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Press and Journal
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Duncan Shearer: Number 9 like Bojan Miovski - but not Miovski - top of the transfer wish-list for Aberdeen this summer
A striker must be top of the list of priorities for Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin this summer. The Dons confirmed their list of departures last week – and none of the names came as a surprise. Kevin Nisbet and Oday Dabbagh were the two strikers on the list of players leaving Pittodrie, and as well as Nisbet did for the club, I'll be surprised if we see him back. Millwall boss Alex Neil will, quite rightly, want to have a look at the Scotland international for himself, and it's no secret Nisbet will be on a very good wage in the English Championship. A package to bring the player back to Pittodrie would eat up a significant portion of the club's summer transfer kitty. Sadly, the same would be said for any Aberdeen fans dreaming of Bojan Miovski making a shock return to Pittodrie this summer… Reports from Spain claim Girona are looking to move the North Macedonia international on, but as much as I'd love to see Miovski leading the lead for Aberdeen again, I think the chances are slim. If Girona are willing to send him on loan then maybe, but even then it seems unlikely for me – and I just don't see the Dons paying the substantial fee it would take to bring him back permanently. It's a Miovski-type figure they should be looking for, though. We knew nothing of him when he arrived in Scottish football from MTK Budapest, but it became apparent very quickly he was a class act. Aberdeen's scouting network has expanded significantly in the Dave Cormack era and the net is cast much wider these days. If the Dons can pull another Mivoski out of the hat then their team will carry a serious attacking threat next season. There will be other positions in need of strengthening, such as the left-back position now that Jack MacKenzie has signed for Plymouth Argyle. But keeping the Aberdeen squad together is just as important as the recruitment. Shayden Morris' breakthrough season for the club saw him named player of the year at Pittodrie. Five goals and 13 assists are a fine return for a wide player, but with Morris now moving into the final year of his contract, extending his stay is crucial. If he maintains the progress he has made then I can see a big move happening for him in the future. His pace alone is such an asset. But the club needs to protect its investment in the former Fleetwood Town winger. Leighton Clarkson's strong end to the season will also have attracted interest – and you don't come through the Liverpool academy unless you have something about you. Mats Knoester has also been outstanding since he joined the club in the winter window. The Dutchman was a big reason for the club's recovery from a mid-season slump and was terrific alongside Jack Milne and Alfie Dorrington in the Scottish Cup final win against Celtic. I should probably add the manager to that list, too. When you beat one of the big boys – and they don't come bigger in Scottish football than Celtic right now – people tend to take notice. When you beat them for silverware, you're effectively putting a target on your back. Jimmy Thelin has done just that by guiding Aberdeen to cup glory. Clubs in England think nothing of taking a punt on a manager who has enjoyed a modicum of success, and Thelin's name will be on the file of potential new managers for clubs in the months ahead. He strikes me as a guy who is committed to the project he has taken on at Aberdeen, but we won't know for sure until a club tries to tempt him and test his club's resolve. I'm pleased to hear Don Cowie will be staying on to lead Ross County's bid to win promotion back to the Premiership. But I'm saddened to see Carl Tremarco and Paul Cowie leave the club. It's never pleasant to see people lose their jobs, and I'm sure both Carl and Paul will be back in the game somewhere soon enough. It's clear chairman Roy MacGregor felt he had to make some changes following the club's relegation from the top-flight. There's a big rebuilding job needed at the Staggies this summer, but it became apparent pretty quickly that Roy was backing Don. Had he wanted to make a change it would have happened already – and before decisions were made on players leaving the club in the last few ways. The addition of John Robertson to the backroom staff as assistant manager will help. Robbo has the experience and the contacts in the game to help Don and he will be the perfect foil for the manager in the new-look coaching team. He'll need to delve into that contact list to help Don reshape his squad for the new campaign in the Championship.. Seven loan players – Jonathan Tomkinson, Jack Grieves, Zac Ashworth, Kacper Lopata, Eli Campbell, Will Nightingale and Nohan Kenneh – have returned to their clubs, while Scott Allardice, James Brown and Ryan Leak have left. That's 10 guys already out the door if you are keeping count, and I know from speaking to the chairman in the past how frustrating he finds having to start over with building a squad every summer. It's the nature of the beast for County due to the club's location and it has been a major challenge for every manager who has been there. Robbo can only help Don on that front. I look at the division and I'm convinced it is getting tougher every season – it's certainly a more competitive Championship than it has been for years. In St Johnstone, Partick Thistle, Ayr United, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline, that's five teams who will be expecting to be in the hunt for the title alongside the Staggies before a ball has been kicked.
Daily Record
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Jimmy Thelin vows Aberdeen Scottish Cup win is only the start as Swede reveals one of his biggest eye openers
His first season in the Granite City was full of ups and downs but ended on the ultimate high at Hampden Jimmy Thelin believes there are solid foundations at Aberdeen from where they can build on their Scottish Cup success. The Swede has just completed his first season at Pittodrie and it has had its ups and downs, but ended with the ultimate high of a first trophy in 11 years. That will give the Dons confidence going into the new season as they look to go again and also have the added extra of European group stage football, as they go into the Europa League play-off round. Thelin said: 'There are a lot of good foundations here which make it possible for Aberdeen to be the big club in Scottish football that we are. There's a lot happening which is good for the future.' The 47-year-old swapped Elfsborg for Pittodrie last summer. He believes the switch has been as good for him as it has been for the Dons. Thelin acknowledged: 'So there's an adaptation, of course, but I have to say I am in a really good position with the opportunity I've had coming here. 'To come to a new environment, a new country, a new league, new colleagues - you learn all the time. 'You learn a lot about yourself also. It has been a really exciting year so it's been a very good decision I made to come here.' The Swedish manager was chairman Dave Cormack's only choice and he moved heaven and earth to get him. It meant he did the first six months at Elfsborg before he moved to Scotland last June, but for the manager the time has gone in a flash. He said: 'Do I see progress in this team? First of all, I have to say the time has gone very quickly. 'It has been a long season, I started in Elfsborg and did the pre-season there and then six months. 'So for a year and a half I have been working through a lot of windows, but it has all happened so quickly it feels like yesterday.' Cormack and his board have also backed him heavily in the transfer market as he revamped the first-team squad, bringing in the likes of Dimitar Mitov, Alexander Jensen, Kristers Tobers, Mats Knoester, Ante Palaversa, Topi Keskinen, Sivert Nilsen and Peter Ambrose and Gavin Molloy. There were also a number of loan signings that have now returned to their parent clubs. He has already added Australians Nicolas Milanovic and Nick Suman for the new season. Thelin believes progress is being made. He added: 'Always when you have a new staff, things change and it takes time but you can see the players have their team goals. 'How they arrive with chances is more connected, and you can see the small progressions over time on the pitch. 'I think the players are adapting more and more to what we want to achieve and how we work. 'The intensity of training, the way they are pushing themselves more and more. There are more steps being taken.' One of the biggest eye openers for Thelin has been the relentless fixture calendar. He explained: 'Here the football is very intense, the amount of games through the winter and the time just disappears. 'Of course, we have to be aware of the schedule here because there are more games than in Sweden. 'You have what we would call the 'British weeks' with so many games in a row. 'Some weeks you are playing for nine points, three games in very quick succession. 'Even when the windows are open you are still playing for a lot of points, so you have to manage this.' A lot of his signings have come in from overseas. It has taken a bit of adaptation and at times it has been a real eye-opener. The Aberdeen boss said:' I like the league, there's really high intensity and the game flows a lot. 'There is hard contact and a high tempo. Sometimes there's no free kick and you just keep going. 'I remember Alexander Jensen's first home game and he was on the end of a really hard tackle. 'He looked around at the referee who just said play on and you could see in his face he couldn't believe it. 'He was thinking 'what the Hell' but he got up and started to run again. 'The players have to adapt quickly and they have done that. 'There are such good emotions in this country, everyone is living the game all the time. 'When you have an attack, a corner - the fans make a noise. I have only had positive feelings."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Can cup win renew stadium focus?
Aberdeen chief executive Alan Burrows says the club's Scottish Cup triumph may jump start talks over a new to move away from Pittodrie have slowed recently after a decade of talk around a move away from the club's spiritual home.A proposed shift to a site near the club's training ground moved on to a regeneration of a beach front site, however Burrows says "plans have slowed down"."It's been decades in the making," he told Sportsound."What can I tell you on the back of all those scenes in Aberdeen over the last four or fives days is a renewed reminder of the power of football but the city of Aberdeen."There's certainly been communication with the local authority and myself and others at the club. There's a willingness to get back around the table."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Aberdeen could add seven signings, says Cormack
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack says up to seven new signings could arrive at Pittodrie this summer as they plan for guaranteed European football through the first half of next Dons' Scottish Cup final triumph over Celtic means they have a Europa League play-off and, should they lose, will drop into the Conference club have already signed goalkeeper Nick Suman and winger Nicolas Milanovic."Yeah, I would think that anything between five and seven players, maybe at this stage," Cormack told Graham Speirs' podcast Press Box., external"It's great that with [chief executive] Alan Burrows and [director of football] Steven Gunn being there, they're the guys that are working with the recruitment team on this."Because obviously [there are] a number of loan players that we brought in and one or two players kind of out of contract."So from what I'm seeing, I'm really impressed with the work the team are doing."Cormack also didn't rule out a return for 20-year-old defender Alfie Dorrington, who made 16 appearances after arriving on loan from Tottenham in added: "I know Spurs have been, as I understand it from Steven and Alan, delighted with his loan. "It's the first time the boy's been away from home in London, and he told me a number of times he's absolutely loved being away on his own, and he looks after himself as a player as well. "So we'll just have to wait and see on that one."Getting balance through the squad is also key for Cormack, who reckons the club are well placed to build in their first Scottish Cup triumph in 35 years."In terms of squad planning, we're in the best shape we've been since I've been back involved with the club almost eight years ago," he said."We've got a clear squad planning of core players through to development players model, and it's going to take us about another 12 to 24 months to get that there, but following that strategy is important."
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Secrets of an Aberdeen Scottish Cup shock as departing star reveals how Jimmy Thelin outfoxed Celtic
The local hero signs off from Pittodrie on the ultimate high after upsetting the odds against Brendan Rodgers' side Local hero Jack MacKenzie feared his Aberdeen career was going to end on the ultimate low but was delighted it ended on the ultimate high of lifting the Scottish Cup. The defender helped Jimmy Thelin's side to dramatically see off Brendan Rodgers' side on penalties to bring the trophy back to the Granite City for the first time in 35 years. It had come just a week after he had suffered a nasty head injury after a seat had been allegedly thrown from the Aberdeen section in their Premiership defeat to Dundee United. He had to be stretchered off the park, needed several stitches and left him sweating over his cup final place. Thankfully, he was able to make a full recovery for Hampden and MacKenzie's last act as an Aberdeen player saw him fulfil his lifelong dream of taking a Cup down the main streets of his home city. The 25-year-old said: 'We had heard a lot about it being 35 years. I am 25 and to go and lift it in my final game for the club is a dream come true. 'There was no better way to finish. 'I have just had the most amazing time at Aberdeen. I joined the club when I was nine and I never thought I would still have been here at 25. To top it off with the cup win made it absolutely perfect.' The right-back was first up to pick up his medal and was the last of the team to lift the trophy aloft before he took it down to the Hampden turf for the celebrations. He said: 'I just headed down the stairs with the trophy and I gave it to the chairman. I walked down the steps with it. I can't actually put into words what it meant. 'You just don't realise what it really means until you actually do it. When we won the penalty shootout I couldn't believe it and then it took a few days to really sink in. 'It is ridiculous especially with the way the league season ended and us missing out on fourth. 'It was a huge blow but to win the cup was the perfect end. If I have a better day in football than at Hampden then I will be amazed.' Dimitar Mitov was the Celtic penalty hero with two saves in the shootout. MacKenzie joked he was on penalty number 12. When Mitov denied Alistair Johnston, Graeme Shinnie sank to his knees, the rest of the team ran to their keeper and MacKenzie made a beeline for the Red Army. He stated: 'No, I ran the opposite way. I ran straight to the fans. 'I looked around and saw everybody had run to Mitov but my first reaction was to run to the fans. I am one of them. 'I can't recall the next 20 minutes after that. It was just incredible. It felt miles better than I ever thought it would.' Aberdeen upset the odds and ripped up the form book to lift the Cup. They had lost their final four league games, slumped to fifth and had lost four-in-a-row to Celtic. MacKenzie admitted it was the manager Thelin who gave them the belief they could do it. The Scotland squad player stated: 'I had a feeling we were going to do it, I think the whole group had a feeling. 'We had lost those four games and included in that was the defeat to Celtic. 'I have to say the belief all came from the manager. He just instilled it into us that we were going to win. 'We believed going into the game we would win. We just felt that it was going to be our year. 'We all stepped up when it mattered. From Dimi saving from Maeda to all the penalties, where the quality was unbelievable.' For the likes of Shinnie, Jack Milne and MacKenzie they are all Aberdeen boys and knew what it meant to the club and the city. Mackenzie said: 'Graeme is from here and Jack and I have been here since we were very young. 'To take the Scottish Cup back to your home city, it doesn't get any better. I felt 10ft tall. It can't get any better. 'It means a wee bit more but all the foreign boys have taken to the club as well. It is like a real family and a proper Aberdeen team." How big this cup win was clear on Sunday when 100,000 fans turned Aberdeen city centre into a sea of red and white. 'I couldn't believe how many people were there,' MacKenzie claimed. 'It is only then you realise what a big deal it is to the whole city. 'My mum, dad, girlfriend, my sister and her partner and some others. 'It was nice to have everyone see and to get a picture with them all was amazing. It was just massive. "I lived the dream and now I will be going back to being an Aberdeen fan. I am excited to see where the team kicks on from here.'
