A month ago today, Aberdeen hosted Kilmarnock at Pittodrie coming off the back of three straight league defeats, leaving many of the Dons faithful questioning whether Stephen Robinson’s March appointment had been the right call.
On the day, his side played out a tedious 0-0 draw lacking character, desire and quality from the first whistle; he along with his playing squad deservedly were booed out the building at full time.
It has been nothing short of busy in the 30 days since: a new signing, tactical switches, penalty shootout drama and a first away win of the calendar year have changed the tone around the club after what was a very poor start to the season, so is Stephen Robinson beginning to turn the tide?
Pressure had begun to mount on Robinson ahead of a return fixture against Kilmarnock in the Premier Sports Cup the following week; a competition he knows well. Before the crucial quarter final tie, French winger Hicham Mahou was added to the ranks as the fifteenth summer arrival at Pittodrie.
The 27 year old arrived from Swiss Super League outfit FC Lugano with whom he contributed a goal and two assists last season. His new manager described him as “quick, technically gifted and comfortable in one versus one situations”.
Whilst he didn’t feature at Rugby Park, the Dons battled hard with ten men to progress into the Premier Sports Cup semi finals on penalties. New goalkeeper Marius Muller, already into the hearts of supporters after his rabona clearance antics against Dundee, cemented his status as something of a cult hero after making three penalty saves on the night.
He would be joined too by Moroccan striker Ayoub Mouloua, who audaciously dinked a pressure penalty into the net during the shootout to book the Red Army’s tickets to Hampden. For the first time in what felt like forever, there became a little bit of feel-good factor amongst Aberdeen supporters again.
One of the big changes made by Robinson was to change the formation, reverting from a four at the back and rediscovering his 3-5-2 formation that brought him sustained success at St Mirren. The idea had been flirted with during the second half of the home game the previous week, but was deployed from the start in Ayrshire.
Met with much in the way of criticism, the changes appear to have stripped Aberdeen back to basics. The extra man at the back provides rigidity and structure, making them far tougher to break down whilst also getting the most out of their expressive full backs.
In addition to this, they look far more composed and confident when they do have the ball. Toyosi Olusanya through the middle can be a threat but requires a good finisher to play with; in captain Kevin Nisbet, the Dons certainly have that.
Aberdeen took this new shape and rediscovered optimism with them to Motherwell three days later, and were rewarded once more. Robinson masterminded a surprise 0-4 trouncing against his former employers to give his supporters a first league away day victory since the 6th of December.
Connor Ronan and Findlay Marshall were standouts in the new midfield three, both providing creativity and attacking movement to balance the physicality of Afeez Aremu, who himself is not shy at goal.
Furthermore, Aberdeen still looked convincingly improved in Leith the following Saturday despite not winning the game. Without the clumsiness of Jack Milne gifting Hibernian a penalty in the second half, Aberdeen would’ve been looking at back to back clean sheets for the first time since April.
Stephen Robinson, often brandished as pragmatic with a reputation for his sides to be physical, made a conscious effort to try and distance himself from comments made about his stint at St Mirren. In his opening interview as Dons manager he proclaimed that a 4-3-3 system “with lots of young boys in it, lots of pace and two wingers” was his preferred shape, and not the football he played in his old job.
To go back on his word and return to the style that brought him so much success in Paisley, and see an uptick in results with it, shows a willingness to put technicalities aside to win football matches.
Take Russell Martin’s spell at Ibrox for example. He was set on keeping the ball, playing out from the back and building up slowly to try and play attractive football, so much so that when the going got tough for him, he refused to adapt or admit his style of football was losing games.
By contrast, Robinson spent a summer at Aberdeen recruiting to play in a 4-3-3 shape, but when it began to let him down, he changed things to help get the best out of his group and put out his best team.
That aspect of adaptability could be the catalyst to his success as Aberdeen manager. It may take some time to win supporters over with the style, but the optimism that he has generated at Pittodrie came from winning football matches, not by playing what is perceived to be attractive football.
Ultimately, fans want to see their best players on the pitch playing well for their team, and if that is the way to get the best performance out of Toyosi Olusanya, the shape to really allow Nesta Guinness-Walker the ability to play to his strengths, and the chance to give a young player like Findlay Marshall the reward for his patience and quality out on loan at Arbroath last season, then you have to question what’s not to like?
With back to back home fixtures coming up against St Johnstone and St Mirren over the next two weekends, Aberdeen have a real opportunity to kick on from a positive September and really get their season going after the international break at Pittodrie. The pressure feels like it has been lifted for now, and winning these two games in preparation for the semi-final against Rangers would provide not just Robinson, but the club itself, some long awaited stability.
