Former Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis has outlined why the Dons “have to be favourites for second at least” in the Premiership.
Lewis was back at Pittodrie last Wednesday for the Reds’ thrilling 2-1 win over fierce rivals Rangers.
Jimmy Thelin’s men made it nine league wins from 10 to stay level on points with top-flight leaders Celtic – the only side so far to have taken Premiership points off Aberdeen, when the teams drew 2-2 at Parkhead.
Aberdeen’s 16-game unbeaten run under Swedish boss Thelin came to an end days after the league victory over the Gers when Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops dismantled them 6-0 in Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden.
Lewis, though, thinks the performance and result at home to Rangers “was no fluke” and a match “Aberdeen could have won more convincingly”.
And it left him confident the currently second-placed Dons will stay in the Premiership’s top-two at the expense of the third-placed Ibrox outfit this term.
Lewis said: “At the moment, you are 28 points out of a possible 30. It’s incredible.
“Watching the Rangers game, it was no fluke. You can criticise Rangers all you want, but they’ve got a lot of money’s worth of players in their team. They have got quality, but Aberdeen didn’t allow them time and space on the ball.
“It doesn’t feel like it is temporary at the moment.
“There’s the structure, and everyone’s contributing at the moment. You’re not relying on one or two players like last season (Bojan) Miovski wasn’t playing and you were worrying about where the goals would come from. This season, there have been about 10 different goalscorers!
“For me, they have to be favourites for second at least now.
“The longer they carry this on, you just have to hope Celtic get sidetracked by European football and they have a dip.
“Aberdeen aren’t going to win nine league games out of 10 all season, but they’ve got the basics and foundation of a really strong team.”
Lewis admits he only got a “little bit” of sleep before driving home to the north-west of England after the Aberdeen-Rangers clash, having been left “buzzing” on a bombastic evening at Pittodrie.
The ex-Dons keeper added: “Every time there’s a 50/50, you feel like they’re going to come out with it.
“Jimmy Thelin has just instilled this belief in the players and it’s snowballed. It feels like every time they go to press someone, they are going to win the ball or the opposition are going to kick it out of play.
“They’re making things happen.
“It’s a winning style, it’s aggressive, and it’s a great watch.
“They can mix it as well. They’re direct and they will be horrible to play against at the moment.”
Joe Lewis on Aberdeen legends’ Masters Football bid against Celtic, Rangers and Dundee United veterans
Lewis will be back in an Aberdeen kit next week – taking part in the Masters Football tournament at P&J Live on Thursday.
Teams of legends from the Dons, Celtic, Rangers and Dundee United will be in action.
The 37-year-old revealed Aberdeen’s captain/manager for the event, former Reds skipper Russell Anderson, has set up a Reds team Whatsapp group, with the former players involved comparing their keep-fit regimes.
Lewis said: “A few of the boys have been playing a bit of padel, and I’ve been playing a bit of seven-a-side football with my mates and a few blokes local to where I live to keep my hand in.”
He added: “I know Russell, obviously Jonny (Hayes), Derek Young – from his work at the club – Lee Miller, who I’ve met a couple of times, and I’ve met all of the other guys in our team as well.
“It should be a really good day. I’m looking forward to it.”
Lewis thinks “fit as a fiddle” Hayes, also 37 – who only hung up his boots at Aberdeen in the summer and is now a youth coach for Celtic – will need to be the Dons’ engine room during next Thursday’s small-sided matches.
For his part, stopper Lewis, who departed Aberdeen in 2023 before announcing his retirement from playing recently, plans to stay firmly between posts at P&J Live.
Though he had a much-publicised appearance upfront for England under-21s in his younger years, Lewis says he will only go outfield during the Masters event if there’s “an absolute disaster” in the Reds ranks.
One of the chief rivals he will be trying to keep out of Aberdeen’s goal is ex-Rangers striker Kris Boyd – a fellow Sky Sports pundit who he was working with at Pittodrie last week.
Lewis thinks fitness was never former Scotland forward Boyd’s strong suit and, as a result, he will still be a danger to the Dons.
The pair are desperate to get the better of each other.
Lewis said: “I was trying to not mention it (at Pittodrie)!
“Boydy was a very good player.
“But Boydy was overweight when he played, and he’s only a little bit more overweight now… so it won’t make a massive difference!
“He’ll be looking to score past me, no doubt. He’d thoroughly enjoy that, and I’ll be doing my best to shut him up.”
Lewis played with Dundee United’s Willo Flood at Aberdeen and Craig Conway at Cardiff City, as well as Celtic’s Scott Brown at the Dons (“He’ll be the same as he was: Nice as pie and buy you a pint in the bar, but stamp on your ankle when no one’s looking during the game”.)
With “good players” and “quality throughout” all four veterans sides, Lewis thinks the Masters tournament in the Granite City will be “competitive” – but he is backing the Reds legends to win it if they can harness the home crowd.
Lewis said: “There are some good players in all the teams, so I still think there will be a bit of quality throughout it.
“The games should be competitive. We’re all competitive people and played football at a good level in our careers.
“It will probably be quite feisty at times – we’re not quite as sharp as we used to be, so there might be the odd late tackle and a bit of frustration that we can’t quite do what we used to be able to do.
“I think the Aberdeen supporters will be coming down to see a few of their old favourite players – especially Eoin Jess!
“And the players will looking forward to seeing the supporters again.
“We need as many Aberdeen fans as possible behind us, because we’ll need that push to win the thing.”
Conversation