By Thomas Durning
Hibernian 6 Aberdeen 0
The 28th of January 2023 was a day Aberdeen will want to forget as their club fell to a humiliating defeat. In a much predicted outcome, Jim Goodwin was sacked as manager just 19 minutes after the Hibs match. A poor run of performances led to his downfall which included a shocking Scottish Cup exit to sixth-tier side Darvel which was described as “the club’s worst ever defeat.”
Since Goodwin’s sacking, interim manager Barry Robson has taken charge as the club look to appoint a manager who can take Aberdeen back on a path of progression and positivity.
Examining Aberdeen’s approach, the last couple of years, there playing squad is much younger with the hope that these young players can develop, and the club can sell them in the future for a profit. The decisions on the manager side have also been similar as well. Since long serving manager Derek McInnes left the club in March 2021, the club have appointed Stephen Glass and Jim Goodwin. Glass and Goodwin are both still young in their managerial career and when looking at their tenures at the club, it has clearly not worked out for the both of them.
The approach to having young players and a young manager does seem on the outside to be ambitious as the club hope that putting these two ideas together will bring an enormous energy and an exciting future.
However, the last two seasons for Aberdeen have been disappointing. In the 2021-2022 season, the club finished in 10th place, there lowest position in eighteen years. In the current 2022/23 season, the club are in 7th place however consistency has been a massive issue and with the club out of the Scottish Cup and League Cup, it again looks like it will be a disappointing season.
In order for that to change, it is time for Aberdeen to slightly change there model and look to a more experienced manager in Chris Wilder.
Appointing Chris Wilder would be a seriously ambitious appointment for the club as the Englishmen has most recently had success in the Premier League when his newly promoted side Sheffield United finished in ninth place in the 2019/20 season.
Chris Wilder has been one of the bookies favourites to be the Aberdeen manager and with Wilder unemployed and Aberdeen without a manager, there are many reasons as to why this could be a perfect fit for both parties.
Experience
The major problem for Aberdeen in most recent times is that they have struggled to bounce back after a disappointing result. Before the 2022 World Cup, Aberdeen was in a healthy place as they were scoring lots of goals (especially at home) and they were sitting in a healthy third position. However, returning from the World Cup has been hugely disappointing for the Dons as they have quickly slipped down the table and exited both cups.
Although nothing is certain in football, having a manager like Chris Wilder would definitely help with this issue as he has had experience with making sure his teams keep performing week in week out. An example of this was in the 2018/19 season when he led his Sheffield United side to the Premier League after finishing in 2nd place with 89 points. Throughout the 46 Championship matches played, Wilder had to constantly make sure his side kept performing and make sure there consistency levels remain high. Referring back to Aberdeen, the consistency levels have been a major issue the last two years and with Wilder’s experience, there would be a highly likely chance this issue would be resolved.
Playing Style
Chris Wilder is widely known to play a 3-5-2/5-3-2 system and he does favour a possession-based style of football with a lot of short passes and also unique ways of switching play. In 2019/20 season in the Premier League, Sheffield United was widely praised for there use of overlapping centre-backs. Centre backs are not widely known to be overlapping in attacking areas however this tactic that Wilder used was so they could provide overloads on the flanks which results in more crosses into the box. This was a tactic that was never really seen before in the Premier League.
This kind of playing style would be perfect for Aberdeen as in Scotland, aside from Celtic and Rangers, these type of tactics are not really used as majority of teams like to play counter attacking football and also by playing long balls to get to the other half of the pitch quickly.
Aberdeen have also used the 3-5-2 system for the majority of the season and therefore this would give Wilder a head start as the players are already used to playing in this formation.
If Aberdeen were to appoint Wilder, Scottish football would most likely see a style of play that has not been seen before and with the recent success Wilder has had, it would have a massive chance of succeeding in the SPFL.
High Profile Manager
Due to his success as Sheffield United manager, Chris Wilder has now become a name that is well known in football. With the profile of Scottish football not overly massive, having a manager like Chris Wilder in the league would be an exciting addition. It would also benefit Aberdeen as the players they have scouted and targeted may have a better chance of joining with Chris Wilder in charge.
Not only the name but also the style of play that Chris Wilder likes to play would also be a massive factor in players joining Aberdeen.
Overall, Chris Wilder would definitely raise the profile of Scottish football and this could result in more high profile players joining the league as well.
Unemployed
With Chris Wilder without a club since he left Middlesbrough in October 2022, he will be waiting to find the right club and the right project. Aberdeen could well be an interesting choice for Wilder as they always have a realistic chance of winning silverware each season and they also have exciting future plans that include a new stadium.
If Aberdeen were to present these points to Wilder he would likely be tempted to be the new manager of the Dons.
It is certainly an interesting time at Aberdeen and with the last two managers failing at the club, they must get the next manager right and with Chris Wilder available, it looks to be the perfect fit.
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