Graeme Shinnie reckons he is in good company with England captain Harry Kane – leading from the front and silencing critics who say their legs have gone.
The captain has been back to his best for the on-form Dons this season and a big figure in Jimmy Thelin’s side making an 11-game unbeaten start to their Premiership campaign. That impressive run has seen them go head-to-head with champions Celtic on 31 points and some nine points ahead of the rest of the chasing pack. Shinnie has been a big part of that and he looks transformed from the player and silenced the doubters by proving that at 33 he still remains one of Aberdeen’s most influential players.
It is a far cry from last season as he and Aberdeen were written off as a spent force. The Reds skipper said: “My mate was telling me that a lot of people were saying that about me on social media. At my age if I have a couple of bad games it’s natural people think that. After all even Harry Kane’s getting that a bit now giving the stage he’s at in his career.
“But it’s definitely not that my legs have gone as I feel fit and strong and my form has been good. If I hadn’t been in such good form but I was still as fit as I am they would still be saying it.”
Shinnie is his own biggest critic. He accepts that his form, like Aberdeen’s, was far inconsistent. There were times where he played well and other times when he didn’t. There wasn’t too much in between.
Shinnie refuses to use the excuse of the burden of European group stage football but admitted it didn’t impact his control of his Crohn’s Disease. He said: “I felt in the first half of last season that my form was up and down which put pressure on myself.
“It’s maybe been the most inconsistent spell I’ve had in my entire career as some games were good and others horrendous. Football’s mad, your form can go up and down and dealing with the European trips last term was tough.
“What with the Crohn’s disease and coping with the change in food and water, atmosphere and climate was different for me. I hadn’t experienced a lot of that as I had played European football before but not too that extreme. But my form just wasn’t good enough, especially in the league games which I was disappointed with.”
Aberdeen’s resurgence under Thelin has proved to be night and day. The Dons look a major force but Shinnie knows the importance of not getting too high now either.
He said: “In football you can’t get too high as we haven’t achieved anything yet but you can’t get too low when it’s going badly. There are always players who get really high when they’re winning and really low when losing as that’s life. I’ve got friends away from football who are like that if things are going well with a job or maybe not so well with a partner.”