Aberdeen have sacked head coach Stephen Robinson after just eight months in charge, with the Dons sitting 11th in the Scottish Premiership following Saturday's humiliating 4-0 home defeat by Hibernian.
The club confirmed the decision on Monday after a board meeting, ending a reign that began with a contract running to the summer of 2029 and finished with fans at Pittodrie calling for his head. Robinson leaves alongside assistant head coach Brian Kerr and first team coach Stephen Craigan, as reported by Sky Sports.
A club statement said: "Following a board meeting, Aberdeen Football Club has today taken the decision to part company with head coach Stephen Robinson. Preparatory work to support the appointment of a new manager has been undertaken, and the recruitment process is ongoing." Youth coach Stuart Duff will assume interim charge of first team training while the search continues.
Eight months and out
The numbers explain the decision. Aberdeen have taken just 11 points from 12 Premiership matches, losing seven of them, including four of their last five. Robinson finished with a win rate of just 39 per cent, according to the Glasgow Times, and Saturday's collapse against Hibs came only a week after a League Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers removed the one cup run that had been easing the pressure.
Robinson himself described the Hibernian performance as "an unacceptable performance and an unacceptable result", while insisting he would "keep fighting until told otherwise". On Monday, he was told otherwise. Supporters had made their feelings plain during the game, and a manager who never fully won over a sceptical fanbase had run out of credit.
It is a sharp fall for a coach who arrived in March with one of the strongest reputations in Scottish football. At St Mirren he delivered three consecutive top-six finishes and won the League Cup, and last season he steered Aberdeen away from the relegation play-offs to a ninth-place finish. This season, after a summer overhaul, the team that was supposed to become harder to beat instead became one of the easiest in the division to play against.
A familiar story at Pittodrie
Robinson is not an isolated case — he is the latest name on a remarkable list. Aberdeen are now looking for their fourth manager of the year and the eighth to occupy the dugout since Derek McInnes left in March 2021. Stephen Glass, Barry Robson, Jim Goodwin and Scottish Cup winner Jimmy Thelin have all been sacked in that time, with Peter Leven repeatedly holding the fort as caretaker and Neil Warnock passing through briefly.
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd summed up the mood, saying Aberdeen "will tell you they're the third biggest team in the country, but right now, they're miles off it". Boyd also argued that others at the club have to be held accountable — a point the next appointment will test, with chief executive Adrian Bevington, appointed in September, and sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel central to the search.
Robinson is not alone in paying for a poor run this month, either: Sassuolo have also parted company with their coach after five straight defeats, while Crystal Palace are reportedly preparing a change of their own. November's international break is, as ever, sacking season.
So what happens next?
The new manager inherits a relegation fight, not a rebuild project. Aberdeen sit two points off the bottom, and their first game after the international break is away to Kilmarnock on November 21 — the only team below them. Lose that, and the Dons could be bottom of the Premiership. Trips to face Rangers on November 24 and a home game against Dundee on November 28 follow in a run that will define the season.
Whoever comes in must first make Aberdeen hard to beat again — the very quality Robinson was hired to restore. With a squad low on confidence and short on goals, there is no time for a long-term philosophy to bed in before results are demanded.
Beyond the Final Whistle: sacking Robinson was inevitable after the Hibernian humiliation, but Aberdeen's problem is bigger than any one manager. A club on its eighth dugout occupant in five years does not have a coaching problem — it has a decision-making problem, and until the board gets an appointment right and backs it properly, the next sacking is already being scheduled. Do Aberdeen stick with a proven Premiership name or gamble on something different this time? Let us know what you think in the comments.
