Aberdeen’s fall from grace

By David Torrance

It has been a dreadful season for the Dons (Image: Getty Images)

With a third-place finish last season and European group stage football guaranteed for the season after, Aberdeen seemed to have things back on track.

After a couple of seasons looking very up and down, the Dons seemed to have got themselves back on track to comfortably finish in European spots.

With one of the best forwards in Bojan Miovski that the club has had in years in carrying the team on his back, things had looked up for the Dons.

But fast-forward to March 2024, and they now sit 10th in the league, have crashed out of Europe and are two managers down without a new one in sight.

Aberdeen fans look down the table with fear in their eyes as only two teams sit below them with a measly three points gap between them and the relegation play-offs.

The problem doesn't seem to lie solely on the pitch as the players they have are more than capable, but with multiple managers and no solid plan in place, things look bleak for Aberdeen.

Barry Robson was sacked as Aberdeen manager at the end of January (Image: Getty Images)

During a 22-year period, from 1999 to 2021, Aberdeen went through nine different managers, including those on an interim basis. This may not be the best of records, but it is proof that those managers were given the time to turn things around.

To put that into perspective, since the sacking of Derek McInnes in 2021, Aberdeen have gone through eight managers, including interim bosses.

Eight managers in three years. To make it even worse, not one of them took charge for more than 50 league games, with the highest being 36 for Barry Robson.

Out of those eight managers, only one has a win percentage of 50% or above. This was Paul Sheerin, who managed the club for just two games.

Changes in the Aberdeen dugout have caused instability at Pittodrie (Image: Getty Images)

Aberdeen have had good spells since their manager roulette began but have yet to finish in the same half of the table that they finished in the season before.

Having finished fourth in the 2020/21 season, 10th in the 2021/22 season, third in the 2022/23 season and currently sit tenth this season, the Dons just can’t seem to settle on a side of the league that they would rather be in. Relegation battlers or European contenders?

Neil Warnock agreed an interim contract until the end of the season on February 6.

Warnock was ready to roll up his sleeves and turn Aberdeen’s form around when he joined, but for him to leave after a brief 33 days in the post and after only his second win with the club, did he feel the Dons were a lost cause and decided to jump ship before another relegation was added to his CV?

The experienced manager only picked up two victories during his reign, both in the Scottish Cup (Image: Getty Images)

Aberdeen have been too trigger-happy when letting managers go as of late. When you look at the likes of Motherwell, they are a perfect example of how to deal with a manager in poor form.

Motherwell’s board knew he was capable of saving the team and having them play good football, as was displayed last season, but after going on a 15-game winless run and their fans being on his back, the pressure was on the board to make the right decision.

They gave Kettlewell time and after breaking their win drought they’ve climbed the table and are now in contention for a top-six finish.

This is where the Dons should be taking some notes.

They should give their managers time to recoup and make things right, not admit defeat and make them pack their bags at the first given opportunity.

So, where do Aberdeen’s problems lie? Does their board need a clear-out, or do they just need to stick with one manager for longer than a year and tough out some of the poorer performances?