Earlier this season, I was working at the Scottish Premiership clash between Aberdeen and Hearts and had a post-match chat with their new manager Jimmy Thelin, the Swedish coach who has transformed the prospects of his new club. Can he pull off a victory in Aberdeen Vs Celtic, in the League Cup?
Aberdeen Vs Celtic: Jimmy Thelin’s Hugely Successful Impact So Far
A Perfect Start to Life at Aberdeen
The Pittodrie faithful have quickly bought into the dream of believing that they can challenge Celtic for the title. After humbling Phillippe Clements’ side in midweek to stay level on points with big-spending Celtic whilst extending their lead over Rangers to nine points after just ten league games, why deny them this yearning for success? As things stand, Thelin’s influence on the team has been nothing short of remarkable.
Read More: Mikel Arteta Delivers Contract Update For ‘Outstanding’ Arsenal Star
Even now as we move into November, Thelin is still very much the story of the season so far in Scotland.
After Many Changes, Jimmy Thelin is the Real Deal
He struck me as a man of great humility who clearly wasn’t discouraged or daunted at the regularity in which all Aberdeen managers seemed to get chewed up and spat out in recent times by a board that didn’t really know what they were looking for.
Read More: Arsenal Plan Swoop for ‘Exceptional’ Serial Winner
After a relatively successful and sustainable eight years under Derek McInnes, managers were appointed and quickly sacked with alarming regularity. Stephen Glass didn’t really earn the right to have the prestige of managing a club like Aberdeen before he was replaced after a year by Jim Goodwin. The former St Mirren man also lasted around a year before being replaced by his assistant Barry Robson. Robson too had around twelve months in charge before the bizarre appointment of Neil Warnock who walked away after just over a month.
From Cup Humiliation to Dreaming of the Title
Losing to junior side Darvel in Jan 2023 was a Scottish Cup humiliation for an Aberdeen side who have won the trophy seven times in their history and, arguably, have the best budget outside of Celtic and Rangers in Scotland’s top-flight. Thelin’s appointment has changed the whole mood in the north-east. After the opening ten games of this season, the Dons have won nine and drawn the other, 2-2 away with reigning champions Celtic.
Sir Alex Ferguson Gives Seal of Approval
It’s forty years now since Sir Alex Ferguson led his famous side to league title success and, while most fans were hoping for an improvement in consistency of results, no one in their wildest dreams could have foreseen a start like this. The two met recently with Fergie giving his seal of approval.
As it is with every league, we will all have a much clearer picture at the turn of the year as to how close Thelin’s side can get to Celtic over 38 league games.
Read More: Who Are FC Barcelona’s Eight La Masia Heroes That Won El Clásico?
This weekend, however, they have a chance of reaching a cup final when they face Celtic at Hampden in the League Cup.
Key Changes to Thelin’s Aberdeen Side
So, how has Thelin transformed this pretty average side from last season in such a short space of time? And remember, they are much improved despite losing their star Macedonian striker Bojan Miovski to La Liga side Girona.
Like all good managers or head coaches, Thelin has improved the players that are already there, none more so than his full-backs.
Full-Backs Making All the Difference
When you examine the opening goal against Rangers in their 2-1 victory, one full back in Jack McKenzie put the ball into the box from the byline. It was met at the far side by his opposite full back, Nicky Devlin, who made the vital breakthrough. Both players have performed consistently well to catch the eye of Scotland’s national team manager Steve Clarke, who had them in his squad for the Nations League clash with Portugal at Hampden last month, with Devlin making his debut. Given that Celtic place a lot of emphasis in the wide areas from their full backs, this will be a fascinating contest to see who comes out on top in the semi-final.
Read More: Barcelona ‘Continue Plan’: Huge Contract Agreement Reached With Plenty More To Follow
Thelin hasn’t spent a lot in the transfer market since his arrival in the north-east, but goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov has made a quick impact. Perhaps he was a surprise signing from St Johnstone but now that he is building his international career with Bulgaria, he’s proving to be reliable.
Defensive Duo up Against Quality Celtic Strikers
Defender Gavin Molloy was recruited from League of Ireland side Shelbourne and has been an ever present this season alongside Slobodan Rubezic. Both are 24 and will have to contend with the movement and goal threat of Celtic’s star striker Kyogo. No matter the scoreline around the hour mark, the physical threat of Irish striker Adam Idah will come on to freshen things up and bring a new energy for the last 30 minutes. It’s a tall order for the Aberdeen defensive duo to keep these two quiet.
Key Midfield Battle
In midfield, Sivert Heltne Nilsen has been in and out of the starting eleven since signing from Brann but will pay close attention to Graeme Shinnie as a holding midfield player. Given that £11 million pound man Arne Engels will likely line up alongside captain Calum McGregor and Reo Hatate for Celtic, this is the area where the game can be won or lost.
If Aberdeen can win enough possession – they didn’t have much in the 2-2 league game a few weeks ago – it’ll give them the best chance of reaching the final.
Read More: La Liga President Rejected World Record Offer For Star Player
Having watched them a few times now, the standout signing for me has been Topi Keskinen from HJK Helsinki. At 21, he has the best years ahead of him and with three goals in his ten games for Aberdeen, it’s a promising start to his Aberdeen career. Getting the better of Celtic’s Greg Taylor is a tall order but if fit, the Scotsman should take the place of Barcelona loan signing Alex Valle.
Dreaming of Success After 10-Year Trophy Drought
Last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final was a six-goal classic that ended in a 3-3 draw, Celtic winning on penalties. In what is their second home over the last number of years, Celtic are huge favourites to reach next month’s final but, given the impact that Jimmy Thelin has had in such a short time, there’s a growing feeling that while Aberdeen might not last the course of a title challenge over 38 games. A one-off cup tie is their best hope of winning a trophy for the first time since their League cup winning success of 2014.
