Following the victory against Hibernian, the Dons' hit a poor run of form losing all of their next nine games, which resulted in the sacking of manager Mark McGhee. Former Scotland manager Craig Brown was brought in as McGhee's successor. Despite the change in managers, Vernon's fine scoring form continued. Over the Christmas period Vernon scored the winning goal in Craig Brown's first two games as the Dons' new boss. On Boxing Day, in a 2–1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road and then three days later went on to score a 90th-minute winner against Hamilton.