Captain Graeme Shinnie has praised Peter Leven for transforming Aberdeen’s season and putting the club in the perfect place for a new era under Jimmy Thelin.
The Dons interim boss came in after the club had plunged towards the relegation zone under Neil Warnock. Aberdeen were just three points away from the relegation play-off position after Leven took charge against Dundee but since then Aberdeen are unbeaten in eight games in the Premiership and sit top of the bottom half. Leven will be looking to continue that unbeaten run in Sunday’s trip to Ross County.
Shinnie, who returned and scored in the 5-1 midweek win over Livingston, said: “It shows where we are as a team and in terms of where we have been. “Earlier on in the season when a bad decision (the Livingston penalty call) went against us we didn’t react the way we should have. “It shows we are a team full of confidence, coming off the back of an amazing run of games.
“It has been good to pull away from the bottom which we were near enough. It seems a million miles away now from where we are. “It is great for momentum going into the summer. “There is a new era coming next season. “We want one game to finish on a high and then we can go into a break, which has been long-awaited.”
It has been a season that promised so much, as the Dons went into Europe group stage football for the first time in years. The strains of trying to balance that and domestic matters ended up costing Barry Robson his job. Leven has brought stability and will continue next season as an invaluable part of Thelin’s backroom team.
Shinnie, speaking to RedTV, added: “It is one of those, what if? “Everyone knows what kind of team we are and what we can be. We haven’t been good enough in the league
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Graeme Shinnie
Neil Warnock
Barry Robson
Peter Leven