No doubt I will be labelled a killjoy or a party pooper for pointing this out, and in Aberdeen, perhaps some more colourful terms besides, but here goes.
It was a cult hero from Pittodrie no less, Ebbe Skovdahl, who coined the immortal line about statistics in football being like miniskirts – ‘they give you good ideas, but hide the most important things’.
It is somewhat fitting then that the run of 11 wins in a row that Jimmy Thelin has clocked up in his first 11 games as Aberdeen manager has caused some folks to lose the run of themselves. I have heard various pundits refer to the admittedly impressive start to Thelin’s reign in the northeast as ‘astonishing’ and ‘incredible’.
Not to be a buzzkill, and I wouldn’t want to throw a stick into the spokes of what some of these commentators are calling a ‘runaway juggernaut’, but is the run Aberdeen are currently on really as impressive as that headline statistic makes it sound?
With the greatest of respect, among those 11 matches were wins against six lower league opponents in Queen of the South, East Kilbride, Airdrieonians, Dumbarton, Queen’s Park and Spartans.
They beat a struggling St Johnstone side who have since dispensed with their manager 2-1 on the opening day of the Premiership campaign, before seeing off St Mirren and Kilmarnock at Pittodrie just days after both sides had played matches against strong opponents in European competition.
They defeated Ross County in Dingwall thanks to an incredible Dimitar Mitov penalty save and a 98th minute Kevin Nisbet winner, before another wonderful Mitov save at the death stopped Motherwell snatching a draw from two down at Pittodrie.
The fixture list could scarcely have been kinder to Thelin at the start of his debut campaign, but before all you Aberdeen fans allow your faces to turn as red as your famous jerseys, I am fully aware that you can only beat what is put in front of you.
The fact that Thelin has managed to do so while playing some front-footed, easy-on-the-eye football is worthy of praise and plenty of credit.
By applying that context though, I’m not sure it is time just yet to be using this sequence as grounds to believe that an Aberdeen resurgence is finally upon us, Thelin is the second coming of Sir Alex Ferguson, or that the Dons can once again dream about upsetting the Old Firm applecart.
It would be wonderful to see it, and I truly hope it happens. The game in Scotland has long needed one of the clubs outside of Glasgow to overcome the increasingly insurmountable-looking odds to challenge the big two.
We are all aware that no club outside of Celtic or Rangers have won the league title since 1985, and nobody else has even won a trophy since St Johnstone lifted the second of their cup double back in season 2020/21.
It would be a welcome breath of fresh air for a strong Aberdeen to come through and at least give the duopoly (or, what is increasingly looking like becoming a monopoly) something to think about.
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By November 2nd, we may have a better idea of whether Thelin’s men are up to that task, or if the best they can hope for is to take advantage of the ongoing shambles at Hearts and the similarly slow start by Hibs to finish best of the rest.
That is the date when they play Celtic in the semi-finals of the League Cup. They will play each of Celtic and Rangers on league duty before then, as well as having a trip to face Dundee this Saturday before hosting Hearts and Dundee United.
Coming through that lot of fixtures with their winning record intact truly would be astonishing, but even coming out of it still within touching distance to Celtic at the top of the table - and perhaps even with a statement result or two along the way - would be a far greater indication of the season they may be able to have than anything that they have achieved so far.
I’m not trying to take anything away from what Thelin has achieved. He has implemented a clear playing style, and unlike many of the other 'big' teams in the division, you can at least see what he is trying to do and what the Aberdeen identity is going to be.
At the moment though, as mean and miserly as it may sound, all they have really done is win games that they would, on paper, be expected to. I realise that hasn’t always been the case over the past few years – or more – but surely the bar hasn’t been lowered to such a degree at Pittodrie that the triumphs so far should be taken as anything more than an encouraging sign of competence in the dugout?
Over the next few weeks, the acid test will come, and either it will turn sour and the bubble will be burst, or Thelin’s Aberdeen ‘juggernaut’ will really start picking up the pace.
Forgive me, Dons fans, but what has happened up until now hasn’t quite been enough for me to go all-in on Thelin and hop aboard the bandwagon. Maybe, in around five weeks’ time, I’ll see you on there.
