In November, Aberdeen fans dared to dream of a title tilt. Jimmy Thelin’s unbeaten side have won 10 of their first 11 league games and sit joint top of the Scottish Premiership table.

However, the dream quickly turned into a nightmare. The Dons have not won a game since their 4-1 win over Dundee. Seven defeats in the past 10 games have seen the club drop to fourth place, 22 points behind Celtic.

Every fan, and Thelin himself, would have expected a bump or two at some stage, but no one expected results to drop off so dramatically – so what went wrong at Pittodrie?

Sunday, January 12, 2:30 p.m.

Starts at 3:00 pm

One of them: Injury troubles, defensive issues or a lack of goals would be an issue for most teams – but Towns appears to be experiencing all three, leaving Terling with a “problem” to solve .

Thelin: We have to improve

Even though Dons destroyed everything in their path, they still failed to keep a clean sheet. Only three teams took the field during that undefeated league run, and they haven’t been seen since.

With once-top scorer Papu Gay out injured, regular goalscoring by Jamie McGrath, Kevin Nisbet, Topi Keskinen and others has also stopped – and these defensive issues have been highlighted. Coming out, the lack of forwards also highlights this. .

Aberdeen, who sold prolific striker Bojan Miowski for £6.8m in the summer, have had more possession of the ball in their last 10 games than in the previous 10 but created fewer clear-cut chances Fewer, fewer goals, and no games won.

On top of that, he has some serious injuries to deal with. Gavin Molloy, Vincent Besuyen, Esther Sokler and Dimitar Mitov all joined Gueye on the sidelines.

However, Thelin, who has been in charge for six months, refuses to panic despite their poor form.

“This is football and sometimes we need to fix things – in the team, in our games, in our performances,” he told us sky sports news Ahead of Sunday’s game against Hearts, sky sports live.

“We have to improve. Even if we win games we see things that we have to improve on in the long term to be a stable, consistent team that can compete for a European spot.

“Then we had some injuries but I still think we have a good team and that will give opportunities to other players as well.

“I didn’t expect 11 games without losing, and I didn’t expect 10 games without winning, so we have to find that balance, try to get better, continue to believe in what we’re doing and don’t lose sight of the long term.

“You need to work on hiding your weaknesses and showing your strengths more. As a team and as a collective, we have some areas to improve.”

January signing to strengthen squad?

Thelin was quickly joined by wingers Jeppe Oakers and Christos Tobers in the January transfer window, with more players likely to follow.

“You always have the ambition to improve the team,” he added. “That can happen through training. Time will help players develop better.

“Sometimes you need recruiting to find the right talent, so I think it’s a never-ending story. You always have to try to get better every week in practice, but also build a long-term team through recruiting.

“Of course, I’ve known Oakes from the past. He’s a good winger with the ability to run a lot and get in behind the defence. Tobers has great leadership qualities and is very good on the ball, but he can also Help other players grow.”

What’s the view like from the stands?

talking sky sportsAberdeen fan Gary Scott from the ABZ Football Podcast said:

“What you’re seeing now is a team that lacks confidence and belief and it shows in the performance and the results.

“The results we saw at the start of the season masked glaring flaws in the squad and the squad.

“We still conceded some silly goals during the early-season win streak but that was glossed over because we were winning. It’s natural to get caught up in the noise but now the goals have dried up too ”

“It comes down to narrow margins in games. In these 10 games we were ahead in some games but failed to convert and then there were periods where the opponents controlled the game and they made us pay.

“We don’t take risks and still commit stupid goals. No matter what anyone says, from second to 12th, this league is competitive and if you don’t take risks you don’t get points.

“I think Thelin always knew how much of a challenge he faced when he came into the club in the summer. If nothing else, the last 10 games have taught him that. He will know who the role is and have the skills to deal with it. Mindset He will now know who will embark on the journey we have all heard about.

“Looking at the bigger picture, at the start of the season I would take comfortably finishing in the top six as a sign of progress. As things stand, every fan will be fine with third place and the Scottish Cup coming up.

“When it opens up for you it becomes embarrassing. Rangers looked like they wanted to give away the second spot but we shot ourselves in the foot. However, if given in the summer We’ll take this opportunity and hopefully we can get back to winning ways and continue to improve the team in January.”