Thelin's second-season record hints at success
Aberdeen may only be his fourth job as manager, his third professionally, but Jimmy Thelin is making this lark look easy.
After a scintillating start to life as Dons boss, he recovered from a record-breaking winless run to out-tactic Celtic and deliver Aberdeen's first Scottish Cup in 35 years.
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With foreign clubs reportedly casting a glance at the Swede's development already, plenty will be interested to see how he does in his second season.
But what is his record like?
Although he started in the Swedish sixth tier with FC Ljungarum, let's start at Jonkopings Sodra, who Thelin took over in 2014.
His first season ended in a fourth-place finish in the Superettan, the Swedish second tier, which was the club's best finish since 1976.
His second season saw them promoted back to the Allsvenskan for the first time in 46 years.
They won the league by a mere point ahead of Ostersunds, managed at the time by ex-Chelsea and current West Ham boss Graham Potter.
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In 2018 Thelin moved to one of the biggest clubs in Sweden - Elfsborg. They hadn't won the top flight since 2012 and had finished mid-table in 2017.
They finished 12th in Thelin's first season, just four precarious points above the drop zone. The next season, they jumped to a mid-table eighth place.
His side won 13 more points and scored 15 more goals, and all this after losing star striker Issam Jebali to Rosenborg.
However, it was his third season, when the title went to the wire with Malmo, that Thelin really started to attract attention.
But the signs are there that, if given time, he has a track record of improving things in his second season - even when dealt a bad hand or working with little funds like he was at Jonkopings.
That shouldn't be much a problem next season, given the European windfall secured with the Scottish Cup victory. The challenge now is building on that.
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