When it comes to football management there’s no such thing as a sure thing – something Aberdeen are finding out the hard way under the tutelage of Neil Warnock. When Dave Cormack belatedly brought an end to the raw and wretched reign of the inexperienced Barry Robson the club were in need of a quick fix, the sporting sugar rush. If Robson was considered a callow coach then in Warnock Aberdeen reached out for the antithesis.
Conventional and collective wisdom demanded the installation of a seasoned manager and in that regard, Warnock has a bigger tick in the box than anyone else. Aged 75, nobody has managed more games in English football and nobody has won more promotions. Jump back six words though and there’s the difference – English football. Scottish football, warts and all, is a different beast entirely. That’s not intended as some bizarre assertion that Scottish football is in some way better than English football, merely different.
There can be no doubt that many of Neil Warnock’s skills as a manger should be transferable to Scottish football. Motivation, pragmatism, skepticism of those who over complicate matters. All of these techniques and more have served Warnock well over the last decade as he has saved team after team from the threat of relegation but therein lies the issue – Aberdeen, until 5 games ago weren’t in a relegation battle.
Aberdeen weren’t after a fire fighter, they were after a general with a safe pair of hands. Someone to quite simply make a bad situation better by utilising his nous and know how until the summer and buy the board time to turnover every rock in the search for a permanent manager. Someone to come in, calm everyone down and then kick on. Fourth place, one of the keys to Europe, was still a realistic proposition when Warnock breezed into Pittodrie five weeks back bursting with soundbites and stories.
The only person laughing at Neil Warnock’s jokes now is Neil Warnock.
To the Don’s faithful, somewhat infuriatingly, it seem’s Warnock isn’t taking the job seriously and that he’s underestimated the club, the league and the task at hand. So far, what was promised on the tin has quite spectacularly failed to be delivered and there’s a strident tone in the more vocal elements of the Red Army demanding their board hurry up and find the receipt.
Just what does Dave Cormack do next? Is it possible he hits the eject button on yet another manager and sends out the distress call to someone more familiar with the landscape north of Hadrian’s wall, who intimately knows the club, say a Strachan or a Mcleish? Until he does, the distinct possibility remains alive that English football’s very own survival specialist may become the first manager in history to relegate Aberdeen football club.
The clock is ticking.
Calum Maltman
Featured Image: Icon Sport
