Connor Ronan has admitted the full weight of Aberdeen's expectations only became clear after he pulled on the red jersey, despite being warned before his arrival. The Irishman believes the Dons' 15 summer signings are now coming together under Stephen Robinson and can deliver the success the Red Army crave.
Pressure of playing for a big club
"Yes, I think everyone speaks about it before you come in and everyone speaks about it when you get in the door. And you feel it a little bit in pre-season," Ronan said. "But I would say it has been a little bit of a surprise since the league games have started and I think obviously us not starting exactly the way we wanted to start.
"We get the win in the first game and it gives us a little bit of confidence. But the run we went on after that and the pressure that comes with that maybe was a little bit of a surprise."
The 28-year-old added: "But that's what comes with playing for big football clubs, right? We all dream of playing at the top, top level and we all dream of playing in front of big crowds and fans that it means a lot to. That kind of comes with the territory, I suppose. When things are going well, you feel the highest highs and the lowest lows and I suppose that's all part and parcel of playing for a big football club."
Turning the corner
Ronan admitted it had been a tough opening spell in the Premiership. "It's hard to relax in a sense when the games are obviously coming thick and fast," he said. "But I think it does give us that freedom to maybe express ourselves a little bit more. Sometimes in the past few weeks, the way we've played, we've played like there's pressure on us and there's that expectation.
"Obviously, as professional footballers, we've got to be able to deal with that. But it does affect you sometimes, even though you might not admit that it does. I think getting two wins on the bounce now the energy around the place is higher, everyone's happy. Hopefully that will show on the pitch in terms of the way we play and the confidence we can show."
A couple of weekends ago, the Dons were booed off the park after a goalless draw at home to Kilmarnock. Since then they have been clapped off after 10 men progressed to the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals with a penalty shootout win over Kilmarnock and then followed that up with a four-goal thumping of Motherwell on Tuesday night - their first away win in the league this year.
A massive week ahead
Aberdeen hit the road again today and aim to make it the perfect hat-trick with a win away to manager-less Hibs. The midfielder called it "a massive week" and said: "I know we speak a lot about kind of keeping the belief in what we're doing while the results aren't going the right way.
"It's not easy when the results aren't going the right way to kind of keep plucking away and keep trying to do the same things. You need results to go your way at some point to kind of see the proof in that. So I think these last two games have been kind of confirmation, if you like, of what we're doing is working and it's a process that's going to take some time.
"And we speak a lot about all the new players coming in, but it gets to a point where we have to start getting results and performing on the pitch. You can't use that forever. So I feel like this week is almost maybe a kickstart to our season and something that we can look to build on."
The former Colorado Rapids star, along with Gavin Molloy and Ayoub Mouloua, all got their first goals for Aberdeen at Fir Park. Ronan is now looking to add more goals and assists. "I think you can't build confidence any better than going away and winning 4-0," he added.
"I know we can look back on it and say it would have been nice to have a little bit more of the ball and have a little bit more control in possession. But at the same time, you're going away to a team where that's kind of their speciality and that's what they want to do. So I think the more we can frustrate those kind of teams and kind of limit their chances, they start to make the mistakes and that's when we can capitalise on that. I thought it was kind of the perfect away performance in that sense."
Robinson's track record
Ronan worked under Robinson before at St Mirren and was in no doubt his boss would get it right in the Granite City. He said: "Yeah, and I think we all know the manager's track record and he's been pretty successful at all the clubs he's been at.
"And this is obviously a big football club with a lot of pressure and it's not easy and maybe you don't get the luxury of as much time as you would get at some places. It has to click that little bit quicker. So I suppose there's a little bit of a relief in a sense as well because everyone in the building believes in what we're doing and we know that it's going to click at some point.
"But if you can start picking up results, I suppose that kind of confirms that what you're doing is working and hopefully we can build on that this weekend."
Aberdeen are without Kristers Tobers and Emmanuel Gyamfi and also have a doubt over Lewis Mayo.
