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Sean Wallace: Aberdeen board must deliver top manager within two weeks or risk wrath of fans

After the disastrous Neil Warnock experiment Aberdeen's hierarchy must get the next managerial appointment right as frustrated fans' are nearing breaking point.

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, right, and chief executive Alan Burrows during a Premiership match.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, right, and chief executive Alan Burrows during a Premiership match. Image: SNS.

Aberdeen’s board must appoint a manager before the upcoming international break ends to prevent fans’ dwindling trust being damaged beyond repair.

After the disastrous Neil Warnock experiment the Pittodrie hierarchy must also get the next managerial appointment right.

In a club statement chief executive Alan Burrows said the Dons aim to appoint a new manager during the international break which runs from March 18 to 26.

They must deliver on that or fading supporter faith in the Pittodrie hierarchy will suffer another damaging blow.

It is already pretty fragile as frustrated fans chanted ‘sack the board’ following the recent Premiership losses to St Johnstone and Kilmarnock.

The first fixture after the international break is a home clash with second bottom Ross County, who occupy the relegation play-off zone.

Aberdeen Chairman Dave Cormack during a Scottish Cup quarter final against Kilmarnock.
Aberdeen Chairman Dave Cormack during a Scottish Cup quarter final against Kilmarnock. Image: SNS

Third bottom Dons are only four points ahead of Ross County.

Aberdeen must have a new permanent manager secured in time for the game against the Staggies where victory could go a long way to killing off fears of relegation.

Defeat would plunge the Dons headlong into a crisis.

Even appointing a manager during the international break leaves little time to assess the squad and come up with a team and system to face Ross County.

Assessing a squad takes time… and that is one commodity Aberdeen have little of.

There are only 10 games remaining before the end of the season, with the new manager only having eight if the Pittodrie board deliver on their promise.

What a mess Aberdeen are in.

And it is self-inflicted by the board.

Aberdeen manager Neil Warnock waves to the fans as he walks off the pitch at full-time after beating Kilmarnock.
Aberdeen manager Neil Warnock waves to the fans as he walks off the pitch at full-time after beating Kilmarnock. Image: Shutterstock.

The Dons are now preparing to make a fifth managerial appointment in little more than three years since axing Derek McInnes in March 2021.

Parting with McInnes after eight years was not necessarily the wrong call.

After consistently delivering success, McInnes’ Dons had become stale.

Ahead of the recent 3-1 Scottish Cup quarter-final win against McInnes’ Kilmarnock many Dons fans looked back on his final season at Pittodrie with rose-tinted glasses.

However under McInnes, a talented manager, the Dons went their longest ever stretch in the club’s history without scoring a goal in 2020/21.

When he was axed the Dons had scored just once in their last 10 games, with only one win in that period.

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack at Pittodrie during the 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat of Kilmarnock.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack at Pittodrie during the 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat of Kilmarnock. Image: SNS.

It is the failure to replace McInnes that has been the problem, coupled with a recruitment policy that has delivered more misses than hits recently.

Aberdeen were eighth in the Premiership table and had games in hand on the teams above them when Barry Robson was axed.

The spectre of a relegation battle was faint.

Now it is very real.

Under Warnock the Dons secured a paltry two points from 18 and dropped to 10th in the table.

When he arrived at Pittodrie the 75-year-old said he wanted to “have fun”  and “put smiles on people’s faces”.

With no Premiership wins it wasn’t fun.

And I don’t see any Aberdeen fans smiling as their club that underwent an expensive squad rebuild last summer faces a relegation scrap.

Neil Warnock celebrates at full-time after Aberdeen beat Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Neil Warnock celebrates at full-time after Aberdeen beat Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup quarter-final. Image: SNS.

After 33 days and eight games Warnock stepped down following the defeat of Killie.

Was it all a bizarre dream?

Will Bobby Ewing from Dallas appear in the shower of a changing room at Cormack Park?

Aberdeen’s board must ensure appointing Warnock is not the misguided flip of a domino that starts a chain reaction that finishes in the Championship.

Now the Dons are back where they were more than a month ago with first team coach Peter Leven in interim charge.

Leven bossed Aberdeen in the 1-1 draw with Celtic before Warnock was appointed.

It is akin to handling Leven a ticking time-bomb five weeks ago but not allowing him the opportunity to diffuse it.

Then passing it back when the timer has nearly run down.

And Leven will then hand that bomb over to the new manager after the international break when the timer is nearly at zero.

Aberdeen caretaker boss Peter Leven during the 1-1 draw with Celtic.
Aberdeen caretaker boss Peter Leven during the 1-1 draw with Celtic. Image: SNS.

Phillips shines despite managerial chaos

By the end of this month on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder Killian Phillips will have played under four Aberdeen managers.

He was signed late in the January transfer window and made his debut under Barry Robson in the 1-1 draw with Dundee.

Days later Robson was sacked.

Midfielder Phillips then played under interim boss Peter Leven in the 1-1 draw with Celtic.

Aberdeen's Killian Phillips and Kilmarnock's Liam Donnelly in action during a Scottish Cup Quarter Final match.
Aberdeen’s Killian Phillips and Kilmarnock’s Liam Donnelly in action during a Scottish Cup Quarter Final match. Image: SNS.

Then Neil Warnock was appointed interim boss and Phillips featured regularly under the former Sheffield United and Cardiff City gaffer.

However Warnock stepped down after just 33 days at Pittodrie.

Now Phillips will play under Leven again in the games against Dundee and Motherwell this week.

Aberdeen aim to appoint a new permanent manager during the upcoming international break.

Whoever is appointed will be the fourth Aberdeen manager Philips has played under in just two months.

I’m sure that’s not what Phillips, or Premier League Crystal Palace, signed up for.

Killian Phillips at Aberdeen's Cormack Park training complex.
Killian Phillips at Aberdeen’s Cormack Park training complex. Image: SNS

Yet despite the managerial chaos Phillips has been impressive.

He has not let what is happening off the pitch affect his performances.

He looks to be filling in that void in midfield opened up by the transfer of Ylber Ramadani to Italian Serie A Lecce last summer.

However Phillips will return to his parent club at the end of the season.

Finding a permanent replacement for Ramadani will be a conundrum the new manager must fix in the summer transfer window.

 

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