“Whatever happened to

                                Dear old Lenin?

                                The great Elmyra?

                                And Sancho Panza?

                                Whatever happened to the heroes?”

THE Stranglers’ classic “No More Heroes” wasn’t one of the pre or post-match songs played over the public address system at Pittodrie last night as Aberdeen took on Motherwell in their rearranged Ladbrokes Premiership match.

But given the appalling treatment meted out to Mark McGhee, Aberdeen’s ninth top scorer of all-time and a member of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson side which defeated Real Madrid in Gothenburg to lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983 by the home support, it perhaps should have been.

In fact, it should really receive an airing at every Scottish football ground on match days due to the increasing number of individuals who were idolised and revered as players who have been demonised and derided since moving into management.

You sometimes wonder if any great, no matter how noteworthy their accomplishments and how distinguished their service at a club when they were a footballer, can keep their reputation intact once they have stepped into the dugout.

McGhee was sent to the stand by referee Alan Muir – who had been called over to the technical area by fourth official John McKendrick after a comment which he deemed had overstepped the mark was made - in the second half of a match his side ended up losing 7-2.

The Scotland assistant had been the subject or derogatory chanting before that flashpoint from a section of the Aberdeen support who clearly remember his brief and ill-fated stint in charge between 2009 and 2010 vividly and without great fondness.

But when he took his place in the Main Stand – where he was surrounded by a baying and jeering mob of Dons fans and had to be accompanied by a policeman to ensure his safety – the vitriol went up a level.

“You’re a f****** clown!” hollered one of them, who was filming events on his smart phone for posterity and who later posted the footage online, at the fuming coach. “Get that tae f***!” came an eloquent retort of which Oscar Wilde would have been proud.

McGhee is big enough, ugly enough and experienced enough to cope with such flak – he has worked as a coach in England and Scotland for over 25 years and will have had a swear word or two aimed in his direction during that time - and he had enough good humour to make light of the brouhaha afterwards.

“At least we’ve got an easy game on Saturday,” he quipped as he looked ahead to the league meeting with undefeated Celtic at Parkhead this weekend.

McGhee’s disastrous reign at the north-east club and some of the comments he made about their supporters have undoubtedly contributed to the breakdown of that relationship.

However, the incidents once again highlight that in the modern internet age, when criticism is savage and can be made anonymously on online message boards and social media websites at the click of a mouse, the respect a player is held in can disappear instantaneously.

Ally McCoist will testify to that. There has arguably been no figure as popular in the entire 145 year history of Rangers than “Super Ally”. He is the Ibrox club’s record goalscorer, was an ever-present as they won Nine-In-A-Row in the 1980s and 1990s and possesses an endearing larger-than-life personality.

What is more, he became the unofficial figurehead of the club after Rangers were plunged into administration five years ago this week. He was the man who had to deal with Craig Whyte, Charles Green and their assorted successors and who fought for his boyhood heroes in meetings with SFA, SPL and SFL officials as the five way agreement was thrashed out.

That would have been enough, you would have thought, to have secured his place in the affection of Light Blues supporters for life. But you would be wrong. He has not been seen at a match back at Ibrox since standing down in the December of 2014.

His stewardship of the team during his tumultuous reign, the wage he received, the pay-off he held out for and the shares he was given have turned many against McCoist.

The chants of “Ally! Ally! Get tae f***!” which were belted out at Tynecastle as Rangers slumped to a defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle which effectively ended their hopes of winning the Championship just before he resigned were previously unthinkable.

Does, though, the acrimony only exist in cyberspace and not out there in the actual real world? When McCoist made an unexpected appearance at Ibrox at the EGM which saw Dave King and his associates oust the hated former regime in the March of 2015 he was greeted warmly by those in attendance and thanked for all he had done for Rangers.

Yet, fans can certainly turn on players who were once held in high esteem in the flesh as well. Lee McCulloch was another who was admired in the stands at Ibrox as a result of his goalscoring exploits up front for Rangers and for remaining at the Glasgow institution when they went into the Third Division in 2012.

But the club captain was booed by Rangers fans during a home game against Falkirk two years ago as his team let a lead slip and few mourned his departure when it was confirmed he would not be getting offered a new contract that summer.

How, too, will Davie Weir, or Sir Davie of Weir as he was widely known, be viewed by Rangers fans following his acrimonious departure? How will Mark Warburton, the Magic Hat, be thought of in years to come given how his reign ended? Much will depend on the outcome of their impending legal action.

But the pair were applauded by tens of thousands 10 months ago as Rangers were presented with the Championship trophy after winning promotion to the Premiership at a canter. Just weeks ago Warburton was receiving the biggest cheer of the afternoon when his name was being read out at Ibrox before kick-off. It shows just how quickly a hero can become a zero in today’s game.

There are many more such examples. Kenny Dalglish may have been named in Celtic’s greatest ever team in 2002, but there are few followers of the Parkhead club who hold much affection for him after the season he spent back in Glasgow as Director of Football and then caretaker manager.

Gordon Strachan, the current Scotland manager, isn’t exactly worshipped by Tartan Army footsoldiers these days following a failed bid to reach the Euro 2016 finals and a bad start to the Russia 2018 campaign. It is a far cry from when he donned the dark blue of his country in his heyday.

There are many more instances of the fickleness of football fans in this country and further afield and there will be many more in future.