From the days of late summer until autumn, when Aberdeen were riding high and lighting up the Scottish Premiership, a bitterly cold winter blanketed Jamie Thelen and his team.
Expecting them to maintain the impressive form of 10 wins and a draw in their first 11 league games was always unrealistic, but the decline during this run of seven games without a win has been stark.
It seems that the crushing 6-0 defeat at the hands of Celtic in the semi-finals of the League Cup at the beginning of November, and the first defeat in the league against St Mirren a few weeks later, sparked a crisis of confidence among a team that was accustomed to defeat. Winning.
That early-season momentum has stalled, and the meek 4-0 capitulation at Kilmarnock on Boxing Day – a defeat that could have been uglier had it not been for some good saves from Dimitar Mitov – was worrying.
“They've fallen off a cliff, to be honest with you,” Aberdeen great Willie Miller said on BBC Sportsound. “It was an embarrassing result.
“It's hard to say. Their midfield is running out of energy. They've gone from being a team that was able to win games, or at least not lose, to being in free fall.
“There are a number of aspects that Thielen has to resolve. I think he will have support from the board during the transfer window. They have said all along that it is a long-term project.”
“He deserves some time to bring his players in and turn things around again. The situation is not great.”