Since the winter break, the Dons have picked up just two points from a possible 12. Three of those games were against sides below them in the table as the club with the third biggest budget occupies seventh place.

League leaders Celtic roll into town on Wednesday, the first of five big matches to come for Aberdeen this month.

Patience wearing thin?

"We've no intention of making a change so early," Cormack said on BBC Sportsound in October, leaving fans in no doubt he was sticking by his man. "We need to be patient. The board, and more importantly the whole player pool, believe in the coaching team."

Since then, it has been up and down.

Galvanised by the criticism that came their way, the team responded with home wins over Hearts and Hibs either side of a 2-2 draw at Ibrox. After those three positive results came three consecutive defeats in November.

December offered hope again with four wins from five, but 2022 has tailed off after a rousing draw with Rangers at Pittodrie and a comfortable cup victory against League 2 Edinburgh City.

Away-day blues are haunting Glass, with just two wins on the road all season and a tally of nine points from a possible 39.

Add in the League Cup loss on their travels to Championship Raith Rovers and it's easy to understand why there was a collective groan across the north-east when Aberdeen were drawn to visit Motherwell in the Scottish Cup.

Victory at Fir Park would keep the hunt for silverware alive and could be a real boost for home games against St Johnstone and Dundee United and another trip to Lanarkshire.

That's the best case scenario. But a cup loss and more squandered league points would leave the Dons in trouble, with their first two games in March away to Hearts and Rangers.

Youthful defence learning the hard way

A leaky defence has been cause for concern. There are some mitigating circumstances, with Glass essentially having to change the entire back line from last season, putting his faith in youth over experience.

His first choice back four has been the fresh faced full-backs Calvin Ramsay, 18, and Jack Mackenzie, 21. David Bates was signed from Hamburg to partner Ross McCrorie, who has moved backwards from midfield after long-term injuries to Andrew Considine and Michael Devlin, while summer signing Declan Gallagher has had fitness issues too.

At 25, Bates is the most senior of the quartet, but he was less than two months old when Glass was putting in a man of the match display on his way to lifting the League Cup with Aberdeen in 1995. That inexperience has been exposed, with Aberdeen losing on average 1.39 goals a game and just five clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions.

That defence is sure to be put to the test by in-form Celtic, who have scored seven goals in their last two outings.

Possession not paying off, but Pittodrie form is a platform

The second, and perhaps biggest problem Glass has, is the side's lack of creativity. Only Celtic and Rangers have held onto the ball longer than Aberdeen this season, but the Dons have had little end product to go with their possession.

Ryan Hedges has been sold to Blackburn and fellow Welsh international Marley Watkins has been missing through injury. In the 12 games they played together, Aberdeen scored an average of 1.42 goals. In the 12 other leagues games, the average is 0.92.

However, when Aberdeen do click they have someone who can put chances away. Christian Ramirez, signed by Glass last summer, scored his 14th goal of the season in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Livingston.

"Any team on the planet finds it difficult to break down teams that sit in," said Glass. "We have found that difficult especially away from home."

Celtic certainly won't sit in and Glass anticipates a reaction from his players as they seek to build on an unbeaten run of five home matches, which includes four wins.

"We need to look at the home form we are sitting on and try and take that into this game, regardless of who is coming," he said. "At home, the boys have been brilliant and I don't expect anything different."

'Aberdeen need to put bodies on the line'

Sportscene pundit James McFadden on Aberdeen's defeat at Livingston

There's no doubt Ramirez is a brilliant finisher. If you create chances for him he will score goals. But I see Livingston throwing bodies on the line to defend, I don't see that from Aberdeen. They have to start games properly, they have to defend properly.

They have players who can create and score goals but it's just not there for Aberdeen at the minute.

It doesn't get any easier and it won't from now until the end of the season. They have to find form from somewhere. They have to look at themselves and ask how they can do better.