Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fan view: Win over Airdrie showed fans may need to be patient with Jimmy Thelin’s Aberdeen WITHIN games

Chris Crighton reflects on slow-starting Aberdeen's 2-1 Premier Sports Cup over Airdrieonians in boss Thelin's Pittodrie debut.

Leighton Clarkson scores to make it 2-1 Aberdeen during a Premier Sports Cup group stage match against Airdrieonians. Image: SNS.
Leighton Clarkson scores to make it 2-1 Aberdeen during a Premier Sports Cup group stage match against Airdrieonians. Image: SNS.

Aberdeen fans were warned Jimmy Thelin’s project might be one which requires patience to bear fruit. That, it would appear, applies within games just as much as between them.

It may be considered premature grumbles of discontent began to gather even before half-time in Thelin’s first home match, but the incipient boos were understandable.

Not so much because the Dons were trailing, but because, on the surface, they thoroughly deserved to be.

However sparky, bold and unafraid Airdrie are, they are still a lower league side. That they did not present as one in the first half owed plenty to their own qualities, but as much again to the degree to which Aberdeen were content to let them play.

Ben Wilson celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 Airdrie against Aberdeen. Image: SNS.

That is a feature, not a bug. Though it has been football fashion in recent years to prioritise possession, it is not a theory to which Thelin subscribes. It matters less how long you keep the ball, he would argue, than where you put it when you do.

And within minutes of the restart, he was proved right. Three touches by Leighton Clarkson, across 12 seconds, and a second-to-last man turnover was converted into the evening’s decisive act.

Aberdeen did not particularly strive to leverage their Premiership status on their opponents, but ensured they were in position to take everything that was on offer, whenever it arrived.

This will be a different viewing experience at Pittodrie – tongues may occasionally need to be bitten.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin during the Premier Sports Cup match between Aberdeen and Airdrieonians at Pittodrie Stadium. Image: Shutterstock.

Whether it meets with consistent success remains to be seen.

There will be plenty of top-flight visitors to Aberdeen who do not try to be as free and expansive as Airdrie, and that may require a different gameplan to avoid stalemate.

For now, though, the job is a good one.

Dangers avoided, qualification within touching distance.

Conversation