The pace with which the vestiges of Stephen Glass have been swept away at Pittodrie is astonishing. The final indignity visited upon Christian Ramirez – giving up not only his spot in the team, but the shirt off his back, while still in the building – has essentially completed the job.
Less than six months since Glass’ dismissal, has successor has alighted upon a starting line-up containing nobody performing the same job. Even those few players who still remain from the old regime are now being used in different positions.
None more successfully or symptomatically than Ross McCrorie, whose outstanding strike in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Raith Rovers means only the width of a crossbar separated him from scoring in each of the four matches.
🤯 👏🏻 #StandFree | @RossMcCrorie4
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) July 24, 2022
McCrorie has led the team strongly in this campaign, from the midfield role to which Glass somehow thought others were better suited.
But perhaps the most damning of all is the fact Aberdeen’s entire defence has been jettisoned and rebuilt. That the whole back five which served throughout this group, including the goalkeeper, made their Dons debuts simultaneously at the outset of this competition is unprecedented, and is an indictment of what went before.
On paper, Aberdeen’s defence ought to have been a strength last season, with the club captain keeping goal behind any of four Scotland international centre-backs. An area of the team which was not under-resourced, but under-delivered atrociously.
The all-new back line has yet to be particularly tested, but for it to deliver four clean sheets out of four is a promising start.
They will have their own challenges to face – starting next weekend, in more ways than one – but they will do so in expectation of improvement upon a season, and a managerial tenure, which the signs now point to being an anomaly.