ROONEY DESPERATE TO HELP DONS START THEIR OWN PARTY
Denying Celtic a treble is only a secondary motivation for Adam Rooney as the Aberdeen striker and his team-mates attempt to prove in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final that Brendan Rodgers’ side are not invincible after all.
The primary cause is to avoid an unwanted treble of their own by finishing another impressive season under Derek Mcinnes as merely runners-up in all three domestic competitions.
ending the campaign with a sixth straight defeat against this Celtic side would be no disgrace but the irishman knows it would take the gloss off the achievement of reaching two cup finals and securing a club record points haul as runners-up in the league.
For all the improvements since Mcinnes replaced Craig Brown four years ago, they still have just one trophy to show for it, the League Cup win against inverness Caley Thistle when Rooney scored the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.
The Aberdeen manager’s view has always been that any side can win one cup final but to truly make a lasting impression you need to do that much more often and it’s a view shared by his most prolific goalscorer.
‘you want to win things. it is okay finishing second, having a good season and setting records but the ones you remember are the ones where you pick up silverware at the end of the season,’ claimed Rooney.
‘We don’t really look too much into spoiling their Treble party because we just want to win the cup for Aberdeen. We want to win for ourselves and not to spoil somebody else’s party.
‘We look forward to the final and, regardless of what happens, we have had a great season. it also gives us something to aim for next season to try and better things but we would love to top off this season with a trophy.
‘There are enough lads here who played in the League Cup final (against inverness). We remember what the celebrations are like and we all want that again. We have put ourselves in a position to win it and all in the squad are desperate to lift the cup again.’
Rooney has had another 20-goal season, including one of only two Aberdeen have managed in their five previous meetings with Celtic in league and cup this season.
That wasn’t enough to guarantee a start in the most recent clash, though, as Mcinnes preferred the aerial and physical power of Jayden Stockley up front in a game that had Rodgers claiming afterwards that the Dons were a long-ball team.
The Celtic manager seemed as rattled as his players were for the last 79 minutes of the match at Pittodrie despite having raced into a three-goal lead in the first 11 minutes on the way to seeing out a 3-1 win.
Rooney did join the action late on but, from what he observed from the dugout and during his subsequent involvement, it certainly increased the Republic of ireland squad member’s confidence for the end-of-season finale.
‘Definitely our last performance shows we can get at Celtic,’ he insisted. ‘it also shows we can cause them a lot of problems because we put a lot of balls into their box.
‘We also put a lot of pressure on them but they also showed in the last game what they are capable of and we have to focus on that to make sure we are protected against that threat again.
‘We have to make sure we don’t give Celtic a three-goal lead because i don’t think anyone can do that.
‘it gives us a little reminder we can cause them problems and gives us the belief we are going to the cup final to win it.
‘They have been under pressure all season not to drop points and to be fair they have coped with it well. They will want to go the season unbeaten.
‘We just have to make sure we can play as well as we can to get the best possible result.’
Of course, if Aberdeen do win on Saturday it will be graeme Shinnie and not Ryan Jack who lifts the trophy as the first Dons captain since Alex McLeish to hoist the Scottish Cup aloft.
injury denied Willie Miller the honour back in 1990 but the man who lifted 12 top trophies during his days as skipper believes Mcinnes has pulled off a ‘managerial masterstroke’ handing Shinnie the job.
Jack is fit enough to make the squad but his imminent move to Rangers couldn’t have come at a more sensitive time given the history between the clubs and Miller believes the Aberdeen manager deserves credit for taking strong action.
‘it will allow them to forget all the speculation surrounding Jack’s future and fully focus on the job in hand at Hampden,’ said Miller.
‘it was clear a change of captaincy was going to have to be made in the summer. Doing it now will give Shinnie a deserved boost at the end of what has been a brilliant season for him.
‘it means the Dons will be led at Hampden by a player who knows what it takes to lift the Scottish Cup.
‘it will also allow Jack to work on trying to end his time at Aberdeen as a winner without having to face questions about where he is going to end up. it’s a managerial masterstroke really.
‘Derek could easily have just left things and made a change in the summer, he’s shown again that he’s not afraid to make brave decisions for the good of his team.’