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..

Took me forever to find this but I refuse to start a new threat. 
last two games two wins and shinnie on the bench. Is this the beginning of the end for him? Think sivert was better yesterday and I’m a fan of palaversa, just don’t see Shinnie being a regular starter any more.

part two of this, next season is shinnie the team captain? And given the nature of the game and finances, and current squad, are we seeing the end of a Scottish captain? If Devlin is our starting right back I’m just ok with him as captain, but makes me wonder if we’re towards the end of having a Scottish team captain.

8 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Took me forever to find this but I refuse to start a new threat. 
last two games two wins and shinnie on the bench. Is this the beginning of the end for him? Think sivert was better yesterday and I’m a fan of palaversa, just don’t see Shinnie being a regular starter any more.

part two of this, next season is shinnie the team captain? And given the nature of the game and finances, and current squad, are we seeing the end of a Scottish captain? If Devlin is our starting right back I’m just ok with him as captain, but makes me wonder if we’re towards the end of having a Scottish team captain.

The laughing was the thread chat. 

But yeah, I wouldn't be adverse to having someone else as captain. Devlin would be my preference as I still think he should be starting and would like the captain to be local, but it's not the end of the world if they're not. As long as they care and add value as captain, that's all I care about. It is interesting that we've won the last two sans shinnie starting, but there are a lot of other things coming into the mix too (players returning, new signings)

14 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

Took me forever to find this but I refuse to start a new threat.

This is the type of dedication to the rules that this forum appreciates

14 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

last two games two wins and shinnie on the bench. Is this the beginning of the end for him? Think sivert was better yesterday and I’m a fan of palaversa, just don’t see Shinnie being a regular starter any more.

part two of this, next season is shinnie the team captain? And given the nature of the game and finances, and current squad, are we seeing the end of a Scottish captain? If Devlin is our starting right back I’m just ok with him as captain, but makes me wonder if we’re towards the end of having a Scottish team captain.

Nah, Shinnie still has a big role to play. Whilst Nilsen is very good taking the ball under pressure, making space for himself, and trying to quickly play in others, he does go missing on the turn. Dundee walked through our midfield on numerous occasions, and a better team would have converted some of the chances they got. Palaversa is getting better every week, and I think he'll be key going forward too.

However, I don't see Shinnie or Devlin being regulars for us next season (unless injuries occur). I think Thelin will see Jensen as our first pick right back, and I think he'll go for another midfielder in the summer, which will mean less and less game time for either player. I think we're in the midst of a gradual, but complete clearout. Shinnie will stay for a while because of locality, but I see his game time diminishing. I think Milne, MacKenzie, Morris, Vinnie, Nisbet, Clarkson, Polvara, McGrath will all be quietly moved on by this time next year (obviously some will leave independently for contract reasons), with Shinnie and Devlin perhaps seeing out the season, dependent on European requirements.

1 hour ago, RicoS321 said:

This is the type of dedication to the rules that this forum appreciates

Nah, Shinnie still has a big role to play. Whilst Nilsen is very good taking the ball under pressure, making space for himself, and trying to quickly play in others, he does go missing on the turn. Dundee walked through our midfield on numerous occasions, and a better team would have converted some of the chances they got. Palaversa is getting better every week, and I think he'll be key going forward too.

However, I don't see Shinnie or Devlin being regulars for us next season (unless injuries occur). I think Thelin will see Jensen as our first pick right back, and I think he'll go for another midfielder in the summer, which will mean less and less game time for either player. I think we're in the midst of a gradual, but complete clearout. Shinnie will stay for a while because of locality, but I see his game time diminishing. I think Milne, MacKenzie, Morris, Vinnie, Nisbet, Clarkson, Polvara, McGrath will all be quietly moved on by this time next year (obviously some will leave independently for contract reasons), with Shinnie and Devlin perhaps seeing out the season, dependent on European requirements.

Interesting you put clarkson and polvara on the list. Neither have kicked on, for whatever reason, that I do see them as players to move on eventually. I think clarkson is here for at least another season, but polvara has been here a while and we’ve only seen glimpses. Been unfortunate/unlucky.

I do expect, much like new signings, we’ll try to shift at least 3 or 4 every window.
If we sign a foreigner that’s an impact player, say mitov or tobers, that’s fine with me, but I’d like to see top Scottish talent added. They’ve got to be good enough, like potentially a John mulligan or Liam smith from the other thread, but really don’t want the mcgarry or Ambrose type signings to pad out a squad. It’s not intended but played out that way, really, and for rules consideration too, hope to see some scots added. For that reason alone shinnie and Devlin won’t be going anywhere, but both still have a big part to play for us.

If Shinnie comes back refreshed like Devlin has after being out,then he's worth using,but less frequently.Start of the season he was excellent,might just be a rest more often issue

Shinnie for me has at most a season left in him. I don't think that warrants captaincy on its own. Anderson was different, as he was still playing to a high standard when he retired. Shinnie is still magic but only in glimpses. I'm of the view the captain needs to be in this order  (a) dominant, (b) consistent, (c) experienced, (d) an outfield player, (e) scottish. I'm not too fussed about (e) so long as they have the other 4 traits in spades. 

I was checking whilst writing this, is Joe Lewis really our only season-long non-Scottish captain? Anthony Stewart was captain for the game and a half it took us to figure out he was rubbish, so I'm not counting him 

1 hour ago, Reekie_Red said:

Shinnie for me has at most a season left in him. I don't think that warrants captaincy on its own. Anderson was different, as he was still playing to a high standard when he retired. Shinnie is still magic but only in glimpses. I'm of the view the captain needs to be in this order  (a) dominant, (b) consistent, (c) experienced, (d) an outfield player, (e) scottish. I'm not too fussed about (e) so long as they have the other 4 traits in spades. 

I was checking whilst writing this, is Joe Lewis really our only season-long non-Scottish captain? Anthony Stewart was captain for the game and a half it took us to figure out he was rubbish, so I'm not counting him 

Irishman Charles O'Hagan was the team captain from 1906-1910. He was also the first Aberdeen player to be capped for his country. He also went on to be the manager of Sevilla later on in life. He had a very interesting life. 

 

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/11/01/the-mysterious-career-of-charles-ohagan-sevillas-first-foreign-manager/

6 hours ago, scotfree said:

Irishman Charles O'Hagan was the team captain from 1906-1910. He was also the first Aberdeen player to be capped for his country. He also went on to be the manager of Sevilla later on in life. He had a very interesting life. 

 

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/11/01/the-mysterious-career-of-charles-ohagan-sevillas-first-foreign-manager/

@BigAl, was he any good?

Mind hearing this back in the day 😂

In October 1908, Charles O'Hagan began contributing a series to Bon-Accord entitled "My Football Reminiscences" entirely penned by himself. The series ran over 12 weekly issues. Bon-Accord were rightly proud of the series and at one point printed this promotional "story":

Got What He Wanted

Charlie one evening was making his way up to "Bon-Accord" office. At Windmill Brae a man suddenly sprang on our friend. 'Your money or your life! said he hoarsely. Was Charlie dismayed? No, not he. He just took a copy of a paper from his pocket and handed it to the robber, saying simply, 'This is an advance copy of "Bon-Accord." You'll find my life in it.'

Bon-Accord, 29th October 1908

On 16/02/2025 at 19:56, OrlandoDon said:

Took me forever to find this but I refuse to start a new threat. 
last two games two wins and shinnie on the bench. Is this the beginning of the end for him? Think sivert was better yesterday and I’m a fan of palaversa, just don’t see Shinnie being a regular starter any more.

part two of this, next season is shinnie the team captain? And given the nature of the game and finances, and current squad, are we seeing the end of a Scottish captain? If Devlin is our starting right back I’m just ok with him as captain, but makes me wonder if we’re towards the end of having a Scottish team captain.

I'm all for sivert being skipper. He sets a standard for work rate and fight and will bollock those not up to expectations. With shinnie on the pitch he takes a back seat. 

I mean why the hell did he swap the arm band with shinnie for ten minutes.?

Shinnie is a grafter but he's not a leader and the last couple of years have proven that. 

As he ages the physicality is taking a toll as he's not the biggest and can be swept aside in some games.

I'll admit that Nilsen has had some sticky games but he looks to be back to himself and he's the man for me to get the boss' message across and the man who controls the tempo.

Either shinnie has to move on or accept a lesser role in the squad. I'm not sure the latter would make for a good dynamic.

I'd prefer to see Polvara get time as the third midfielder.

That said Nilsen probably needs replaced season after next as he slows down.

59 minutes ago, redordead said:

 

Shinnie is a grafter but he's not a leader and the last couple of years have proven that. 

 

How has the last couple of years proven that? 

I don't understand the rush to sideline a 33 year old Graeme Shinnie in favour of a 33 year old Sivert Nilsen. Nilsen has had just as many, if not more, poor performances than Shinnie. I'd say the improved performances have come from Palaversa improving, which has taken the load off of Shinnie & Nilsen.

I would think the natural successor as captain will be Tobers or Palaversa in 2-3 years time (should they stay beyond their current deals).

Because shinnie can't motivate the team in my view . He's not used to winning and accepted mediocrity through the last few managers tenures.

We need a new mindset for me and whilst nilsen may not always be Pele, he's always up for the fight which is exactly what we showed last weekend for the first time in a long while.

Good discussion. When I posted I was not criticizing Shinnie. I’m a big fan and still think he has a lot to offer. Thought he was very good early season and showed he still has it. It just appears that under JT sivert will be preferred, and I think palaversa is starting to have greater influence in games. I rate palaversa, big strong physical mobile and technical. Just think shinnie has become the odd man out, but certainly see shinnie playing regularly and rotating, especially with the age of him and sivert.

however, I think a captain has to be one of our best players, and a leader. Starts every game. Certainly hesitant to make sivert captain as he’s old too and will he rotate. I like his leadership and the way he plays, but thought he disappeared for a month or so for whatever reason, that concerns me as a captain can’t do that. RE tobers and palaversa as captains, like them both a lot as players, but do they have leadership qualities? I feel shinnie is a good leader, much by passion and effort/by example, but that’s not the only way to lead. 

5 hours ago, redordead said:

Because shinnie can't motivate the team in my view . He's not used to winning and accepted mediocrity through the last few managers tenures.

There's not a single part of what you wrote there that is even close to being true.

5 hours ago, redordead said:

We need a new mindset for me and whilst nilsen may not always be Pele, he's always up for the fight which is exactly what we showed last weekend for the first time in a long while.

So we need someone "up for the fight" and "able to motivate"?

You mean like a Barry Robson?

Or a Jim Goodwin?

Or a Scott Brown?

All three were part of the last three permanent management teams - Robson was part of all three actually. Yet we're blaming Shinnie for not being able to motivate?

If Nilsen is such a great motivator, how the hell did we go three months without a win? 

4 hours ago, Panda said:

There's not a single part of what you wrote there that is even close to being true.

So we need someone "up for the fight" and "able to motivate"?

You mean like a Barry Robson?

Or a Jim Goodwin?

Or a Scott Brown?

All three were part of the last three permanent management teams - Robson was part of all three actually. Yet we're blaming Shinnie for not being able to motivate?

If Nilsen is such a great motivator, how the hell did we go three months without a win? 

Only brown was on the pitch unless I missed something and I have no issue with the job he done. 

I've stated previously that some of our best football in years was under glass where we dominated games. However unfortunately for him we couldn't keep weans out of a close and the club chose not to see the experiment through. A lot of players downed tools that season as soon as they had an excuse. 

The second part of your question?  Back to you. If shinnie was any sort of leader how did we go 3 months without a win. Or the big streak that got Robson sacked or the run that got glass sacked?

My point is that in my view ( and it's my view ) is that there's a track record there if consistently downing tools when adversity came.

Let's see how the next few weeks work out. Saturday night have been a fluke.

5 hours ago, redordead said:

Only brown was on the pitch unless I missed something and I have no issue with the job he done. 

I've stated previously that some of our best football in years was under glass where we dominated games. However unfortunately for him we couldn't keep weans out of a close and the club chose not to see the experiment through. A lot of players downed tools that season as soon as they had an excuse. 

You've made my point for me there.

You're saying you have no problem with the job Scott Brown did, yet claim his teammates downed tools. Surely, if you're being consistent, you'd have to say he wasn't a very good captain then?

5 hours ago, redordead said:

The second part of your question?  Back to you. If shinnie was any sort of leader how did we go 3 months without a win.

For the same reason you're not blaming Scott Brown - we didn't lose all those games because of Graeme Shinnie being unable to motivate his teammates. 

There were many factors for Aberdeen's slump. Shinnie's performances (like many others) were a factor, his credentials as captain were not.

On 21/02/2025 at 13:31, redordead said:

I'm all for sivert being skipper. He sets a standard for work rate and fight and will bollock those not up to expectations. With shinnie on the pitch he takes a back seat. 

I mean why the hell did he swap the arm band with shinnie for ten minutes.?

Shinnie is a grafter but he's not a leader and the last couple of years have proven that. 

As he ages the physicality is taking a toll as he's not the biggest and can be swept aside in some games.

I'll admit that Nilsen has had some sticky games but he looks to be back to himself and he's the man for me to get the boss' message across and the man who controls the tempo.

Either shinnie has to move on or accept a lesser role in the squad. I'm not sure the latter would make for a good dynamic.

I'd prefer to see Polvara get time as the third midfielder.

That said Nilsen probably needs replaced season after next as he slows down.

 

Problem with this is that more often than not he is the one not up to expectations. Passing often very slack and gives the ball away a lot. But you're right about him bollocking others (for doing the same thing). I'd still rather have Shinnie as captain. Unless his role is to change to a bit part one. 

Being a diligent poster, I have redirected this thread to pay tribute to the man himself.

It's always good to see local loons lifting cups for the Dons as captain, so I wish him all the best in whatever he does next.

“One of our own” who seemed to be every bit as pleased as every one of us 366 days ago.

All the best to him.