Panda

But so does any interim manager. And how much time do we really need to find a new boss? Do we really need four months? He has done plenty of interviews openly saying so. He calls himself "A Rangers man". He'll likely walk out to a standing ovation at Ibrox on Tuesday. Now I don't necessarily think that will affect his ability to manage Aberdeen, but let's not begin with this myth that he will stand up to the Old Firm in a way previous bosses couldn't.

Here's Mark McGhee doing the same thing. We lost 3-1.

Our previous managers were capable of a "rocket up the backside". Scott Brown and Graeme Shinnie have been in that dressing room. Our issues I don't think are down to a lack of work rate. Tactically is where we've failed. As for "sticking it" to Rangers and Celtic. First of all, he adores the pair of them. Secondly, what actually is sticking it to them? Is it attacking football? That's not generally Warnock, I'd be surprised if he doesn't go defensive on Tuesday. Is it getting fired in? He'll soon learn that you can't get away with that v the Old Firm in Glasgow. Will he be outspoken and call out decisions? Probably. But so are Derek Adams, Craig Levein, even Derek McInnes. What difference does it make? I actually think it's a big risk we're taking. The whole "safe pair of hands" line people have been trotting out, what does that even mean? Has he never been relegated before? Has his side never been on the end of a scudding? Think a lot of people are being bought in by the name and the celebrity. I've yet to see a good reason as to why Warnock stands out as the right choice other than wishy washy platitudes like "experienced" and regular showings of a documentary he did 20 years ago.

I'm going to this one. My mate has bought two random Germans he met on holiday tickets and posted them to me so I can meet them before the game. Kinda feel I should offer my condolences as I hand the tickets over. They're Bayern Munich fans so who knows what they'll make of us. It looks increasingly like it'll be Neil Warnock in charge next week so it's just a case of whether he wants to be in the dugout that early or not. I expect that every little thing Warnock does will be amplified, good or bad. Not sure I can be arsed with the circus but here we go. As for the game - Rangers aren't that good and we're not that bad. Not impossible to get something. But I have no idea how it's going to go.

If he comes in and gets some results like Robson did, and the media begin their campaign to get him the job permanently, do we bow to pressure and do just that? That doesn't strike me as sticking to this club philosophy we're supposed to have. Or is Warnock part of selecting the next manager? Because the Brexit voting Neil "I couldn't even get the job ahead of a Latvian (sic), if I can't get the job ahead of a Latvian what chance have I got" Warnock isn't the type of guy I want recommending the next boss to our board. He's an odd choice. I fear he's the wrong choice. And I really don't see why we need another long-term interim. But, I can't help but be intrigued.

I am. Him & Lennon not being considered. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68191542

I don't actually see much evidence of Neil Lennon going into struggling clubs and turning them around. Inherited good Celtic sides and a Hibs team that had just won the Scottish Cup and had a right good squad already. Sacked in Cyprus for poor results. Ultimately left Hibs in eighth. His final season at Celtic was a big failure. If anything, his track record is making good teams considerably worse. This whole "he's a winner, won't take any shit in the dressing room". So was Barry Robson, so was Jim Goodwin, and so was Scott Brown as part of Glass' team.

Aye Jason Kerr followed Aberdeen on Instagram, then unfollowed them. That's how you know transfers aren't happening these days. Think it's because what they offered is essentially what we'll get in summer anyway as we'll be due a development fee. Don't take it out on the BBC. Plus I know the fella who takes pride and joy in that ins and outs article, updating it on his days off. We're all proud of him. And he's so keen he can't even be arsed getting himself up here for tomorrow's game. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they want the next appointment to be shite so they can come out and say we should have just stuck with Robson (which, without fan pressure, they would have).

Even though we haven't signed anyone (Philips apart) I think it's a good window with Miovski, Duk, Barron and Shinnie all staying. (Shinnie wasn't linked anywhere but I still worry). Kilmarnock (our biggest rivals now for fourth - that's our season now) have signed Van Veen, but he's no Miovski. Get a good manager in and we'll... it's gonna be Jack Ross isn't it?

Had Robson stayed, I was convinced we would not lose, as was sure he would get a result to convince the board to stick with him. Now he's gone I'm actually less confident

We're not one of the four clubs looking at Van Veen. Hearts, Motherwell, St Mirren and Kilmarnock were all after him. Looks like one of the latter two most likely to get him.

Think you've been bought in by that Agent Alba joker, either directly or indirectly. Forrest is Cardiff bound I'm sure.

Transfer deadline is 23:30 GMT tonight. It wasn't wrong, Rico admits he misread it. BBC 2-0 BigAl/Rico.

Jimmy Thelin. Have been reading a few articles on him and watched some Elfsborg highlights. What intrigues me is his way of playing is kinda what Barry Robson was trying to do at times, but Thelin does it much more effectively. He plays a fast-paced direct style of football, and even against smaller teams Elfsborg often have fewer than 50% possession. But it's all about high pressing, winning the ball in the opposition half, and if they win it in their own half then it's often a long ball to get them up the pitch quickly. But the formation is more of a 4-2-3-1 with more width, the defensive line high up, and often the advanced midfielder stays up to form a front two when they're defending so they have two men to aim for. It almost like Thelin has a solution to a few things Robson was doing wrong in his own quest to make that style work at Aberdeen. That type of football isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I think back to what was, for me, the high point of Robson's reign and possibly the game that landed him the job permanently. Against Hearts at home in April we played at a pace Hearts couldn't live with, pressed their midfield, and forced them into errors. We turned them over 3-0 and could have won by more. And yet, we had just 38% possession that day. But a lot of Hearts passes were among their back line. We had 47% accuracy with long balls (compared to hearts 32%). We had a 60% success rate with passes into the final third (Hearts 45%). I thought that would be how we'd always be under Robson but it then became a long ball shambles after that. I dunno if Aberdeen just fluked it that day v Hearts. If Thelin can recreate it though then I'm all for him. We just need to go and poach the manager who finished second in the Swedish top flight last season...

Stephen Kenny would be interesting. His Ireland stint, he was labelled as tactically naive because he stubbornly stuck to wanting to be a possession based team when Ireland didn't have the players for it. He also mainly favoured 3-4-2-1. Didn't offer enough of a threat against smaller teams who played a low block. So there's a hybrid of Glass and Robson in there. But Dunfermline apart, his club record as a manager is exceptional. His time in charge of Ireland wasn't a total waste of time either as he gave 21 young players their debuts - think Jamie McGrath and Liam Scales are among them. Dunno if he's my first choice, but would certainly consider him.

It won't be Neil Lennon. He has his cheerleaders every time a job comes up, but the one thing I respect our board for is they haven't bought into it. Neil Warnock - see if he was interim until we found someone permanent, then fine. Give him the Celtic, Rangers and Bonnyrigg Rose games - if anything it'll be intriguing and I tend to think the results in those three games will be the same no matter who is in charge. But, this end of season chat worries me. We did this last season, had three months to find someone but were quite happy to let Robson crack on (in fairness he was doing well) then didn't find anyone. Do we really need to do the same again, 3/4 months to find a manager? I'd rather our permanent boss was in sooner rather than later so they can start making their stamp on the team. Yeh, it didn't do Glass, Goodwin or Robson much good in the long term, but it's still preferable to their first competitive game potentially being a European qualifier.

Technically, they found them at Pittodrie...

Warnock isn't a surprise, because the FMB are more likely to be impressed by a 76-year-old Neil Warnock than they are with a young manager who has been doing the business in Scandinavia.

Seen Sweden's Jimmy Thelin name bandied about. Interesting article on him here when he was linked with Sunderland last month. https://www.si.com/soccer/sunderland/analysis/jimmy-thelin-who-is-sunderland-linked-coach-and-what-tactics-does-he-play

McGhee won't be interested.

Michael O'Neill? Did well in first spell at Northern Ireland. Saved Stoke from relegation but couldn't quite take them above mid-table after that but you would hope has learned from the experience. Now back at Northern Ireland but could be tempted into club management again. Alex Neil - I dunno. I've heard good arguments for and against him. Absolutely not to Neil Lennon, Stephen Robinson, Derek McInnes, John Kennedy and Neil Warnock.

We genuinely expected nothing to happen. Was no whispers of anything. Dave Cormack has sacked him in the middle of the night it seems considering he's in the US.

Club statement:- Barry was appointed as interim manager in early 2023 and, after an impressive run of seven consecutive victories, was awarded the role on a permanent basis, during which time he won two SPFL manager of the month awards. He led the team to third in the Scottish Premiership, qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League group stages, the first time in 15 seasons the Club had reached a group stage. The Club invested heavily to rebuild the squad during the summer in preparation for a busy schedule on four fronts. This helped to produce some extremely credible European performances and progression to the Viaplay Cup Final in December. However, league results and performances over the course of the 2023/24 campaign have been well below the expectations set. Following our failure to defeat Dundee at Pittodrie last night, the decision was taken to replace the management team. “Although it has been a difficult call, the Board felt the change was necessary and in the best interests of Aberdeen FC,” Chairman Dave Cormack said. “Barry earned the right to be Aberdeen manager and knew the high level of expectation we had when he took the role. We gave Barry as much time and support as we possibly could in the hope, and expectation, he could return us to the league form we witnessed in the spring of last year. “There is a talented squad of players at the Club which makes our current league position unacceptable. “With 17 games left in the league and still in the Scottish Cup, this change is necessary to help us refocus on our ambitions for the rest of the season. “It’s important we thank Barry for his significant contribution to Aberdeen as a player, a coach and manager. He’s a good man who worked extremely hard in everything he did for us, and it goes without saying that we wish him, and Steve, our very best. “The Club, as a business, is in good shape. We have no bank debt, significant commercial growth, record season ticket and AberDNA membership sales. We also have an evolving player trading model that is allowing us to invest significantly more in the football operation than the operating income we generate. “But, as chairman I accept responsibility, along with the board, for the managerial upheavals. It’s exhausting for everyone to go through, not least our fans and the managers who gave their all and lost their jobs. “We have asked First Team Coach Peter Leven, assisted by Scott Anderson, to lead training on an interim basis.”

Robson gone. Well, that was much quicker than I expected.