Aberdeen: Has Jim Goodwin restored Dons as Scotland's third force?
- Published
Jim Goodwin was a happy man after Saturday's win away to Motherwell
Three points, three wins in a week and third place in the Scottish Premiership for Aberdeen.
Are we beginning to see the re-emergence of the Pittodrie club, now under manager Jim Goodwin, as the third force in Scottish football?
It is, of course, way too early to make such bold statements.
However, the signs are increasingly encouraging that they are destined to challenge in the upper tier of the table, where they surely should be.
The facts are that Aberdeen are in a League Cup semi-final and they've manoeuvred up the table to a lofty position at a convenient time.
It's where you would ordinarily expect Aberdeen to be. Consistently.
"I think it is starting to come together, but we've got to be careful that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves, because we know what this league is like," Goodwin told BBC Scotland.
"You can be brought back down to earth very, very quickly if you're not careful.
He's right about that and was the first to admit the win over Motherwell was far from straight-forward. But win they did at a venue where they have been found wanting repeatedly of late.
To do that, they had to dig deep, show resilience at the back and be clinical when it counted. Pass marks on all fronts.
Aberdeen travel to Ibrox next weekend in confident mood, with Rangers seriously struggling and home fans increasingly on their back.
Remarkably, the Dons could pull just four points behind their Glasgow hosts with a win.
Squad overhaul coming together
Summer signings Bojan Miovski and Luis Lopes combined to help Aberdeen win at Fir Park
There has been an overhaul of the squad at Pittodrie.
Only two players who started against Rangers on their last visit to Ibrox in March started against Motherwell.
Those two were Ross McCrorie and Connor Barron, the young midfielder who has been offered new terms to extend the two years he has left has left on his contract, with a number of clubs credited with an interest in prising him away.
"It's 12 new faces we've brought in in the summer, still all trying to get to grips with each other and a different manager as well in myself who's asking them to do things differently," Goodwin said.
"I don't think we've reached our full potential yet."
As the large contingent of fans exuberantly celebrated a rare victory on the road against Motherwell, you got the sense that belief is returning and the connection between manager, the new squad and the support is growing.
Miovski and Duk double act
The platform for victory over Motherwell was an exquisite Bojan Miovski moment.
The Macedonia striker signed from MTK Budapest showed remarkable composure to execute a stunning lob on the run and is proving to be an astute acquisition with eight league goals from 11 appearances.
"There's more to him than just the goalscoring." his manager said.
"His all-round game is different class. His movement, he knows when to create space for others, he makes some great movement off the ball."
The value of a prolific striker is well known, but he needs support and looks like he'll get it. That's key for Aberdeen.
Luis Lopes, the former Benfica forward known as Duk, has also found his feet, with four goals in his latest six games in the Premiership, including Saturday's clinical winner when Aberdeen were being tested.
"He was impressive," former Scotland manager Shelley Kerr told Sportscene.
"His movement was good, he plays on the back shoulder. I like that movement from a striker as it is so difficult to defend against.
"His work-rate is good as well. His header is a great header."
With Miovski and Duk firing, backed up with the impressive Barron and a renewed strength at the back of late, it's a potent mix if Aberdeen are to sustain their upturn in fortunes.
"We won't allow ourselves to get carried away," Goodwin emphasised.
No-one is, but they will enter Ibrox next weekend with an increasing sense of belief that they're on the right road.