Aberdeen

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Aberdeen have completed the signing of winger Nicolas Milanovic for an undisclosed fee from Western Sydney Wanderers, but what can the Dons expect from their newest addition?

Described by Wanderers as a "standout performer" with "incredible talents" who has left a lasting legacy at the club, they also add that Milanovic leaves for a "club-record transfer fee".

They say Milanovic "fulfilled his childhood dream of representing the Red & Black but has also left a lasting mark on the club". Dons fans will be hoping he leaves a similarly indelible impression at Pittodrie, given the sizable transfer fee.

The 23-year-old has scored 12 goals and provided six assists from 25 league matches this season for the side who finished fourth in the A-League

He's racked up a fair few individual accolades too in the past two and a half seasons with the club.

Milanovic has been the Wanderers top scorer and has won Wanderers Medal for player of the year, media player of the year, and members player of the year.

He ranks third in the A-League standings for goals and assists this season with 18 and also ranks well for shots per game and big chances created across the campaign.

He has a growing international pedigree too, as he is part of former Rangers defender Tony Vidmar's Australia Under-23 side.

Given his clear eye for goal, Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin could use him in a more central role with Kevin Nisbet due to return to parent club Millwall at the end of the season.

Watch highlights as Aberdeen lose 5-1 against Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

Available to UK users only.

We asked for your views on Aberdeen's 5-1 Premiership defeat by Celtic on Wednesday.

Here's what some of you said:

Kieran: An embarrassing and pathetic performance, all five goals should have been avoided. The defence is terrible, all I can say about the final in a positive manner is you never know.

Martin: Embarrassing again, to lose nine goals in two games is pathetic, can't defend for peanuts. Defeat against Dundee United is unthinkable, absolutely no chance in the final when Celtic play their big guns, I'll still be at both games but don't know why I bother.

Peter: Jimmy Thelin needs to move a lot of players on this summer. To be humbled by the Old Firm by four goals is poor. We need to be more stubborn. Less soft. Too many of the players don't deserve to wear the red jersey.

Layton: We played alright in the first half but then for the first five minutes of the second half we were playing excellent until something happened, then it turned into shambles. I think we could have prevented three goals and lost 2-1. Our defence was nowhere to be seen. We need a win at United.

Donald: We were very weak in midfield on Sunday and weren't any better against Celtic's reserves on Wednesday. Thelin is losing credit by the match. The final could be a cricket score at this rate!

Nick: Pathetic, abject, spineless. Any one of these words can be used to describe the last three games. Players and coaching staff need to seriously look at themselves and ask why the performances seem to peak and then dive off a cliff. Lucky for Cormack the Scottish cup final tickets were sold before the last three games or he would be digging into his pocket again. Fans deserve a response for the last league game. If not, the question needs asking if Thelin is the right man for next season.

Image source, SNS

Former Scotland defender Maurice Ross has criticised the nature of Aberdeen's heavy Premiership defeat by Celtic on Wednesday.

The Dons were beaten 5-1 at Pittodrie against a Celtic side who had made eight changes in order to give fringe players an opportunity and rest key names before the sides meet again in the Scottish Cup final later this month.

Another former Scotland international in Kris Boyd called Jimmy Thelin's side "spineless" on Sky Sports. Ross didn't disagree with that assessment and says he would be shocked if Aberdeen were to lift the Scottish Cup this season.

"I can understand why he said it," Ross told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Celtic can be on fire and pick you off, it's how you go about your business against a Celtic team playing training ground football and it's still 5-1.

"Was there anybody getting a wee bit naughty? Did they accept it? I don't see Aberdeen laying a glove on Celtic in the cup final.

"It will be a party atmosphere at Hampden and Celtic are cruising at the moment. I don't see anything other than a Celtic win."

Image source, SNS

• Adam Idah has scored in each of his last 4 games in the Premiership (5 goals), his longest scoring streak in the competition.

• Kevin Nisbet has scored 11 goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), more than any other Aberdeen player.

• Celtic have scored in 34 of their 37 games, more often than any other team in the Premiership this season.

• Celtic have scored in each of their last 5 games in the Premiership, scoring 19 goals in that run.

• Adam Idah has contributed to goals in his last 4 games in the Premiership (5 goals, 0 assists).

Aberdeen fans, were you at Pittodrie for your side's heavy defeat by Celtic or were you following along from home?

Either way, we want your thoughts.

Have your say on the result and performance.

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Jimmy Thelin shrugged off questions surrounding Aberdeen's mentality following their collapse at Ibrox on Sunday, but they shipped goals with alarming ease once more against Celtic.

Maik Nawrocki was being marked by Topi Keskinen for the opener, a complete mismatch by anyone's reckoning, and James Forrest was allowed to drift into the box far too easily for the second.

Luke McCowan was left in acres of space for the third and Adam Idah had the simplest of tasks to tap in the fifth and final goal.

There was a lack of shape, a lack of bite and a lack of bodies thrown on the line.

Aberdeen have now shipped 19 goals in five matches against Celtic this season. That trend simply cannot continue if they are to compete in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "We know that we can lose games sometimes, but at home, five goals against you is difficult to accept.

"We have an important game on Saturday and if we can win that, we finish fourth in the league and have a good European challenge in front of us.

"Celtic were really sharp. It's my job to support the players so we can be stronger in these moments. We have to do better in these type of games.

"We didn't really have the quality today to hurt them and we couldn't stop their chances.

"When we go to the final, anything can happen. We have to recover quick now."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Jimmy Thelin doesn't have much time to conduct an Ibrox post-mortem as Aberdeen's league season threatens to self-destruct at the business end of the campaign.

Sunday's damaging 4-0 defeat to a Rangers side that had scored just two goals in three months at home prior to the second-half blitz against the Dons has left the Pittodrie manager searching for answers to the latest chapter of their Glasgow inferiority complex.

The match meant a lot more in terms of league position to the visitors but it didn't look like it.

Yes, had Topi Keskinen's effort that hit the post gone in, it could have been a different story, but with Rangers toiling and on a record-breaking run of games at Ibrox without a win amid thousands of empty seats, it was as good an opportunity to triumph there as you will get.

Thelin's side has a worrying knack of collapsing. The League Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic is the most spectacular example and there's also the damaging draw at Hibernian in November, the 4-0 reverse at Kilmarnock, the 3-0 home loss to St Mirren, the 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park and now this.

That is now just six wins in their past 110 away league matches at Rangers and Celtic combined and you could forgive the Aberdeen supporters for looking at next week's Scottish Cup final against treble-chasing Celtic, back in Glasgow, with a degree of trepidation.

The showpiece will remain on the backburner for a few more days. There are two league games left for the Dons starting with a dress rehearsal for the tie at Hampden as Celtic travel north this evening with their hopes of finishing in the top three hanging by a thread.

As mentioned here last week, securing at least fourth has to be the aim. It may be it's a straight shootout for that at Tannadice on Saturday against Dundee United depending on Wednesday's results as sixth-placed St Mirren are, all of a sudden, very interested in the European positions.

The Paisley side go to Celtic Park on the final day so it's odds against they will catch Aberdeen, but the risk of missing out on Europe altogether lingers thanks to the post-split form of Stephen Robinson's team and back-to-back defeats for the Dons.

This rollercoaster season Aberdeen have been embroiled in can still be a special one for the club, but their Ibrox pain will have to serve as a final warning.

Image source, SNS

• Aberdeen are winless in their past 29 meetings with Celtic in all competitions (D6 L23) since a 1-0 league win in May 2018.

• Celtic are unbeaten in 16 visits to Aberdeen (all in the league), winning 13 and drawing three since a 2-1 defeat in February 2016.

• Aberdeen have won their final home league game in four of the past six seasons (D1 L1 – including curtailed 2019-20 season), including both of their past two. They last achieved this three seasons in a row from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

• Celtic have only won their final away league game in one of the past six seasons (D3 L2 – including curtailed 2019-20 season), although that was a 5-0 victory at Kilmarnock last term.

• In his managerial career, Celtic's Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed 13 league wins against Aberdeen – his joint-most against a single opponent, along with Dundee and Hearts.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen defenders Alexander Jensen and Kristers Tobers are available again. Ester Sokler (leg), Sivert Heltne Nilsen (eye) and Vicente Besuijen (knee) remain out.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers promised a reshuffle and Alistair Johnston returns from a hip problem. Daizen Maeda will stay behind for treatment on a niggle.

Kasper Schmeichel drops out to assess his shoulder's reaction to his comeback, but Cameron Carter-Vickers and Dane Murray remain out.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin insists he has no worries about his squad's mentality despite a disappointing collapse against Rangers on Sunday.

The Dons lost 4-0 at Ibrox having been level on 54 minutes, against a Rangers side who had failed to win in their previous seven home matches.

The manner of the performance was somewhat alarming too, with goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov forced to make seven saves in addition to the four concessions.

Aberdeen face champions Celtic in the league on Wednesday, a preview of the Scottish Cup final later this month, but Thelin sees no cause for panic.

"It happens sometimes," he said. "You have some games away this season when we have a goal or two against us, we lose the identity a little bit.

"Sometimes the ambition in the player - they want to get back in the game and they take too many individual decisions.

"It was a difficult game against Rangers, but it was still 0-0 and then they score one goal quite easy. After that, come back to basics and try to stay in the game. Don't just disappear. We were quite open as a team.

"Does it happen every game? No. So I'm not concerned at all.

"Me, the staff and the players are together. We have a capacity to do really good games and my belief is that we will do it tomorrow."

Image source, SNS

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

Here are the best bits from his news conference:

• Thelin says his side have "ideas" on what to do when they go behind in a game and they failed to do that in Sunday's 4-0 loss to Rangers.

• He adds his side need to "move on" and focus on how to get a result against Celtic.

• When asked about how his team can recover from a damaging Sunday afternoon, the Swede says he believes tomorrow will be "really good" when it comes to performance and there has been lots of "energy and focus" since the weekend.

• Thelin insists mentality is not an issue in his players, and when pushed said: "Does it happen every game? No. I am not concerned at all."

• Before a big week and a half for the Dons, Thelin reflected on the up and down season Aberdeen have had, saying: "Seasons can be like this sometimes. And we can still achieve something this year."

• Ester Sokler and Sivert Nilsen will miss the game, and changes may be made to the squad to give players a "rest".

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

Abject, abysmal, deflating. Three words to sum up Aberdeen at Ibrox.

We have thrown away third place with barely a whimper and, what's more concerning, done it without a fight after hauling Hibs back in briefly.

The lack of fight and belief coursing through this team right now is a serious red flag, especially the attitude when we go a goal behind.

Fans have a voice. We will voice our displeasure. I don't want to hear from the manager and players this week that wrongs will be righted.

Cross the white line and show us. It's time to do your talking on the pitch in our final three games.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie rejects the notion the Dons were distracted by their upcoming Scottish Cup final appearance against Celtic as they lost 4-0 away to Rangers on Sunday. (Record), external

Shinnie says lessons need to be learned following Aberdeen's second-half collapse at Ibrox. (Press and Journal - subscription required), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

We asked for your views on Aberdeen's heavy defeat at Rangers.

Here's what some of you said:

Stuart: First half we were okay, second half we completely lost it as we were completely overrun. Need to get a result on Wednesday.

Alastair: The same old story of Aberdeen struggling to get a decent result in Glasgow. Add to that a defensive collapse, along with the now almost customary loss of a goal in added time. If all that wasn't enough we have 'Softly, Softly Jimmy Thelin' churning out the same excuses and promises of it being better in the future. I'm afraid it seems to me that we have made yet another error in choice of manager, but I doubt the club are ready to admit that yet. Surely only a matter of time before supporters become disillusioned with what's on offer.

Jimibub: Well there goes third. And I am glad I don't have a final ticket, as I would not want to spend a small fortune to travel to Glasgow and stay there two nights for a guaranteed big loss. That second half was the worst performance I have seen since Mark McGhee was in charge. Shame on the players, and shame on Thelin for not stopping the flood. I don't know what it would have taken, perhaps actually shouting at the players for once, but I don't need to know - I don't get a huge salary to figure that out. You would never have known Aberdeen were the side with something to play for while Rangers were in a dead rubber.

Garry: Absolute capitulation and an abomination of tactical set-up. What more can we do not to be convinced that Thelin has no clue what he's doing? Not all his fault either when you consider the players' performances. Heading into Wednesday against Celtic we've no chance and I really think the dressing room has gone. You can't tell me they're all desperately fighting for their places for the cup final. Lord help us. I can't wait for the team line-up and to see who has impressed the manager this week. Awful. I'm so glad Peter Leven remains at the club. I'd give him the job and trust him to deliver.

John: Simply not good enough, nor any pride wearing the shirt. Simply not fit to wear the once proud shirt of Aberdeen. Time to offload a lot of these amateurs. A cup final hammering awaits. God help us. Don't believe the manager is up to the task either. It's time to put the club up for sale, new direction required and a Scottish manager.

Watch the best of Rangers' four-goal Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen as interim boss Barry Ferguson secures his first Ibrox victory in charge.

Available in UK only

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin revealed he had extended clear-the-air talks with his players in the Ibrox dressing room after the humiliating second-half collapse. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

A second-half pasting at Ibrox stalled Aberdeen's charge for third place in the Scottish Premiership.

After the 4-0 defeat, the Dons must realistically take something from Wednesday's visit of Celtic if they're to catch Hibernian.

There's also the small matter of the Scottish Cup final on 24 May against Brendan Rodgers' champions.

Reds fans, how concerned were you by Sunday's defeat? Has that second-half lapse influenced who you want to start in midweek, or indeed play the showpiece match itself at Hampden?

Have your say using this link.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin tells BBC Scotland: "We have to show more of ourselves.

"The first half we were quite good defensively but did not have so many threats. The second half we started better and created some chances. After their first goal we stopped doing things as a team.

"Sometimes we have to be smarter in how we play the game, we gave them chances in transition, opened the block and chased players individually and the game was out of our hands.

"The organisation went down. We were defending one against one, open spaces all over the central areas. We were leaving space everywhere and not defending in a block. You drain yourself as an individual and a team if you don't defend better.

"We have to manage games better in these important games. The standard performance-wise was not good enough. We have to find a way to turn this around.

"We can't hide, we have to show up, do it again and do it better."