Aberdeen fans were given a glimpse of life without captain Scott Brown after the 36-year-old sat out of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Motherwell due to a hamstring injury.
Brown joined Aberdeen last summer in a surprise player-coach role but the sacking of Stephen Glass may have thrown a curve-ball to whatever coaching path the former Celtic skipper had in mind.
Record Sport revealed on Friday that Brown had been granted permission to speak to the St Mirren over the post vacated by Jim Goodwin.
Goodwin has gone the the other way to replace Glass in the Pittodrie hotseat.
If Brown was to leave for Paisley, what options do Aberdeen have to replace him?
The player tasked of filling Brown's midfield enforcer role against Motherwell was Ross McCrorie.
Injuries have hampered Aberdeen this season, particularly defensively, with McCrorie deputising at centre-back for the majority of the season so far.
However against the Steelmen, the 23-year-old was back in midfield and played a starring role which led to Aberdeen's official social media account posting "An impressive performance back in the midfield engine room from Ross McCrorie yesterday."
The emergence of Connor Barron to the first team will also be a welcomed sight for Dons fans with the 19-year-old academy graduate impressing with a man of the match performance in his first start last week.
Dylan McGeouch is still at the club and is a capable alternative while Funso Ojo can operate in a number of roles across the midfield.
Goodwin is set to have talks with the Aberdeen skipper to discuss the role he will play under the new setup, if he was to remain in the Granite City.
Here's what some Dons fans had to say about the potential move.
One fan said: "Makes sense really, he was Glass' man, all his other coaches have gone."
This was backed up by the ABZ Football Podcast who tweeted: "If (and it's a big if) he were to go, I'm just saying a midfield of Ferguson and Barron with Jenks up ahead wouldn't be terrible. You also have the option of pushing McCrorie back into midfield which I suspect most managers would do."
The theme continued with fans largely agreeing that McCrorie moving into Brown's role in midfield wouldn't be a bad thing.
Another tweeted: "Enjoyed Brown playing for us this year, but don't think this would be a bad thing. McCrorie into centre mid and skipper."
"Make Fergie or McCrorie captain & pair them in midfield."
