Jimmy Thelin: Scottish Cup glory will inspire Aberdeen for new season

Jimmy Thelin believes Aberdeen’s historic Scottish Cup final triumph will inspire everyone at the club going into next season.

The Dons beat Celtic 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw at Hampden Park in May to take the famous trophy back to the Granite City for the first time in 35 years, and in doing some guaranteed European group-stage football in 2025-26.

Speaking to Aberdeen’s website at the club’s pre-season training camp in Portugal, the manager said: “It’s always exciting to prepare for a new season, to see the players come together, the staff working together. You feel that everybody wants to improve.

“It’s not just the players, also the staff. There’s a good drive inside the camp, and to see this inspiration, especially when you think back a little bit to the cup and the celebrations in the city, all of the people in Aberdeen and outside Aberdeen who celebrated together.

“There is a lot of inspiration there and it’s nice to be back again.

“We have some new players coming into the team, and we always have to work hard and try to take as many steps as possible in a short time.

“When you’re together 24/7, it’s always good to work with the identity, the behaviours, how we treat each other, the principles of the game.

“It’s a little bit of a kick-start to pushing forward because we have four weeks now until the first league game, and then you have Europe. It’s going to be a lot of games.

“It’s important now that we are clear, what we want to achieve and how we want to play and with what style and identity on the pitch.”

Recalling the momentous Scottish Cup final win at the end of his first season in charge at Pittodrie, the 47-year-old Swede said: “The Scottish Cup win was one of the best moments of my life.

“When you see all of those happy faces, not only the players and the staff, everybody around the club; the chairman Dave Cormack, Alan Burrows, Steven Gunn, all of the people who are working around the club and sharing this together, it was one of the best moments of my life.

“When you think about it, it’s always there in a really good spirit.

“But I also know we have to keep working and improving. Now we have to look ahead and try to prepare us for a new season.

“That inspires everybody to try again. I know it’s really difficult, but we have to try and we have to believe and go and try to be the best we can be.”