It remains to be seen, over the course of the season, just precisely how good this Aberdeen team proves to be. Many of the signs, though, are extremely positive.
Such as the fact that the Dons could post a 4-1 win over a Premiership rival – from last season’s top six, no less – with a performance few would describe as outstanding.
It may be the flashy results rescued from testing positions which are thought of as being the mark of successful sides, but they are mere decoration on a framework of weekly dominance from the middle of the gearbox.
That is not to say that Aberdeen did not play well here. Indeed they did, but mainly in spurts: occasional glimpses of slick, deadly teamwork bode well for what may lie ahead in what is still a very young project.
For now at least, Jimmy Thelin’s formula is to extract maximum return from those key moments in games, and again here they could hardly have done it better.
The halving of Aberdeen’s lead would, to slavish adherents of the old coaching manual, have been a signal to shut the shop and protect what remained of it.
When Thelin summoned his reinforcements, though, it was with attack in mind rather than defence, and they required no time to get up to the pace of the game.
Within 85 seconds of real time – and just 22 after the restart – those two substitutes had combined for a tremendous counter-strike.
It made Aberdeen’s position even stronger than it had been prior to their concession, since the arithmetical replenishment of their advantage also represented a hefty psychological blow to the briefly encouraged visitors.
Almost as quickly, Aberdeen’s points tally has blasted into the thirties, while some rivals remain in single figures. Things are happening fast at Pittodrie.
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