Shinnie ready for anything with Scots
Shinnie feared his cap career was over after a poor display at left-back in Kazakhstan but now he’s ready to fill breach for Scotland again
I’ll play where the manager wants. I’d go in goals if he wanted me to
WHEN Graeme Shinnie last played at left-back, the outcome had him fearing that his Scotland career had reached a premature end.
The Derby County star was frank about his contribution to March’s deeply embarrassing 3-0 defeat in Kazakhstan, a result that effectively ended Alex McLeish’s tenure.
Established as a central midfielder at club level during recent seasons, being asked to revert to his former position for the national team became a nightmarish experience.
Shinnie’s rustiness in the role was painfully obvious. The former Aberdeen captain accepted blame for the second goal that Scotland conceded and gloomily admitted he couldn’t see himself getting picked again.
If that anxiety proved unfounded, at least in terms of a squad place, Shinnie’s late addition to the current pool comes when both Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney are again unavailable.
While Greg Taylor provides a more natural left-back option for tomorrow’s Euro 2020 qualifying dead rubber against Cyprus in Nicosia, the 22-year-old has played only 88 minutes of first-team football since moving to Celtic at the end of the summer transfer window.
It therefore begs the question of how Shinnie would respond if Steve Clarke asked him to revisit a scenario that was the source of so much grief eight months ago. His answer is unambiguous.
‘I’ll play wherever the manager wants — I’d play in goals if he wanted me to,’ insisted Shinnie, drafted in after Robertson, Scott McTominay, Ryan Fraser and Liam Cooper were ruled out.
‘I want to play as much as I can. Naturally, I would like to play in the middle because that’s where I have been playing for the last four or five years. But if the chance came up to play somewhere else, I would definitely do it.
‘Kazakhstan was a tough night. Everything about that night was tough. The whole team didn’t play great. I didn’t play great.
‘But if I got the chance to play left-back again, I would take it. I would look at what I need to do better and try to do it.’
Shinnie’s character has never been in dispute. It was what made him such an effective captain at Pittodrie before winning a summer move to County. As painful as that evening in Nur-Sultan was, no mental scars have lingered.
‘No, it was just one of those nights — it was the whole team,’ he continued. ‘Sometimes if it’s only one or two (playing poorly), the team can carry you through, but it was a bad night in general.
‘I’ve been involved in many a bad night in football and will probably have many to come. It’s what happens. You can’t play well in every game. You are going to have times that test you.
‘I had a testing start to my career in Derby but came through that and now I’m playing well.
‘I took the criticism. You have to get over it and move on.’
Frank Lampard was in charge of Derby when Shinnie signed a pre-contract agreement towards the end of last season. By the time he arrived at Pride Park, however, Lampard had departed to Chelsea and former Holland midfielder Phillip Cocu was in charge.
As Shinnie points out, it took time for Cocu to be convinced of his merits. Stuck in the stand during the early weeks of the season, the ex-Inverness Caley Thistle man began to wonder whether he would have to go elsewhere for his desired taste of English football.
‘It was frustrating,’ admitted the 28-year-old. ‘Going down to a new club was always going to be difficult, with a new manager coming in and a good squad of players.
‘I wasn’t getting any chances. I wasn’t even coming off the bench and some games I was watching from the stands. It was tough. But I kept my head down and worked as hard as I could to try to force my way in.
‘Eventually, I got a chance and took it well. Luckily, I have played six games since.
‘It has been good. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been up and down in terms of results but, from a playing point of view, I’ve enjoyed it.
‘Did I ever think I had made a mistake? Not so much a mistake, because I could never foresee what would happen with Lampard leaving and everything else.
‘But there was a stage when I thought: “If I’m not going to play here, then I’ll go and play somewhere else”. It’s football. If one manager doesn’t want you, someone elsewhere will.
‘Obviously when the window closed, I knew I would be here until January anyway, so it was a case of getting my head down and working as hard as I could.
‘I’ve been in the gym and doing sessions after training. It meant I was ready when I got a chance.’
Pitched into action against Luton early last month, Shinnie followed up with a match-winning strike against Wigan. His place in the Derby team looks secure for now.
Asked what feedback he had received from Cocu, Shinnie said: ‘I don’t really need a manager to tell me. I can kind of gauge it from my own point of view. I knew that if I hadn’t been playing well, then I’d have been watching from the stands again.
‘It’s important I keep building on what I’ve started and try to keep my place. ‘The manager has not specifically said: “I want you to do this or that”. It’s more about the team. He wants to play attractive football and we do a lot of passing and moving. I guess I had to adapt to that a wee bit.
‘When I wasn’t playing, I was watching and trying to take it all in — and getting better in training every day.
‘I think all that set me up for being there to take my chance.’