Forty eight days have passed since Scottish Cup-winning manager Jimmy Thelin was sacked by Aberdeen. They have lost five of their six league matches since.
A 6-2 thrashing of bottom side Livingston remains their only Scottish Premiership victory under the interim care of Peter Leven.
In four of those losses, they have failed to score. Wednesday night's timely win over Motherwell kept their hopes of another Scottish Cup triumph alive.
But Saturday's 3-2 defeat by Dundee meant the fleeting ray of sunshine in the Granite City quickly vanished.
Legendary former captain Willie Miller summed up the feeling around Pittodrie as "depressing". You would struggle to find a fan who would disagree amid a run of eight losses in 10 league games.
Norwegian manager Eirik Horneland is the frontrunner to replace Thelin, but despite the club saying they expected to announce a head coach "imminently" there is no sign of a new boss.
Can Dons afford to wait for Horneland?
It is over a week since reports suggested Horneland was poised to join at the end of the season.
That picture was complicated by the former Brann and Saint-Etienne's head coach's appearance on TV in his native Norway, where he appeared non-committal about his future.
There might be an issue holding things up, others suggested. But even if Horneland does agree a summer move - can Aberdeen afford to wait that long?
Miller believes the latest defeat will only add to calls for the club to bring someone in now.
"It puts more pressure on to try to get the new manager into the stadium and get him working," he said on BBC Sportsound.
"I think it's a forlorn hope for the Aberdeen fans. I think it will take a little bit of time. But I'm looking back on a year now of pretty depressing stuff - apart from the Scottish Cup final, which was a magnificent afternoon."
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New boss would 'settle everything down'
Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, appointed in November, is leading a rebuild at Aberdeen.
After a huge turnover of players in the past two years - there have been 31 incomings in four transfer windows - a disjointed squad needs a strong identity.
Pfannenstiel is on record as saying this, and his work started in January as the club added seven new players.
It is about the long-term vision for the club which means there may need to be short-term pain, so the theory goes. It is a logical analysis.
The problem is football does not always bow to logic.
"People should see it as a privilege to be offered the Aberdeen job," former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson said on Sportsound.
"If there is a personal issue or a snag, I think the Aberdeen board should just cut ties.
"Everything has a reason for happening, go and get someone else. I can't believe a club the size of Aberdeen is going to sit dormant between now and the end of the season.
"I know they won in the cup - but go and act quickly, you're Aberdeen. It would put the fans and players at ease and settle everything down."
The point Stevenson makes about settling things down is a salient one. Aberdeen have had no consistency this season.
They have used more players than any side in the Premiership, and have changed goalkeepers, centre-back pairings, and systems at will. Not to mention different voices in the dugout.
From Thelin to Leven, Pfannenstiel and now new assistant Tony Docherty as well. If results start to turn for the interim team, it will buy the club time.
Lose to Dundee United on Tuesday and the noise will keep growing. It can only be ignored for so long.