Graeme Shinnie has insisted he will be doing everything in his power to salvage Aberdeen’s season - regardless whether or not he has the armband.
The on-loan Wigan Athletic player was captain for Wednesday night’s controversial defeat to St Mirren. Interim coach Barry Robson rolled back the years and named Shinnie as skipper again, after Anthony Stewart made his deadline day loan switch to MK Dons. The gusty midfielder has insisted he always tries to lead on the pitch and these qualities will be important as the Dons try and arrest their alarming slide, which they hope will be halted at home to Motherwell this weekend.
The Dons have won just one game since the restart, been knocked out of both cups, dropped into the bottom six and are now looking for their third permanent manager in less than a year. “It is not something I over thought about or dwelled on,” Shinnie claimed. “It is always a massive honour and privilege to be the captain of this club. If I am not then I will always act and be that figure any way. It is the way I like to be around the place. If I am, I am very honoured and if I am not then I will act the same way.”
Robson stepped in for the game against St Mirren, although the game plan went out the window when VAR intervened and gave Ross McCrorie an early red card after his clash with Charles Dunne. Aberdeen lost 3-1 but there was a massive improvement in terms of fight and work rate from the demolitions away to Hearts and Hibs and the Scottish Cup exit at Darvel. Shinnie knows they need to stop giving away cheap goals if they want to get up the league. It has been an issue since former boss Jim Goodwin took the post.
Shinnie admitted: “Everyone knows the last few results have been unacceptable. Tonight we definitely showed more fight and defended as a team. For the majority of the game and it was in the small detail we conceded three goals again.
“It is not really acceptable - we will get better as we go on and as I said the back three hadn’t played together. As they play together more, then they will gain more momentum and be better. We need to stop conceding as many goals - to win any game you can’t be conceding three goals. We know what to work on and will do it.”
It was a night where VAR calls went against Aberdeen. Shinnie thought it was a foul on McCrorie but it was his team mate who was given his marching orders.
He claimed: “At the time, I thought it was a free kick towards us. I'd made a run forward and wanted a pass off Rosco [McCrorie]. As I made the run I didn’t really see what happened. I thought there was a collision and thought it might have been a collision. I haven’t seen it back so I can’t really comment on it. It, obviously, had a major bearing on the game being so early on. We dug in deep after that but the goals again are frustrating.”
Robson might be a short-term fix, but he is already making his mark. He took the decision to move Stewart on and he handed debuts to Angus MacDonald and Mattie Pollock. Shinnie played alongside Robson and knows his passion for the club, but thinks it is hard to put too much of a stamp on things with so many games.
“It is early days,” Shinnie insisted. “We have had a mad schedule to deal with and there have been a lot of recoveries and trying to get the legs back. We have just been focusing on recovery for games. The next couple of days will be the same.”
They come up against a Motherwell team that is also dropping like stone. Shinnie knows the Pittodrie clash is massive for both teams. “When we are in the form we are in then the next game is always massive,” Shinnie acknowledged. “You need to turn it around and get back to winning ways as quickly as possible. We are at home, discipline needs to be better and to keep 11 men on the pitch. I think if we had 11 men v St Mirren it would have been a lot different. Full focus going on to the game, we pick ourselves up and get ready for the next game that is coming.”
The Red Army haven’t had much to cheer about in recent weeks and Shinnie completely understands their frustrations.
“They have been brilliant through an unacceptable period,” he claimed. "Us, as players, need to take responsibility for that. At a club like this the results are completely unacceptable. We understand their frustrations.
“If I was a supporter I would be frustrated the same way as they are. At a club like Aberdeen, us as players need to stand up and fight through it. That is the only way we can be. We look towards Saturday.”
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