Stephen Robinson has entered the Aberdeen red zone as dreaded international break looms large

Ahead of the first international window this season, Hibs head coach David Gray was staring down the barrel of the gun. As the second one approaches next month, the sights seem to be trained on Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson.

Hibs pulled the trigger on Gray in late September - and after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat by Falkirk at Pittodrie, many Aberdeen fans want their board to do the same with Robinson.

Aberdeen are ninth in the Premiership after 11 matches and are three points above bottom spot. They have won three league matches this season, with supporters critical of the team’s style of play and overall quality levels. For a club that recently finished third and won the Scottish Cup less than two years ago, their descent to the nether regions of the top flight is alarming.

Stephen Robinson's appointment was not universally popular with some Aberdeen fans - and his popularity is crashing. | SNS Group

Robinson was hired on March 12, three months after the axing of Jimmy Thelin. Aberdeen came close to landing Norwegian coach Eirik Horneland, but the move fell through for personal reasons. With the threat of a relegation scrap becoming increasingly real, Robinson was hastily poached from St Mirren following a Scottish Cup defeat by Dunfermline.

He was not a universally popular appointment, even though he had won the Premier Sports Cup with St Mirren and led them to three consecutive top-six finishes.

Robinson deserved a shot at a bigger club after fine work with Motherwell and then in Paisley, but he is toiling now to get a tune out of Aberdeen. Peruse social media and fan message boards, and you won’t find many who believe he is the right man to elevate the Dons.

Aberdeen aspire to be at a minimum, a top-six club. They missed out on that last season. European football is craved, as are cup runs and entertaining football. Hope is dwindling that Robinson can deliver much of this.

The 1-0 defeat by Falkirk was met by loud boos from a now disgruntled Pittodrie. They are far from robust at home, having recently lost 1-0 to St Johnstone, and appear stymied in the final third. “There won’t be a lot of sleep tonight,” Robinson said in his post-match interview, wearing the gait of someone who understands that time is running out.

Aberdeen have two big matches over the next two weekends. On Saturday, they head to Hampden to face Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals before welcoming fellow strugglers Hibs to Pittodrie on November 7. The Easter Road side is one of the few beneath the Dons in the league.

A victory in either of those matches is desperately required as Robinson tries to convince the doubters that he can turn Aberdeen around. Because after the visit of Hibs comes a two-week international break, where boards often decide to make a change.

Aberdeen have a new chief executive in Adrian Bevington, who replaced Alan Burrows - a previous ally of Robinson - earlier this season. What has he made of recent results since arriving at Pittodrie? Chairman Dave Cormack has been at this juncture before, with Derek McInnes, Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin, Barry Robson and Jimmy Thelin. Aberdeen have fired all of them under the Atlanta-based businessman. Then there is sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.

Aberdeen’s signings haven’t paid off so far

After scouring the global market for rough diamonds to polish, Aberdeen changed recruitment tack over the summer and targeted experienced players, some of whom had experience playing in Scotland. The core of the cup-winning team under Thelin is gone. Players like Dan Happe, Chris Cadden, Brad Lyons, Lewis Smith, Tony Yogane and Alexander Briedl have their detractors. The jury remains out on players such as Marius Muller, Lewis Mayo, Connor Ronan and Ayoub Mouloua.

Aberdeen have been plagued by inconsistency. There have been kernels of hope, by beating Hearts on the opening day, trouncing Motherwell 4-0 away from home and overcoming Dundee 3-1 at Pittodrie. Robinson has been unable to get his team to build upon such results. Defeat by Falkirk was their sixth of the league campaign.

Robinson’s overall Premiership record since arriving is six wins, four draws and ten losses. He is failing to win home matches against teams with lesser resources. On Saturday, he returns to his happy place, the League Cup, where he has won all of his matches this season and last year guided St Mirren to one of their greatest days by beating Celtic 3-1.

The 51-year-old needs another one of those moments.

He is not helped by injuries. Ronan is one of the more creative players in a stodgy Aberdeen side, but he has a knee issue. Mats Knoester is arguably the club’s most reliable defender, but he will be missing too. Captain and striker Kevin Nisbet hasn’t been a steady source of goals this season. The midfield has struggled to dominate lesser opponents than Nicolas Raskin and Dan Neil, the Rangers pair they will come up against on Saturday.

Always facing an uphill struggle with a sceptical support, perhaps the Northern Irishman will never fit in with some of Aberdeen's more demanding fans. But recent results and performances are giving further ammunition for a crowd increasingly vexed by the direction of travel, not just under Robinson but the club as a whole.

The buck stops with the manager, though. “I think it’s best to get away and look at everything non-emotionally and then make decisions from there to try and correct what went wrong,” Robinson said after the Falkirk defeat. “You can’t do that when you’re extremely emotional. We’re all disappointed with the level of result and performance, and it’s important we come in tomorrow morning with a clear head, that we’re talking sense rather than shouting and screaming, and not saying something you regret.”

For many of an Aberdeen persuasion, “sense” would be to remove Robinson from his position. If given them, the next two matches are absolutely critical if he is to avoid such a fate.

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