Former Aberdeen midfielder Graeme Shinnie has reflected on his rivalry with Celtic captain Scott Brown, and touched on the Hoops captain’s brilliant putdown of him.
Shinnie and Brown tussled for years in Scottish football before the former moved to Derby County last summer. It would often end with one result – the Celtic man standing tall after another convincing victory over the Dons.
However, it certainly got heated at times. Shinnie has in the past claimed that Brown “probably hates” him (Daily Record). That came after Brown lashed out at Shinnie over a particular challenge he made back in May 2018. Broony stated that it was “a little boy’s tackle” (The National).
The relationship between the pair has always tended to be meaty. But speaking to Open Goal, Shinnie was man enough to admit when he was shown up by the Hoops legend as he reflected on one particular putdown.
“We were 1-0 up and I put in a horrendous tackle and I didn’t mean it. Like I wasn’t purposely going for him. He went mental. He was like ‘your legs are getting broken’.
“I done Sky Sports after the game and they obviously asked me about the tackle and what I meant to say was ‘there was loads of those tackles in the game’. In the end I’ve ended up saying something like ‘what goes around comes around’ and absolute killed myself.
“In the games [from then on after the tackle] he used to always give me a bit. They pumped us 3-0 at Pittodrie. They battered us, and the football they were playing was unreal. He came up behind me and whispered in my ear ‘do you want a touch of the ball wee man?”
Shinnie’s respect for Brown is there for all to see
Shinnie was hardly the Celtic supporters’ favourite Aberdeen player during his time in the Granite City. He had a habit of lunging into nasty challenges, particularly when things weren’t going his way.
However, you can tell there’s a strong layer of respect in the Scotland international’s comments here. He’ll know that he’s been schooled so often in the past by Broony that he can’t help but admire his leadership and all-round quality.
But it’s also an insight on how Brown likes to get into his rival’s heads. When he’s going up to the likes of Shinnie, he’ll be looking to wind them up. Getting under your opponent’s skin can be such an advantage, and this is solid proof of how good Brown is at it.
Some will say it’s meddling in the dark arts, but let’s get real here. If you can’t take a bit of verbal sparring on the football pitch then you’re in the wrong profession.
Of course when it came to this rivalry, it’s fair to say it was so incredibly one sided. When Brendan Rodgers arrived in the summer of 2016, Brown’s Celtic won 11 of their final 12 meetings. Shinnie’s only victory over him since 2016 was on trophy day two years later after the title had been won.
All credit to him in any case. He knows he was often second-best against Brown, and clearly isn’t scared to admit when he was.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
