Stephen Robinson met with the media at Cormack Park late on Monday afternoon to look ahead to our Premier Sports Cup Group Stage opener away at Brora Rangers.
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The arrival of Lewis Smith and the departure of Topi Keskinen
“Yeah, I’m happy with Lewis. Obviously, we’ve lost a couple of wingers, and this is somebody who’s proven in the Scottish league.
"He brings a lot of quality with him, a lot of pace. He’s direct and I’m delighted to get him on board.
“Topi made it clear that he felt the future was elsewhere when the very first offer came in. He conducted himself really well but, ultimately, the club felt that was the right price for him. We took that and we’ve moved on.
“When people make the decision that they want to leave, obviously they leave on our terms. They’ll leave on the valuation that we decide, not what anybody else decides. It was good for both parties. It allowed us to bring other people in, which we had in the pipeline anyway. As I say, I think it worked well for both parties.”
Summer so far
“It has been very busy. I think it was very much needed as well. We were trying to reshape the squad. It can’t all be done in one window, but certainly there’s a freshness about it now.
“There’s a little bit more league experience as well and, hopefully, we’ll see how we are in this cup. Of course, I don’t think any managers ever happy. We always want a little bit more, but I’ve been backed tremendously well in terms of allowing me to bring players in before players have gone out.
“Now we’re starting to see players leave as the transfer window is open. The season kicks off a little bit later in England and other countries as well, so that’s started to happen now.”
The Challenge of Brora
“They’re all tough challenges. I think I lost my first game last year at Arbroath and ended up winning the cup, so you take absolutely nothing for granted in this cup competition. We aim to start well. We had a good performance on Saturday, and we know it’s a tough task.
"Any team now is really well organised, so when we go up to Brora we know it’s going to be a tough game. We’re under no illusion that it’s going to be an easy match.
“We’ve had a tough pre-season. We’ve chosen games that are going to test us, so it’s not like we’re coming into the cup games untested. We have been tested, both with the ball and without the ball, so we’re as well prepared as we can be. We go into the game confident, but the mentality has to be right and we’ve reiterated that to people.”
Improving on last year
“It was a disappointing campaign all round for Aberdeen Football Club (last season) and we strive to be better than that. We’re trying to put things in place to give the club a little bit more stability and build from that so we can bring players in and they can succeed with the base that we’ve brought in. We certainly aim to be a lot better than we were last year.”
Recruitment
"A lot of creativity (What does Lewis Smith bring). Experience in the Scottish league, which is vital to add to the squad. He’s got pace, he’s left-footed, he cuts in from that right-hand side and he’s a very exciting player who I think can make things happen. We’ve got Tony on one side, him on the other side, and it adds a lot of creativity to the side.
“That’ll depend on what’s available (bringing in more). Obviously every manager, as I said previously, wants to bring more players in.
“There needed to be wholesale changes in the squad and we’ve managed to do that. As I said, the board have been fantastic. We could have waited for players to leave, but players were never going to leave until the windows in other countries opened and, obviously, with the World Cup that delayed the transfer market a little bit.
"We were able to crack on and bring players in, so I’ve been supported really well on that.
“There’ll still be more players to leave. That’s just the nature of football. We’ll then look at the squad and see what else we need to strengthen.”
Experience in Scotland
“I’ve had 500 games now, so I think I know what works at this level. I know what wins football matches. I believe we’re getting to that stage now where we’re putting a squad together that I believe will be very competitive. A lot more legs and energy, perhaps, than we had last year as well, and a little bit more Scottish league experience.
Pre-season
“As I said, we’ve picked a hard pre-season. We had a real tough game against the German opposition and tough opposition, and we made sure that we were tested. It wasn’t about winning 5–0 or 6–0 in easy games because then you get a shock in the first game of the season.
“We believe we’re prepared really well. We believe our fitness levels are a lot higher than they were previously and that’s all you can do. You believe in what you’re doing, use your experience and the squad’s experience to navigate through these cup games.”
Tuesday in the Highlands
“Certainly it’s a test. Whatever game you have now, you have a lot of good coaches in Scotland. Wherever you go it’s a test. There’s nothing taken for granted from our side. We’ll go there, no doubt on a sticky pitch. The weather will be hot and we have to move the ball quickly, play to the best of our ability and match their intent as well. “
"The real test comes when the league season starts because sometimes you have a lot of possession in false areas, but we’re obviously making good progress, we believe, and this is the start of seeing where we are tomorrow night.
“I won it last year, so the experience I have will stay with me for a long time. It’s something every manager dreams of, to win silverware. That’s difficult in Scotland with the level of competition, so I’ve certainly got good memories of the competition and we’d love to do it again.”
