Neil Warnock’s tenure as Aberdeen manager was firmly in the category of blink and you will miss it.
The dust is still settling on a remarkable afternoon at Pittodrie on Saturday.
The Dons fans’ joy at seeing their side get back to winning ways by beating Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup quickly turned to confusion as Warnock announced his 33-day tenure at the club was at an end.
The collective scratching of heads by all and sundry is understandable.
Five weeks ago Warnock was talking of going out in style by leading his new club to Scottish Cup glory.
As it is, if Dons do go on to win the cup for the first time in 34 years in May, they will do so having had three different managers guide them to glory.
It’s quite the trivia question, if you like those sort of things.
Neil Warnock’s Aberdeen legacy
Hindsight, as they say, is never wrong and it’s easy to be critical of Warnock – but in retrospect he was on a hiding to nothing by taking on the job.
Yes, managing Aberdeen gave him the chance to tick a box of being in charge of a team in Scotland, but it was clear Warnock was taking a huge step into the unknown.
It was not a lack of managerial ability which cost Warnock. He has too much experience and been at too many clubs to suggest he was not up to the task.
But we can’t deny what did contribute to a tense, stressful and ultimately sub-par eight games in charge was a lack of knowledge.
He did not know the league, his squad or the qualities of the players and managers of the teams he would be facing.
That made for a pretty lethal combination for a football club in the doldrums following the departure of its former manager, Barry Robson.
The results would bear that theory out. It can’t be a coincidence Warnock’s best result in his final game in charge was Saturday’s 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
Killie had run Warnock’s Reds ragged in the league just a couple of weeks earlier.
But the Dons boss, having seen Killie up close and personal against his side, was ready for the rematch and his team were deserved winners in the quarter-final.
That’s why you do wonder what he could have done had he had a couple of windows to not only build a team of his own, but also properly assess what he was up against in the Scottish Premiership.
New Aberdeen FC manager incoming
Aberdeen is not Warnock’s concern now, of course.
He will be comfortably back in Cornwall ready to enjoy his latest retirement – until the next comeback that is.
But Warnock’s departure means the search for a new manager is nearing an end. It needs to be.
If there is one takeaway from his parting press conference on Saturday which every Aberdeen fan can agree with, it’s that a new manager needs to be in place to assess this squad.
Just as chairman Dave Cormack and his board have undertaken a review of their operations, the same process needs to be carried out on the squad by the incoming manager.
Warnock is too astute to say so publicly, but he knows he has left behind a team in need of an overhaul.
Given he will not be charged with that task it is only fair he steps aside so his successor can assess what he wants.
Until then, Peter Leven is back in charge.
But just as he had only one game, a commendable 1-1 draw with Celtic, do not expect his latest return to last much longer than his first stint.
Change is in the air.
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