Graeme Shinnie is delighted to be back settled at Aberdeen after spending his summer wondering if Wigan would be wound up.
The 31-year-old sealed his third spell at Pittodrie this week after finally securing his early release from the English crisis club. But Shinnie, who starred on loan at Pittodrie last season, admits the uncertainty over parent club Wigan cast a hug shadow over his family holiday in the sun. HMRC were pushing for a winding up order against the club, who had been relegated to League One after a points deduction and delayed wages.
Local billionaire Mike Danson stepped in to save the day but Shinnie admitted: “It was tough. It was an amazing finish to the season with Aberdeen and then I went away on my holidays. It is a time away when I try to switch everything off and spend time with my kids and wife away from everything else. But everyday I had to be on the phone to see what was going on at the club.
“I’m delighted for Wigan that they found a buyer and are very stable now. Then it was about getting the (Aberdeen) deal done which I am delighted with.”
The move would have come as a huge relief for Shinnie after all the upheaval at Wigan, where a string or promises to staff and players were broken. Midfield star Shinnie said: “We were being told a lot of things that by the end we knew were not going to happen.
“Your were being told you were going to be paid the next day and it was complete lies. The summer wasn’t the first time that happened, it had been five or six times over the course of the season, so it was tough in that aspect.
“The takeover was then talked about and it was questionable whether we could believe it or not. We were not certain it was going to go through, it was in hope more than anything.”
Unfortunately, Wigan’s financial crisis was nothing new for Shinnie because he also had to deal with it at Derby. That is why he is so delighted to be back in the red of Aberdeen. He said: “I think about three-and-a-half weeks was the longest (at Wigan) we went without wages. To be fair, we always got paid in the end, but it was just delays.
“The captain had a lot of control, he was the one dealing with a lot of people but that was tough because the chief exec went and two of the board resigned. So it ended up just the chairman and the owner, so it was tough for him to get answers and by the end we were not hearing much.
“It was a tough time but everyone is happy with the outcome now. They have been taken over by a local businessman who will bring stability. It’s hard for the supporters more than anyone because it’s their club and they want the best for it.
“It happened at Derby as well when I was there so I hope it’s not following me around! I hope I’ve left all that in England and I’m not the jinx.”
Shinnie believes that won’t be the case at Pittodrie as there is a bit more of a safety-first approach in Scotland. He added: “The big part of it down south is that the financial gain from getting up to the Premier League is massive.
“The money behind that is crazy. That might play a factor in some owners trying to push for that too much and they can sometimes ruin the club by doing that. They want the best for their club and they are trying their hardest to get to one of the best leagues in the world but the flip side is sometimes you can put the club at risk.
“The majority of supporters would rather have the stability than seeing their club overspend to try and get there. I think we do take it for granted in Scotland that the stability of clubs here is generally good. This is a tremendously run club that looks after its players massively.”
The former Inverness and Scotland star revealed that Wigan boss Shaun Maloney tried to get him to remain at the DW Stadium, but his mind was already made up to return home to Aberdeen. Shinnie continued: “He (Maloney) was very good with me.
“I spoke to him towards the end of the season. I had played with him in a Scotland squad before but I had never been down there when he was the manager.
“It was a case of chatting away and working out what was best for both. He wanted to keep me but I wanted to come back to Aberdeen.”
