Credit: Imago

Jack Dawson

Mon 30 March 2026 17:45, UK

Follow us on Google Discover

Aberdeen clearly avoided a disaster by not appointing Scott Brown as their new manager in January after his recent sacking at Ayr United.

The manager was one of the favourites with the bookies to take over at the Scottish Premiership club after Jimmy Thelin’s sacking.

However, after months of searching, the Dons eventually settled on Stephen Robinson, who has drawn one and lost one of his two games in charge so far.

Yet, Brown’s form at Ayr United shows that the situation could have been much worse.

Below, Football Insider explores the final months of Brown’s reign after he was previously 5/1 to take over at Aberdeen.

Scott Brown has had a catastrophic few months at Ayr United

Back in early January, when Brown was first linked to the Aberdeen job, he looked like a highly promising manager.

The former Celtic star had won 46.7 per cent of his games in charge, and was well in the running to returning Ayr United to the Scottish Premiership for the first time since 1978.

However, since then, things went disastrously wrong. Since December, they had only won 1 league match and fell to third bottom in the Scottish Championship.

A 3-0 defeat to Raith Rovers on Friday proved to be the final straw, with Brown being dismissed on Monday.

Therefore, there is no doubt that Aberdeen have avoided a massive disaster.

Ayr United confirms that Scott Brown and Steven Whittaker have left the club by mutual consent.

The club wishes to thank them both for their dedication throughout their time at Ayr United and wish them every success for their future careers.

Training today will be taken by… pic.twitter.com/XFnjgoA5Lf

— Ayr United (@AyrUnitedFC) March 30, 2026

While their hunt for a new head coach took time, if they had have brought in Brown, they would have likely been looking for a new manager by the end of the campaign based on his recent form.

As a result, while things have looked bleak at the Dons in recent months, they could have been far, far worse.

Pressure is on Stephen Robinson to deliver results

While Robinson did have a tough opening two fixtures, results will be expected after the international break.

This weekend, he is set to face his former club, St Mirren, in what could be a crucial tie in the relegation battle.

A defeat could see the Saints leapfrog the Dons, sending them down to 10^th in the Scottish Premiership, one place above the relegation playoff zone.

With many fans already against the appointment of Robinson, the pressure on the manager will be massive to deliver a result on Saturday, or he could soon find himself out of the door too.