The appointment of Jimmy Thelin should help galvanise everyone at Aberdeen.
Thelin, 46, will end a six-and-a-half year spell at Swedish side, IF Elfsborg, and join the Dons once the Allsvenskan season pauses in June.
His announcement has been greeted by a positive reaction from Aberdeen supporters, who have had to wait since the end of January to know who their long-term manager will be.
And speaking for the first time since Thelin's move to Scotland was made official, caretaker boss Peter Leven stated it was important for the supporters and the playing staff to get some clarity on the situation.
“We told the boys before training on Tuesday before it came out that Jimmy had signed and was bringing Emir and Christer with him," he said.
“It’s good to get that clarity. You could see a bit of relief in the clarity for them. It’s really good news.
"I think the fans needed to know, and obviously the players in contract, the players out of contract, who's going to be the new manager.
"So I think clarity is the right word, and hopefully we are can just focus on the rest of the season."
READ MORE: Jimmy Thelin is exciting prospect at Aberdeen - but he needs time
Aberdeen's number one, Kelle Roos, is among those out of contract this summer. The list includes the likes of Scotland U21 star, Connor Barron, and veteran, Jonny Hayes.
While strike duo Bojan Miovski and Luis 'Duk' Lopes are expected to attract transfer interest.
And Leven thinks it's crucial these players know there's an incoming manager on his way, and already casting their eye on them.
"They know who's watching them now," he added.
"For either contracts or staying at the club, whatever. They know who's watching them and they've got a manager coming in.
"So, hopefully that will lift everybody."
READ MORE: Aberdeen star in VAR fury & demands officials do their own jobs
Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final provides Aberdeen with a welcomed distraction from league duties, and the one-off opportunity of reaching another national final.
Previewing the clash with Scottish Premiership leaders, Celtic, Leven said: "That's why we play football, we coach football, you want to get to these finals, to compete at the best stage, and I said that to them there.
"It's a great opportunity and one that we are going to hopefully take."
Asked if he had a message for the travelling Red Army, Leven continued: "They've been brilliant since I've been here, following us all over Europe, the League Cup Final. So, just get right behind us, get behind the boys, and make loads of noise."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here