ADAM ROONEY

In Saturday’s RedMatchday magazine there is a special eight page interview with Dons striker Adam Rooney:

One of football’s greatest attractions is that it is the quintessential team game. Although there are individual battles going on all over the park, games are rarely, if ever, won by an individual.

History shows that the most successful sides are often made up of a patchwork of partnerships across the field, inter-connecting the XI from back to front and there are many fine examples of that in Aberdeen’s story.

Take Miller and McLeish during the ‘80s or the forward line of Mills and Armstrong during the 1930s. Then you have Archie Glenn, featured elsewhere in Saturday’s programme, who was part of the renowned half-back trio of Allister, Young and Glen who immortalised themselves in Pittodrie folklore after helping the Dons to their first league title in 1955.

Another trio who are well on their way to that iconic status are Hayes, Rooney and McGinn. Between them, they have now scored over 160 goals and collected an even higher number of assists. Football moves so fast that sometimes, it is difficult to appreciate what you have at the time, it’s all too easy to take it for granted. But that would be foolish, for we would do well to recognise we are watching history in the making.

And so we spoke to Adam Rooney, a player who is rewriting the AFC history books. We started by discussing his partners in crime…

“Obviously Jonny and Niall were here when I arrived. Since then we have developed a good understanding over the years. I don’t exactly know why that it is or how it happens, it’s hard to explain really. Maybe it’s just because we are Irish! No one else can understand what we’re saying, which gives us an advantage on the field! But seriously, it is hard to explain. I think it really comes from playing games together, but there is also something that just comes naturally”.

Derek McInnes and his team deserve plenty of credit for piecing together that natural spark, working out which players outwith the club would fit well together inside it. Clearly he’s found the magic formula with those three.

“I had a good understanding with Jonny when we were both at Inverness and I scored a lot of goals up there off his crosses, so we have an understanding from those days. Then to be fair I think anyone could play with Niall. He is that good a player. As a striker, he is the perfect player to play alongside because he gets over so many crosses into the box and his delivery is spot on nine times out of ten.

“It makes it easy for me with two such good players on either side. I know if Jonny has the ball, even if he has two men on him, he is still more than likely going to beat them and deliver a ball in so I can make a run into the area.

“If Niall has the ball I know he is either going to put in a cross and cut inside for a shot. It makes my movement easy because I can gamble on getting across defenders or gamble on where they are going to put the ball. Or gambling on Jonny having a shot and miskicking it and then I get a tap-in! That has happened on more than one occasion!…..

RedMatchday Issue 19 is available from sellers in and around the ground. There will be copies available to buy in the club shop plus you can buy all the AFC programmes online here