Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Joe Harper: Aberdeen should move to make Alex Neil their new manager

Aberdeen legend Harper has called for the Pittodrie board to make former Norwich, Preston, Sunderland and Stoke City boss Neil their next boss.

Stoke City manager Alex Neil applauds the Stoke fans after a EFL Sky Bet Championship match against Sunderland. Image: Shutterstock.
Stoke City manager Alex Neil applauds the Stoke fans after a EFL Sky Bet Championship match against Sunderland. Image: Shutterstock.

Aberdeen should move to appoint former Norwich City and Sunderland boss Alex Neil as their next manager.

Neil is only 42, but has more than a decade’s managerial experience having helmed other clubs such as Hamilton, Preston North End and Stoke City.

He is a young, hungry manager with experience and a proven track record, so he ticks all the boxes for me.

Neil is also available immediately as he is a free agent having left Stoke in December.

He led Norwich City to promotion to the Premier League in 2016 and managed them in the English top-flight, although they were relegated.

In 2022, he led Sunderland to promotion back to the English Championship after winning the League One play-off final.

There have been a few names bandied about as potential replacements for Barry Robson following his sacking, but Neil gets my nod.

Aberdeen are reportedly considering a move to take in Neil Warnock until the end of the season so he can steady the ship.

Warnock is renowned as a fire-fighter who comes into clubs to stop them being relegated.

He saved previous club Huddersfield from the drop last season.

Ultimately, that is the sad reality of what the Dons are facing at the moment, taking in a manager to save them from being dragged into a relegation battle.

I don’t think Aberdeen will go down as the squad is too strong, but six wins from 21 in the Premiership is not acceptable.

Neil Warnock during his most recent stint in charge of Huddersfield Town.
Neil Warnock during his most recent stint in charge of Huddersfield Town. Image: Shutterstock.

The Dons face Celtic at home and Rangers away over the next few days.

It would take a wild optimist with the reddest of red tinted glasses to think the Dons will get any win from that daunting double-header without a permanent manager and based on recent form.

Aberdeen are only five points ahead of 11th-placed Ross County, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.

If Warnock was appointed, it would only be until the end of the season.

I would prefer a permanent long-term appointment is made now – ideally Neil.

However, Neil appointed permanently with Warnock assisting until the end of the campaign could also be a strong combination.

Whoever is appointed manager faces a tough job as this Aberdeen squad play like strangers.

They do not play as a team, but as individuals – which is something that needs to be fixed immediately.

There was a massive overhaul of the squad last summer with 14 new signings, but there is a depressing feeling of deja vu.

Here we are, back to square one with the club again axeing a manager in the final days of the January transfer window.

Jim Goodwin was sacked by the Dons in late January last year and the Pittodrie hierarchy did the same with Robson.

Aberdeen manger Barry Robson during the 1-1 draw with Dundee.
Aberdeen manger Barry Robson during the 1-1 draw with Dundee. Image: SNS.

Whoever is appointed will be the fifth manager at the helm in three years.

That is not a good look.

Ultimately it was inevitable Robson would be dismissed because things were going from bad to worse.

He did extremely well last season to turn around the campaign.

Aberdeen were struggling in the bottom six when Robson took over and he led them to a third-placed Premiership finish.

That secured a return to European group stage action for the first time since 2007.

And Aberdeen did okay in the Europa Conference League groups with some good performances – that should not be forgotten.

However, it just didn’t work out this season in the Premiership.

Some of the games were a terrible watch and the decent league performances were few and far between.

Whoever does get the managerial hotseat faces a tough job.

Barry Robson has been sacked by Aberdeen following Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Dundee.
Barry Robson was sacked by Aberdeen following Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Dundee. Image: SNS.

New Aberdeen manager must go four at the back

Whoever is appointed Aberdeen manager must stay away from three at the back and go with a four-man back-line.

The Dons do not have the players who can make three at the back a success.

Former manager Barry Robson preferred three at the back for most of the season and they struggled to secure clean sheets.

Dundee's Lee Ashcroft celebrates after scoring to make it 1-1 against Aberdeen.
Dundee’s Lee Ashcroft celebrates after scoring to make it 1-1 against Aberdeen. Image: SNS.

There was a vulnerability to the Dons’ defence, who were exploited far too often.

To have conceded 33 goals in 21 Premiership games is shocking.

The Aberdeen defence now face Celtic at Pittodrie on Saturday and Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday.

First-team coach Peter Leven could be in charge for both games and my advice would be to go four at the back in those games.

I don’t care if it is a 4-3-3-1, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 –  just make sure there is that foundation of a back four.

Can Killian Phillips replace Ylber Ramadani?

Hopefully loan signing Killian Phillips can be a replacement for Ylber Ramadani, six months after the midfielder transferred to Lecce.

Ramadani’s influence and steel in midfield has been a big miss this season.

Aberdeen's Killian Phillips comes on for his debut, replacing Jack Milne in the 1-1 draw with Dundee.
Aberdeen’s Killian Phillips comes on for his debut, replacing Jack Milne in the 1-1 draw with Dundee. Image: SNS.

Secured on loan from Crystal Palace until the end of the season, Phillips is a tough-tackling box-to-box midfielder.

Hopefully he will fill that Ramadani void this season.

But it is a problem that will still have to be addressed by the new manager in the summer transfer window.

 

Conversation