Nicky Devlin delivers Aberdeen truth that only becomes clear 'when you are in the middle of it'
Jimmy Thelin and his troops have gone from the high of Scottish Cup winners to currently sitting bottom of the Premiership table
Nicky Devlin has admitted that until you pull on an Aberdeen shirt, you don’t know how massive the demands really are.
Jimmy Thelin brought in a host of signings over the summer and they found just how rigorous they can be, as the Dons struggled to score a goal or to claim a Premiership win before they put four past Dundee, prior to the international break.
Devlin went from the high of winning the Scottish Cup to a campaign where they are now sitting bottom of the Premiership.
The Scotland international said: “The truth is that I don’t think you can ever really prepare yourself for how big and demanding this club is until you are in the middle of it.
“Until you probably move up here and fully experience it and understand what happens around the city, with regard to the club on a day-to-day basis, you don’t get the full picture.
“For example, it’s very different from other places in the way that everyone who follows football in Aberdeen is very much an Aberdeen supporter.
“I’ve never been at a club where it has been like that before, where everybody supports that club.
“I’ve been at other clubs where there have been five or six clubs nearby.
“The fact that it’s kind of a one-club city, it obviously makes it a lot more intense. I don’t think you can really understand just what that’s going to be like until you are actually here.”
Devlin took to it like a duck to water when he moved from Livingston in 2023, although he will be the first to admit there have also been ups and downs along the way, from making his Scotland debut to finding himself out of Thelin’s starting XI.
For others it will take time to adapt and some struggle to cope with the Pittodrie pressure.
Devlin added: “If you go on a bad run and you can’t deal with a bit of pressure, then this is not the club to play for.
“You have to be able to deal with the pressure. “You have to be able to deal with the stress we’re under just now because of the run. I think, as I said, a lot of that comes from being in a one club city.
“So there is a lot of pressure and it is kind of intense, but I think from the fans’ point of view, that comes from the fact that they’re all Aberdeen.
“If you’re from here everyone wants the best for the club.
“It’s not lost on me that when you go and play for Aberdeen, every time you put the jersey on, you’re fulfilling thousands of people’s dreams and I do get that.
“Whether I have a good day or not, it is not for the want of trying because wearing that shirt demands that you give everything.”
It will have been an eye opener for many of Aberdeen’s new additions but Devlin has told them they need to deal with that burden of expectation because the high outweighs the lows.
He said: “It can be difficult at times for new players, but it’s just one of those things you have to be able to deal with.
“Everyone loved it this time last season when we were winning every game and at the end of the season when we won the cup.
“Everyone was happy to take the plaudits and accept all the congratulations when everything’s going well.
“But it’s when it’s not going well that’s when you need to be mentally tough and stand up, that’s when the club needs you the most, to help us get through it. “We all have to stick together and help each other out.”