Neil Warnock reveals which Aberdeen star will be most vital to his Pittodrie revolution

Neil Warnock has stated captain Graeme Shinnie will be vital to his Aberdeen revolution.

His new skipper has been an important player for the Dons over the last couple of season and that isn’t about to change under his new boss. Shinnie runs the Pittodrie dressing room and Warnock knows he will be key on and off the pitch. The new manager said: “I had Jonathan Hogg at Huddersfield and Jonny Howson at Middlesbrough, so I’ve been lucky because these people are vital.

“I will be looking to Shinnie, he’s going to be vital to me for the remainder of the season. Paddy McNair told me when I left Middlesbrough that he’d never enjoyed getting out of bed to come training more than he had. And that’s what I want it to be like here.” Warnock took his team for the first time in Tuesday’s defeat at Rangers. Aberdeen narrowly lost 2-1 but their experienced boss is well aware that the games against the rest are key. He just wants to bring a smile back to the Red Army.

He claimed: “That’s one of the things I’m actually quite excited about- coming to a different type of football. I expect stuff off myself. I just want to put smiles on faces and make your jobs easier. You’ll get plenty of quotes off me. You’ll use some against me and some for me, I’ve no doubt!

“That’s what I’ve wanted wherever I’ve been. I think there’s enough depression around. We had the Covid thing. I really worked my socks off to take a lot of pressure and give Middlesbrough fans an outlet. The only time they saw anything was a press conference on Zoom on those days.

“That was hard work. I feel that football is still an enjoyable sport and you have got to try and enjoy it as best you can. But you’ve got to try to win so you’ve got to try to find a way. Usually Celtic