GRAEME Shinnie has told his Aberdeen team mates the responsibility for halting their slide down the cinch Premiership table lies with them and not caretaker manager Barry Robson.
Robson, who took over from Jim Goodwin on a temporary basis last month when the Irishman was sacked following a dire run of form, looks set to remain in charge of the Pittodrie club for some time.
Dons chairman Dave Cormack issued a statement last week saying the search for Goodwin’s replacement was ongoing and revealing that Alan Burrows, who takes over as chief executive on February 27, will have an input into the appointment.
However, Shinnie, the former Scotland internationalist who has returned to Aberdeen from Wigan on loan until the end of the season, believes it is down to the players to get back into the top six of the league table.
Speaking after the 4-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday, he said: “It’s been tough, but we need to stand up and be counted for Aberdeen. You need to have the confidence in every game to go out and play well.
“This (the Celtic loss) is one of those where you have to deal with it, analyse and then go and prepare for a big game against Livingston (at Pittodrie on Saturday). That’s one we need to bounce back in.
“Barry is putting his own style onto it and trying to do it his way. He’s obviously got the passion for it and I think he has been very good.
“But we always have to take a responsibility. A manager has lost a job based on the players on the pitch not doing the right jobs. We are at Aberdeen for a reason and you need to stand up and be counted.
“You can’t go into your shell. It’s been a tough period, but you need to play through it and the only way to get out of it is by winning games. We have games coming up where we need to bounce back and try to get a run of form going.
“It’s about trying to get wins together. Like I said, the only way you can get out this tough run of form is to win games, so we’ll deal with this one, we’ll analyse it and we’ll move onto Livingston. We need to come up with a win.”
Shinnie, who has been involved in numerous clashes with Celtic during his previous spells with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Aberdeen, believes Ange Postecoglou’s team is as good as any he has faced.
“They have good rotations and play very good football,” he said. “The manager has them playing a different style of football to what I have been used to, going there especially. They have inverted full-backs and try to make overloads in areas of the pitch. I thought they were very good.
“I played against Brendan Rodgers’ teams who were very dominant and very good, but I feel this Celtic side are very impressive. It’s tough, but we have to move on and get back to winning ways against Livingston.”
