Stephen Robinson’s tenure as Aberdeen head coach ended on Monday after four straight defeats left the club hovering above the relegation zone. The Dons parted ways with their manager following a 4-0 home loss to Hibernian on Saturday, a result that capped a run of poor form across all competitions.
Robinson’s Aberdeen reign lasted just eight months, during which he won only three of 12 Premiership matches this season. The club sits second bottom of the table, a position that prompted the board to act. Alongside Robinson, Brian Kerr and Stephen Craigan also left the club, and Stuart Duff has been named interim manager.
Willie Miller, a former Aberdeen captain and club legend, described the latest defeat as “utterly embarrassing” during a BBC Sportsound interview. He said Robinson appeared “like a man lost” on the touchline. Miller went on to deliver a stark assessment of the squad, saying, “The players aren’t up to scratch, not up to playing at this level and dealing with high-ish expectations. I’m not talking about trophies, I’m talking about being in the top six and they’re nowhere near that.”
Robinson, 51, previously managed Oldham Athletic, Motherwell, Morecambe, and St Mirren before joining Aberdeen in March 2026. He arrived after three consecutive top-six finishes and a League Cup win with St Mirren, signing a contract intended to run until summer 2029. Despite this, his record at Pittodrie includes 11 wins, five draws, and 12 defeats across 28 games in all competitions.
His efforts to overhaul the squad during the summer saw 15 players leave and 15 new arrivals, but the changes failed to bring stability or improved results. Robinson experimented with formations, switching between four and five at the back, but that yielded just two clean sheets in the league. Only goalkeeper Marius Muller, full-back Nesta Guinness-Walker, and top scorer Kevin Nisbet have appeared in every league game this season.
Miller questioned the recruitment strategy, suggesting the large turnover of players had unsettled the team. “You are looking at 15 players out and 15 players in, so it is a huge turnaround of players. Was that all Stephen Robinson? I would imagine probably yes but I don’t know because I am not privy to that information,” he said. He acknowledged the difficult circumstances Robinson inherited but added, “There was never a stable formation either.”
Former Aberdeen defender Alex McLeish also commented on recruitment, saying the board worked hard to restore the club’s standing, including winning a cup recently. “Recruitment is absolutely key and if you’ve bought a bunch of players and then they’re not performing then that is a real worry,” McLeish said. He did not criticise the players’ quality outright but accepted it would be challenging to return to previous levels.
Chairman Dave Cormack, who took charge at Pittodrie in November 2019, has overseen six permanent managers, with Robinson being the latest. Despite last year’s Scottish Cup win, the club’s general trajectory has been downward, a trend some attribute to frequent managerial changes and squad instability.
Robinson’s appointment followed a prolonged search to replace Jimmy Thelin. His hiring was not universally welcomed by Aberdeen fans, many of whom questioned whether the decision was driven more by urgency than careful planning. As results worsened, frustration among supporters grew, and Robinson often appeared under pressure during post-match interviews.
The club’s new chief executive, Adrian Bevington, who was appointed recently, will lead the search for a new manager. His network, along with sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel’s contacts, will be instrumental in finding a successor capable of halting Aberdeen’s decline. The next manager will take over a squad low on confidence and struggling to score goals, currently among the lowest scorers in the league.
Aberdeen face a run of fixtures after the international break starting with a trip to Kilmarnock on 21 November. They then visit Rangers three days later before hosting Dundee on 28 November. The club’s immediate task is to arrest a slide that threatens to drag them into a relegation battle.
According to Yahoo Sports.