With the Derek McInnes to Rangers debate being settled once and for all by the man himself and chairman Stewart Milne, the Aberdeen manager has a great chance to show the Ibrox club what it is missing when he leads the Reds in Glasgow tomorrow.
The season’s first meeting of the two rivals promises to be an intriguing one’ with the men in Light Blue in disarray after back-to-back league defeats, not to mention a month without a manager.
The question of who will fill the void following Pedro Caixinha’s sacking last month remains unanswered. McInnes says it will not be him. The same goes for Gio van Bronckhorst, who is content to be in charge of a Champions League team at Feyenoord.
It seems you can add Alex McLeish to the list of those not interested, with the former Gers manager and Gothenburg Great feeling the need to dismiss reports that he is in the frame for an Ibrox return after two leading bookmakers yesterday stopped taking bets on his appointment.
That is the problem at Ibrox right now. The list of people ruling themselves out of the running seems to be increasing at the same rate that the quality of the candidates for the job is diminishing.
Add in an all-conquering Celtic team which shows no signs of slacking off domestically and it’s not hard to see why some may now see a move to Ibrox as an exercise in futility.
It is a very different story at Pittodrie, with the Dons bouncing back from defeat by Motherwell in emphatic fashion at Rugby Park on Sunday when they beat Kilmarnock 3-1.
A double-header against Rangers in the space of five days has all the makings of a defining one for both clubs, even at this early stage of the season. Two Aberdeen victories this week would take them 12 points clear of Rangers after 16 games.
Ibrox has been a far from happy hunting ground for the Dons but the 26-year run without a win there was brought to an end by a 2-1 success in May thanks to goals from Graeme Shinnie and Ryan Christie.
Psychologically, it was a huge victory and one which, allied to a remarkable run of 10 wins and two draws in their last 12 away league matches, ensures Aberdeen will head to Glasgow tomorrow in confident mood.
You have to go back to February 28 for the last time the Dons lost on their travels in the Premiership, with Hamilton winning 1-0 after surviving an onslaught.
The days of Dons fans having to listen to Rangers managers claiming Aberdeen upped their game when facing the Gers are gone. Now it is up to the men in Light Blue to lift theirs.