Former Aberdeen midfielder urges Dons to back Jimmy Thelin's European push

Press and Journal

a day ago

Former Aberdeen midfielder Derek Young insists Scottish Cup winning manager Jimmy Thelin will need more backing if the Dons are to be competitive in Europe next season.
Cup glory at Hampden last month means Aberdeen will have guaranteed group stage football in either the Europa League or Conference League in the next campaign.
It will be the second European campaign in three seasons for the Dons, who struggled with juggling domestic and European commitments under former manager Barry Robson in 2023.
Young knows strength in depth will be vital for Thelin.
He said: 'We're all looking forward to Europe again but the manager is going to need some money to build his squad.
'There's enough young boys in there, I'll say that.
'The three lads who played at Cove Rangers this season, Adam Emslie, Findlay Marshall and Dylan Lobban, are all ready to make that push.
'They were fantastic for Cove so hopefully one or two of them will get a sniff this year.
'But we need some players in because it's going to be a huge challenge for the squad.'
Young was part of the Dons' UEFA Cup squad which reached the last 32 of the competition in the 2007-08 campaign under Jimmy Calderwood.
The memories of trips to Dnipro, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich remain treasured today and he is thrilled the current squad will get the chance to create memories of their own under Thelin.
He said: 'I've been there, done it and got the T-shirt. I know how much it adds to the squad and the club, and how amazing it feels to go and do that.
'What a good experience Europe is and that's why I'm pleased for a lot of the guys who are in the dressing room, and of course for the fans.'
Young believes the joyous scenes at Hampden following the Scottish Cup win provided the perfect fairytale ending to one of the most erratic and unpredictable campaigns in the club's history.
He said: 'I actually forgot at the time what winning the cup actually meant.
'The league didn't go our way so to win the cup and qualify for the group stages of Europe was amazing. What a perfect end to the season.
'The first half of the season, we were all doing great, but we fell off a bit during the second half of the season.
'So, to do what they've done at the end of it is incredible, and Europe is the icing on the cake to it all.
'Getting right into the European group stage, it's amazing. It's been an unbelievable couple of weeks.
'There's one play-off round and then we'll see what happens but to have European football right up until Christmas is fantastic.'
Young, who works as a coach with the AFC Academy and the SFA's Performance School, had the privilege of watching the Dons beat Celtic in the penalty shootout at Hampden from the commentary position with the club's RedTV channel.
He believes the players and coaching staff should be proud of what they have achieved after devising and executing a cup-winning strategy to stun the Hoops in a matter of days.
Young said: 'Honestly, the amount of folk that jumped on me and were giving me congratulations, I feel as if I played. What a day.
'It was great soaking it up, watching the staff on the pitch who I've known, running about going daft. They didn't know what to do.
'It feels so special I think because so many people had doubts.
'Nobody was expecting it. But when I was doing the game on Red TV I said: 'anything can happen in football.'
'Thankfully, defensively we were absolutely solid. The manager changed it. He changed players and went with some guys he maybe didn't think would start.
'He was so bold, and his team came out the right side of it at the end with the cup.
'A lot of credit to the manager and his staff for doing that, and of course a massive pat on the back to the players because they've only had a week there to change things.
'They listened to everything, executed the plan brilliantly and walked away with the Scottish Cup at the end of it.'