Jimmy Thelin: Everyone at Aberdeen is united in seeking improvement

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin feels everyone at the club is united in seeking improvement from within as he claimed the dynamic with his employers remained strong.

The Dons go into Tuesday’s Premiership clash with Dundee United at Tannadice in bottom spot without a goal and fresh from Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup.

May’s Scottish Cup final triumph made Thelin a hero with the Dons support but his side have won only five of their last 31 league games and patience from many fans is wearing thin.

Thelin, however, still feels supported by chairman Dave Cormack and chief executive Alan Burrows.

“Football is a sport of results, everybody knows that, but still we have everybody on the same page,” the Swede said.

“I still have dialogue with the CEO, Alan and the chairman every day. Nothing has changed in our dynamic. It’s still the same focus: how can we be better?

“We have to try again, what we need to improve, what we need to think about in the future, what can I adjust right now?

“So that’s my job as a manager with my staff – to adjust some parts so we can get the results we need to keep growing.”

When asked if he was confident he would get time, Thelin said: “That’s why I say nothing has changed. We’re all on the same page.

“We understand that we haven’t started the season well. It’s only five games in but it’s still only one point and zero goals and we feel like the performance is not exactly the way we want.

“But we’re working really hard and trying to have a clear and open dialogue about what we need to improve and focus on the right things to get the results turned around.”

Thelin urged his players to do the basics better after Saturday’s cup exit and he set about trying to help them help each other ahead of the Tannadice trip.

“We have gone through the games now with the players and we have adjusted some parts because we need to have a different balance in our team right now, so we can be more stable in the transition phases,” he said.

“It’s a lot of work and a really clear conversation with the players in a good way, a good spirit. It is up to us now to turn things around and do better in some parts of the game.

“How you recover a block, how you sprint back when you’re losing the ball, how you act in a 50-50 duel. So that was the basics for us to talk about this week.

“Go through the goals we conceded in the last weeks and think about how we can help each other better and be more compact.

“We work hard on it and it’s still a positive energy, that’s the most important thing, that we’re trying to do better and trying to improve ourselves.”

Thelin added: “If we perform well, if we act like a really good team, 11 players playing together, we have a big chance to get a good result.”