Red tide is rising... and it could spell bad news for Clement if Thelin's Dons continue to keep Rangers in the shade
Seven months ago, Aberdeen were viewing a trip to Fir Park with the kind of zeal one might reserve for a visit to the dentist.
The start of the year had seen Barry Robson run out of time. The Neil Warnock experiment had blown up in the face of chairman Dave Cormack.
Having lost his first game as interim manager at Dundee, Peter Leven boarded the bus to Motherwell needing a win to prevent the team going eight league games without a victory and thereby matching a historic low set 25 years earlier.
Leighton Clarkson’s goal proved enough to wrap up just a second league triumph of the year. It said everything about the hole the club was in that the main emotion afterwards was relief that the fear of relegation had been eased.
If someone back then had predicted what would subsequently unfold, you’d have been tempted to suggest that they needed a day off.
Jimmy Thelin has opened his career as Aberdeen boss with a remarkable 13 straight victories
Ante Palaversa's late winner against Hearts kept the Dons joint-top alongside Celtic
Skipper Graeme Shinnie helps Croatian new boy Palaversa celebrate his dramatic intervention
The team that had forgotten what winning football matches felt like has become one that now knows no other outcome.
Notwithstanding the fact that Jimmy Thelin’s side haven’t had to contend with European football at the outset of the Swede’s reign, 13 consecutive wins is a simply astonishing achievement.
To put this in context, the Dons are the only club in the 50 top European leagues to boast an unblemished run in all competitions. Records are being broken so fast it’s hard to keep up.
This would be impressive enough if the former Elfsborg manager had enjoyed the financial backing of an oligarch. He has not.
Eight of the 14 players who won that day at Motherwell are still at the club. Similarly, only six of the 14 who chalked up another dramatic win against Hearts on Sunday are new to this.
Thelin has spent some money — as much as £800,000 in the case of Topi Keskinen — but the seismic shift in Aberdeen’s fortunes is down to his coaching rather than the chequebook.
He’s had to do without Bojan Miovski since he was sold to Girona for a record £6.8million and lately has had to plan without Pape Gueye, still the Premiership’s top scorer, on account of injury.
Thelin hasn't made sweeping changes but has still managed to transform the Pittodrie club
With Aberdeen’s high mark of 15 straight wins from the early 70s now coming into view, the Swede’s unblemished record also underscores the importance of the principal figure at any club.
Get a managerial appointment right and everything changes. In the Granite City, they are seeing that a rising tide does indeed lift all boats.
Coming courtesy of Ante Palaversa’s late winner, Sunday’s victory took the Dons 19 points clear of Hearts with a game in hand. It’s escaped no one’s notice that the home side finished 20 points adrift of the outfit which finished third in the Premiership last term. That race already looks to be over.
The side benefit to this tectonic shift is an uplift in revenue. A healthy crowd of 16,064 attended the last meeting between the sides at Pittodrie in December. There were 19,175 there on Sunday.
Ahead of a tantalising trip to face Celtic on Saturday week, the entire city has bought into what Thelin is doing.
Given his track record in his homeland, where he took unfancied Elfsborg to within touching distance of the title, there were high hopes for what the 46-year-old might achieve at Aberdeen in time. But this is now off the charts.
Long-suffering fans are beginning to dream of keeping pace with their Glasgow rivals
Aside from Thelin’s men having the momentum of a juggernaut when they come back after the international break, the difficulty facing his peers in the Premiership is one of perception.
The longer Aberdeen’s renaissance continues, the harder it becomes to look at the efforts of other top-flight managers in a favourable light — especially those with vastly greater budgets.
For all Philippe Clement’s Rangers did the necessary by seeing off St Johnstone on Sunday, a league table showing them still five points adrift of the Dons does not make for good reading.
We’re now one year on from the point where the Ibrox board called time on Michael Beale following a home defeat by Aberdeen, then managed by Robson.
You could not say that the Belgian’s time in charge has been disastrous. Plainly, it has not. Any rational analysis of his tenure must take heed of circumstances beyond his control.
The need to reduce the wage bill and the average age of the squad this summer was a legacy issue. The delay in the completion of building work at Ibrox is on those above him.
Clement hasn't had his troubles to seek this year and must be concerned by Aberdeen's form
Nonetheless, it does not seem unreasonable for Rangers supporters to believe that their side would be in a better place by this juncture.
In golfing parlance, Clement has shot par for the course. While the credit for winning the League Cup and topping a Europa League group evaporated as the title and the Scottish Cup were painfully lost, there have been just enough positives along the way to suggest that he’s on the right track. Just not quite enough to believe the team will arrive at the desired place anytime soon.
He needs time and patience to get there. While the good news is the board and most supporters still have his back, the reality is that situation won’t last if Rangers are second in the table for long never mind third.
Churning out prosaic wins like Sunday’s over Saints is certainly essential as the 50-year-old prepares to clock up one year in the job.
While a win rate of approximately 69 per cent is favourable, this should be viewed in context; Beale enjoyed one of 72 per cent, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst having only 59 per cent. Without argument, the Dutchman was a better manager.
The side’s form to this point this season has been staccato. A draw at Tynecastle on the opening day set the tone.
Last week's European hammering by Lyon dented the fragile confidence of all at Ibrox
After the disaster of losing to Dynamo Kyiv at Hampden in the Champions League qualifiers came a mini resurgence then a thumping at Celtic Park.
Clement remains without a win over Celtic in five attempts, an unwanted mark even Beale avoided.
Four straight victories, including a famous night in Malmo, were achieved without the loss of a goal. They gave rise to a belief that a corner had been turned only for Lyon to take Clement’s side apart at Ibrox.
While the manager correctly moved on the likes of John Lundstram, Ryan Jack and Borna Barisic, the jury remains out on many of his signings.
Connor Barron has hit the ground running. Jefte, Hamza Igamane and Neraysho Kasanwirjo have ability. Vaclav Cerny, Nedim Bajrami and Robin Propper have got a lot to prove.
Rangers will need to see bigger contributions from the likes of Dessers and Tavernier
Clement must ensure skipper James Tavernier puts a difficult start to the campaign behind him. Cyriel Dessers had seven goals in eight games but now hasn’t found the net in four matches. With Danilo injured, it’s imperative he finds his way to goal again soon.
After bouncing back from the Lyon loss with a victory over Saints, the break feels like a rude interruption for Clement, but the breather might come in handy, all the same.
His side resume at Rugby Park, then tackle Steaua Bucharest and St Mirren at home, all whetting the appetite for a visit to Pittodrie on October 30.
It will hardly be his fault if Aberdeen are still knocking teams over like nine pins going into that encounter. But it will be his problem.
