Ryan can be a Jack of all trades for Dons boss
AS Joey Barton and Scott Brown display a fascination for each other’s supposed supporting past, Aberdeen’s midfield fulcrum Ryan Jack has little time to be troubled by the squabbling and sniping.
While his Old Firm rivals figure out which side of the divide each other once held an allegiance towards, the boyhood Pittodrie fan is being asked by manager Derek McInnes to ensure he doesn’t suffer an identity crisis of his own.
McInnes, who appointed Jack as captain 12 months ago, wants to remove the manacles from his main man in the middle of the park and help turn him into the complete midfielder.
The Dons boss is content enough with the 24-year-old’s progression in the past year both on the pitch in a central role and as leader of the dressing room.
But the demands placed on Jack are about to become greater along with the level of opposition as Rangers — Barton et al — return to the top flight.
McInnes has no wish for Jack to fall for the fad of categorising midfield players into a sitter or a schemer, for fear of limiting him to a skill set from which the manager believes there is so much more still to emerge.
Ahead of their Europa League qualifier at home to Fola Esch of Luxembourg on Thursday, McInnes explained: ‘It remains to be seen how good a player Ryan could be.
‘Early in his career, he got moved around, centre middle, right, middle, right-back, and I can see why because he is very assured wherever you play him. He’s comfortable with the ball at his feet. His short-range passing and sensing of danger, his intelligence and game awareness are all there.
‘He’s a good player. But we are looking for an improvement from all our players, young and old. Ryan has good things going for him but has more to give.
‘Now he has to define his role as a centre midfield player. We all pigeonhole players too easily.
‘I want my midfielder to be a midfielder. I don’t like them being a sitting midfielder or a No 10. I just like them to be a bit more all-action and do a bit of both. Be a good midfielder in the final third, a good midfielder with your defensive work and be competitive.
‘I want to get a better range of passing from Ryan. I want him to look forward more, be quicker and go longer. He can be more involved in the final third, creating and scoring goals, getting that bigger range of passing into his game.
‘Sometimes that first pass is so important and doesn’t let people get behind the ball. Because we have good pace ahead of him, sometimes the best and quickest way to get a goal is to get to it quicker.’
So Jack has excelled at providing the defensive balance in the side when Aberdeen attack, much of which is inspired by their wide threats such as Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 hero Niall McGinn. Now McInnes wants to test Jack to become more dynamic and a greater part of that forward play.
What he doesn’t want to see is the former Scotland Under-21 cap restricted in the way he watched Dick Advocaat operate at Rangers with a young Barry Ferguson.
‘Barry was a brilliant player,’ said McInnes. ‘But he did change his game under Advocaat, who saw a lot in Barry but took the bigger pass out of his game.
‘He would chastise him and say: “Why do that in one when you could do it in two?”
‘Barry had the range to make the bigger pass but they didn’t always come off. And the longer the pass, the greater the risk of losing the ball.
‘Advocaat was all about possession-driven football. So Barry became more functional and Advocaat loved Claudio Reyna because that was Reyna’s game — 10-15 yard passes and keeping possession.
‘So he would have loved Ryan Jack. I thought Barry had more to his game than that but the manager was the manager and he wanted Barry to make his game tidier.
‘Jacko is more what Barry became. He has to be more adaptable. I want aggression from the players and more confidence and swagger in the final third of play.’
At the age of 23, Jack was the surprise choice to replace Russell Anderson as Aberdeen skipper.
Jack’s subdued demeanour to questions about anything from the second season as skipper to the onset of the European challenge this week hints this is not the vocal leader McInnes was accustomed to operating with when he was a player at Rangers or, for that matter, grew into as an experienced influence at West Brom himself under the guidance of Gary Megson. However, he insists that behind the scenes Jack is shaping up just fine.
‘He’s respected for his abilities as a player,’ said McInnes. ‘He’ll be a different captain at 23 than he will be at 33, but you learn the role and he’s growing into is absolutely fine. And he’ll be better for it again this year having done it last season.
‘It always splits fans, who should be their captain. Ryan must manage his own game first and foremost, which is important for any player.
‘It’s an easy thing to say that if he’s not playing well at his level, then it’s because he’s the captain.
‘But then at the start of last season when he was the heartbeat of our winning European run, people were saying he was thriving on the responsibility of being skipper.
‘I’m happy with the decision I’ve made and Ryan will go on and be a very influential player for us — whether he’s captain or not.’