Skipper Graeme Shinnie warns summer signings must learn to carry ‘weight’ of playing for Aberdeen

Captain Graeme Shinnie warns Aberdeen’s new players must show they can handle the weight of playing for the club.

Boss Jimmy Thelin made 13 signings during the summer transfer window, but the rebuilt Reds are bottom of the Premiership table.

The struggling Dons also crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup and failed to reach the Europa League, losing out in the play-offs.

Shinnie revealed he is so frustrated by the winless form slump, he delivered a few home truths in the dressing room after the cup loss to Motherwell on Saturday.

He says the onus is on players to prove they can handle the pressure and demands of being a Don, starting against Dundee United at Tannadice on Tuesday.

Players have to ‘carry that weight’

The 34-year0old accepts flak will be directed at manager Thelin because that is the nature of football.

But he reckons it is the players who deserve criticism, not Thelin, as they are given everything needed to win- but failing to deliver.

Shinnie said: “Players are at Aberdeen because they deserve to be here, but they have to carry that weight.

“I’ve been here for a long time and it’s a demanding club.

“If you don’t want to be somewhere so demanding, then I don’t really understand why you would be in football.

“This is the best place to go and play your football, as the fans back us every week.

“There are some big, big games that you’re involved in, such as European football.

“You’ve got to stand up, bring your talent into the game and have the character to go and produce.”

Asked if the pressure and demands of playing for Aberdeen can be tough for new signings to adapt to, Shinnie said: “Yes, I think so – it depends where they’ve been.

“It can be hostile here when you’re not winning. You’ve got to be thick-skinned and able to deal with it.

“That’s what I said in there (dressing room).

“You need to be able to rise above it and have the character to go and show your quality in the game.

“Somebody’s waiting for someone else to do it.

“It’s got to be: ‘Hold on a minute, I’ll be the one to go and score us a goal’.

“We haven’t scored in four games.

“Somebody has to be: ‘Right, I’ll go and take the reins and I’ll go and do it’.

“That’s what you need in these moments.”

Boss Thelin led Aberdeen to Scottish Cup glory in May to end the club’s 11-year trophy drought in his first season at Pittodrie.

Players, not Thelin, deserve criticism

However, the Reds have failed to build on silverware success.

This season Aberdeen have won only once in eight games, away in the Premier Sports Cup to Championship Morton.

Of the other matches, they have lost five and drawn two.

The club skipper insists the Swede gives his team all the tools to win matches, but the players that are not delivering.

Shinnie said: “The manager always takes the flak for it, that is the way it is in football.

“As players we’ve got to take the majority of it, actually, if I’m being honest.

“He’s demanded things out of the squad that, come a game, players haven’t been doing.

“It’s frustrating for him.

“He’s given us all the tools and the tactics and everything that we need to go and win.

“And it goes missing on a Saturday and people aren’t doing what he’s asking us to do.

“We’re letting him down in that aspect.

“Then he takes the brunt of the criticism, which is unfair – but that’s how football works.

“That’s why I try and drive the team on to change things around for us and for the manager as well.”

Harsh truths delivered by Shinnie

In the aftermath of the loss to Motherwell on Saturday, skipper Shinnie let his team-mates know their lack of intensity was not good enough.

He said: “After a loss, I’ll always have talks.

“I’ll always speak to the dressing room and tell them what I think.

“Tell them why we haven’t won and what we’ve done wrong.

“There’s been a few this season.

“I thought the second half intensity was not good enough, so I let them know that. It’s just little things.

“After a game, it’s obviously high emotions. That’s when I tend to have a bit of a go, which you need.

“Now I want a couple of weeks where I don’t have to, and can can just say well done and get on with it.

“You’ve got to deal with these times as well, as football is very up and down.

“We had the highs at the end of last season (Scottish Cup win) and we have the lows at the start of this season.

“You have to deal with both, stay level-headed and just keep trying to drive the team on.

“That’s all I can do.”

Aberdeen’s Premiership woes stretch way back into last season.

Transforming talent into victories

The Reds have won only five of their previous 31 league matches from November last year.

Shinnie’s faith is unshakeable Aberdeen will rise again under Thelin.

Why is he so confident?

“The talent in the squad,” said Shinnie.

“The talent is clearly there to see.

“I know there’s some new faces and they’re only just in the door.

“But unfortunately in football you don’t get a lot of time to settle in and they need to hit the ground running.

“It’s just trying to drive it into them and get them to carry their training abilities, that I see every day, into the games.”

[Source: Press and Journal]