Aberdeen

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It's difficult to make a case for any caretaker manager claiming individual end-of-season awards, but Peter Leven's contribution to Aberdeen has been seismic.

Having been left with a mess to deal with after the shock departure of Neil Warnock, Leven was tasked with guiding a downbeat Dons side away from an unthinkable relegation.

In the end, he did it comfortably. He was also a penalty kick away from dumping out eventual Scottish Cup winners Celtic and progressing to the final.

In 12 games across two brief spells as caretaker boss, there has been just one defeat inside 90 minutes.

It's a stat that only emphasises the biggest 'what if?' of Aberdeen's season.

"That five-week spell Aberdeen had with Warnock at the helm summed up the season they had," BBC Scotland commentator Liam McLeod said on Wednesday's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I'm pretty sure if the board had their time again, they would have probably stuck with Leven. I'm convinced if Leven was there they would be in Europe, not bottom six."

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English, who feels Leven is a leftfield shout for manager of the year, added: "Look at the absolute train wreck that was under the previous incumbent, and everything Warnock said about Aberdeen being weak, couldn't defend this, that and the other.

"Leven, in the blink of an eye, fixed it all. They suddenly became a team that were tough, became a team that could defend, became a proud and interesting team to watch."

Jimmy Thelin has revealed what will drive him to succeed as Aberdeen manager after the 46-year-old signed off his spell in charge of Elfsborg with a 2-0 win over Halmstad. (Press & Journal), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Image source, BBC/SNS

Aberdeen ended their Scottish Premiership campaign on a high, but for much of the past 10 months, it had been a slog of a season.

With players now on their holidays and new manager Jimmy Thelin preparing to make the move from Sweden, there's time to crunch the numbers.

The Dons had plenty of frustrations last term, some of which can be found in front of goal.

Aside from a mid-season slump, the magnificent Bojan Miovski showed his immense quality. But as a whole, there were real issues with Aberdeen's shooting boots.

Only Celtic, Rangers and Hearts racked up more shots in target in the league this season. The top three in the division, so hardly surprising.

Aberdeen are next on the list, but their trigger happiness didn't translate to an impressive goal tally, ranking seventh in the division for hitting the back of the net.

Such a disparity could suggest the Pittodrie side were trying their luck from poor positions that were easily held by opposition goalkeepers.

But a glance at the expected goals figures show they scored 48 goals from a xG of 53.58, conveying that Aberdeen too often spurned big chances in a season that can only be reflected on as a disappointment for a side that stormed to third last year.

We asked whether you think Aberdeen will be able to keep hold of Bojan Miovski after another hugely impressive season from the North Macedonia striker.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Steve: Take the money now and run. We would make a healthy profit, which gives Jimmy Thelin more cash to spend on his players. We have a ready-made replacement in Ester Sokler. He showed towards the end of season he is more than capable of being the new number nine. I honestly think he and Duk would play well together.

Alan: Miovski is still contracted to Aberdeen for two years. If any clubs are even considering bidding for him, they’d better have tens of millions to spend.

Bruce: Miovski is clearly very happy at Aberdeen and is a class act, but I think he’ll go. Why else would we have started Sokler in the last two matches? He is a proven goalscorer, has a great engine and works hard for the team. Buongiorno, Serie A! €10m, per favore! It would be a massive blow for Thelin, but it would provide a great war chest for him to build his own squad.

Scott: The good thing is we don't have to sell as he's still contracted for another two seasons, so it will take a special bid for the club to part with Miovski. If he is sold then there's £8m-£10m that can be pumped back into the squad.

Peter: He’ll stay with Aberdeen unless the right club comes for him. This is likely to be outwith Scotland.

Craig: Thelin needs to break the bank to keep Miovski. There will undoubtedly be interest and big offers coming in, but to keep him for another season would be massive. He's our talisman. Sokler is an able deputy; but just that, a deputy.

Justin: I really don’t think he’ll be here next season because he’s just that good. Please don’t sell him to Rangers or Celtic though. That would be sickening.

Dougie: Sell Miovski, get a good price, buy excellent defenders, pay Connor Barron more and keep him, develop Sokler and Duk up front. New manager should build from the back, get us watertight and there are goals in the rest of the team. Oh, and keep Junior Hoilett - we need that creativity and ability to put an excellent ball into the box.

Eric: I do hope Thelin has some Swedish superstars up his sleeve. We are probably going to lose our four best players through freedom of contract or transfers and three or four others as they are simply not good enough. Much as we have some up and coming youngsters, they will take time to come through.

Andrew: It would be a blow to lose Bojan, for sure, but I don’t think anyone could blame him. He’s been here during two mostly awful seasons but through no fault of his. As long as he doesn’t go to Glasgow, he’ll go with gratitude - and with hope that the proceeds can be used wisely to implement Thelin ball.

Dean: I think keeping Hoillet is a must for Aberdeen. He has been superb since he came in. If Miovski was to stay one more year, I think Aberdeen could as at least upwards of £9-10m, but the lure of Champions League with bologna might be too good to turn down.

Allan: If we lose Bojan, and I think we will, he should go for nothing less than £10m. We let Lewis Ferguson go for £3m - then, 18 months later, he’s valued in excess of £25m. Think we would be okay with Solkar - he looks the part. I would also take a punt on signing Simon Murray from Ross County.

Donald: I think Miovski will show a lot of loyalty to Aberdeen. He’s always, so far, spoke strongly of his commitment to the Dons. It’ll certainly take a very special offer to let him go, but I’m confident he’ll be very keen himself to see what Thelin has to offer! Regardless, I would like to see Dons sign Simon Murray from Ross County - a very potent striker.

Aberdeen have opened talks with midfielder Jamie McGrath on a new contract. (Press and Journal, external)

Elfsborg fans bid an emotional farewell to manager Jimmy Thelin after he took charge of his final home game before his summer move to Aberdeen. (Scottish Sun, external)

Read the rest of Saturday's gossip here.

Aberdeen's season is over. Inevitably, the rumour mill has kicked into gear.

Do you think the Dons can fend off reported interest from several clubs around Europe and retain the services of star striker Bojan Miovski?

How big a blow would it be for new manager Jimmy Thelin to lose the North Macedonia international?

Let us know. , external

Aberdeen have Robby McCrorie - who could leave Rangers with Liam Kelly poised to return - and Brentford's Hakon Valdimarsson on their list of summer goalkeeping targets. (Daily Record)

Aberdeen have opened talks with Republic of Ireland midfielder Jamie McGrath - who has a year remaining on his existing deal - on a new contract. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Friday's gossip.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Aberdeen winger Vicente Besuijen is "in the form of his life" on loan to Emmen after scoring six goals in his past seven games as they chase promotion to the Dutch top flight. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Meanwhile, though Peter Leven is keen to become a permanent manager in the future after a spell in interim charge of Aberdeen, he is in no rush and is content to continue coaching at Pittodrie in the meantime. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

Former Celtic defender Johan Mjallby is backing fellow Swede Jimmy Thelin to revive Aberdeen's fortunes when the current Elfsborg boss takes charge at Pittodrie next month.

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

For Aberdeen fans, the highs of this season were some of the best they will have experienced in recent years. However, the lows of a frankly baffling campaign are what will be remembered.

An insipid start set the tone for a disappointing bottom-six Premiership finish. The Dons failed to win any of their first five league outings, winning just three of their opening 14. They were on the back foot from the start.

However, during that run there was a victory away to Rangers, a League Cup semi-final win over Hibernian with 10 men and there was Dante Polvara’s equaliser in Frankfurt.

The return to European group-stage football for the first time since 2007 provided a welcome distraction at the time for the supporters.

Much like the season as a whole though, what promised much, ultimately delivered little. It is still bamboozling as to why then-manager Barry Robson made a triple substitution when the team was cruising at 2-0 up with 17 minutes to play against PAOK before imploding and losing 3-2.

The League Cup final was also a big opportunity missed for the club. Against a Rangers side they had already beaten in Glasgow, and who had played an energy-sapping Europa League game in Spain less than 72 hours earlier, Aberdeen approached the game with real timidity and got what they deserved.

Robson’s post-match comments went down like a pint of warm, out-of-date milk with Aberdeen fans.

Robson left just over a month later with just six wins in 21 league matches and Peter Leven stepped in for a credible draw with Celtic where a deflection denied them a long-awaited victory over the champions.

The Neil Warnock show arrived the day after and was an ill-advised error in judgement by the board. The veteran Englishman failed to win a league game during his brief tenure though he was responsible for the arrival of Junior Hoilett.

Leven took over again, but his ship-steadying came too late to sail the club into the top six.

He did almost mastermind an unlikely Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic. Ryan Duncan’s penalty in the shoot-out might have gone differently had Kelle Roos not made him wait for several minutes as he struggled with cramp in the penalty area.

The conclusion to the season has at least ensured that new manager Jimmy Thelin will arrive with positivity in the air, and how he must hope that he will get the chance to work with the club's player of the season and top-scorer Bojan Miovski.

The North Macedonia international has two years left on his contract and it will take a huge fee to chisel him away from Pittodrie this summer.

The legacy of this campaign will be a place in the League Cup group stage in July. It will be the likes of Forfar instead of Frankfurt, and Hamilton instead of Helsinki, but those who follow the club on a weekly basis will hope that lessons have been learned and stability lies ahead.

Image source, Getty

Former Celtic defender Johan Mjallby believes his compatriot Jimmy Thelin can revive "sleeping giant" Aberdeen with a blueprint of fast and attacking football.

Swede Thelin will leave Elfsborg to take charge at Pittodrie on a three-year deal early next month.

"He’s a very modern manager," said Mjallby, who spent six years with Celtic from 1998 to 2004.

"If you go back five or six years, before the pandemic he was the next best thing coming up as a manager. Then he struggled a wee bit at Elfsborg to start with before he got them to play really quick, good attacking football.

"They nearly won the league last season, they’ve been struggling a wee bit this season but that’s maybe down to players, because like in Scotland if you have a player doing really well there will be interest elsewhere and you’ll probably lose them.

"I think it will be interesting what he’s going to do at Aberdeen, because they are like a sleeping giant struggling big time results wise.

"They are going to get a manager who is going to be quite confident he can do something with Aberdeen. If he plays the same football, Elfsborg are very dynamic, they can play short passing but they prefer to attack very quickly.

"The Aberdeen fans should look forward to see what he can offer. He’s done enough in Sweden to get this move anyway."

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Aberdeen midfielder Connor Barron has been tipped to make Steve Clarke's 26-man Scotland squad for the Euros by BBC pundit Leanne Crichton.

The 21-year-old has impressed this season and, with former Dons star Lewis Ferguson ruled out of the tournament through injury, Crichton has backed him to make the cut.

It was reported last week that Barron was under consideration, with the central midfielder dubbed a 'wildcard' selection.

The Under-21 international could be on the way out of Pittodrie, with his contract up this summer amid rumoured interest from Italy.

Barron will find out on Wednesday if he has been handed a maiden call-up to the national team when Clarke names 28 players in his initial training squad.

Read more: Who would BBC pundits have in Scotland squad?

Experienced wingers Junior Hoilett and Jonny Hayes could yet have the option to remain at Aberdeen beyond the summer, with the latter to be offered a coaching role within their academy. (Daily Record), external

Read the rest of Tuesday's Scottish gossip.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Change is coming at Aberdeen, but even from Sweden Jimmy Thelin must see Junior Hoilett as a player that must be kept for next season.

He exudes class and always looks capable of creating something meaningful.

We asked for your thoughts after Aberdeen ended the campaign with a dramatic draw in Dingwall.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Al: After a slow start we looked as though we could win the game comfortably until the penalty and sending off. Season wise we did very well in Europe and reached two cup semi-finals, however our league form has been dismal. In saying that we could have finished in the top six and have been in contention for Europe had Peter Leven been left in charge.

Niall: The Dons got past a very dowdy opening spell to dominate and looked comfortable with the lead until the red card. The game changed then and the Reds did well to hold on in the end. The post-split performances should give Jimmy Thelin plenty optimism for a core squad for next season. Leven turned our fortunes around and he deserves full credit for that.

Anon: Tough game, deserved draw.

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• Ross County have scored in their last four games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• Aberdeen have won 13 points from losing positions in the top flight this season, only Motherwell (19) and Rangers (18) have recovered more.

• Simon Murray has scored 14 goals league this season (one in this game), more than any other Ross County.

• Junior Hoilett has contributed to goals in his last three games in the Scottish Premiership (two goals, five assists).

• Ross County attempted the last six shots in this game as Aberdeen last shot was taken by Jack MacKenzie in the 59th minute.

• Jamie McGrath of Aberdeen attempted six tackles in this game, more than any other player on either team (ahead of Ross County's James Brown - four tackles).

Watch highlights as Ross County draw with Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

Available to UK users only.

Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven: "It was tough at the end but we knew Ross County had to throw everything at it. The boys showed great character and dug it out, got the point.

"I thought we were comfortable and then obviously with the red card [for Angus MacDonald] we had to change shape. I've seen the [Ester Sokler offside] goal back, that's very tight.

"I'll speak to [incoming manager Jimmy Thelin] next week, hopefully, and talk about the squad."