Aberdeen head to Celtic Park on Wednesday on the verge of setting a new club record.

Never before have the Pittodrie side gone six games without scoring, but that unwanted mark will be set should Derek McInnes' side fail to find the net in Glasgow.

The signs are not good. Aberdeen have just one win in nine, yet remain fourth in the Scottish Premiership. Banners, both backing and criticising McInnes, have appeared in recent weeks.

Chairman Dave Cormack has publicly backed his manager and urged fans to get behind him, but many have already made up their mind. Can McInnes turn it around or is his eight-year reign nearing an end?
Are things really that bad?

For many outsiders, probably not. Aberdeen are looking good for an eighth successive European qualification. McInnes has led them to four cup finals, nine semis, has beaten the Old Firm at Hampden, Ibrox and Celtic Park, and taken a few European scalps.

But Aberdeen have finished fourth twice in a row, despite having the third biggest budget, and are heading that way again this term. They are struggling to score, the brand of football on offer is causing carping from fans, and that single League Cup trophy triumph in 2014 seems a long time ago.
Struggle to emulate heady heights

In April 2017, the then-Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha correctly predicted the Aberdeen XI his side would face that weekend.

Everyone knew Adam Rooney would spearhead the attack, with Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn on the wings and Kenny McLean playing in front of midfield duo Graeme Shinnie and Ryan Jack.

That side finished nine points ahead of Rangers, reached both cup finals, and thumped Dundee 7-0, Motherwell 7-2, and Partick Thistle 6-0. Many fans say it was the best Aberdeen have been under McInnes, but eight transfer windows later, his attempts to emulate that side are faltering.

Rooney is long gone, as is his successor Sam Cosgrove. Three new strikers arrived in January but Fraser Hornby, Callum Hendry and Florian Kamberi have yet to score, while one who was shipped out on loan - Bruce Anderson - has already opened his account at Hamilton Academical.

Creativity for those forwards has been in short supply, too, since the days of James Maddison and Ryan Christie. Chris Forrester, Greg Stewart and Craig Bryson have tried and failed to fill the number 10 role, and Scott Wright departed for Rangers in January after finally living up to his promise this term.

Add in the likes of Matty Kennedy, Ryan Hedges, Ross McCrorie and Dylan McGeouch and McInnes has been busy in the transfer market, but it doesn't appear to be paying dividends.

"We're trying to reinvent our forward line," said McInnes after a defeat by their rivals for third place, Hibernian, earlier this month.

"There's no doubt the boys we've signed late on in the window will help, Kamberi will help, but for now we need to try and work hard to get results.

"The players are knocking their pan in, they all want to win, but for one reason or another we're just not finding that winning formula at the minute."
Aberdeen manager winning percentages from their last 10 bosses

'This is a golden ticket'

Chris Crighton, editor of Aberdeen fanzine The Red Final

I stand by McInnes because it's a pivotal point of the season. The gamble you take in making a change, when you have substantial evidence over the past few years that McInnes has found ways to just about get it done, is just too much of a gamble to take.

He has a job to do, he has a very short time in which to do it, we have to let that play out and see what happens at the end of the season.

Those who are vociferously wanting him out are actually a minority. There is a much larger group who are extremely appreciative of the job done but are perhaps wondering whether it might be time to look for someone who can push the club higher.

It's utterly imperative that this team somehow gets their way back to third. The potential benefit is direct entry to the play-off round of the Europa League, which is something McInnes has been scrambling around trying to achieve for seven years. This is a golden ticket.