Stephen Glass sacked by Aberdeen after 11 months in charge; Aberdeen surrendered lead against Motherwell in Scottish Cup on Saturday to slip to fourth loss in five; Queen of the South also part ways with their manager, with Allan Johnston leaving the club after almost three years in charge
Monday 14 February 2022 13:50, UK
Aberdeen have sacked manager Stephen Glass following their exit from the Scottish Cup at the hands of Motherwell.
The Dons surrendered a lead at Fir Park to slip to their fourth defeat in five matches. Glass had been in charge at Pittodrie for 11 months after replacing Derek McInnes in March 2021.
Aberdeen confirmed on Sunday evening that an interim coaching team led by Barry Robson had been put in place to oversee first-team affairs until the appointment of a new boss.
Robson steps up from his role with the under-18s and is joined by Neil Simpson, Scott Anderson and team captain Scott Brown. Aberdeen are ninth in the Scottish Premiership.
An Aberdeen statement read: "Stephen has left the Dons with immediate effect alongside coaches Allan Russell and Henry Apaloo.
"The club would like to thank Stephen, Allan and Henry for their efforts and wish them the best in their future careers.
"The process to appoint a new manager will commence immediately and a further update regarding the club's interim coaching team will be communicated shortly."
Glass replaced McInnes, who had been at the helm for eight years, in March and in the process returned to a club where he made more than 100 appearances as a player between 1994 and 1998.
After leading Aberdeen to a fourth-placed finish last season, the 45-year-old has struggled for results this term and saw the Dons exit the Premier Sports Cup in August following a shock defeat to lowly Raith.
Having failed to qualify for the Europa Conference League group stage in August, a five-match losing streak in the Scottish Premiership further increased the pressure, but four wins in December before the winter break eased some of the scrutiny on the ex-Shamrock Rovers assistant.
No league victory since the turn of the year saw more speculation over Glass's future and some of the 2,000 visiting fans at Motherwell on Saturday vented their anger at the now-departed Dons manager.
Aberdeen are at home to bottom side St Johnstone on Tuesday before travelling to Fir Park again next weekend to play Motherwell in a league encounter.
Meanwhile, Allan Johnston has left his position as manager at Scottish Championship side Queen of the South.
Queen of the South are four points adrift at the bottom of the league.
Former Hearts, Rangers and Sunderland midfielder Johnston leaves the club alongside assistant Sandy Clark after almost three years in charge.
Johnston said: "It's disappointing. Queens are a great club and I have enjoyed my time with them as a player and a manager. We all want them to be successful and I wish them well and hope that they have a strong end to the season and stay in the Championship."
Chairman Billy Hewitson added: "It's sad but we are in a results business and four wins in 24 isn't good enough. The players were giving everything for them, but we felt it was time for a change to try to push us up the table. We would like to thank both Allan and Sandy for their efforts".
Queen of the South captain Willie Gibson has been placed in temporary charge.
