Former Aberdeen goalkeeper Bobby Clark believes bumps in the road are inevitable as Jim Goodwin’s Dons take time to gel.
The Dons followed up an impressive 4-1 win against St Mirren with an abject display in a 3-2 defeat by Motherwell on Saturday.
Goodwin’s side sit seventh in the Scottish Premiership with one win and two defeats from their opening three games.
But Clark – third on Aberdeen’s all-time appearance list – is encouraged by the team’s early performances after a major summer rebuild.
He said: “They started the season very well and the only real disappointment has been the Motherwell game.
“It was hard to judge the League Cup games but other top-flight teams, such as Hibs, struggled while the Dons managed to win their games comfortably.
“Celtic on the opening day was always going to be tough as the Old Firm seem to be ahead of everyone else at the moment. They both destroyed teams at the weekend.
“Jim Goodwin has brought in an amazing amount of new players and they will take time to adjust.
“Bojan Miovski is doing well. I know a couple of his goals have been penalty kicks but he has taken them well.
“He looks dangerous although I think you always want to give players time to make an impression and not rush to judgement too early.
“The St Mirren game was a great result but a hard game to judge because they were playing with 10 men for so long after Declan Gallagher was sent off.”
Clark believes the early season optimism around Stephen Glass’ Dons last season is an example of how quickly fortunes can turn in football.
He said: “I think it looks promising for the season.
“The fans must be excited and I am optimistic but you have to wait for a team to gel.
“Leighton Clarkson looked very good in his first game (against St Mirren) but you are wary of people going overboard.
“He scored a fantastic goal but my experience is that it is best to wait and judge a player over a number of games.
“I try not to get overexcited too early.
“I remember last season I was really impressed with Aberdeen after some of their early season performances, especially in Europe and the 5-1 win against the Swedish side BK Hacken, and the season didn’t pan out anything like expected.”
Aberdeen’s Kelle Roos during a cinch Premiership match between Aberdeen and Motherwell at Pittodrie. Clark, who made 591 appearances for the Reds between 1965 and 1980, has been impressed by new Dons stopper Kelle Roos.
The Dutchman, who joined the Dons from Derby County in the summer, has replaced Joe Lewis as first choice goalkeeper.
He said: “He has performed well.
“He has made some very good saves and against Celtic, I thought he was exceptionally good.
“I am a big fan of Joe Lewis. I think he is a first class goalkeeper.
“He had some tough spells last season but the whole team was suffering.
“I think it is good that Jim has made these signings and given them all game time immediately.”
Clark, meanwhile, reckons it is imperative the Dons bounce back this weekend when they travel to St Johnstone to face Callum Davidson’s side who were beaten 4-0 by Rangers on Saturday.
He added: “Motherwell had a terrible start to the season.
“They lost both games against Sligo Rovers but I thought Motherwell looked a good team on Saturday.
“I was impressed by them, especially given their recent results.
“I thought the fixture list was good for Aberdeen. Apart from Celtic away on the opening day it was a good run of games.
“The game against St Johnstone on Saturday feels like a huge game because they will want to bounce back immediately.
“McDiarmid Park is never an easy place to win. They lost there towards the end of last season and it was a lacklustre showing.
“There was a completely different mentality at the club at that stage so hopefully this weekend will be much better.”
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