On Saturday, as Russia huffed and puffed their way to a goalless draw in Armenia, home fans unfurled a banner referencing an old Soviet film "Curse the day I took this job," the caption read, alongside a picture of a puzzled-looking Dick Advocaat.

Certainly the public attitude to Advocaat in Russia is very different now compared to May 2008, when he led Zenit St Petersburg to the Uefa Cup. Then, as he walked into the post-match press conference, Advocaat took a call on his mobile from Vladimir Putin congratulating him on "writing another chapter in the golden age of Russian sport".

A month later, Guus Hiddink's Russian national side reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 after breathtakingly good performances against Sweden and Holland. Dutch coaches, it seemed, had reawakened the spirit of the Russian game. It was said a lot in reference to Spain after the World Cup final, but it was just as true in Euro 2008 when Holland were beaten by a side that more closely followed the tenets of total football.

It hasn't taken long for that optimism to fade. A tough draw in World Cup qualifying meant Russia finished second in their group behind Germany and a mixture of bad luck and complacency did for them in the play-off against Slovenia.

Apart from the 3-2 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, their form in qualifying for Euro 2012 has been sluggish and they stand level with Ireland and Slovakia at the top of their qualifying group. In itself, that may not sound too bad, but defeats by Iran and Belgium in friendlies have added to the pressure on Advocaat.

Sport Express printed a series of statistics outlining the national side's failings. It was a litany of gloom. Russia haven't scored in 352 minutes. In the last eight games they have scored only six goals. Only twice before have Russia had fewer points after five matches in qualifying and both times they have failed to reach the finals in question – a slightly tenuous point, perhaps, but the fact it is made at all suggests how strongly opinion has turned against the manager.

There are critics everywhere. The former forward Viktor Ponedelnik, who scored the USSR's winner in the 1960 European Championship final, was among the most scornful. He attacked Andrey Arshavin for lacking the fitness of 2008 and criticised Advocaat for not substituting him earlier against Armenia. He described Alan Dzagoev as "a talented guy" who needs to "take responsibility" so he is not "always a hopeful". He also blamed Advocaat's assistants for not being more proactive.

But it is Arshavin who has come in for the most criticism, particularly in Sovetsky Sport, whose columnist Yuri Tsybanev noted that "first you work for a name, then the name works for you", suggesting he is now being picked on reputation alone. In the same newspaper, the former USSR defender Yevgeny Lovchev was even more savage, claiming that Arsène Wenger continues to make encouraging noises about Arshavin only to make sure his value doesn't drop too much. Meanwhile the satirist Mikhail Grushevsky called Arshavin "a sacred cow" who must be replaced. Even the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Belous, stuck the boot in, saying that for the first time he'd been disappointed in Arshavin.

A win over Armenia would have given Russia breathing space. As it is, after the friendly against Qatar in Doha, they face home games against Armenia, Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra along with a potential group decider in Slovakia, to whom they have already lost in Moscow.

Advocaat's first task is to get Russia scoring again. A switch from his habitual 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 in Yerevan, with Dzagoev, Arshavin and Igor Denisov behind Alekander Kerzhakov did little to energise the side.

"A draw with Armenia," the defender Sergei Ignashevich said, "is bad. We went here for three points, but we didn't give enough in completing our attacks. We created a lot, but I don't remember any 100% chances. At half time, Advocaat asked us not to drop the pace. The whole match we played well, were very compact in all the lines and controlled the game. But we couldn't find the decisive blow."

As Armenia's goalkeeper, Roman Berezovsky pointed out, Russia seems to have gone back to the bad old days of punchless technical excellence. "The skill of Russia stands out," he said. "The guys understand each other and put together good passes, but their aggression, their attitude is a little lacking. I mean focusing on the battle, going for goal, pressing".

There are those who would prefer to see Roman Pavlyuchenko lead the line as opposed to Kerzhakov and Dzagoev replaced by Vladimir Bystrov. But the issue seems less one of personal than one of confidence – or, perhaps, if those who believe that the players who have gone to play abroad have lost their appetite are correct, it is one of attitude.

Either way, some goals against Qatar are much needed to raise morale, or Advocaat could be facing a long tense autumn.