Inside Aberdeen manager hunt – why Jimmy Thelin exit call was made, timeline for next boss, and the key traits Dons are looking for

Aberdeen’s search for their next permanent manager is under way – and The Press and Journal can reveal key traits Dons chiefs are looking for.

The club parted company with Swedish boss Jimmy Thelin on Sunday after an 18-month reign, and just eight months after he brought the Scottish Cup back to Pittodrie.

The Dons have slumped back to eighth in the Premiership table in the wake of Sunday’s dismal defeat at promoted Falkirk and they are now on a run of four losses from their past five league games.

After a winless start to the campaign followed a busy summer transfer window for Aberdeen, there had previously been an upturn in results.

However, the Reds’ statement announcing Thelin’s departure quoted chairman Dave Cormack as saying “recent performances have been significantly below the standards” the club expect.

Aberdeen players weren’t responding to Jimmy Thelin

The timing of Thelin’s exit – early in the January transfer window – is in contrast to previous managerial exits under supremo Cormack, with Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin and Barry Robson all axed late in or after the winter transfer window.

The Press and Journal understands the Aberdeen hierarchy’s decision to part with Thelin now, ahead of league double-header with Rangers this week and then a Scottish Cup tie with Raith Rovers, was two-fold.

It was in part a call made ahead of what will be small adjustments to a struggling Dons squad in the January window – though more exits than incoming signings are expected within the Reds’ large player pool this month for budget reasons.

However, it is understood Aberdeen chiefs were mainly concerned about a lack of reaction from the team under Thelin during the current bad run, and felt the players were no longer responding to their manager.

When will next Aberdeen manager be appointed?

Recently-appointed sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel is now leading the search for Thelin’s replacement – but the focus is on making a well thought-out, calculated  appointment who fits Aberdeen’s long-term football ambitions, rather than making a quick call.

A lot of managers have already thrown their hat in the ring, while Pfannenstiel has a thick contacts book of names in Germany, in the US – where he was sporting director at St Louis – and across the globe.

However, it is understood the boss recruitment process is still, understandably, in the very early stages as of Monday.

While a new Dons gaffer could come in quickly, Aberdeen are confident in first-team coach Peter Leven (now in his third spell in interim charge), who proved two seasons ago he could man the fort during an extended spell in the hot-seat prior to Thelin’s arrival, should the process take weeks or even months.

Leven, with Pfannenstiel, will take the team at Ibrox.

Aberdeen want motivator after seeing lack of edge

At the top of the Dons’ wish-list for their next permanent man is a motivator.

The club feel they have good individual players, brought in for significant fees and on significant wages across the previous three windows, but Thelin was not been able to forge a team from the squad.

Chiefs have been frustrated watching Aberdeen played off the park by sides with smaller budgets than them this term, due to those teams having more spirit and edge to their game.

Managers already working in Scotland, League Cup-winning St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson, Motherwell revelation Jens Berthel Askou and long-time Falkirk gaffer John McGlynn have already been touted for the vacant Dons job. 

One view inside Pittodrie is previous knowledge and experience of Scottish football, and the physical components/aggression Aberdeen require to succeed within it, is an asset – but there is also an understanding there is no perfect formula for their next manager.

Askou, despite no prior Premiership experience, has taken a swashbuckling Well side to fourth place in just a few months in Scotland.

Another reservation Aberdeen have when looking domestically is a poor sequence of results at the Dons may pile pressure on a manager quicker than it would at a smaller Scottish club.

One thing which can be confirmed is, though, Aberdeen’s new manager will be brought in to adhere the club’s technical and tactical mission – set by football chief Pfannenstiel and which ensures the club do not have to start from scratch when the manager leaves. Like Thelin departing 18 months into a “three-year plan”.

This means the selected candidate will be a coach committed to (and likely already steeped in) a set formation, and attractive, quick, forward-passing football based on pressing and counter-pressing and creating turnovers, while also allowing for flexibility to meet the differing challenges of trips to venues like Celtic Park and Pittodrie matches against opposition set up to frustrate.

Aberdeen chiefs don’t feel Pittodrie has been a difficult enough venue under Thelin, and want more commanding, dominating showings at home.

Aberdeen’s squad: Too many players, too similar

What is unclear so soon after Thelin’s departure is whether players with long-time links to the boss – midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Bologna loanee Jesper Karlsson – can be expected to be among those to leave the club in January.

Aberdeen chiefs feel the individual talent in their squad ranks them third or fourth in the top-flight, but the balance of traits and characters is skewed, with too many players who are too similar in the same positions.

[Source: Press and Journal]