The Dons got their first point on the board with a 0-0 draw against Livingston, but the first goal of the league campaign remains elusive, much to Jimmy Thelin’s disappointment.
“I think we share the frustration with the fans, we feel the same.
“It is a frustrating period right now with the rhythm of the team, so we have to do much more work on this. The fans are arriving in a lot of numbers here today to see the game.
“Our job, my job and the players’ job is to give them the spirit and the excitement from the team, and right now we don’t do that. We have to keep working really hard to get the rhythm of the team better. That’s what we focus on right now, taking it step by step and trying to work us out of these results.
“It’s difficult to see positive things right after the game because of the frustration everybody is sharing, but there were not so many shots against us today. The chances we created in the first half and the chances in the last part of the game were quite big.
“The only thing to do is to keep working and keep focusing on trying to win the games and get the performance to a point where you deserve the results. Right now we are not really there and that’s why we have to do more.
“The expectations are really high to be at this football club as a manager or as a player. We have expectations every season to arrive in Europe, to try to win a trophy, and nothing has changed there. We are trying to be strong in the direction of how we build the squad for the future, the long term, but right now our focus is to get these wins. In the short term, we have to win games.
“We have the long-term part of building the club, and the short-term. Right now, we are focused on this league season, but it’s also been a big turnaround for us – but that is not an excuse for results right now. We wanted more points so far in this season. When you see these players coming in today, they have quality, but now we have to be better as a team.
“Right now it’s a little bit of hesitation, but now we have one week before the cup game and we play at home again and we have to give our fans more. We have to be better with the opportunities and keep doing the defence part better, as we did today.
“We have one more week now to prepare for the next game and make the rhythm better, because I think everybody involved in this club shares the same frustration right now how we start the league. But we can’t drop the focus because I think we’re going to achieve something great this season also. We’re 100 per cent convinced that this team is going to go up to speed.
“The thing for me is the way we’re playing now at home. The most important thing is to show our fans the identity we want to show, that we have to be more intense and more up to speed when we’re playing in front of our fans at home.”
Thelin also spoke about the balance between long-term growth and short-term results, particularly in reference to how much game time some of the Dons’ younger recruits can handle.
“Some players are investments. They need the time. Some players we have signed are performance players. They have to perform directly. It’s a different balance. We have to take care of everybody and create a good team for this situation. So, Emmanuel hasn’t played a game for a long, long time. It was his first game in the league with new teammates and he did really well. We just need to build the capacity but he looked strong in the duels and also his game understanding, so he will be an asset in the future for us.
“When you’re a young player, you need to play regularly but you also need to cope with it, and some of these players need to build the robustness to deliver every week. We’re trying to make them grow but also improve what they can cope with, how they can recover, how they can perform every week and that’s the thing with being a top player. You have to be seven or ten every week and that’s why some of these players need to focus on one or two competitions and some players can play more regularly.”
