Aberdeen need to bring ‘a bit of thunder’ back, says interim boss Barry Robson | Football News

Barry Robson will aim to restore the “thunder” to the Aberdeen team following the departure of Stephen Glass.

Robson has taken caretaker charge after Glass was sacked in the wake of Saturday’s Scottish Cup exit at Motherwell.

Many Aberdeen players faced the fury of their fans at Fir Park as they walked up to the stand housing the away support, and Christian Ramirez expressed his frustration at Sunday’s news when he simply tweeted an expletive.

Robson knows the players will be feeling guilty as well as suffering confidence-wise after taking one point from their last four Scottish Premiership games.

The Dons host bottom-club St Johnstone on Tuesday knowing that defeat could see them looking over their shoulders in the lower reaches of the table.

Robson said: “It’s never easy when a manager loses his job. It’s difficult for him and everybody connected to the club.

“I felt for him, but the one thing you sign up for when you become a football manager is inevitably this will happen at some stage, which is unfortunate.

“I have seen it happen a million times, as a player and as a coach. I just have to try and pick the players up.

“And the thing is, the players know they are responsible for it as well. It’s a case of let’s try and move the club forward and get a decent result on Tuesday.

“Every player should always feel that. I have played in teams when the manager lost his job and I felt it when I went back that night. You do feel like you have let your manager down.

“The one thing you have to do as a player, you have to bounce back.

“You need to make sure you are doing the right thing for the football club as well as yourself, and that’s what we have to do with them now, make sure they start performing the way we expect them to perform and try and put some results together for the football club.”

The former Dons midfielder added: “When you haven’t won for a few games, confidence can make you look a bit slower than you actually are. Mentally it can be a bit draining.

“What we will try and do is bring a bit of thunder back.

“I said to the players, when things aren’t going well, sometimes you just have to work harder, run harder and be a good team-mate and try and simplify your game a wee bit. It’s amazing how far that can take you sometimes.

“Because it isn’t always easy being out there as a football player, being judged. I have been there a million times. We just need to try and help them and get a result for the club.”

Robson was brought on to the coaching staff by previous manager Derek McInnes and has been based at Pittodrie this season, working below the first team.

The former Celtic and Dundee United player stated he had not been part of first-team operations at Cormack Park but was handed the reins with the help of Neil Simpson, Scott Anderson and team captain Scott Brown, who was part of Glass’ coaching set-up.

Robson added that chairman Dave Cormack “just asked me to take the team for Tuesday”.

“We have got a game, we need to win it,” the 43-year-old added. “I am in here to try and help us win it.

“We have another game at the weekend, we will sit down with the chairman in the next couple of days and see where we’re at, and we will see what’s best for Aberdeen Football Club.”

Callum Davidson: Managers are always under pressure

“The pressure I’m under myself, it’s always sad to see a manager go.

“I played with Stephen at Under-21s and I know him well. I know he’s a very good coach, but unfortunately that’s the business we’re in.

“I’ve got enough to worry about at the moment at my place, just need to make sure I start winning some games.

“It’s a tough business. It’s one thing you do know in football if you’re a manager, at some point you probably will get sacked.

“If we manage to stay in the league it would be an unbelievable achievement, just as much as the double last year.

“Different pressures, different styles, different management. How to look after players, how to rebuild a team in January with six or seven boys injured.”