Michael Stewart believes 'battle-weary' Aberdeen fans are beginning to run out of patience with manager Stephen Robinson, but he is sure that a good run in the Premier Sports Cup could give the Irishman some breathing room to get his tenure at Pittodrie up and running.
The Dons were booed off in Saturday's goalless draw at home to Kilmarnock, and after the game goalkeeper Marius Muller admitted he would have joined in with the jeers if he had been sitting in the stands.
Pressure Mounting at Pittodrie
The result has left Aberdeen with just four points from their first five Premiership matches ahead of their rematch with Neil McCann's side in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup on Saturday.
Robinson's appointment back in March was met with a strong degree of scepticism by sections of the Aberdeen fanbase, and those concerns have only gained more weight following the Reds' difficult start to the season.
Stewart's Verdict
But ex-Hearts, Hibs and Scotland midfielder Stewart also believes that the grumbles from the stands are a reflection of the Dons' inconsistent performance in recent seasons.
Speaking on the Premier Sports Scottish Football Social Club, he said: "Saturday is huge (for Aberdeen)."
"If they are able to get a positive result at Rugby Park and get through to the semi finals of the Premier Sports Cup, it just allows for an element of positivity to continue, which they then need to try and translate into the league."
"There is a real edge to this game on Saturday for both sides. It's a knockout game so it's do-or-die."
Fans' Patience Wearing Thin
"The difficulty for Stephen Robinson is that the supporters are battle-weary. They feel like they have seen this movie before."
"And once it starts happening like this, their threshold and patience wears thin pretty quickly because of what has happened previously over the last few years."
"They are desperate to see something that they can cling onto and look at as positive moving forward."
"From an Aberdeen fan perspective, I'd imagine that they feel the club has not been achieving or hitting the levels that they'd expect from their club."
"So when it starts to feel that they are underachieving again, their patience wears thin pretty quickly."
"It's not a criticism of anybody, it's just the reality of the situation I think."
