Former Don Steve Tosh believes Aberdeen can end Hearts’ hopes of finishing above them in the Premiership if they beat the Jambos at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Tosh believes the managerless Edinburgh outfit, who finished 20 points ahead of the Dons in third place last season, can forget about catching the Granite City men if they lose.
Jimmy Thelin’s side are second in the table with a perfect record of 18 points from six league matches.
Hearts, meanwhile, are bottom with two points from seven matches, and Tosh insists a 19-point gap will be insurmountable should the Dons rack up their 13th win in a row in all competitions on Sunday.
Tosh said: “What a fantastic opportunity we have got to go and beat Hearts and create an even bigger divide between the team we expected to be our main competitors for third.
“The bottom line is, and I’ll stick my neck on the chopping block here, if we beat them on Sunday they cannot finish above Aberdeen this season.
“I say that because I don’t believe Aberdeen will lose seven more games than Hearts between now and the end of the season.
“If someone said you’d be 19 points ahead of Hearts in the first week of October, you would have scoffed – but that’s where we could be this weekend.”
Aberdeen improvement has been a group effort
Tosh was sceptical about what former Elfsborg boss Thelin would bring to the Dons when he was appointed.
The former midfielder has been impressed with the start the team has made under their new manager after initially wondering whether Thelin could make an impact in Scottish football.
The improvement in the team is clear to see, and Tosh believes everyone at the club should share in the positive start to the Thelin era.
Tosh said: “What Jimmy has done is bring very good players to the club who fit into the system he wants to play.
“It has allowed others who were already there to excel.
“Look at Graeme Shinnie this year – from the midway point last season he looked tired and I wondered if he still had it in him. The guy I’m watching right now is playing like he is 24. That’s because he has Sivert Heltne Nilsen is sitting in there beside him.
“Leighton Clarkson looks back to the player we all thought he was going to be as well.
“Is that because of Jimmy, the players he has brought in or is it the collective realisation they are a better team than they maybe thought they were?
“It’s probably a combination of all three for me.
“(Director of football) Steven Gunn deserves a mention in all of this, too.
“Whenever something goes wrong, the poor guy seems to take the flak, but he was the one with (chief executive) Alan Burrows who went out and got Jimmy into the club and has helped bring the players he wants here.
“It’s been a real group effort and long may it continue.”
How will Jimmy Thelin and his squad handle a setback?
With Aberdeen boasting a perfect 12-game winning record to match Martin O’Neill’s winning start as Celtic manager in 2000, Thelin has made a flying start in Scotland.
But Tosh remains curious to see how the Dons will react to adversity under their new manager.
He said: “I was dubious when Jimmy Thelin was appointed so there is no point in me trying to be the messiah and say this boy was going to be a good manager.
“I didn’t buy into the whole idea he was the best manager since Sir Alex Ferguson purely because I didn’t know this person.
“It was all about seeing how the team reacted to a new manager coming in with a new style.
“I still think we’ve got to get knocked over before we get a better understanding of what Jimmy has brought to the club.
“That’s not me being pessimistic, but there would have been a lot of negativity if we had faced Rangers, Celtic and Hearts in our first three games and not won any of them.
“Having said that let’s get excited about what’s happening and enjoy the ride.
“Go into the Hearts game on Sunday full of confidence, knowing if we play to our capabilities, we can pick up another three points – but also realise there will be bumps on the road at some point.”
‘It’s great to see how much the fans are enjoying this’
Whatever the future holds, Tosh is enjoying seeing the Dons put a smile on the faces of the Red Army every week.
Tosh, who was at Dens Park as a co-commentator for RedTV on Saturday, saw more than 4,000 supporters celebrate another important win at Dundee.
He is delighted to see the fans getting excited after a challenging period for the club.
Tosh said: “More than anything else getting the chance to do Red TV, and having been lucky enough to have played for such a fantastic football club, is seeing how much the fans are enjoying this.
“My son was born in Aberdeen – Jordan is 19 and never wavered(in supporting the club) even when we moved to Dumfries and Fife.
“He’s always been Aberdeen daft, and there were uncles and cousins in the away end on Saturday (at Dens Park).
“Those 4,000 fans have travelled everywhere, even when things have been poor, and give nothing but 100% loyal support to the club.
“The last three of four years have been difficult. We had some success in qualifying for Europe and reaching a cup final but it’s been tough at times.
“There’s a new thought process among the fans of expecting to see their team go to tough places like Dundee and winning.
“Now on Sunday Pittodrie will be packed. The club and the city is on a high and everybody deserves plaudits.”
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