Sorry for reposting, but i must have accidentally marked this as answered. I am still seeking advice/solutions.
I have a client who's site was hacked. The hack added a fake directory to the site, and generated thousands of links to a page that no longer exists.
We fixed the hack and the site is fully protected. We disavowed all the malicious/fake links, but the rankings fell off a cliff (they lost top 50 Google rankings for most of their targeted terms).
There is no manual penalty set, but it has been 6 weeks and their rankings have not returned. In webmaster tools, their priority #1 "Not found" page is the fake page that no longer exists.
Is there anything else we can do? We are out of answers and the rankings haven't even come back at all. Any advise would be helpful. Thanks!