Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin insists boss Jimmy Thelin’s calmness on the touchline has been key to their sensational start to the season.
Under the Swede the Dons have registered a flawless 10 wins from 10 games in all competitions.
Aberdeen have twice relied on last gasp goals during time added on during that winning streak – against Ross County (1-0) and Queen’s Park (1-0).
Devlin insists there was no panic in those games as the clock ticked down – and that was down to ice-cool manager Thelin.
Now Aberdeen will bid to make it 11 straight wins when hosting League Two Spartans in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Devlin reckons regardless of how the quarter-final pans out, Thelin will remain calm – and as a consequence so will the players and supporters.
Thelin ‘very calm at the side’ says Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin
The 30-year-old said: “Does it help that he’s so calm on the touchline? Yeah.
“When you look over and see him on the sidelines, he never really seems to be too high or too low.
“He’s very calm at the side, which I think is good.
“That spreads onto the park as well, especially with late goals getting to the last stage of games.
“It’s a process, just keep doing the same things, because that’s ultimately the way he wants us to play.
“So whether it’s the first minute, the 97th minute or whatever it is, keep playing the same way because that’s the way he feels is the best to win the game.”
The calmness of the manager, and of the Red Army, was shown in the Premier Sports Cup win against Queen’s Park.
Aberdeen were drawing 0-0 with the Championship club at home in time added on.
In previous seasons, the fanbase will have grown frustrated and nervous, ultimately taking that out on the team.
They didn’t in the clash with Queens’s Park.
Devlin said: “I think you can definitely say things feel a bit different – you saw that in the Queen’s Park game.
“A lot of our supporters would have thought we should be winning that game pretty comfortably, but it didn’t work out like that.
“We were playing a team from the league below and it took us 92 minutes to get the goal.
“But I didn’t feel the supporters got frustrated at any point.
“Maybe it was like that in the stands, but on the park it definitely didn’t feel like that.
“The supporters have a big part to play because the manager always wants us to stick to the things he’s telling us to do.
Nicky Devlin detects ‘feeling of togetherness between the stands and the pitch’ at Aberdeen
“That means on the park need to show a lot of patience before it comes off in some games.
“So knowing the fans are buying into that, knowing they’re not getting on our back and being really supportive is huge for us.
“There were times last year where we got a bit of stick and it was deserved because we weren’t good enough in a lot of the games last season.
“We gave up a lot of points in front of our own fans and it was a tough season for them watching us at times.
“But this season there’s much more of a feeling of togetherness between the stands and the pitch – and that can only help us.”
The importance of group fixtures
Aberdeen endured a disappointing Premiership campaign last season, finishing in the bottom six.
From the high of competing in the Uefa Conference League group stage last season, the Dons failed to qualify for Europe this term.
A by-product of that was having to compete in the Premier Sports Cup groups.
Teams playing in Europe are exempt from competing in that round.
Missing out on European qualification hurt.
But Devlin insists the Premier Sports Cup group fixtures against lower league opposition allowed valuable time for Thelin to get across his ideas.
The right-back said: “I think the Premier Sports Cup really helped us get together and start building up momentum.
“It was different to playing friendly games.
“Those early games were really important for getting an understanding of what the manager wanted and doing it in competitive games.
“It allowed him to get his ideas across early and let things bed in.
“At times in games you can see those ideas coming to the front.
“We still obviously have to get better at them and keep working on them, keep improving.
“But in that process if we can keep winning games then we’ll be in a good position come the time when maybe the manager thinks we’re at a stage where he wants us to be at.”
Devlin will respect Spartans threat
Aberdeen are red-hot favourites to overcome Spartans to book a semi-final slot at Hampden.
Devlin is taking nothing for granted against a team who have already secured a Premiership scalp this season.
He said: “Over the last two years Spartans have beaten Dundee United and they beat Ross County this year.
“They also beat Livingston this year to win the group.
“So there’s no way we will be taking them lightly.
“We saw from the Queen’s Park game how tough it can be against teams from the leagues below.
“Spartans have nothing to lose, they’re one game away from playing at Hampden in a semi-final.
“So they will be right up for it and confident they can create another shock.
“We have to be totally professional and focused on the job because they’re more than capable of getting a result if we don’t perform.”
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