Why have Aberdeen ‘fallen off a cliff’ in last seven games?

From the heady days of late summer into autumn, when Aberdeen were riding high and lighting up the Scottish Premiership, a cold harsh winter has now enveloped Jimmy Thelin and his team.

Expecting them to maintain the stunning form of 10 wins and a draw from their opening 11 league games was always unrealistic, but the decline during this run of seven winless games has been stark.

The 6-0 trouncing at the hands of Celtic in the League Cup semi-final at the start of November and a first league defeat by St Mirren a few weeks later seemed to spark a crisis of confidence among a squad that had made a habit of winning.

That early season momentum has stalled and the meek 4-0 surrender at Kilmarnock on Boxing Day – a defeat that could have been even uglier were it not for some good saves from Dimitar Mitov – was alarming.

“They have fallen off a cliff, to be honest with you,” said Aberdeen great Willie Miller on the BBC’s Sportsound. “It was an embarrassing result.

“It is difficult to pin it down. Their midfield is running out of energy. They went from a side managing to win games, or at least not lose, to free-fall.

“There are a number of aspects Thelin must sort out. I think he will get support from the board during the window. They have said all along that it is a long-term project.

“He deserves a little bit of time to bring in his own players and turn things around again. It is not a great situation to be in.”