Jimmy Thelin revealed he has turned to Sir Alex Ferguson for leadership advice – as he looks to follow in his footsteps and re-establish Aberdeen as a major player in Scottish football.
The Swedish boss has stepped up to the plate with a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions that has seen them go level with Celtic at the top of the Premiership. The Dons face Rangers at home on Wednesday night and will go in buoyed by their recent comeback draw at Celtic Park, where Thelin got to meet Aberdeen’s greatest ever manager.
The 46-year-old said: “I met him and had a short talk as he is a busy man. He’s very popular. We talked a little bit about the game we played there and about living in Aberdeen. We didn’t talk about this game, we just talked about football generally.
“Sir Alex in my age as a manager is the top man with how he performed at Aberdeen and also his next club for so many years. How he can reinvent himself so many times.
“We talked about how it is to live here and he wished me luck. I was very young when he was at Aberdeen. It was not about tactical things, it is all about leadership and how he can be for such a long time at two clubs.
“He can be an inspiration to new players and to keep going. That is the thing we try to do ourselves as a coach, to be consistent.”
When Aberdeen meet Rangers it always an added edge. Thelin is well aware of what this fixture means to the Red Army.
A home win would be even bigger as it would put Aberdeen nine points ahead of the Light Blues. Thelin claimed: “I understand the rivalry is there and the history thing is what it is.
“But we have to focus on now, be supportive of our players and have a good performance. We are trying to get 100 per cent of our players to make a good performance.
“When we play against Rangers to be really sharp and show our fans we are doing this with full heart. It is important to be consistent in every game.”
Thelin took Elfsborg close to the Swedish title last year. His team put together a 16 game unbeaten run and matched another side, in Malmo, with far bigger resources. Thelin knows that will have to be the case again at Aberdeen.
“At Elfsborg we always tried to focus on what we had and the things we could do with what we have,” he insisted.
“Not focus on what other clubs are doing or if they have more money or less money. For me, the focus is on your own and respecting the opponent’s journey.
“We have to be the best we can be with our possibilities. I don’t think about financial gaps, I just think about football and how it can be better.”
Aberdeen have a Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Celtic on Saturday but Thelin has insisted he and his team won’t give that a second thought until after this Rangers game has been addressed.
He confirmed: “Specific to that game we will have the best team on the pitch and the best squad as we use more or less every player. And it is no different for the Rangers game. We don’t think about the Celtic game, all our focus is on Wednesday.”
Aberdeen have a doubt over Kevin Nisbet with a leg muscle injury.