In the wake of the Dons’ impressive performance and comprehensive victory over Hearts last Saturday, I fully expected an announcement that Barry Robson had been appointed Aberdeen manager, at least until the end of the season.
I do not imagine for one moment I was alone in that, but as the days passed, there was no news, and as things stand, Barry remains in temporary charge.
With the international break, the board perhaps felt there was no real urgency, and I am sure those tasked with making the appointment are continuing to assess the candidates and weigh up their options.
I fully understand the desire to make the correct decision this time round. After the embarrassments inflicted on the club first by Stephen Glass, then Jim Goodwin, they simply cannot afford to get this one wrong as well, and that will be the main reason why they are taking so long. That, and the clear fact there were no obvious successors lining up.
Plenty names have been bandied about, some more outlandish than others, and I cannot help but wonder if the proliferation of candidates, very few of which might be considered as outstanding, has clouded the decision-making process.
There has been plenty talk about who is in contention, who is getting interviewed, and there have been flurries of activity among the fans with the suggestion that an announcement is imminent, but none of that has come to fruition, and eight weeks on from Goodwin’s sacking we are none the wiser as to who will replace him. It has been so long; Jim has even got himself a new job!
Meanwhile, Barry Robson has simply kept his head down and got on with the task.
He took over a side reeling from two of the worst results in the club’s long and proud history, a group of players shorn of confidence and self-belief, and with supporters baying for blood. It was a toxic environment, the worst circumstances possible for an inexperienced manager to take on such responsibility.
His first game ended in defeat at home to St Mirren, but that was largely down to Ross McCrorie being sent off in the opening minutes, and there were glimpses in the display that night that Barry had got a reaction from the team.
He followed that with a deserved victory at Motherwell, hit the buffers at Celtic Park – which can happen to anyone – and has since reeled off three straight wins, with the demolition of Hearts particularly noteworthy, one of Aberdeen’s best performances of the entire campaign.
As a job interview, it has been a lengthy one, but Barry has carried himself well, spoken with clarity and good sense, and has assumed the air of a man who knows what he is doing. He brought in Steve Agnew, someone he obviously trusts, and the pair are clearly getting plenty things right.
From the outside, it appears they do not overcomplicate training and preparation, rather they have worked hard at making sure the basics are attended to, and that was exactly what the team needed after lurching from crisis to crisis.
In the absence of any announcement, we must assume the hunt for a new manager is continuing, but the answer for the Pittodrie powerbrokers may well be right under their noses.
Tough times at the Blue Toon
It has been a terrible season for Peterhead FC.
Rooted at the bottom of League One, they are in a straight fight with Clyde to avoid automatic relegation and try to scramble to safety via the play-offs. Given how the campaign has panned-out, right now even that looks an almighty task.
Having enjoyed the steady leadership of Jim McInally for over a decade, chairman Rodger Morrison is now looking for what will be his third manager in less than five months following the abrupt ending of the ill-fated David Robertson era.
Thirty-five players have been signed during the 2022-23 season. Few, if any, will register in the minds of fans by the time this tortuous episode draws to a close. Certainly not in any kind of positive way.
There is clearly going to have to be a major reset at Balmoor, irrespective of which division the club finds itself in.
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