Former Aberdeen striker Steve Cowan believes new manager Jim Goodwin needs a comprehensive rebuild of his squad to make the Dons regular challengers for trophies again.
Following eight successive European campaigns the Dons have been left scrambling to secure a top six place following a poor campaign.
The team’s struggles led to former boss Stephen Glass being replaced by St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin last month.
But with his old club still searching for a first win league win since Boxing Day Cowan insists the new manager is facing a busy summer rebuild.
He said: “I believe Jim will need at least two or three transfer windows to stamp his authority on the team.
“Like all clubs recruitment plays a big part in it.
“Even the managers I worked under, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, got it wrong sometimes with signings but this team needs at least five or six new players to come in if they want to be challenging for trophies next year.
“It will take a few windows but we can see Jim is already looking at targets.
“He has been linked with Jak Alnwick, the St Mirren goalkeeper, and Connor Ronan, who is on loan at St Mirren.
“Ronan has done well against Aberdeen this season and he scored a fantastic goal against Hearts in the Scottish Cup at the weekend so you can see why he is attracting interest. I like him as a player.”
Gulf between the Dons and Hearts was huge at Tynecastle
Cowan, 59, was part of the club’s matchday commentary team for the 2-0 defeat at Hearts on March 2 and he believes the gulf between the sides highlighted the size of the task for the new Dons boss.
He said: “It is clear Jim is going to need a big turnover.
“The last game I covered was against Hearts and you would be hard pushed to pick an Aberdeen player to get in the Hearts XI that night.
“That’s how much of a gap there is right now.
“Hearts had Stephen Kingsley and Nathaniel Atkinson getting up and down the line all night getting crosses in but I never saw Jonny Hayes or Funso Ojo from full back, or anyone else for that matter, do the same for Aberdeen.”
Scott Brown departure was no surprise
Hayes and Ross McCrorie have signed contract extensions while the club is in talks with veteran defender Andy Considine about signing a new deal.
However, player-coach Scott Brown departed the club last week following the change in management.
Cowan was not surprised to see the former Celtic captain move on.
He said: “I predicted Scott leaving a couple of weeks ago. With the change in manager I felt he had to go as there wasn’t a place there for him.
“It’s no slight on Scott at all, it is football. Jim has come in and he has different ideas.
“He said he would do most of the coaching which limited Scott’s involvement so it was no surprise to see him leave the club.”
Ramirez needs help up front
Aberdeen’s struggle to keep a clean sheet has cost them dear all season but Cowan is equally concerned by the team’s reliance on leading scorer Christian Ramirez.
The American has 15 goals so far this season but Cowan believes the striker needs more support in the final third.
He said: “In Ramirez there is a really good penalty box striker there but he needs support and service up front.
“I’ve watched in games where has been up front himself and feeding off scraps.
“For a guy with his ability to get goals in and around the penalty box it’s just not good enough.
“Vicente Besuijen looks lively to be fair to him and is prepared to run beyond the back four. He did that many times against Hearts but the service to him wasn’t good.
“Other people have got to chip in. Lewis Ferguson, outside his penalty kicks, needs to do more to get more goals.
“Ross McCrorie, Besuijen and Connor Barron all have to chip in as well. They cannot rely on one person to get the goals.”