NafisaAberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin will return to the drawing board with his squad this summer after yet another crushing defeat by Celtic.
The Dons’ ambitions of securing third place were dashed in brutal style by the champions at Pittodrie on Wednesday, as the visitors handed out the heaviest home loss of the season with a 5-1 victory.
Aberdeen’s thrilling 2-2 draw at Celtic Park on October 19 now feels like a distant memory for Thelin and his men, with the season’s head-to-head scoreline now sitting at 19-4 over five encounters.
Having also suffered defeat in both trips to Rangers this season by a combined score of 7-0, Thelin understands major improvements are required if Aberdeen are to close the gap on the Glasgow powerhouses.
He said: “We have a journey to do to close the gap to the other teams and that’s what we have to focus on in the summer.
“I believe in training and hard work and that’s what we need to do.
“When you train as a team, as an individual player, you grow and you get better, that’s the only way because right now they are better, it’s obvious in the league, so we have to get better in the future.
“We have to work really, really hard now in the summer to be better next season.”
Dons boss targeting fourth place finish
Thelin may already be looking toward the summer, but the Dons coach maintains his attention remains fixed on the final two critical matches of the campaign.
Aberdeen visit Tannadice on Saturday, knowing that avoiding defeat to Dundee United will guarantee a fourth-place finish, ahead of a Scottish Cup final rematch with Celtic at Hampden.
The Dons manager is frustrated that his side can no longer overtake Hibernian for third, but feels securing fourth would still represent a respectable outcome.
He said: “It’s my responsibility to push this through now to the last games.
“Dundee United is still a strong opponent but it’s a different kind of game that we need to manage in a different way and believe in ourselves.
“Then we have to think how we can do better in the final.
“If we finish fourth in the league, we have pushed hard this season and done a lot of good things, we have to arrive fourth then it’s okay.
“We had the goal to arrive third, it’s impossible right now so now we have to focus on the fourth position.”
Result at Tannadice must take priority:
Crafting a strategy to help Aberdeen finally lift the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years is also high on Thelin’s agenda.
The Dons boss said: “As a manager we have to think now of what we can do together with our players to do better.
“Next time we play against Celtic in two weeks, but first of all we have to put our focus now to the next game against United.
“It’s an important game for Europe and we have to focus on the next coming game, the last league game, and try to get the result we arrived for, to put ourselves in a better position for Europe.
“Then we have one week to recover and put all our energy into the final and try to find a way to give us an opportunity to perform and get a good result in the final.”
Nafisa
