Aberdeen

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has been talking to the media before his side's Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell on Saturday.

Here are the best bits from his press conference:

• Thelin says Duk is "smiling and he's happy" after the Cape Verde forward returning to club training.

• Thelin says it's now up to him and his coaching staff to help Duk "adapt quick and be ready" as soon as possible.

• While this weekend's game is too soon for Duk to be involved with the Aberdeen squad, Thelin insists "quite soon he can be ready to compete for a place".

• The Swedish manager says he doesn't worry about players potentially getting injured on international duty, and says it's always good for players to "go away and keep that inspiration" of playing for their country.

• Insists the Dons have lots of areas to improve despite their nine-game winning run, and says he is always fine tuning.

• On opponents Motherwell, he expects to face a side with "a good coach and a clear identity". Called on his side to "be humble" and respect Stuart Kettlewell's team.

New Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin has made an impressive impact, with his team aiming for 10 straight wins under the Swede at home to Motherwell on Saturday.

It is little wonder that reports this week suggest signing Jamie McGrath beyond the end of the midfielder's current contract next summer is one of Jimmy Thelin's priorities now that the transfer window has closed.

The new manager's signing of Norwegian veteran Sivert Heltne Nilsen from Brann to occupy a holding role in midfield has allowed McGrath and Graeme Shinnie to focus on the more creative, attacking sides of their skillset.

Indeed, Republic of Ireland 27-year-old McGrath has responded by creating more chances (17) and more assists (three) than any other player in the Premiership so far, as well scoring three goals in all competitions.

Having recovered from the head knock that forced him off early in the 1-0 win away to Ross County last time out, McGrath will be pivotal in Aberdeen's attempt to stretch their winning run this season to 10 games.

Five of those have come at home, with an aggregate score of 14-2, and the Pittodrie winning sequence is now at eight running into last season - 12 unbeaten.

McGrath and his mates will be favourites to stretch their unbeaten run against Motherwell to seven games, but Stuart Kettlewell's visitors are themselves on a three-game winning streak.

Read all the weekend Premiership picks

Rangers and Aberdeen are waiting for the SPFL to set a date for a compensation tribunal to settle a fee for midfielder Connor Barron, having been unable to come to an agreement over a valuation for the 22-year-old. (Daily Record), external

On-loan Aberdeen striker Kevin Nisbet sets his sights on being the top scorer in the Scottish Premiership after getting off the mark with a last-minute winner in his last outing. (Press & Journal, external - subscription required)

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

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• Aberdeen are unbeaten in their last six meetings with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership (W5 D1), last going longer without defeat against the Steelmen between April 2000 and November 2001 (P7 W5 D2).

• Motherwell are winless on their last three away league trips to Aberdeen (D1 L2), since a 3-2 comeback victory in August 2022 in the Scottish Premiership.

• Aberdeen have won all four of their league games under Jimmy Thelin; the last manager to win each of their first five Scottish Premiership games was Giovanni van Bronckhorst with Rangers in December 2021 (first seven), while the last to do so with a non-Old Firm club was David Martindale with Livingston in January 2021 (first six).

• Motherwell have won both of their last two league games, last winning three in a row in September 2023.

• Aberdeen's Jamie McGrath has created more chances (17) and assisted more goals (three) than any player in the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership so far.

Niall McGinn, now of Greenock Morton, tells the story of how a "very smart" Craig Brown brought the forward to Aberdeen and rejuvenated his career in 2012.

The 37-year-old went on to score 87 goals in 356 games across two spells with the Dons.

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin says Duk apologised to players and staff on his return to training and is "giving 100%" following his summer misdemeanours.

The Cape Verde forward was disciplined by the club after failing to return for pre-season as he looked to force a move.

However, Aberdeen announced last weekend that Duk had returned after "owning the situation" and "demonstrating his contrition".

"When he came in, he apologised to the players, the staff and everybody around here and it feels genuine," Thelin told Red TV.

"The players have taken care of him in a good way. The most important thing not only for him but for everyone is that everybody gives 100% for Aberdeen in training sessions and in games.

"It doesn't matter who you are, it is for everyone. Just be clear with everyone and we will be fine.

"We have a really good team spirit. You can't travel through time or change the past, but the most important thing is to look forward.

"For me, it is the starting point with him right now. The squad has accepted it and he has integrated really well with everybody. He is giving 100% in every training session since he arrived.

"So from there, he has to grow and adapt into the team, and get the connection with his team-mates. We know his qualities but from not playing football for a while he just has to train well, stay sharp and be ready for a game."

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Upgrading Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons' yellow card to red in their 2-0 defeat by Aberdeen was the correct decision, Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum has concluded.

Collum highlighted eight controversial incidents in The VAR Review, a new monthly show on the Scottish FA's YouTube channel, saying he was "content with the start we've made".

However, he concluded that Celtic should have been awarded a penalty in their 4-0 win over Kilmarnock, while Dundee United ought to have had a spot-kick for hand ball in their 2-2 draw with Dundee - both on the opening weekend.

Aberdeen 2-0 Kilmarnock - 25 August

Brad Lyons was initially booked by referee Matthew MacDermid for a challenge on Ester Sokler at Pittodrie, but the visiting midfielder was sent off following a VAR review.

"We are happy that the VAR recommended an on-field review and that the card was overturned from yellow to red," Collum said.

"We don't think the player is in complete control. We think the point of contact was high - it is on the shin - and it therefore endangers the safety of the opponent."

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Jimmy Thelin's flying start at Aberdeen has been recognised with the Swede being named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for August.

Thelin steered the Dons to four league wins out of four, with eight goals scored and just two conceded, to keep pace with Celtic at the top of the table.

The Pittodrie boss said: "Football is a collective sport and this award is for everyone that belongs to Aberdeen - the staff, the players and of course the supporters who back the team both home and away in such strong numbers."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Aberdeen have an incredible incentive to make it 10 successive wins at the start of this season when they take on Motherwell this Saturday at Pittodrie.

With an out-of-sorts Hearts facing a daunting trip to Celtic Park and Rangers visiting in-form Dundee United the day after, the Dons could find themselves eight points clear of Phillipe Clement's team and 14 ahead of the Tynecastle side after just five Premiership matches, which would be pretty remarkable even at this early stage.

The top three right now has a distinct 1980s feel about it with Aberdeen and their old tangerine rivals from down the road heading the pursuit of Celtic.

Three of Jimmy Thelin's next four matches are at home, including the League Cup quarter-final against The Spartans, so the momentum Aberdeen have under the Swede could be going like a train by the time they run into last season's top three in October if this run continues.

Thelin's squad was unexpectedly increased during the international break with the return of the previously missing Duk. The 24-year-old's absence since pre-season was shrouded in mystery but he has returned to the club with an apology to the supporters who will be more forgiving if the player can return to full fitness and make an impact.

You would imagine it will take some time for the the Cape Verde international to endear himself to the manager let alone getting the fans that used to love watching his exploits, but who have been enraged by his self-imposed exile, back onside.

However, in the event that Duk returns with the right attitude, forces himself into the reckoning and gets back to the form he showed in his first season at the club, where he matched Bojan Miovski’s 18 goals, he could yet prove to be a trump card for Thelin in what is the last year of his contract.

That scenario would benefit the club and the player himself given he will want to attract suitors who will perhaps have had their eyebrows raised by his summer antics and disappearance.

Regardless, the Dons boss, who will also have the injured Leighton Clarkson back in the team soon, knows the prize for a win this weekend could be a pretty spectacular lead over some of their main rivals for league positions come the end of the campaign.

Summer signing Topi Keskinen - and his bizarre tattoo - started at Wembley on Tuesday night as Finland fell to defeat in Harry Kane's 100th game for England.

The Bayern Munich striker bagged a brace in the Nations League encounter which leaves Keskinen's Finland bottom of Group B2 after back-to-back defeats.

It could have been a different score, though, had the Aberdeen winger squared to former Celtic striker Teemu Pukki in the first half of just his second cap.

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder turned pundit Roy Keane pulled no punches in accusing 21-year-old Keskinen of "pure greed" for failing to pick out Pukki on ITV.

Even before that, Keskinen caught the eye for his obscure tattoo, pictured below, of his two favourite things. Wayne Rooney and fishing.

Negotiating new deals with midfielder Jamie McGrath and full-back Jack MacKenzie, who are both out of contract next summer, are Aberdeen's priorities. (Record), external

Summer signing Ante Palaversa is impressing Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin more and more in training, having made his debut as a late substitute in last month's win against Kilmarnock. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Pape Habib Gueye is showing his true qualities after after a scoring start to the season at Aberdeen, says his former Kristiansund boss Amund Skiri. (Record), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

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The Duk hunt is over and Aberdeen's AWOL striker has returned to the fold.

But which Duk shall we see? The untouchable 22-23 version, or the goalshy 23-24 remake?

The 24-year-old Cape Verde international's first season in red was fantastic. Sixteen goals in 37 league games, a telepathic partnership struck with Bojan Miovski, and a big-money move on the cards. All was rosy in the garden.

The next campaign was a struggle. Aberdeen toiled under Barry Robson and Duk managed just four goals in 34 league appearances. Was it time to move on? The striker seemingly thought so.

Duk failed to report for pre-season as he attempted to engineer a move away. However, he has now returned to first-team training, cap in hand, with an apology that Jimmy Thelin has seemingly accepted.

Can Duk can recapture his best form as he looks to build bridges with the support?

"Because of the circumstances, you'll see a Duk who's even hungrier now, and a guy really eager to make up for his behaviour and what's happened," said the Sunday Mail's chief football writer Scott McDermott.

"I quite like the way Jimmy Thelin has handled this situation. He's dealt with it, he's dished out the punishment right away, showing real leadership and authority, but he's also shown that willingness to forgive.

"Duk's got players ahead of him now - Kevin Nisbet, Topi Keskinen. He's got a battle on his hands to get back in but the fact the manager is willing to let him do that suggests to me that Duk is going to come back.

"If that happens then it could be a real asset for Aberdeen again."

• Scott McDermott was speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast which is available here on BBC Sounds.

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin has confirmed the club are already looking for ways to strengthen his squad further in the January transfer window. (Press and Journal, subscription required), external

Former Aberdeen striker Duncan Shearer would be surprised to see Duk play for the club again, after the Cape Verde forward failed to secure a move away from Pittodrie. (Press and Journal, subscription required), external

Read all of Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

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Topi Keskinen made his debut for Finland as they were beaten 3-0 by Greece in their Nations League qualifier.

The Aberdeen winger was named on the bench for Saturday night's match and replaced Oliver Antman for the final half hour of the defeat.

The 21-year-old has featured 10 times at youth level for Finland and has scored three goals in those outings.

Winger Topi Keskinen, 21, is praised by Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin for embracing the manager's philosophy so quickly. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

HJK Helsinki coach Toni Korkeakunnas believes his former player Keskinen will "multiply" the value of his £850,000 transfer to Aberdeen. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Sitting second in the Premiership at the international break, Aberdeen have had a hugely impressive start to the new campaign.

The Dons look a team transformed under Jimmy Thelin, who has steered the club to four league wins out of four as part of a record-breaking start to his tenure of nine successive victories.

Aberdeen are joint on points with leaders Celtic, four points clear of Dundee United, and the numbers make for fine viewing as well as the football.

According to Opta stats, Thelin's side have created 11 big chances, a tally bettered only by Celtic and Rangers.

With eight goals scored, the Dons are comfortably outperforming their xG of 5.4.

Of those eight goals, five have come from open play and the remaining three from corners - a set-piece prowess that is a league high.

The new man in the dugout is finding joy from stability too. Thelin has made just two starting XI changes this season, the lowest in the league, and has only used 19 players.

From that the Pittodrie side have had five different goalscorers. Jamie McGrath is top of the goals and assist charts with five goal contributions in four games. The Irishman has also created the most chances in the league with 17, with Lennon Miller of Motherwell the closest to him on 11.

Papa Gueye's three goals have him joint top scorer with Celtic's Callum McGregor and Cyriel Dessers of Rangers.

There's plenty of cause for optimism in the north east with the numbers showing a creative, attacking team that can score goals and create chances.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin expects midfielder Leighton Clarkson, 22, to be back in training following the international break. (Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

BBC Sport Scotland chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions.

Jack asked: Do the early signs with Jimmy Thelin at Aberdeen suggest more Scottish clubs should look further afield than the typical candidates when appointing a new manager?

Tom answered: Hi Jack. Well, I'm not sure Nick Montgomery, Lee Johnson and Shaun Maloney could have been described as the usual candidates, or Daniel Stendel at Hearts, or Philippe Clement at Rangers and Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.

Clubs have looked outside the box when considering managers, with limited success. You could argue Derek McIness was a 'usual candidate' at Killie, but he's done a terrific job. The same with Stephen Robinson at St Mirren and, perhaps, Tony Docherty at Dundee.

Every club tries to get the best guy they can afford. Aberdeen had the budget to get Thelin after that horrific misstep with the clownish Neil Warnock. Good on them. It's early days, but I think he's going to work out very nicely. A familiar candidate from home or an unfamiliar candidate from abroad - there's no surefire way of doing it. Thelin looks exciting, though.

Garry asked: Have Aberdeen turned the corner or is this a false 'don' due to kind fixtures?

Tom answered: In my view, it's neither, Garry. It's too early to say, one way or another. Willie Miller playfully chided me on radio last weekend for not jumping aboard the Aberdeen bandwagon. He called it a "juggernaut". It was good fun, as ever, with The Legend.

It's nine wins in a row for the Dons, which is excellent and they have the kind of momentum at the start of this season that they haven't had in what seems like an age. But they've beaten Queen of the South, East Kilbride, Airdrieonians, Dumbarton, St Johnstone, St Mirren, Queen's Park, Killie and Ross County.

Winning against St Mirren and Killie shows that they are definitely on the right track under Thelin. I'll keep the pom-poms in the cupboard for now. They have tough games coming up and we'll know more about them after that run of fixtures.

So far, so good, though. It must feel pretty damn good to be an Aberdeen supporter right now. Thelin is an impressive character. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does in the months ahead.

BBC Sport Scotland chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions.

Scott asked: Quite simply, can Aberdeen split the Old Firm this year?

Tom answered: Hi Scott. Can they? Yes, anything is possible. Will they? No. The Dons are doing well under Jimmy Thelin, but it's way too early to be getting carried away. Tough games are coming up, so let's see how they navigate them before making any big calls.

Since 2017-18 when they last split the Old Firm, Aberdeen finished 11 points behind Rangers and were then 22 points, 21 points, 48 points, 35 points and 37 points behind the team in second place (Rangers, apart from one season, when it was Celtic).

If they pull it off, it would be an astonishing outcome. A strong third is their target, I'd imagine. That looks realistic, but again, the season is still in its infancy.

Andy asked: Tom, do you think that Conor Barron moving to Ibrox improved his international prospects?

Tom answered: Ah, I was wondering if this was going to come up, Andy. Remember, Barron wasn't in Steve Clarke’s original squad, so the fact he was playing for Rangers didn't count for anything at that point.

Callum McGregor, Lewis Ferguson, Ryan Jack and Stuart Armstrong are all missing right now - McGregor retired, obviously - so there was a gap and Clarke wanted a defensive-minded midfielder to fill it. He wasn't blessed with options.

Get your questions ready.

Tom English, BBC Sport Scotland's chief sportswriter, is in the hotseat and ready to offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Four games into the Premiership campaign, what would you like to ask?

Put your questions to our man here, external.

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

On the final day of last season's Premiership, I watched Dimitar Mitov produce a wonderful penalty save to deny Motherwell's Theo Bair as the Bulgarian helped ensure St Johnstone would be playing top-flight football this term.

Saints led 1-0 at the time, so it was a crucial intervention from the Perth club's undisputed player of the year. They would go on to win 2-1, avoiding the relegation play-off by a whisker.

Mitov was at it again for his new club as Aberdeen left it late to continue Jimmy Thelin's dream start to life in the Pittodrie hotseat. He dived the same way and this save was even better than the one he produced at Fir Park.

I have highlighted a new Aberdeen signing every week this term so far and it is Mitov and Kevin Nisbet's turn this week as both produced moments of magic to maintain the Dons' 100% start.

Despite it only being early September, Mitov could prove to be one of the signings of the window. He has only conceded three goals so far and one of those was an own goal he could do nothing about.

At 27, he is a relative youngster when it comes to the goalkeeping position and his role in Aberdeen’s record-breaking start to the season cannot go unnoticed.

As for Nisbet, he demonstrated why he will be another good signing. Relatively quiet until the 99th minute, his calm finish turned one point into three and it was a reminder of what he can do when given a chance as he looks to reignite his Scotland career.

The Dons have won their nine matches in all competition this season, a feat not achieved since the greatest year in the club’s history, 1983. The longest winning run stands at 15, which was achieved under Eddie Turnbull in 1970-71, and should this team get near that figure they will make people stand up and take notice.

Thelin has presided over four wins in August and for context, it took Aberdeen until December to rack up four victories. They are five points clear of Rangers and 11 ahead of Hearts already.

The Swede can take stock during the international break of what is threatening to be a very fine season down at Pittodrie.