Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass insists he will continue to ‘pull the trigger’ on early formation switches and substitutions if needed.
The Dons boss believes there can be no self doubt or hesitation if the game-plan is not working and is ready to make bold and decisive calls to fix it.
Glass refuses to ‘sit on his hands’ and has shown already this season he will be proactive in games rather than reactive.
Swift action paid off immediately for Glass in the 2-1 Uefa Europa Conference League defeat of Breidablik at Pittodrie.
Following a flat first-half Glass refused to let that trend continue and made two substituations at the break – taking on Funso Ojo and Connor McLennan for Dylan McGeouch and Declan Gallagher.
The Dons boss also switched from a back three to four and pushed Ojo in an advanced role.
Within two minutes of his introduction the incisive call paid off as Ojo went on a superb marauding run down the left flank to set up Ryan Hedges for the opening goal.
Reward for the 5-3 aggregate defeat of the Icelanders is a play-off clash against Qarabag with the first leg in Azerbaijan on Thursday.
Glass said: “If you sit on your hands and doubt yourself and your judgement then you can find yourself in trouble.
“I don’t know if it is bold but it is something that needs to be done.
“We have to make decisions as a staff and it is me who has to pull the trigger at the end of the day.
“After the first half it needed to change.
“That was the aim in the second half to make it more interesting and aggressive and the players were fantastic.
“That is why I am here – to make decisions.”
The players understand and respond
Glass made a similar early call in the first leg in Iceland when the Dons had been pegged back from an early 2-0 lead to go into the break level.
Rather than see how things played out he made a double substitution at the break taking McLennan and Declan Gallagher on for Jonny Hayes and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
Within two minutes of his introduction McLennan brilliantly controlled a long ball upfield before sliding a pass to Christian Ramirez to score to seal a 3-2 win.
Glass said: “The players that came off didn’t come off because of their performances.
“They came off because of what we needed on the pitch for the team.
“The players understand it and respond right.
“We did it away as well in the last leg and the players know it is a group effort.”
Demands of European and domestic action
Glass has also made wholesale changes with his starting XI in recent games to accommodate the demands of European football on Thursdays coupled with domestic games on Sundays.
He made six changes to his starting line-up for the 2-1 Premiership defeat of Livingston and again made another five for the Euro clash with Breidablik.
It is expected Glass will further utilise the depth of his squad in the upcoming fixtures as the Reds face a 5,100 mile round trip to Azerbaijan on Thursday in between away Sunday games against Raith Rovers in the League Cup and Hearts in the Premiership.
Aberdeen are set to jet out to Baku on Tuesday, a day earlier than their normal European calendar, because of the travelling time involved.
O an! 💪
Kadi 🔥🔥🔥#QarabağFK #QARAEL #1addımgeri2addımirəli #ConfrenceLeague pic.twitter.com/LB4HPsCgq8
— Qarabağ FK (@FKQarabagh) August 12, 2021
It will also give them extra time to aclimatise to the heat.
Although Aberdeen are scheduled to play Qarabag at 8pm in Azerbaijan (5pm UK ) temperatures at that time are still set to exceed 30 degrees.
Glass hailed his squad for the way they have carried out his plans when there have been tactical and personnel changes.
He said: “Any time we do change shape or ask the players to do something slightly different they have been excellent.
“It would have been easy to think this is not our night against Breidablik.
“It would have been easy to let a good footballing team score a couple of goals against us and then I’m sitting here saying we are unfortunate to go out.“However the response from the players was brilliant.
“If we took half our chances it could have been 5 or 6-1 but they stuck at it.
“The players’ character shone through.”
Back to domestic duty against Raith Rovers
Aberdeen face Championship Raith Rovers in the League Cup on Sunday at noon.
Glass wants to bring silverware to Pittodrie in his first full season in charge but will not look beyond the second round tie.
He said: “The cup is a huge target but you look after each bit that is in front of you – which is Raith Rovers away.
“It is an opportunity to find ourselves in the next round of the cup.
“I don’t want to sit and say I am over the top confident because we know John McGlynn is a really experienced manager who has seen a lot more of these games than I have.
“I am looking forward to the game.”