Sacked in March 2021 by the Pittodrie board, Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty could deliver a fatal blow to Aberdeen’s crisis-hit season.
Aberdeen’s campaign is teetering on the brink of calamity and will tip in the wrong direction if wins do not come soon.
So there is a dark irony McInnes and Docherty could be the ones that pull away any parachute from Aberdeen’s concerning freefall.
McInnes will take his Kilmarnock side to Pittodrie on Saturday in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
And Aberdeen have still to face Docherty’s seventh-placed Dundee twice before the Premiership split, and there are only five games remaining.
McInnes and Docherty, who were at Pittodrie for eight years, will both have a major say in how Aberdeen’s season pans out.
Chairman Dave Cormack and the Pittodrie hierarchy wielded the axe on McInnes and Docherty three years ago when Aberdeen were sitting fourth in the Premiership.
Since their dismissal, three more managers have been sacked – Barry Robson, Jim Goodwin and Stephen Glass.
Interim boss Neil Warnock has been placed in charge until the end of the season while Aberdeen search for a long-term successor.
It has been a chaotic and unsettling turnover – and that continues now.
Aberdeen axed Robson at the end of January with the club sitting eighth in the Premiership.
Chairman Cormack said that league position is “unacceptable”, which it was.
However, under Warnock’s guidance, with no wins in six league games, the Dons have dropped to 10th.
These are very worrying times for the club and the threat of relegation is starkly real.
Aberdeen are only four points off the relegation play-off place and have taken just five points from a possible 30.
The brutal reality is that is relegation form which needs to turn around now.
There is some respite for the Dons from Premiership pressures as attention turns towards the last eight Scottish Cup showdown with Kilmarnock at the weekend.
Concerningly, McInnes clearly has Aberdeen’s number, having won all three of their Premiership head-to-heads this season.
In the aftermath of the recent 2-0 loss at Kilmarnock, interim manager Warnock said his Dons side were too nice, lacked a physical edge and were easily bullied.
Being bullied by Kilmarnock doesn’t tell the whole story of that game as Aberdeen were also outplayed by McInnes’ side.
Warnock must come up with a strategy to overcome McInnes who knows the Dons strengths and weaknesses – and how to overcome and exploit them.
Amidst the fog of a dark few months for the Dons there are some positives.
Aberdeen were much improved in the 2-1 loss at St Mirren as they were well organised, carried an attacking threat and were defensively solid.
Yet all that was blown away by a cataclysmic 58-second period when they conceded twice in stoppage time to lose.
If Aberdeen can recreate the 90-minute performance against St Mirren, they are capable of booking a trip to Hampden.
If the calamity of the stoppage time at St Mirren reappears, they can kiss goodbye to the Scottish Cup dream.
Securing a semi-final spot could potentially be the catalyst needed to haul the Dons out of the self-inflicted hole they have slid into.
It could inject fresh impetus into what has disintegrated into a calamitous campaign.
Aberdeen’s season is like the Willy Wonka Chocolate Experience in Glasgow.
It promised so much and delivered so little… and there will be no golden ticket into Europe.
Dons players who cost nearly £1m both scored at the weekend… on loan
Aberdeen’s season is in freefall with fears of relegation, yet two Dons players that cost almost £1m scored at the weekend – while on loan.
You couldn’t make it up!
Winger Vicente Besuijen netted his first goal for FC Emmen in the Dutch second-tier.
He scored the opener in a 2-0 win at league leaders Willem II, a win that elevated them to within four points of the promotion play-off zone.
Besuijen cost the Dons 500,000 Euros (£427,000) when signing from ADO Den Haag in January 2022 when Stephen Glass was the boss.
He impressed, scored nine goals in 42 games, but then fell out of the first team picture under Jim Goodwin and Barry Robson.
Besuijen has not played for the Dons since the 1-0 Scottish Cup loss to minnows Darvel on January 23 last year.
He brought width and attacking threat.
Aberdeen recently signed Junior Hoilett until the end of the season to bring… width and attacking threat.
Striker Gueye is understood to have cost Aberdeen £500,000 when secured from Belgian Pro League outfit KV Kortrijk last summer.
Yet he only started one game for the Dons, the 2-2 Europa Conference League group clash with HJK Helsinki in Finland.
Gueye, 24, recently joined Norwegian Eliteserien side Kristiansund BK on loan until July.
The striker netted in a 3-0 defeat of Tromo at Kristiansund BK’s warm weather training camp in Marbella at the weekend.
Granted it was a friendly, but Gueye started and netted a superb header.
Full-back Jayden Richardson, who cost the Dons £300,000, is also out on loan at League Two Colchester United.
That is more than £1m out on loan at a time the team is struggling.
It suggests a revamp of the club’s recruitment setup is required.
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