Jimmy Thelin still has belief in his ability to deliver a “strong future” for Aberdeen.
It has been a rollercoaster spell in charge of the Dons for the Swede, starting better than anyone could have imagined with a 16 game unbeaten sequence in all competitions and 11 games without defeat in the league, ten of those being wins.
But since that came to and with a 2-1 defeat to St Mirren, they haven’t won since and are now 14 without a victory in the Premiership.
Thelin has tried to stay level-headed throughout it all and insisted he and his players couldn’t ‘sit down and cry’ about their struggles.
But he knows Aberdeen have a ‘culture’ of qualifying for Europe and is under no illusions around how much they need to improve to achieve that again this year.
And after a recent defeat to the Buddies, Thelin was shouldering the responsibilty for the Dons’ struggles.
The manager was earning a lot of praise at the start of the season, and understandably so.
But questions are now beginning to be asked of him and Ian McCall claimed Thelin has had an easy ride because he is not Scottish.
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Thelin plans Aberdeen showdown talks
Week after week, the Aberdeen players look shorn of any confidence or any belief that they can get themselves out of the slump.
It must have been a frustrating time for a manager but Thelin is not about to give up on trying to help his men.
And he has planned showdown talks this week.
He said: “I’m going to talk with the players this week and try to make them grow and be better.
“I’m not going to sit here and point at an individual player.
“But they know and we know that we can’t keep doing what we’re doing right now on the pitch.
“We just need to find a way to get out of this.
“You have to believe in the players you have.
“And focus on the right things to try to make them go and feel safe and perform.
“We also have to push them.”
Thelin still backs himself at Aberdeen
With a strong track record in his homeland, the 46-year-old still has belief in his own managerial abilities.
He also feels he has the backing of Pittodrie chiefs and will be allowed time to deliver a “strong future” at the club.
“I have a strong belief,” he insists.
“I speak with the chairman and with Alan (Burrows, chief executive), Steven (Gunn, director of football) and the rest of the board.
“We have a clear picture of what we want to achieve and how we want to look in the future.
“It is a long-term process from the beginning.
“Nothing has changed.
“The part that has changed is the results.
“That’s not been as well as we hoped for, but still we are in a strong position.
“Of course, we need to turn the trend around.
“We don’t use excuses and we have to be strong and keep the belief.
“Nothing has dropped in the belief and the passion we have to create a strong future for the club.
“We keep pushing for that every day.”