Billy Dodds reckons Aberdeen’s flying start speaks volumes about Jimmy Thelin’s level-headed management skills.
But the former Dons and Rangers frontman worries his Ibrox counterpart Philippe Clement could be about to talk himself into a situation he can’t walk back. The under-pressure Govan boss has been left clinging to his job after a disastrous start to the new campaign.
Trailing both Thelin’s rampant Reds and Celtic by nine points, the Ibrox gaffer faces a huge task if he’s to win over a support base who longer want to hear what he has to say. And for Dodds, it’s Clement’s post-match comments that threaten to undermine him at this perilous moment. The former Brugge and Monaco coach left Gers fans open-mouthed on Wednesday night when he claimed his side’s pitiful Pittodrie performance was one of his team’s best displays this term.
It was the latest in a string of questionable lines blurted out by the Belgian in the wake of this season’s set-backs. At Celtic Park, he resorted to reeling off the shot statistics while trying to defend his team’s feeble 3-0 derby showing. After losing to Kilmarnock, he sounded unconvincing while rhyming off about the potential of his young squad.
Even on Wednesday, he complained about having a Ross McCausland goal chopped off because of a toenail offside call. None of that is impressing a support that have reached breaking point.
Ex-Ibrox hero Dodds isn’t quite telling the boss to button it, but he reckons Clement could save himself a lot of bother if adopted the approach taken by man-of-few-words Thelin. “Of course, it’s a really difficult situation for Clement and Rangers,” said the former Scotland striker.
“They’re going to need some real serious talking from the manager to the players and then for the players to respond. It’s as simple as that. It’s going to be tough.
“I think it now needs simple answers, simple instructions, simple answers from the manager and not too much talking. They’ve got to show the fans what’s going to happen on the pitch now. I think there’s too much talking being done after the game.
“When I heard the manager’s interview the other night, it was a worry. I was just waiting on something like, ‘I’ve got to do better, I’ll sort it out’, or ‘we’ll work harder in training’ or anything like that. But there’s no finger pointing, it’s just the same every week – excuses.
“He probably elaborated too long after the game. If it was me, I’d have tried to keep my comments simple. But it looks as if he’s trying to find a way to appease the fans.”
That’s something Thelin doesn’t have to worry about. He’s got the Dons faithful hanging on his every word after an astonishing 16-game unbeaten run since taking over.
The Swede, though, isn’t getting ahead of himself and neither was Dodds when asked if the Reds could now be considered serious title contenders. “I sound like Jimmy Thelin when I’m saying it, but I don’t think they’ll get carried away,” he said.
“Having listened to him, he just knocks everything back. He doesn’t give lines to the media, doesn’t give anything. ‘We’ll keep them humble’ is all he says. The word humble gets used so much. He’ll just be like, ‘keep it quiet’, but he’ll be hoping Dave Cormack gives him two or three big ones in the transfer window. I think he might.”
Thelin may be keeping schtum but Dodds can see how his impressive start has left Clement with some explaining to do. While the Rangers boss claims his new-look side needs time to bed in, Thelin’s own overhauled Reds have simply raced ahead.
He said: “Jimmy Thelin had to build a team in the summer, he lost his best player in Bojan Miovski. That ain’t helping Philippe Clement.
“He’s coming out and saying the rebuild is the reason for Rangers’ struggles but then this guy is coming out at Aberdeen and getting things going straight away. Sometimes that happens and it puts extra pressure on you. But Clement’s got to handle that. But everybody’s looking at that scenario.
“They’re looking at Aberdeen, listening to Philippe come on talking but then they’re going, ‘what about up there?’ It’s killing his reason.”
Clement can point to the shambles in the Rangers boardroom as a mitigating factor. That’s something Dodds can sympathise with following a stint in charge of crisis-club Inverness. But that excuse only goes so far.
“It’s hard,” said Dodds. “I know better than anyone it’s hard. You can put your finger in the leak and try and stop the leak but it always seeps down.
“That’s what I’m finding with Rangers now. But all that aside, you’ve got to be doing better. There’s money being spent, they’ve got a good squad, they should be doing better. That is the be all and end all.
“At times you can look at what is happening behind the scenes and use it as an excuse and right now, it’s a genuine excuse. If they get that sorted it will help the manager, but he’s got to do his bit too.”
Right now, it’s Aberdeen presenting the challenge to Celtic – something Dodds admits he never thought he’d see. The 55-year-old – a League Cup winner with the Pittodrie side in 1995 – said: “I’ve got to be honest, I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime where Rangers look as if they’re chasing Aberdeen rather than Celtic.
“That’s where they are. I know both clubs as I played for both. Aberdeen fans have always been realistic and thought that as long as they did OK in the league and had a wee cup run, maybe reach a final, perhaps even win it, they’d be happy as Larry. But I don’t think the Aberdeen fans would expect what’s happening right now.
“And I certainly don’t think Rangers fans ever accept being nine points behind Celtic, so they’re certainly not going to accept being nine points behind Celtic AND Aberdeen!”
Dodds was speaking as he helped launch Mr Singh’s India restaurant launch its new dine-at-home retail range, which is available from Costco.