Ipswich spoil Aberdeen party as Jimmy Thelin's shake up after Scottish Cup glory becomes clear
Ipswich Town came up and spoiled Aberdeen's Scottish Cup homecoming.
The Tractor Boys ploughed through Pittodrie, thanks to a double from Jaden Philogene and another from Scotland cap George Hirst.
Jimmy Thelin 's cup winners started brilliantly but then the English Championship promotion pushers just had too much for them.
Hirst and Sam Szmodic neatly combined to give Philogene a tap-in before the half-hour.
They doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Dimitar Mitov pushed out a Szmodic shot and Hirst rammed in the rebound.
Philogene netted a third in the second period when he too easily beat Mitov.
Sub Peter Ambrose was an unlikely goal hero as he netted a consolation late on for Aberdeen.
It leaves Thelin's Euro-bound squad with plenty to ponder before Monday's Premiership opener at Hearts, as he looks to improve on last season's fifth place finish.
A new-look for the Scottish Cup winners
It was the first Pittodrie outing since the Aberdeen lifted the Scottish Cup.
The glow of that win still shines over the city. It was almost just over two months ago since Thelin had taken the trophy back to the Granite City for the first time in 35 years.
It was a chance for the Red Army to come out and see their remaining heroes and those who Thelin had added over the course of the summer.
The likes of Adil Aouchiche, Kusini Yengi, Nicolas Milanovic, Nick Suman, Alfie Dorrington and Kjartan Kjaransson.
Old European foes
This game was marked as a re-run of their legendary 1981-82 encounter in the UEFA Cup.
The Dons drew 1-1 at Portman and Road then knocked Bobby Robson's side out 3-1 at Pittodrie thanks to a Peter Weir double and another from Gordon Strachan.
This time it was nothing more than a glamour friendly. Both sides have very different ambitions away from a Battle of Britain.
Ipswich are looking to get back into the English Premier League, while Aberdeen are fighting for third place in Scotland.
Would Jimmy Thelin change tack?
The Swede when it came to his formation was very one dimensional. It was 4-2-3-1 all season until he finally threw a curve ball in the Scottish Cup final.
Would that encourage him to mix things up going into the new season. Yet last night it was back to the old safety blanket of 4-2-3-1, which many teams had learned to counteract last season.
Will he show more flexibility or will he stick with what he knows?
New faces
Thelin has been relatively busy in the transfer window this summer. Kusini Yengi and Adil Aouchiche were the only two new boys who were handed starts. The big striker hardly got any service in this game and this certainly wasn't a game to judge him.
On-loan Aouchiche played just behind him. He looked neat and tidy on the ball and could pose a real attacking threat.
Winger Milanovic was another big-money buy and he came on for Shayden Morris at the interval. He also looks lively.
It took him a few minutes to drive inside the box and fire across the face.
He also had a shot blocked on the line that allowed Ambrose to follow up for his goal.
Will Aberdeen be ready for Hearts?
They and Celtic will be the last in the Premiership to kick a top-flight ball. They have lost their last two outings against Fulham and Ipswich but the argument will be that they are both likely to be better than most sides they will be facing domestically.
Thelin is still trying to bed his new players in and it is unlikely they are going to repeat their sizzling start of last season.
Traditionally, Aberdeen don't have a great record at Tynecastle.
Hearts have also hit their strides under Derek McInnes so the Dons could have asked for much of a tougher challenge in the opening game.
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