A friend reached out to me this week and asked, “Aberdeen?”
His point was that, five matches into the Premiership campaign, the Dons sit at the bottom of the table, following four losses and a draw.
Yes, they have been even worse domestically than Rangers under beleaguered bench boss Russell Martin.
The Full Scottish
Served by Brian P. Dunleavy
Notably, though, Aberdeen, unlike the Ibrox club, have never been relegated, though, we acknowledge, there is an asterisk next to the latter’s drop to the lower leagues.
Following his side’s 2-0 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice, Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin acknowledged that he needs to “find answers quickly.” Well, duh.
The Swede had nearly all the answers last term, with his side challenging Celtic and Rangers to start the season. Ultimately, they faded and finished in fifth—22 points behind second-place ’Gers.
So, has this season continued that fade and marked a return to mean?
Not exactly. To be fair to Thelin, the Dons didn’t have a European campaign to contend with in 2024-25. This season, they do: Having lost in the Europa League play-offs, they are now in the Conference League.
For Scottish clubs not named Celtic or Rangers, squad depth can be an issue when it comes to competing on multiple fronts, as we were just telling Hibs’ manager David Gray the other day.
Thelin also has a squad that relies on decidedly older legs in the middle of the park, midfielders Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Stuart Armstrong (newly signed) are both well into their 30s, and running in well-traveled boots.
Same with captain and midfielder/left-back Graeme Shinnie.
At times, that experience can be helpful. However, without any depth behind them—and thus fewer opportunities to rest—it can also be a hinderance, as it appears to have been so far this season.
We have no way of knowing how the Dons will fair in Europe, but our feeling is that they won’t have to worry too much about it after the turn of the year.
In fact, some could say the same for Celtic and Rangers, which both started off their Europa League campaigns in less-than-stellar fashion—a 1-1 draw away to FK Crvena zvezda (aka Red Star Belgrade) for the former; a 1-0 loss to Racing Genk (the loan goal scored by former Celt Oh Hyun-Gyu) at home for the latter—this week.
Perhaps my friend should be asking, “Scottish football?”