend to go out among them and to make sure when they come to Pittodrie that they get what they pay for – entertainment.”
He certainly delivered that.
