Shinnie

I'm surprised honestly that I haven't heard more about him this year amongst the support - and that may in effect answer the question in the poll. However, I'm curious what everyone thinks - are we missing him or has his loss been minimal?

Miss his captaincy more than anything. Joe just cannot drive us forward in the way Shinnie did.

As a player he was pretty limited. Bryson was signed to fill the role he left vacant and should have been an upgrade but injuries have blighted his season. Even when he has been fit to play....he's been pretty underwhelming.

Shinnie couldn't get a look in at Derby for the first 3 months of the season. He got a break when the infamous drink driving/wrapping a car round a tree fiasco caused them to lose their captain to injury for the season (subsequently fired but apparently appealing this) plus suspending a couple of others for a few games. But now it seems that Derby view him as a bench option mainly. Handy to bring on when trying to manage a game out. They're probably out of the play-off picture for this season which is really just as well for Shinnie as there's no way he's good enough to play in the EPL. Wouldn't surprise me to see him back with us on a free in a year's time.

Derby fans seem to love him. He might be coming off the bench a lot (he was only on for 16 mins the other night and still got his customary yellow card) but at least he is involved. Can't see him wanting to swap playing alongside Wayne Rooney to come back up here in a hurry.

I loved Shinnie and yes we do miss him, but afraid we won't see him back in a Dons shirt until he's winding down his career and maybe comes back for one last hurrah.

Interesting you mentioned his booking on Saturday. I looked at his stats and he's picked up more yellow cards than games started in the championship. If I interpret 9 (4) correctly as 9 appearances including 4 as sub in the league then 6 yellow cards is quite a remarkable return. Why should this be?

We all saw how passionate and determined he is but I never considered him a dirty player. I reckon the vast majority of his bookings came from "headless chickenism". He was often late into the challenge but being so committed as he is, doesn't have any other speed. It is mistiming the contact and not being the sharpest tool in the box that cost him not just the incredible number of yellows but it has also cost him a greater career. There are many at the highest levels who don't have that passion but making the same mistakes over and over again suggests an uncoachable idiot who's barrier is his own stupidity.

I'm not a fan of Simon Ferry, but the podcast he did with Graeme Shinnie is well worth a listen just to hear the story of Kenny McLean shitting in a box of chocolates. 

This is on my to listen / watch list for the weekend. Not a Si Ferry fan either, but his podcasts aren't that bad

Aye he's(Ferry) a bit of a simpleton,but enjoyed a number of his shows, eg Deano,Craig Brown. Away for a listen..