NEW Dons boss Craig Brown surveyed the wreckage of Aberdeen's 5-0 demolition at Hearts and contemplated how to begin to revitalise a club now facing a battle to avoid relegation for the first time in their 107-year history.
The Dons are at the foot of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after suffering a 12th loss of the campaign and a seventh in succession. A Rudi Skacel double and goals from David Templeton, Stephen Elliott and Arvydas Novikovas saw Hearts claim a fifth straight win at Tynecastle.
Brown and his assistant Archie Knox, who quit Motherwell last Thursday, will be officially unveiled at Pittodrie on Monday.
Dons youth coach Neil Cooper, in temporary charge alongside Neil Simpson on Saturday, insists the job can be done. "There's a good nucleus there to work with," he said.
Midfielder Derek Young certainly knows the Dons are in a battle for survival.
He said: "We're not daft. It's definitely a relegation battle we're in, something a club this size shouldn't be in. But that's where we are. Nobody's big headed enough to think we shouldn't be here.
Source: PA
Source: PA