Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel sat down with RedTV to discuss the departure of Jimmy Thelin and the search for a new manager.
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“It’s very difficult and it’s never an easy situation when any manager loses their job. Jimmy will always be remembered as the manager who won the Scottish Cup after so many years. He was very popular with the players and with the staff, it’s always very sad to see a true gentleman like Jimmy leave.
“Unfortunately that is also part of the game of professional football. We didn’t work together for too long a time but I knew him from before and I defiantly have to say thank you for all of the great things he did here and wish him all the best for the future. I’m pretty sure it won’t be very long until other teams try to bring him under contract.
“There is never a right or wrong time, there is a feeling that you get when certain developments are happening within a squad, within a period of time and it wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly. Looking at the performances around Christmas, the Celtic game being very difficult also with the Dundee Utd game not being really brilliant and having the two loses in the past week, it showed that a change could give us a different momentum, a different voice and certain impulse to take the maximum out of the squad we have right now. After really detailed discussions with the Board and different shareholders, I think we had to make that call, we think it’s the right moment for the decision and we will work hard to steer the ship back into the right direction and pick up as many points as possible.
“The process needs to be very clear. The playing style and the DNA is super important for us, how do we want to play football? How do we see ourselves? The manager needs to reflect that to perfection. We set about that we want to be high pressing, hard working, a high intensity team and that’s also the way you coach and prepare the team. All that technical and tactical parts needs to be ticked off but I also think personality is very important.
“We need a guy who feels Aberdeen, who can understand the culture here. It’s not the easiest place to be a manager because people have very high expectations. People have high standards so do the Board. Aberdeen Football Club have to have high standards to be successful and to live up to the reputation and the goals that we have in common. The personality of the next manager needs to be fresh, needs to be hard working and a clear identity on how we play football but also needs to reflect a certain emotion and a certain fire which I think is extremely important to get this team going, to get the players behind you and actually make the players run through a brick wall everyday in training and every weekend. A mix between tactical, technical, playing style, identity but also the character and personality, it must be the total package.
“I don’t want to put a timeframe on it, it could be six days, six weeks or six months. Lots of people have already applied, literally 20 minutes after the press release went out. It was a very long night receiving emails and text messages. We want to make a very thoughtful decision, we want to take our time. We need to be clear what we want, if it takes some more time I have full belief and trust in Peter Leven. He did it before as an interim manager and got good results. He knows the team and club very well and I think also having Aberdonians in the coaching staff, like Stuart Duff, helps us to create a bit of a better connection again to the fans. I do want to add that Scottish element more and more, don’t be surprised if we are out in the transfer market looking for more Scottish players. I think it’s very important for a club like Aberdeen and also for the city to have that.
“Not having a manager during the January transfer window does not change our weaknesses as a team, it does not change the positions that we need to strengthen in. We also need to have a certain trust and belief in our players that they develop, that they get better. You get better by playing minutes. We have a lot of young players in our squad who have to be given the opportunity now to shine and do that. We don’t want to use the transfer window just to shoot left, right and centre and bring in five or six new bodies, just to show we’re doing something. Again the same thing, will there be big changes coming in the future? 100%. We do need to be better, we need to find a clear way and some new players is a normal thing.
“We have players who are here on loan who will eventually depart. Our squad is too big so the first big step is to cut our squad, that we move our players out that have not been able to get that many minutes and still add one or two positions with quality, with players who can have an immediate impact. I don’t believe in having massive changes in winter because it makes it very difficult for the current players and coaching staff to find some rhythm if you have too many new faces.
“Will we change something, of course, will we also rock the boat, yes we will. But at a smaller level in the winter and with a clear picture with all of the players who are here right now. That is also the message that I gave to the players, you have six months to show yourself, you have six months to prove that you are worthy of wearing that badge, that you want to be an Aberdeen player, but you have to work for it. If you’re show ponying around and not really getting the effort onto the pitch, not getting the intensity up, then that tells me something that we need to change more. We have a lot of players for selection, it’s always a reset when you bring in a new manager, it’s always an opportunity and a chance for the players who have been here for many years or months to start at ground zero, to prove themselves, to make themselves available and show that they want to be part of the team. Clear message to every single player out there, work hard, show yourself in training, the best eleven will play. It’s a new start and that is how we’re going to approach it for the next few weeks.”
