Aberdeen interim manager Barry Robson says he put Graeme Shinnie’s “love” for the club before his loanee status when naming him captain of the struggling Dons.
Shinnie was named skipper for Wednesday’s 3-1 home Premiership defeat to St Mirren, after previous captain Anthony Stewart was allowed to head back to England’s League One with MK Dons in a deadline-day loan deal.
Granite City-raised midfielder Shinnie was the universally-popular captain of the club before he left Pittodrie for Derby County in 2019.
And since the 31-year-old’s early-January return in a loan move from English Championship Wigan Athletic until the end of the campaign, some fans – even before under-fire defender Stewart’s exit – had been calling for Shinnie to be reinstated as skipper.
But others expressed doubts about the principle of a loanee leading the team out.
Robson insists Shinnie’s individual qualities were his only consideration, saying: “I think first and foremost, yeah, you can say: ‘Graeme Shinnie’s a loanee’ – but you heard the fans singing: ‘Graeme Shinnie, he’s one of our own’ (against St Mirren).
“Maybe he is here on loan at the minute, but he was here for years as a captain and as player, knows the club inside out and loves the club.
“There are different types of loanees, I think, and when it’s someone who loves the club, been here and served the club well over the years (it matters more).
“You all saw the performance he brought the other night. He was outstanding in the middle of the pitch driving us on, and that’s the type of players I like in my team.”
McCrorie appeal wait, as signing Gorter and Scales available for Well
Robson is preparing for his second game as stand-in boss, having taken temporary charge of Aberdeen following Jim Goodwin’s sacking last weekend, with Motherwell visiting Pittodrie on Saturday.
He was unable to steer the Dons to a win against St Mirren at the same venue in midweek – which means the Reds’ disastrous post-winter break record is now one win from 11 games, with their last five outings all ending in defeat.
The caveat in defeat to the Buddies was Aberdeen having to play almost all of the game without Ross McCrorie – with the man deployed at right-back sent off following a collision with Saints’ Charles Dunne and VAR review within the first 10 minutes.
Having appealed the controversial red card, Robson and his staff were left waiting until late on Friday to discover if McCrorie would be free to meet Motherwell.
The appeal was dismissed and the Aberdeen player will serve an immediate two-match ban.
Explaining the rationale for Aberdeen’s appeal, Robson said: “My take on it was obviously when he knocks the ball past, there’s actually a foul made first (by Dunne) for Ross to try to protect himself.
“I don’t believe it was blatant, I don’t think he’s the type of guy. That was just a wee frustration for us.”
Deadline-day goalkeeping reinforcement Jay Gorter, signed on loan from Dutch giants Ajax, could make his debut against Motherwell after receiving his work permit.
💬 "My personal goal is to play as much and to show my passion for the team."
🇳🇱 Jay Gorter spoke to RedTV earlier this week after joining The Dons on loan from Ajax.
📺 RedTV subscribers can watch in full now.
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) February 3, 2023
Although Robson revealed summer signing Shayden Morris is out long-term with a hamstring issue, Liam Scales will also be back from the suspension incurred from his red card at Hibs.
Watford loanee Mattie Pollock and Angus MacDonald – signed on a short-term deal from Swindon – seemed to gel quickly when pitched straight in against St Mirren, leaving Robson with a dilemma at centre-half, but he said: “The more players you’ve got, the more problems you get – but they’re good problems to have.
“If you can get all the players fit and available, it’s good for all of us here and we’ll try to pick the best team to go and affect the game against Motherwell.”
Robson wants Aberdeen to exert ‘control’ against fellow form-seekers
The clash with Well is one of two sides desperately in need of a performance and result – with Reds having dropped to seventh in table during the slump which cost Goodwin his job, and the Steelmen all the way down in the relegation play-off place.
Robson – who revealed he hasn’t been made aware of any progress in the Dons board’s hunt for a permanent successor to axed manager Goodwin ahead of Saturday’s clash – is looking for more “control” in the game than Aberdeen had against St Mirren.
He said: “Obviously it was hard (when McCrorie was sent off). You’re a bit of a boxer punching with your hands behind your back.
“But if you were at the game, you saw it – you seen the fight, energy, desire and organisation.
“We never really got to put our full game plan into place, but you saw how myself and Steve (Agnew, interim assistant manager) structured the team quickly, got them organised, and made sure that we tried to play them round the outsides.
“Hopefully we can get a bit more control and we can try to force ourselves on Motherwell and see if we can cause them more problems.”
With Aberdeen searching for an upturn in results to get their campaign back on track, and confidence naturally fragile, Robson’s message to his player? Keep calm in the game – even if the first goal, which looks like it might be vital, goes against them.
“In my experience in football, the first goal’s always pretty important,” Robson said “One team gets their tails up and the other team loses a wee bit of confidence.
“But I think, if you want to be a good team, you don’t let those things affect you – if you lose a goal, or score a goal, you stick to a game plan and keep doing the things we’ve asked them to do. Bringing themselves to the game, bringing their personality to it – that’s a big thing I say to the players here.”
“My message to them is just stay calm.”
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