Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin insists he will support Slobodan Rubezic after the centre-back struggled in the 3-0 loss to St Mirren.
Rubezic made costly errors in the build up to St Mirren’s opening two goals as the Dons’ winless Premiership collapse extended to 13 games.
Rubezic’s poor header in a mix up with keeper Ross Doohan sent Toyosi Olusanya in on goal to score into an open net for the first goal.
For the second Rubezic was outrun and outmuscled by Olusanya, who brushed past the defender before setting up Mikael Mandron to score.
In the immediate aftermath of the second goal Rubezic signalled to boss Thelin that he needed to be substituted.
The 24-year-old Montenegro international then ran up the tunnel.
Thelin said: “We are always going to support our players.
“If they do make a mistake then we have to protect them.
“That’s what I have to think about and also if these things happen, someone is there to support them on the pitch.
“I have to protect my players so that they can get good performances on the pitch again.”
Rubezic at the heart of Dons defence
Rubezic was signed by Aberdeen in summer 2023 from Serbian SuperLiga club FK Novi Pazar for a fee of around £200,000.
The defender penned a three-year deal as Aberdeen beat off competition from a number of clubs across the continent to sign him.
Prior to signing for the Reds, Rubezic made 37 starts for Novi Pazar.
The Serbian club narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
He quickly became a regular first team starter under former boss Barry Robson and has retained that status under Thelin.
Rubezic has started 20 of the Dons’ 24 Premiership matches this season.
In the immediate aftermath of the loss to St Mirren, when quizzed on why Rubezic asked to come off. Thelin said: “He maybe felt something but he wanted to get changed and that’s why we changed him.”
Thelin accepts pressure is mounting
Aberdeen are in the midst of the club’s worst run of league form this century.
The previous worst run was a 12 game winless slump between May to October 1999.
That run without a league victory was over two seasons and managers.
It took in the final games of the 1998-98 season under interim boss Paul Hegarty.
And the winless run extended into the 1999-2000 campaign and the first nine league games of Ebbe Skovdahl.
Aberdeen’s current league collapse is in one season, under one manager.
Remarkably, despite taking just four points from the last possible 39, the Dons are sitting fourth in the Premiership.
They are only two points behind third placed Dundee United, a position which brings a Europa League second qualifying spot.
However, the struggling Reds are only five points off the bottom six – and 10 points clear of the relegation play-off spot.
Thelin accepts the pressure is on to halt the nosedive in form and salvage the season.
However he is willing to take the heat, and direct the pressure away from his players.
He said: “We are in a really challenging time and pressure comes with that.
“It is always pressure and that is my job, to bring the pressure to me.
“As a manager I need to take the pressure and get it away from the players, so that the players can focus on things on the pitch and perform and get the results.”
Improvement derailed by defeat
Thelin felt there had been improvement made during training at Cormack Park in the build up to the St Mirren game.
However, that was derailed by the defensive mix up between Rubezic and keeper Ross Doohan that gifted the Paisley side the opener.
He said: “It was tough.
“Before the game we were on track and it was looking better and better in the sessions.
“The team looked better and better, then we get that result.
“It was too easy for our opponent to get goals.”
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