GERRARD’S JIBE WILL DRIVE US ON, SAYS ABERDEEN SKIPPER SHINNIE
By BRIAN MARJORIBANKS
STEVEN Gerrard’s popularity in Aberdeen was always going to take a hit when he was appointed manager of Rangers.
But the former Liverpool and England captain saw his standing in the Granite City plummet further on his first visit to Pittodrie with his frank assessment of one of Scottish football’s fiercest rivalries.
‘We showed today that we are a class above Aberdeen,’ claimed Gerrard after the Dons struck late to rescue a 1-1 draw against ten-man Rangers on the opening day of the season. ‘Aberdeen had only one idea and it was to lump the ball into the box.’
Joe Harper, Aberdeen’s greatest-ever goalscorer, bit back with venom at the derision heaped on a team that, under Derek McInnes, has finished second in Scotland for the past four seasons.
‘Gerrard’s comments about Aberdeen were amateurish, ridiculous and disrespectful,’ declared Harper. ‘It showed a lack of class from Gerrard, who has only been managing for a few months.’
For Graeme Shinnie, there was no doubt that Rangers were the better side in a match where visiting striker Alfredo Morelos was red-carded after only 12 minutes.
But the Aberdeen captain hopes that the Rangers camp do genuinely believe they are a class above the Dons.
He believes that would represent a dangerous complacency ahead of tomorrow’s Betfred Cup semi- final between the two great rivals at Hampden.
‘I think he (Gerrard) was fuelling the fire and riling a few people with those comments,’ said Shinnie. ‘But if he feels like that, then so be it — maybe they will go into the game a bit overconfident.
‘Rangers were the better team on the day in August. We weren’t great and it was tough coming off the back of the European game we had just played away against Burnley.
‘We weren’t as good as we could be. It was always going to be tough to have the same energy levels. But to score the late goal and come away with a 1-1 draw was massive for us.
‘We know, though, if our standards are not high this time, Rangers will take advantage.
‘There will be spice at Hampden against them. There is always an aura around the game. However, as players, we want to blank that out and focus on getting to the final.’
Aberdeen are expected to have only around 10,000 fans at the national stadium as their supporters did not snap up extra tickets when the kick-off was moved from noon to 4.30pm.
But that level of backing will be colossal compared to when Shinnie’s Inverness Caley Thistle faced Hearts at Easter Road in the 2014 League Cup semi-finals.
With no trains reaching Edinburgh in time for a lunchtime kick-off, only a smattering of Caley Thistle fans saw their team draw 2-2 with Hearts. Despite ending the match with nine men, remarkably, Inverness prevailed on penalties.
‘That was one of the best games I’ve ever played in,’ added Shinnie. ‘Hearts fans were in three stands at Easter Road and it was pretty much an away game for us.
‘Then we went down to nine men and it looked like that was that. But Nick Ross scored five minutes into injury time to take the game to extra time.
‘We got battered in that period. It was one-way traffic. But we got to penalties and we went through. It was mad.
‘At Inverness, we were always the underdogs. The timing of the game being at lunchtime, the game being in Edinburgh, everything was against us — but we used that to fire us up.
‘It’s maybe a bit different this time against Rangers because we don’t have that underdog tag as much this weekend and we know if we play to our strengths, then we can win.
‘I don’t think (having more fans) is an advantage. There is possibly more pressure on Rangers.’
Aberdeen are having an inconsistent campaign and sit seventh in the Premiership.
But Shinnie believes that a win over Rangers tomorrow could act as a catalyst to ignite a stuttering season.
‘We’ve been a bit stop-start,’ he admitted. ‘Last Saturday at Hearts was probably a prime example. In the first half, we were very bad and Hearts took full advantage and won 2-1.
‘We played well enough at Celtic Park and took nothing from that game. Then in the Betfred Cup quarter-final against Hibs we did not play great, but we got through to the semis.
‘This match against Rangers is one of those games you want to win to get your season up and running.’
Aberdeen have found goals hard to come by this term. But Rangers will be without their two top strikers tomorrow; Alfredo Morelos is suspended, while Kyle Lafferty is cup-tied after playing for Hearts earlier in the competition.
‘It’s a blow for them but they will have ways of dealing with that,’ said Shinnie. ‘It’s a slight advantage for us but it’s about what we do on the day.
‘If we have a first half like we did at Tynecastle last week, then we will shoot ourselves in the foot.
‘We want to win silverware at this club and I feel that we have the squad to do it. It’s now about going out against Rangers, showing what we have and reaching the final.’