Shinnie has gone from Red Army foot soldier to Captain Fantastic
WITH one stunning swish of his left boot, local hero Graeme Shinnie kept Aberdeen bang on course for the play-off round of the Europa League.
And the 25-year-old’s 25-yard drive 12 minutes from time against Apollon Limassol also marked his arrival on a very personal journey from Red Army foot soldier to Aberdeen’s very own Captain Fantastic.
‘Graeme Shinnie — he’s one of our own,’ bellowed a sell-out Pittodrie crowd in unison, in what manager Derek McInnes described as a deserved love-in towards a fellow Aberdonian.
A kid who grew up on tales of club legend Willie Miller while cheering on captains like Russell Anderson, now Shinnie wears their armband and shoulders the burden of supporter expectations in the Granite City.
And the skipper is hoping to repay the fans for their outstanding backing by steering the Aberdeen ship through the choppy waters that lie ahead and into the promised land of the Europa League group stage.
‘That was one of the best moments I have had, in front of a packed out Pittodrie,’ grinned Shinnie after Thursday’s 2-1 firstleg triumph over the Cypriots.
‘It was brilliant with all the noise and the fans singing my name when the goal went in. It’s what every footballer wants and hopefully there will be more of that to come in the future.
‘I have a wonderful relationship with all the supporters. I sang people’s names when I was younger. It is great to have heroes to look up to.
‘Coming into the club I looked up to Russell Anderson, being the captain and the role model that he was here. I looked up to him and Willie Miller and what he did for the club. These boys are legends and people look up to them.
‘It is good that I am at that age where people look up to me.
‘You see kids with Shinnie on the back of their shirts. That is what football is all about. Hopefully I can repay them.’
For Shinnie, the love-bombing continued long after the final whistle with his mobile phone bleeping a staccato rhythm with each message from his nearest and dearest. Even in his own home there is no respite, as he is subject to hymns of praise from one of Aberdeen’s youngest fans.
‘My phone was red-hot at full time as a lot of my friends and family were at the game,’ smiled Shinnie, who replaced Ibrox-bound Ryan Jack as captain before the Scottish Cup final in May.
‘My missus and my little one were there. She is only two but loves football. All day, every day she sings: “Come on you Reds”.
‘When the football comes around she is buzzing. It is good to have them all cheering me on.’
Shinnie would dearly love to lead his hometown club into the Europa League group stage for the first time since 2007-08 when Jimmy Calderwood was the manager. But he does not feel a suffocating pressure to deliver, having learned at previous club Inverness how to handle the varying strains the game can throw up.
‘There is always pressure in football,’ he shrugged. ‘I had it when I started out at Inverness. There was pressure to stay in the league, which is the worst kind. There was pressure to win the Scottish Cup, which we did. So it’s part and parcel of football. You have to handle it and all the boys here at Aberdeen handle it well.’
To reach the play-off round, Aberdeen must smash the glass ceiling that the third round of qualifiers has represented in recent years.
In the past three seasons, the Dons have been eliminated at this stage by Real Sociedad of Spain, Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan and Maribor of Slovenia.
Psychologically, however, Shinnie’s late winner was the first time the Dons had won their home match in the third round under McInnes.
Even if Brazilian Jander Santana’s second-half leveller stopped McInnes getting the clean sheet he coveted against an Apollon side whose coach Sofronis Avgousti and midfielder Esteban Sachetti both saw red. But the victory, which began with Ryan Christie’s fourth-minute header, means the Dons do not need to go gungho over in Larnaca on Thursday night. Instead, McInnes’ men can stick to the tried-and-trusted blueprint that has seen the Dons record fine away wins over Dutch side Groningen, Croatians Rijeka and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Siroki Brijeg. ‘It will be tough because it is never easy in Europe,’ Shinnie said. ‘But we’ve played in hot and hostile atmospheres, like Rijeka and Siroki. So we know what European games are all about and what we need to do. ‘We have had some of our best results in Europe on the road. Hopefully the second leg out in Cyprus will be no different. ‘But this time we have a lead to take over, so then it is just a case of sticking to the game plan. ‘Going over to Larnaca with a lead rather than a draw is brilliant. We know that we will create chances over there. We showed that in the first leg against Apollon at Pittodrie. ‘And we know that if we play like we did against Siroki Brijeg in the last round then we will have a great opportunity to progress.’