Aberdeen finally lost their first league game of the season after such an impressive start.
The Dons lost on the road to St Mirren to hand Celtic the initiative in the title race, the champions moving two points clear thanks to victory over Hearts.
It had been 11 unbeaten in the Premiership for Thelin’s men as he took to Scottish football like a house on fire after making the move from Elfsborg in Sweden.
That the only previous blemish was an away draw at Celtic made their run even more impressive but they now must look to react to this first setback.
Thelin on Aberdeen defeat to St Mirren
St Mirren had taken a deserved lead in the first half after starting by far the better team, Toyosi Olusanya getting the better of Slobodan Rubezic and Gavin Molloy to slot home.
Aberdeen got themselves back into it through a Jamie McGrath equaliser but Richard Taylor rose highest from a late set-piece to keep the points in Paisley.
Thelin always kept a level head when his side were romping all before them so by the same token he is not going to have a knee-jerk reaction to a defeat.
But he does admit there are points he can coach into the players to make them better.
The Swede said post-match: “I don’t want to over-analyse because I also know we have done really good things this season. I’m not going to feel like everything is bad right now because we lose one game.
“But, of course, some parts we have to do better in the future and that’s important for us. How we prove our identity on the pitch.
“The most important thing is what’s happening in the next game and how we learn from this game. I know how good they are, how they train, how many times they have saved us.
“Also the timing of the (St Mirren) header. I don’t want to blame anyone. It’s football and it happens. Sometimes also the opponents are good in some parts and you try to prevent it, but sometimes you can’t. It’s football and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”
Thelin on Aberdeen’s slow start
Aberdeen didn’t start the match at the SMISA Stadium at all well as the home side swarmed all over them.
Asked to put his finger on why, Thelin added: “It’s not easy to say exactly why because it’s so many individuals in a team.
“But also you have an opponent and sometimes they are good.”