Scott Booth sat down with RedTV recently to discuss his return to Aberdeen, preview Sunday’s match against Patrick Thistle at the Balmoral and look ahead to a busy schedule when we return after the winter break.

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“It’s been close to two months, and a lot’s happened behind the scenes in that time, obviously trying to get to grips with the squad, trying to get to know them as well as possible in that time frame, and then obviously getting to know your own staff, but there’s lots of other staff here as well in the building. Trying to remember people’s names at times is quite tricky, but there’s also a few old faces from when I was last here. There’s been all that to deal with from my own perspective, a bit of travel involved, and now we are heading towards our first transfer window. It’s been a really busy time. But it’s been great.

“It’s definitely still a work in progress. We’re a team, a club, that want to professionalize and move forward. But I’ve said many times that can’t be done overnight. With my previous job at Glasgow City, they did the same thing, but it wasn’t overnight. It was over a number of years, especially if you want to get it right, because you need to have good foundations. I think there’s no point in running before you can walk. We know that we have to build and create a squad that can compete, not just in the bottom half of the table, but increasingly more in the top half of the table. That’s our short-term target.

“The staff, they’ve been great. Big mention to Beth, because she is involved in everything and will do many different jobs, even though she’s a fantastic physio. So that’s great, because there’s somebody you can talk to and get a little bit of advice from about what’s happened previously here, and how things have worked, what the players have enjoyed, what they haven’t. And I think that that really does help, and I asked the players that as well.  Obviously, I have Hannah for that as well. I’ve had Hannah in my team previously, so know her pretty well.

“Both staff and players have listened when I’ve had any questions, if I’ve had to do something a certain way. I listened to Beth and other members of staff about various situations. I also have a players group that I listen to and take on board the information that they gain from being part of the squad and hearing from the players that sometimes don’t like to put their hand up in a big meeting, they just want to speak to a leadership group member, just so that they can have their voice heard, but without having to shout it out. I’ve had a leadership group in every club I’ve been to, and I think you can get a good blend here. Ours has got a couple of experienced players, a goalkeeper and a young player. I think that’s, a good balance, because you hear most of the voices. I believe strongly that the players should both on the pitch, at the training ground and away from Aberdeen Football Club that they lead by example. It’s important that they self-police in training, if we feel it’s flat, it’s up to the players to get the whole thing going. I don’t think it’s my job to stand on the side and ask them to work harder. I think they should know that themselves. Particularly away from the club, because they represent the club, and I think that’s a big thing, but there’s been no issues with that at all. It’s just been a case of us learning about each other as we go.

ON PERFORMANCES SO FAR

“I think the first two games we played were quite interesting, because I felt like we were in the game. In both games we were against a top six side in Motherwell and in Hibs. Although there was positivity because we would match them in certain areas, I think there was a kind of underlying feeling that losing the goals could happen when the legs start to go a little bit, and the opposition’s don’t because their fitness is higher, and we can’t get to the ball as quickly as we could in the first half, there is a chance that the opposition especially when they’re as good as those two teams were on the on the night, that they’re going to score a couple of goals against you in quick succession. And then at that point, it was quite evident that the players have been through a lot. You look at the players afterwards, they are fairly demoralized. They were a tired group, mentally and physically. I think that was quite obvious, that was an area that we had to try as best we can to improve.

“That was an encouraging second half performance against Hearts. The players took a lot out of it. I think we understand that if we can get our mentality right, if we can potentially utilize substitutions for fresh legs, because it’s a squad, we have to use everyone as much as we can, then we can compete against the top teams. But I think our intention, what we would like to do moving forward is be able to compete continually against these teams and constantly each time we play them, always be competing. There’s always going to be a top side that is on their on the game that day, and we might be slightly off of it and the goals can go in, that can always happen, but our intention is to stop that happening as much as possible. It is different to what I am used to. It’s definitely different. We have really top players throughout the squad, and we have a good squad. We’ve got a young group, but we have to try and strengthen so that we can compete against the top sides. And it’d be nice to have that feeling again.

“It’s so tough for the players if you’re not winning games. I think that the United game was a battle, and we knew it would be a battle, but I was proud of the players to come through that one. It wasn’t the prettiest game of football, but we kind of knew that. Having the three points out of that one was great as was the Gartcairn game, just to come off the pitch having won, it gives you something to build on. That’s what we’re looking for, those bits, bits and pieces that are getting in the right order, and we’re able to constantly improve. That’s where we are right now, and it’s still early days, and we’ve missed a couple of games as well.

“I think there was a few raised eyebrows at halftime, but for me it was important that we show the whole squad that they are a part of it, and it’s not going to be the same players that play every week. If someone’s doing it in training, and they’ve been on the edge of getting game time or even starting the game, and they have a really good week performance, you can’t ignore that. And I thought at halftime it was important to freshen things up.

ON THE SQUAD

“I think Laura’s right now a bit closer, and Maddie is doing really well. She’s back on the pitch running. I’m hoping it’s not going to be too long before she’s back in with the ball again, but I think it’ll be the new year before we see her play, but hopefully not far into the new year.

“Yeah, that would be nice (A couple late Christmas presents when the January window opens). I think for everybody. We all know that we have to get better. I think the squad know that themselves, and they want that because they want the competition and they want the chance to win more games, because that’s what it’s all about. We’ll work hard. It’s never easy to bring in players because of the window. It’s easier in the summertime, and I don’t want to bring in just any players. I want to bring in players that are going to help us. I’ll be on the computer, on the phone constantly looking to see if we can improve the squad.

ON PARTICK THISTLE

“It’s going to be a tough game on Sunday to end the year., They’re all tough games, but this is going to be tough because I think Partick have got various facets to their game that make it difficult. They change their setup quite a lot, the formation, sometimes personnel tactics. So, it’s actually difficult to get a read on them, but we’ve been doing our homework, and I know that the players are looking forward to the game, probably as much because it’s the last game and they can go off for Christmas, but I know that they’d love to finish this part of the season on a high. It would just help us from the perspective.

They’re there to have a go at. I think they’ve also improved slightly over that that period since the game at the start of the season, so they’ve got to know each other better, and I think they do have a number of threats, and they can they also defend particularly well. They’ve got some technical players in midfield. I’m hoping that if we can bring it, we can get the three points.”

ON A BUSY JANUARY

“Busy is an understatement for when we get back! Three journeys in a week, which I’m scratching my head at because it’s extremely difficult and I’ve not seen it that often before, where you’re down to Glasgow twice and to Edinburgh once in the space of a week. One of those games is a big cup game, and the other two are against two of the top sides. It’s definitely not going to be an easy week, that’s for sure, but we’ll do our best.

“We’ve obviously played Hibs, and they were excellent against us in the second half, or they’re really athletic. I know quite a lot about the Hibs players and the Manager. I don’t need to think about that one quite yet. I think it’s more about that week, the planning of that week and working out how we can get the players to arrive at all three games in the best shape possible.

“It’s going to be really difficult because they’re working. We’re going to be traveling, getting back late. We’re going to be having to get up, try and find time for a training session before we travel again, and we’re going to have to do that, a number of times in the space of a week against top opposition. So that is going to be tricky, especially just coming back off the break once Sunday passes. I’ll be working constantly over the break, but I might be working from my kitchen table or from my living room, but I’ll still be working.