Graeme Shinnie insists he is desperate to lift a trophy as Aberdeen captain.
The 32-year-old Dons skipper’s desire to replace Russell Anderson as the last man to captain the club to cup glory burns as bright as ever as he begins his preparations for the new season.
The former Caley Thistle captain will celebrate his 33rd birthday in August and as he moves towards the veteran stage of his career Shinnie’s motivation is massive.
He said: “The older you get the more enthusiastic you get as you know your years are running out and you want to make the most of it.
“I can’t wait to get going again. The determination to try to lift silverware at this club has always been massive for me. I’m desperate for it.
“I’d love to win a cup and do as well as we can in the league. The league form was the one thing we really let ourselves down in but we did well in the cups.
“We got to one final and the Scottish Cup semi-final was one of those games which will live long in the memory.
“But we want to go one better.”
‘Last year was one of the toughest’
An erratic, inconsistent campaign brought highs and lows last season and Shinnie admits the season was one of the toughest of his career.
But the disappointments are fuelling his desire to bounce back this term.
He told RedTV: “We’ve had great moments here and had to deal with some hard moments as well.
“Last year’s hard moments were some of the toughest I’ve gone through at this club but you deal with it.
“We beat Rangers in the league and their manager left after that. We drew at home with Celtic and beat Hearts at home as well but the consistency was never there and it let us down a bit.
“I’m always demanding of this team and I want to finish as high up the table as we can.
“We know what’s coming and we don’t want to be there again. There’s a hunger to improve this year.”
Excitement at a fresh start under a new manager
Much has changed in the summer off the field with Peter Leven handing over the reins to new manager Jimmy Thelin.
Leven remains at the club as part of Swede Thelin’s backroom staff and Shinnie says the new manager has already made an impression in the first week of pre-season training.
He said: “Finishing the way we did last season, having a break then starting fresh under a new manager has been brilliant.
“There’s a real excitement and we’re looking forward to the new season.
“I spoke to the manager after the season ended over the phone. We had a good chat and I’ve had two or three since.
“When the new manager comes in you want to sort things out in terms of how he deals with day-to-day life and sort fines out and all these things.
“We’ve also chatted about the football, not just with the manager but with all the staff who have come in. It’s important we have a bond between the squad and the staff.
“The manager has made it obvious what he wants in terms of that but the things he’s doing which people won’t see are important for the squad.
“There are little things around the training ground each day about making sure our habits are right.
“It’s also my job to help create that as well.”
Pre-season build-up continues in Portugal
The build-up to the new campaign continues this week as Shinnie and his team-mates spend the week in a training camp in Portugal.
The Dons captain believes the chance to build a relationship with the new coaching staff and incoming team-mates Gavin Molloy, Dimitar Mitov and Peter Ambrose will be important for the squad.
He said: “The pre-season trips are massively important as everyone gets to know each other.
“We’ll spend a lot of time together on and off the pitch which helps form those bonds.
“A bit of sun as well doesn’t go amiss.”
The midfielder can expect a more traditional build-up to the new campaign and certainly has no desire to repeat a memorable, if unusual pre-season build-up he experienced during his time at Caley Thistle.
Shinnie said: “One afternoon at Inverness we went orienteering in Forres with Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas.
“Maurice was on lunch duty with a portable barbecue and he had 30 bodies to feed on this wee portable barbecue.
“We were up running with these young kids having to find different spots on the hills and it was crazy.
“The next day we went to RAF Lossiemouth and had some great fun there. It was a bit different but there were good parts too.
“My brother (Andrew) was there and we were doing a shooting range, laying down on the astroturf and complaining his elbows were sore and the army boys absolutely hammered him.
“That’s the kind of things that build team spirit but I’m hoping I’ll never be orienteering in Forres again.”
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