Well-stocked Aberdeen are in bother: no panic button, Jeppe Okkels moment, Jimmy Thelin's credit limit

It might seem an odd question to ask in late September, but you have to go back to May 17 for the last time a Dons player found the net against a Premiership side.

Jeppe Okkels had an underwhelming loan spell at Pittodrie and his only goal for Aberdeen came on the final day of the 2024/25 Premiership season, opening the scoring against Dundee United at Tannadice. It was in vain - the visitors ended up losing 2-1.

Seven days later, Aberdeen were celebrating one of Scottish football's more unlikely triumphs - winning the Scottish Cup against Celtic on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Hampden. A goal against the champions, you say? That Okkels trivia is incorrect! Sadly not - it was Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel who put through his own net.

Oh how Aberdeen and their increasingly embattled manager Jimmy Thelin would like some assistance from opponents right now. On Saturday they limply left the Premier Sports Cup after a 1-0 defeat by Motherwell. In four league matches so far, they have not scored a goal and only gleaned one point after a goalless draw with Livingston.

The only win this season came against Morton - 3-0 - earlier on in the cup. A 2-2 draw against ten-man FCSB of Romania in the Europa League play-off round was followed up by a 3-0 defeat back in Bucharest to condemn the Dons to Conference League football. In their last 31 Premiership matches, Aberdeen have only won five of them.

Is Thelin testing his immortality status?

But amidst such a galling run of form is one of the greatest moments in Aberdeen's history: that Scottish Cup victory over Celtic, ending a 35-year wait for the trophy. It was a triumph that made Thelin immortal in the eyes of many Dons fans. Yet four months on, that status is being tested.

Disgruntlement and concern are starting to seep out of the Aberdeen support. While losing to a revved-up Hearts at Tynecastle and then Celtic at home were deemed palatable enough results at the beginning of the season, losing to Falkirk and Motherwell and drawing with Livingston - all at Pittodrie - are not. Especially when no goals are scored in the process.

Thelin's tenure at Aberdeen has a curious look to it. The 47-year-old arrived from Elfsborg in the summer of 2024 and won his first 13 competitive matches. They were joint top of the league until the end of November, keeping up a ferocious pace with Celtic. But like the enthusiastic horse that shoots off at the start of the steeplechase, the Dons quickly ran out of gas. Aberdeen have not been the same since conceding a 96th-minute goal to Hibs' Rocky Bushiri in a wacky 3-3 draw on November 26.

Aberdeen have been quick to dispense of previous managers Derek McInnes, Stephen Glass and Barry Robson under current chairman Dave Cormack when the going has got tough. This time feels a little different. The Pittodrie hierarchy are invested in Thelin, speaking of a three-year project when he arrived and then reinforcing their belief in him after winning the Scottish Cup. The biggest threat appeared to be of the Swede being poached, not hounded out from within.

We're not at that stage yet, but Aberdeen fans are getting restless. How much credit in the bank does winning the holy grail buy you? Perhaps that's what they and Thelin have been asking AI over the past few days.

Thelin has been backed significantly by the Aberdeen board since arriving in the north east. Transfer deadline day earlier this month was a good example of that, with Scotland internationalists Kevin Nisbet and Stuart Armstrong coming in as well as Swedish winger Jesper Karlsson on loan from Bologna, who some say is the signing of the summer given he commanded a £10 million transfer fee not so long ago.

Aberdeen’s squad is full of quality

Look at Aberdeen's squad and it is littered with internationalists and players the envy of many clubs. Their forward line, on paper, is very strong: international wingers in Nicolas Milanovic, Topi Keskinen and Karlsson, former PSG youth Adil Aouchiche and up front, Nisbet and recent signing from AC Milan Marko Lazetic. Even Kusini Yengi, who has started his Aberdeen career poorly, is a full Socceroo.

Yengi is the only one of those forward players to have scored this season. Another striker in Ester Sokler was farmed out to Radnicki 1923 in Slovenia, where he has bagged two goals in his past two matches.

Net gains aren't the only issue either. Behind the forward line, the midfield lacks ballast and defensively they are struggling for clean sheets. Veteran duo Graeme Shinnie and Sivert Nilson are the only two bona-fide DMs in the squad. Thelin flits between them, Armstrong, Ante Palaversa, Leighton Clarkson and Dante Polvara as he tries to find his best combination. The lack of starts for Polvara, an energetic and physical midfielder, irks the fans.

Aberdeen look like a team in a bit of bother. After the Motherwell defeat, there were clear-the-air talks in the dressingroom. Thelin knows that results need to improve.

There is no inkling of panic within the corridors of power. Memories of May still live fresh at Pittodrie. Cormack and his fellow directors are loathe to make changes when so much has been put into the Thelin project. But this malaise has been going on for the majority of 2025, with no real sign of a cure.

Tuesday night's trip to Dundee United, the scene of their last league goal but also two defeats last term, feels like a pivotal moment. A win could kick-start the season, a defeat would pose further questions. After writing such an incredible chapter in Aberdeen's history, Thelin wants to avoid the next one having a tragic conclusion.