Aberdeen are on the lookout for a new manager for the second time in the space of a year after the axe finally fell on Jim Goodwin.
The Irishman was given his marching his orders by chairman Dave Cormack following yet another tanking – this time the 6-0 defeat to Hibs, which came on the back of a humiliating defeat to Darvel. It's the third time the businessman has pulled the trigger on the manager since taking over in 2019 after sacking Derek McInnes and Stephen Glass. The Dons, who paid compensation to St Mirren to sign Goodwin, will have to fork out thousands after sacking the 41-year-old.
All eyes are now on who succeeds Goodwin in the Pittodrie dugout. There are few standout candidates to take over from the former Alloa Athletic manager which may explain the length it took the Dons board to come to a decision. The Record Sport team has looked at who could get the gig in the north east.
Chris Wilder
The Englishman is believed to be interested in the job and would be an eyebrow raising appointment from the Aberdeen board. Wilder impressed at Sheffield United when he got them promoted from the Championship to the English Premier League in 2019. He kept them in the division and they eventually finished in ninth in their first season back. After a poor run of results he left Bramall Lane with the club bottom of the league in 2021.
Paul Lambert
The former Scotland and Celtic captain has been out of the game for nearly a year after leaving his last job, Ipswich Town, by "mutual consent". His managerial career can just about be split into two definitive sections, a hugely-successful start and a deeply-disappointing latter part. Success at Wycombe, Colchester and then Norwich City saw his star rise. So much so his successive promotions at Carrow Road and then steering the Canaries to Premier League safety won him the Aston Villa job where he stayed in place for three seasons, keeping one of England’s fallen giants in the top flight.
But his light dimmed at Blackburn, Wolves, Stoke and then Ipswich (he won’t be the only manager at those clubs to have experienced that). However, Lambert revealed this past week his hunger for management remains. He would undoubtedly arrest the alarming slump at Pittodrie but would he represent the progressive coach Cormack appears to desire but that has yet eluded him? Time will tell.
Geir Bakke
If you haven't had 'the text' then are you even from Aberdeen? Seriously, Geir Bakke's name has been bubbling under the surface in the Granite City for some weeks. But is there anything in it? Well, we are about to find out as Cormack eyes a manager who can spark Northern Lights and get Aberdeen rocking. The Lillestrom boss has produced consecutive fourth-placed finishes in the Eliteserien and we know the Aberdeen chairman was a major admirer of Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen and his mammoth success in recent years.
Bakke is regarded as a progressive thinker and his team appear on the verge of continuing their recent upward trajectory after returning Lillestrom to Norway's top flight and isn't adverse to switching up formations - with noted success operating in a 3-4-2-1. The 53-year-old has never managed out of his homeland but enjoyed incredible success with Sarpsborg before making the switch to Lillestrom.
Neil Lennon
We can't confirm any great affiliation Lennon enjoys with Aberdeen but the Irishman appears the safest bet of all the candidates in the mix. The 51-year-old has won 12 major trophies in his career with silverware secured at Celtic, Hibs and in Cyprus with Omonia Nicosia. Lennon is itching to remind everyone of his worth after he paid the price as Nicosia axed him days after Lennon almost secured a shock draw with Manchester United in the Europa League.
Aberdeen welcomed former Celtic skipper Scott Brown with open arms as they viewed the signing of the wildly-successful Parkhead favourite as a statement of intent. Does the same ring true with Lennon? It could be a question Cormack weighs up as the manager who has won more trophies than anyone in Scottish football during the 21st century looks for his next move.
Darren Fletcher
No, not the BT Sport commentator. It's the former Man United and Scotland legend, who has made noises recently about being ready to step up from his current technical director gig into the managerial lion's den and he's got his fair share of backers at the bookmakers. Capped 80 times for Scotland, it's his experience at the highest level with United that could see him become a decent shout for Dons fans.
Has limited coaching experience but we saw him draw on his old mentor Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer technique on the pitch plenty of times to drag the best out of his Scotland team-mates. He would definitely need all of those powers of motivation to get a tune out of this Dons side right now, but there's a core of decent talent there that he could work his magic with. He'd arguably be worth a punt for the sheer depth of his contacts book alone, given the number of legendary football figures he can call upon for advice and loans.
Scott Brown
His arrival at Pittodrie under Stephen Glass as a player/assistant manager was generally well received by did raise more than a few eyebrows. One thing we can say about Brown is that he's never been known to shirk a challenge in his natural puff, and he took to the Pittodrie pitch with his trademark bravado/skinhead combo.
Having made an impact on and off the pitch, his departure came as no surprise after his coaching duties were phased out by current incumbent Goodwin, and he's since jumped two-footed into his first managerial gig at Fleetwood Town. He's had a mixed bag of results since signing on at Highbury Stadium at the start of this season, with the Cods currently sitting 17th in League One, yet he also created a piece of club history by managing them to the FA Cup Fourth Round for the first time after a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over QPR with all the resilience that defined his playing career. Could a swift return to Scotland and one of the biggest jobs in the country tempt the 37-year-old? Watch this space.
David Martindale
If ever there was a soundbite which aided a potential candidate's case it was the leaked video of Martindale reading his underperforming Livingston stars the riot act as they trailed Stenhousemuir on Saturday. But there was no Scottish Cup shock as Martindale's x-rated demands were met by a team who swear by their manager. A key factor to consider when linking with Martindale with any alternative gig – and this is vital to note – is that he has final say on every decision made by the Lions. It's a club in his image and his sustained success in West Lothian has been noted by many. But it would take something special to prise him away from a side who are going for a second top-six finish in three seasons and they only missed out last season in the dying seconds against Motherwell. From the magic feet of Joel Nouble to the defensive robustness of Jack Fitzwater – Martindale has shown himself to be a shrewd operator in the transfer market time and time again and he could be the man to make the Cormack millions go further.
Pellegrino Matarazzo
If Aberdeen want to cast their foreign nets for their new boss further afield than right next door in Scandinavia, then the 45-year-old former VFB Stuttgart manager may be the very man. Born and raised in New Jersey to Italian parents, he spent his professional playing career bouncing around the German lower leagues after playing in the college system at Columbia University but served a good apprenticeship on the staff at another Bundesliga side, Hoffenheim, under the likes of Julian Nagelsmann and the current Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder. With Aberdeen still 5th in the league, the job is far from being a poisoned chalice and could offer a whole lot to the right candidate.
Having been out of work since leaving the Mercedes-Benz in October last year, his attacking style of play could be appealing to Aberdeen chief Cormack. While this season's poor form ultimately led to his demise in Stuttgart, he enjoyed some stellar results in previous years, most notably when dismantling Dortmund 5-1 on their own patch at the end of 2020.
Owen Coyle
In leading ambitious Queen's Park to the top of the cinch Championship after just under a year in the job, Owen Coyle may be a name that is circulating around the Aberdeen airwaves as a left-field domestic option. With vast experience in the game both north and south of the border, Coyle's devotion to attacking football, coupled with a wily knack of getting results and the very best out of his players, could see him rocket up the shortlist towards the top end. Not that his stint at Ross County went well, mind you. Joining the Spiders after a productive spell in India with Chennayin and Jamshedpur, 56-year-old Coyle could bring about a Granite City revival and would surely look to bring his trusty assistant Sandy Stewart, as well as his son Owen Jr. north with him should he be given the gig.
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