Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin pulled out all the adjectives in describing his side’s pitiful showing against Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
Humiliating, pathetic, embarrassing and unacceptable. Just some of the words used by the crestfallen Dons boss after watching his side suffer a 5-0 defeat.
Goodwin’s attempt to try to explain the inexplicable was excruciating.
He is 100% correct to say the manner of the goals conceded were abysmal and as manager he is responsible.
But what has been clear is this symptomatic issue has gone unaddressed for months.
Today, January 19, marks 11 months to the day since Goodwin was appointed as Stephen Glass’ successor at Pittodrie.
It was the dawn of a new era we thought. Little did we know it was the day the new manager made a rod for his own back.
Maybe it was the emotion of taking charge for his first game, the 1-1 draw at Motherwell, but the new manager’s post-match comments to the club website have weighed heavily on his shoulders since.
He said: “First and foremost we have to be more organised, we have to be more solid, we have to get back to keeping clean sheets which I think is the easy part of coaching and managing.
“I think that can be easily ironed out in the next week or so.”
Nearly a year later with several embarrassing defeats along the way and abysmal away form, we lose 5-0 to Hearts. Time to go Goodwin… pic.twitter.com/zsForUXdRi
— The Famous Aberdeen (@TheFamousReds) January 18, 2023
Summer reshuffle has not solved the problem
The Dons’ back four that day was Jonny Hayes, David Bates, Declan Gallagher and Calvin Ramsay.
Three of them have moved on to pastures new and were joined in departing Pittodrie by club stalwart Andy Considine, who had missed almost the entire campaign due to a serious knee injury.
Reinforcements were needed and a whole new back four were enlisted in the summer in Jayden Richardson, Anthony Stewart, Liam Scales and Hayden Coulson.
Four out and four in.
The overhaul of the squad in the summer was sorely needed, but six months on the success rate is questionable.
Duk and Bojan Miovski tick the boxes. Shayden Morris and Cal Roberts have barely been near them.
Defensively the early signs were encouraging with four clean sheets kept in the League Cup group stages – but the cracks began to show in the Premiership campaign.
Goals flowing at both ends
The Dons had solved their lack of goals by being part of some high-scoring encounters, particularly at Pittodrie.
After 22 games, Aberdeen are six goals shy of matching last season’s miserly total of 41 in 38 matches.
But defensively the same old story persists, particularly on the road.
Two away wins in 11 league games so far, a league-worst 27 away goals conceded, the joint-second-worst defensive record in the division, alongside a Dundee United team which shipped nine at home to Celtic.
You would laugh if you were not crying.
The reasons for this ongoing issue seem clear and obvious. They have been for months.
Aberdeen still lack defensive depth. More importantly, they are seriously lacking in quality.
No amount of reshuffling can mask defensive shortcomings
Goodwin’s belief the defence could be easily fixed has been seriously misplaced.
Richardson, a summer signing from Nottingham Forest, is as raw a pound of beef from the Tilly Butcher and at this point a makeshift replacement in winger Matty Kennedy is preferred ahead of him.
Coulson is an enigma – brilliant at Hampden against Rangers to woeful in the capital in the space of four days.
A terrific asset going forward, but he was culpable for at least two of the goals against Hearts due to having no sense of positional awareness at all in Edinburgh.
The much-maligned skipper, Anthony Stewart, is in the doghouse following his ridiculous and needless red card which swung a keenly-contested League Cup semi-final on Sunday in the opposition’s favour.
Yet for all the criticism he receives, it can surely be no coincidence the two games he has missed this season have been arguably Aberdeen’s two worst showings: the 2-1 loss at Kilmarnock and Wednesday’s collapse at Hearts.
The manager has also felt the need to apologise to fans after both displays, too.
Then there is Liam Scales. A promising player but one, like Coulson, who seems to shift worryingly from assured and confident to a rabbit in the headlights.
What is McCrorie’s role?
Ross McCrorie can be added to the mix, but with the caveat nobody really knows, including the player himself, where he plays these days.
Identified as a vital cog of the midfield by his manager upon his arrival last year, McCrorie has gone from being a central midfielder to third man in a back three to right back to back-up centre half in the space of six months.
Poor Joe Lewis, the former captain who lost his place in the team due to the arrival of Kelle Roos in the summer, must have wondered why he bothered as his first appearance of the season ended in abject misery. And he must have felt as if he had never been away given the repeat of some of the defensive trauma he experienced last season.
New recruits needed urgently
Goodwin is experiencing the same pain almost every time his team leaves the comforts of home.
More players of a higher standard are needed and they are needed now. The first attempt has not worked as the league table shows.
Three weeks into the winter transfer window and, as far as the fans are concerned, the need has become desperate.
Dons chairman Dave Cormack says the club is scouring the globe in the hunt for reinforcements.
January notoriously tough to get “quality” signings versus summer. Be assured the recruitment team & Jim looking to add quality; scouting 26 countries in last few months. Patrik a quality signing. Graeme brings leadership & experience. Our fans have been brilliant. Thank you 👏👏
— Dave Cormack (@CormackDavie) January 18, 2023
They were in the same position last year – and the year before – as they searched for attacking players only to go into the second half of the season with little improvement.
That failure cost two manager in Derek McInnes and Stephen Glass their jobs.
It is not exaggerating to say fans are now questioning the current incumbent’s managerial abilities on the back of Wednesday’s hammering.
Australian international Bailey Wright, who has made just six appearances for Sunderland this season, is reportedly on the Dons’ list of potential recruits.
Josh Dacres-Cogley of Tranmere Rovers has been tracked for months.
But the transfer merry-go-round is turning slowly at Pittodrie.
Dons on red alert for Scottish Cup trip
A sense of urgency is required to arrest a worrying decline in form as Aberdeen’s season teeters on the brink.
A trip to Recreation Park in Ayrshire looms on Monday for Aberdeen when they face Darvel.
Surely Aberdeen will have too much for the West of Scotland League outfit.
If one of the biggest shocks in the Dons’ history transpire, however, it won’t just be a new defence required at Pittodrie.
One horrendous result has ensured the stakes have become dangerously high at a time when confidence and morale will have plummeted at Pittodrie.
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