Aberdeen have parted ways with manager Stephen Robinson following a poor start to the season, and the club is now looking for his replacement. The decision comes after Saturday's 4-0 home defeat to Hibs left the Dons sitting 11th in the Premiership with just three wins from their first 12 matches.
Robinson was appointed in March but lasted only 27 matches at the helm. He guided St Mirren to Premier Sports Cup glory 11 months ago, but he was never a popular figure with Aberdeen supporters and is now the fifth manager to leave the club in the last five years.
Pressure on the board
Chairman Dave Cormack, new CEO Adrian Bevington, sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel and the rest of the 'football monitoring board' have faced criticism from fans over their running of the club. They now face significant pressure over their next decision on who takes charge in the dugout.
Since Derek McInnes left in March 2021, the Dons have hired and fired five bosses: Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin, Barry Robson, Neil Warnock and Jimmy Thelin. Robinson is set to become the sixth, not counting interim tenures under Paul Sheerin and Peter Leven.
Sporting director under scrutiny
Pfannenstiel was recruited as director of football 12 months ago, arriving when the team was struggling under Jimmy Thelin, who lost his job less than two months later in January 2026. Pfannenstiel played a leading role in the search for Thelin's successor, and after courting Eirik Horneland for weeks, the Reds ultimately moved for Robinson to ensure they would remain a top-flight club.
The former Hoffenheim scout has now overseen two transfer windows that have yielded little success. With fans speculating that he was overruled by Cormack and former CEO Alan Burrows over the Robinson appointment, it remains to be seen if he will stay at Pittodrie beyond the end of his contract next summer.
Player reaction and next steps
Defender Nicky Devlin admitted his team capitulated against Hibs. He said: "I'm embarrassed really and there's not any other way to describe what happened. Especially the second half as we conceded a goal and it felt like as a team we capitulated. We it looked like we had nothing about us and myself included we looked like a team of wee boys compared to Hibs."
Devlin added: "The first half wasn't too bad as we created a couple of chances but we are at home and we have to do that. We have to look threatening and that we are going to score but as soon as they scored we looked too far off it. We have to deal with adversity so much better and we didn't do that and they could have scored whenever they wanted."
Bevington, appointed in September as a quickfire replacement for Alan Burrows, is expected to play a leading role in the search. The 55-year-old was a key figure in Middlesbrough's rise to the Premier League in the late 1990s, spent 17 years behind the scenes at the English FA, and previously worked with Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. Aberdeen are not in action again until after the international break, when they face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on November 21.
