Recent stagings of this fixture have rarely come without a hefty serving of managerial intrigue.
As two closely matched sides contesting scarce but rich prizes, it is almost inevitable that whichever is losing the race will be under the gun.
The abiding image of the January meeting at Easter Road, for Aberdeen fans at least, will forever be that of Jim Goodwin and his satchelful of sorrows bestriding the hoardings en route to oblivion.
But it shouldn’t be forgotten that he was not the only coach dangling over the cliff that afternoon, now that the self-preservation afforded Lee Johnson by blowing the Dons’ doors off has expired.
At the time it was billed as ‘El Sackico’, so clear was it that the beaten manager could not possibly survive, and in hindsight both supports might quietly agree that Aberdeen’s short-term pain, though intense, was medium-term gain.
Ripping off the plaster gave the Dons a chance to build to their unlikely third-place finish, while Hibs were obliged to limp on under their toiling regime until the lucrative European boat was missed.
Freed from that anchor, is Aberdeen’s misfortune to be the first Premiership side to run into Hibs after Johnson’s dismissal.
But functional as the visitors were, it would be pushing it to describe their efforts as a caretaker bounce; rather did the Dons, again, play a major role in their own downfall as the clubs once more passed one another in the doorway of Panic Station.
With just the sketchy win in Stirling to show for seven games, and only goals scored holding them off the foot of the league, Aberdeen are receiving the return their play deserves, but not that their spending demands.
The summer activity was of a club seeking to take a different direction – not, however, this one.
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