Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie backs Dennis Geiger over Scottish Cup red card with ‘very soft football now, isn’t it?’ assessment

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie labelled modern football “soft” and backed midfield team-mate Dennis Geiger after his red card in the Scottish Cup win over Motherwell.

The German, 27, had a Pittodrie debut to forget when, after an influential opening 20 minutes following an early Motherwell sending off, Geiger received a straight red card after connecting with Lukas Fadinger’s groin area in a 50/50 challenge.

The Dons struck a loan-with-option-to-buy deal to sign Geiger from Hoffenheim in January, and the cup-tie was only his second appearance due to a trio of weather-induced postponements.

While Aberdeen came through Wednesday’s Well clash 2-0 – with the visitors going down to nine men in the second period – Geiger will now be suspended for next month’s quarter-final at Dunfermline Athletic, as well as a potential Hampden semi-final.

Reds skipper Shinnie – who returned to the Aberdeen line-up and scored a cracking second on the night – sympathised with his team-mate.

Shinnie, who is currently serving a Premiership suspension after seeing red for a tackle on Greg Kiltie in a 3-0 league loss to Kilmarnock, said: “I haven’t seen it back.

“It looked actually a wee bit similar to mine at Kilmarnock.

“It’s maybe one for Dennis when it’s head on, just to maybe let it go and not go in for it when the ball’s that high.

“If you mistime it, you’re naturally going to catch him high up because the ball’s bouncing.

“But we won the game, so he’ll bounce back.”

Shinnie added, with “the way the game’s gone now”, he thinks the officials – VAR instructed referee John Beaton to review Geiger’s challenge after the whistler initially flashed a yellow card – were always likely to upgrade the decision.

He said: “I just had the real time. It’s maybe one that looks a wee bit worse than what it is.

“But it’s the way the game’s gone now – it’s very soft football now, isn’t it?

“With VAR, you don’t get away with anything.”

Dons scorer Shinnie happy to have ‘positive effect’ on cup game after Kilmarnock red

Shinnie had to wait two weeks after his Kilmarnock red, which he received for a challenge on Greg Kiltie, to serve the first game of his league suspension.

Having missed Sunday’s 2-0 Premiership defeat to Motherwell at Fir Park, he will also miss Saturday’s home match with Dundee.

As a result of his league frustration, last season’s Scottish Cup-winning captain Shinnie was determined to “affect” the rearranged fifth-round tie with Well – and did so when he lashed a low strike low into the right bottom corner on 63 minutes.

Shinnie – whose second period strike came after Kevin Nisbet’s fourth-minute free-kick opener – said: “Obviously 1-0 is that scoreline where it doesn’t matter how well you’re playing, one goal and they’re back in it, and they get the momentum if they score.

“To have that two-goal cushion is massive.”

He added: “It’s taken while for a game to come around. The cup game was the only one that was saving me a little bit because I had the two-game ban.

“Then all the games kept getting called off.

“I was hoping the Dundee United game would be on because it was Wednesday and Sunday and then that would be it.

“That one was off, so then I knew I missed the game at the weekend and could play the cup game.

“Now, I miss the weekend, so it’s a bit of a stop-start.

“After letting the team down, it’s important that I bounce back and try to do all I can.

“You can only affect what’s in front of you – today I’ve had more of a positive effect, so it’s important.”

Shinnie frustrated with some of Aberdeen’s play in ‘mental’ Well tie

Skipper Shinnie concurred with Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven’s assessment of Wednesday’s cup win – admitting the performance was “frustrating”, but in “do or die” cup football they did the most important thing. They got through.

Shinnie said: “We had a tough opponent in Motherwell, who have had an unbelievable season and are doing really well. Their manager has done really well with them. We knew it was going to be a tough game.

“It was a typical cup game – mental. Red cards. Mad in that sense, but just really positive that we obviously scored the two goals, got a clean sheet and got through.

“I didn’t think we were amazing at times in the game.

“I thought we were good in the first half before we got the man sent off and then Motherwell took control again.

“Second half, after we scored, I thought Motherwell were the better team with a man less, which was frustrating.

“We didn’t have to go after it and try and score again because 2-0 is fine – but we just had to use the ball a lot better than what we did. That was the only slight frustration at the end.”

Pre-match video showed newer Aberdeen players ‘what could be’ in Scottish Cup

As he had suggested he would do before the Scottish Cup clash, Leven showed his players motivational footage of May’s Scottish Cup glory at Hampden and the celebrations.

Shinnie felt his team-mates, inspired to replicate the success this term, put their bodies on the line to secure cup progress over Well.

He said: “They probably know it’s important, but even last season when we won it, some of the players that are not from around here, not from maybe Scotland, maybe didn’t realise the magnitude of what it actually was to win it.

“They would have had thoughts in their head, but I think actually living it would have exceeded that.

“It was important that we showed them what could be (with the video).

“These games at this stage of the cup are really important. It was important to have that motivation going into the pitch.

“That’s important going forward now – not just for cup games.

“The league is important to us as well and it’s been too inconsistent, so it’s important now that we carry this on now to Saturday.”

[Source: Press and Journal]