When Jim Goodwin emerged after his side’s midweek capitulation at Tynecastle, he understandably looked shell shocked.
He went on to describe the performance in the most disparaging terms possible, labelling it as “humiliating, pathetic and unacceptable”.
It was a frank, honest assessment, but given what had unfolded in the previous 90 minutes he could do nothing else. We all saw what he saw; trying to pretend otherwise would have been a pointless exercise.
Once again, the defensive frailties, which have been apparent since last summer, were laid bare, and the goals against record is, quite frankly, embarrassing.
Only Kilmarnock have conceded more than the 37 which have flown past Kelle Roos, and now Joe Lewis.
Only two teams have not beaten Dons in the league
Twenty-two games in, and the Dons have a negative goal difference. They have played the 11 other teams twice each and have lost to nine of them, with only Ross County (two draws) and St Johnstone (two Aberdeen wins) failing to inflict defeat on the Pittodrie side.
Much of that is down to the appalling away record, and far from improving on it, the run is getting worse the longer the season goes.
They have now lost five on the bounce on the road, have recorded just two victories, and have let in a total of 27 goals in 11 matches.
Those kind of statistics have inevitably had fans recalling the manager’s pledge, at the start of his reign, that organising the defence would be the easy bit.
Defending not so ‘easy’
It has proved anything but, and Jim’s failure to properly address that, and the away form, have inevitably led to suggestions his jacket might be on the proverbial ‘shoogly peg’.
Only one man will decide the manager’s fate, and that is chairman, Dave Cormack.
Dave expects and demands high standards, and those, quite simply, are not being met.
One solitary win in eight since the World Cup has seen Aberdeen exit the League Cup and slide down to fifth in the Premiership table. Being behind Livingston at this stage was never in the script.
Does that mean he might be considering another change of boss? Only he, and his close confidants, know the answer to that, but it is entirely understandable that the supporters are speculating.
The cold, hard facts are that, going by the recent sequence of results, it is becoming more difficult to put up a case for the status quo.
We all know that fortunes can quickly turn around in this game, but for that to happen under Jim’s watch, he is going to have to be given time and financial backing.
It has become evident the defensive options currently at his disposal are simply not good enough, and it appears highly unlikely he can suddenly find the right formula from within.
The chairman has firstly to decide whether he still has faith in the manager he appointed just 11 months ago, and if so, he has to back Jim, and give him the resources to shore up the porous back line.
If he no longer believes he has the right man in place, Dave has to act quickly.
Inaction, or prevarication, are not options open to him, as a failure to act decisively, whichever route he chooses to go down, could see the season spiral further downhill.
Hampden red card not the actions of a responsible captain
Prior to the midweek shambles in the capital, the Dons had put in a strong performance at Hampden, scored an excellent breakaway goal, and were unlucky to lose the equaliser to Ryan Jack’s deflected effort.
They held their own thereafter, and the game was very much in the balance before Anthony Stewart’s moment of madness.
Much has been said and written about that, so I won’t go too deeply into it, but suffice to say it was not the action of a responsible captain, nor of a quality defender, and it is entirely fair to suggest he cost his team the chance of a place in the Final.
VAR did not help either, both Aberdeen and Kilmarnock suffered last weekend, and the technical glitch, which saw it out of action for a spell, did nothing to heighten confidence in the system.
Being charitable, it is perhaps still bedding in, but it is going to have to do so very quickly.
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