'Dons should see out the season with little drama'
Aberdeen’s victory over Motherwell should be enough to ensure they won’t be dragged into the relegation play-off place.
An eight-point gap with four games to go doesn't quite secure top-flight status but it’s now within touching distance, and another win against St Johnstone on Saturday will officially extinguish all thoughts of an end-of-season shoot-out.
Credit has to go to Peter Leven who has helped steer the team through really choppy waters. A matter of weeks ago, the Dons’ future status was about a clear as the famous Marischal College building during an infamous enveloping of North Sea haar, but Leven has helped them find some form.
They have kept as many clean sheets in their last six games as they managed in the previous 26.
It’s no coincidence that this has happened with Leven in charge and it was a positive statement he made before the Motherwell game that he is keen to work under incoming manager Jimmy Thelin next season.
There has been a furore amongst some sections of the media about Thelin’s start date. The Swede is scheduled to arrive at the start of June when the league there enters its summer hiatus.
It’s clear that his Elfsborg team have had their issues of late, having lost three in-a-row before returning to winning ways on Monday. At the same time, things have calmed down at Pittodrie and they should now be able to see out the season with little drama and consign it to the history books.
There would surely be little to gain from Thelin taking charge at this point. He will have already begun working towards next season with the Dons anyway, surveying the squad from afar, watching the team’s matches while also juggling his notice period in Boras.
Given the troubles in the Granite City recently, if things had gone awry upon an early arrival, he would have been up against it in the eyes of the supporters from the very start. In June, it will be like a new broom.
At this time of year, I am always reminded of that Billy Dodds double at Tynecastle that brought the 1995 Aberdeen side back from the brink of certain relegation and all the drama that followed victory in the capital.
Aberdeen fans will be delighted to see the end of 2023-24 without that particular rollercoaster ride in its final chapter.
