REACH FOR
CELTIC V ABERDEEN Andy knows this is his chance to achieve legendary status
Andy Considine’s name sits alongside Aberdeen’s greatest icons in the club’s list of their longest and most loyal servants.
But he’s the first to admit good attendance doesn’t make you a legend. To be that, you have to be a winner.
The humble one-club defender gatecrashed the Dons top 10 back in March with his 383rd appearance for the club.
His 393rd game at Hampden next Saturday will pull him level with pre-war hero Willie Cooper in seventh spot, just 13 short of Russell Anderson in sixth.
Ahead of him, though, stand five colossal figures in the club’s history.
The 30-year- old realises that making it even close to the pantheon occupied by northeast gods like Wil l ie Miller, Alex McLeish, Bobby Clark, Stewart McKimmie and Jim Leighton will have to start with a winner’s medal on Saturday – and plenty more to follow.
He grinned: “It’s a nice thought. I remember before the League Cup Final, the manager said to me that even with the amount of appearances I’ve got, you don’t really get considered a legend unless you have the medals.
“So that needs to improve vastly as there’s a big difference between a stalwart and a legend.
“Guys like Jim, Miller, McLeish – these guys have bags full of medals. I’d need to play on into my 40s to achieve that – and I don’t really see it happening.
“But I do need to improve on the medal front to be considered like that, even if being in among that company is fantastic for myself.
“It’s something I need to grab to even lace those guys’ boots.”
Considine has been around long enough to have experienced most of the cup heartache that has plagued Aberdeen over the past two decades.
That includes four semi-final defeats – St Johnstone in 2014, Hibs in 2012, his 18th-minute red card v Celtic in 2011 and the ignominy of defeat to Queen of the South back in 2008.
For once, however, he’s made it over that hurdle – and that has filled him with belief.
He said: “It’s special reaching a final for the first time. I should have been in a few more but it wasn’t meant to be. We’ve had a lot of heartache in these games
“We just needed a little slice of luck and I felt that summed up Jonny Hayes’ deflected goal in the 3-2 semi-final win against Hibs in April that got us to the Final.
“We made it hard for ourselves against a good Hibs team – and I’m delighted they’re coming back up because it will make the league even harder next year.
“But when it comes to the Final, we’ l l def ini t ely approach the game a lot better than we did the League Cup Final against Celtic back in November.”
Considine has already gone a step further than his dad Doug ever did in the Scottish Cup – he had a league winners’ medal to show for his time under legendary boss Alex Ferguson.
But born the year a f ter Fergie lef t Pittodrie for Man United, Considine Jr’s exposure to glory days has been limited.
He shrugged: “The only one I’ve been to is the Coca-Cola Cup Final in 1995. I went to that as a kid.
“I watched the Rangers one on the telly in 2000 – the one when Leighton got injured early and Robbie Winters took over in goal.
“Ever since I’ve played football my dad has given me lots of advice, but he takes more of a back seat now. I think with the squad we’ve got, our experience will go a long way when we play Celtic.
“Last Friday night we played very well for 80 minutes of the game, having started badly. Once Jonny scored we sorted ourselves out then Jayden Stockley and Kenny McLean both had great chances in the second half.
“It was a different game. They might have won 3-1 but it was the most shaken I’ve seen Celtic.”
Raised as a centre- half, Considine has established himself more as a powerhouse left-back this season.
That brings its own set of problems for the final though. He said: “I’ll either be dealing with the pace of James Forrest or the trickery of Patrick Roberts.
“Don’t get me wrong, Roberts has got a bit of pace about him too but he’s got fantastic feet.
“So i t ’ s jus t keeping your eye on the ba l l a nd , I suppose, if you get the chance, put him six feet in the air if you can – like Andy Halliday tried to do in the semi-final!
“But seriously, the Celtic team are packed with fantastic players.
“In the match the other week though, I felt me and the team managed to keep Roberts fairly quiet, apart from the instance early on when he escaped and tested Joe Lewis.
“And obviously when you’ve got the likes of Forrest coming on, you know all he wants to do is run you down the line because he’s got electric pace.
“But if we can defend properly as a team then we’ve got every chance.”