Jonny Hayes

It’s been quite some season for everyone at Pittodrie, but for none more so than Jonny Hayes who you might see down at your local furniture store in the next few days, investing in a new trophy cabinet.

Nominated for the PFA Player of the Year award and named in the PFA Team of the Year, Jonny also picked up the AFC Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year and Goal of the Season trophies last Thursday, official recognition, if it be needed, that this has been a very special one for the new Republic of Ireland international.

And with the Euros to come, he might not be finished yet.

It’s been a stellar season for Hayes, so does he think he’s in the best form of his career?

“I don’t really know. I don’t over analyse my performance in that way, I just look forward to my next game. As a player, you are always trying to improve and the more you improve, the higher you can go. I have always just gone out and tried to enjoy my football. You enjoy football when you are winning. Despite the last two defeats on the Friday nights, we win more games than we lose so it is enjoyable. If we were closer to Celtic I would be enjoying it even more!

“The first season I was here, we maybe did not play too well but I still enjoyed it. Off the park things were fine. I made good friends fairly quickly and settled into life in Aberdeen very easily. I have got on well with everyone since I got here. It’s a very welcoming place to live. Even if you are in town shopping or stopping at the petrol station, everyone want’s to speak to you.

“I have come across clubs before where sometimes the staff are not so friendly. Here, there has always been a very good atmosphere since the first day I came down from Inverness. I remember being taken around the city looking for somewhere to live. Craig Brown, who was the manager at the time, was trying to get my partner a job. He was going round hair salons to see if there were any positions available! Little things like that stick with you. It is the little things that make the difference.

“I remember the first time my partner was in and about the club was when I got knocked out in the League Cup game against Alloa. Everyone really helped her that night, they looked after her. It is hard to explain, but as I say, these little things stick with you.

“I have been involved with eight or nine clubs now, but I have never been at one where everyone is pulling in the same direction the way they do here. Having a really well organised club does not mean you are definitely going to be successful, but you can go onto the pitch without worrying about the little things like whether your family will be shown to the right seats, things like that which can play on your mind. If my dad came to the game without a ticket, I know he would be looked after. It is that sort of club. He would probably land up sitting next to the Chairman! All these little things add up. And on the field, the manager then came in and made things a bit more professional with the football side of things.

“Everyone is welcoming and everyone helps you. Everyone is a fan and wants the club to do well. Being a family club, there is a great bond between us all. Everyone I bring over from Ireland loves coming here. They are looked after as if they were a VIP. There is also a bond with the fans. We all want it to be one big family

“At the end of the day, if the team does not do well then everyone around the club suffers. Therefore everyone wants the team to do well. It is great coming in on a Monday morning after a win. Everyone is in such a good mood. I know most people reading this will think that is obvious, but it is not always like that at other clubs.

“I have been here four years and you get more and more attached to the club. As you get more attached, the more successful you want the club to be. You want to wins things so you can walk about with your chest out and say, “I was part of that”. We have won one trophy. Maybe we could have done better in the cup competitions the last couple of years, but for whatever reason, things have not gone our way. But there is a huge desire to win more”.

Winning more games, hopefully four of them, is the simple aim for between now and season’s end, though everyone appreciates just how hard that will be.

“Recent games kind of summed up the run-in, that little things can make the biggest difference. A couple of minutes here, a couple there, and it all changes. Celtic scored in the last minute against Kilmarnock, we had three minutes against Motherwell where we conceded two goals from being a goal ahead – it shows you the fine margins. But we know now that it’s at the business end of the season and we need to be on our toes for every minute of every game.

“The objective was always to make sure the Celtic game after the split still had some meaning to it. Sadly that is not look the case now, but we will want to make sure they do not win the league against us.

“It is important we try and finish the campaign strongly. We let things slip a bit last season towards the end so we want this year to finish on a positive note before heading off into the summer”.

Whatever else happens, Jonny will always remember 2015/16 as the year he made his international debut, making his first appearance last month as a sub against Slovakia, reward for seasons of consistency at Pittodrie.

“I thought with the games being so close to the Euros, I thought Martin would maybe go with the squad he was planning on taking. I didn’t think he would bring new players at this stage, so it was a real surprise. I was even more surprised to have played.

“When I first heard the news I thought it was a wind-up! I’d seen the number ringing and didn’t know the number so I thought I’d let it go to voicemail. I listened to it and thought, “It’s only a wind up, I’ve too many friends who would do that to me”. I rang the gaffer and he said Ireland had been in touch for my number and, as soon as I found out, I rang back straight away. He told me I was in the provisional squad and had a good chance to be in the full squad. I sat down with my partner, and my family were over at the time, so it was good to share the news.

“You look at someone like Jonathan Walters, coming in at a late age, a few players have done that. There’s a small chance it could happen and if it is there you have to try and take it. It’s not a target that I set out for, but it’s a chance I’d love to take. I would love to be involved in the European Championships, but it’s a long, long way off. I’m realistic enough about that, being in the squad is a step in the right direction.

“Our manager always believed in me and he was right. He said to me a couple of years ago that he wanted me to push on and get in the Ireland squad. I think every second day since then he has mentioned it! There were so many players ahead of me that maybe I did not have that self belief but he said if I kept performing I’d get a chance – and he was right. The manager and Tony Docherty have given that extra confidence to the attack-minded players. They instilled confidence in me to go and get a cap.  That is what they are so good at doing, instilling confidence in the players.

“Being realistic, there are probably only one or two places up for grabs. It is still a very, very long shot but if I can keep doing well, hold my form until the end of the season and hopefully we can do well as a team, I will see where it takes me. I can only hope for the best.

“I have already booked my family holiday to Portugal as we don’t have much time off with the Europa League matches starting in June. If I make the finals, I will have to cancel the holiday but I am sure my partner will understand! She will just go without me!”

Adam Rooney was not slow to pass on his congratulations once Jonny got in the side – in his own particular fashion of course! “How the hell did Jonny get a cap before me!” and, when Jonny picked up his second cap a few days later against Slovakia. “And he’s on!!! Got more caps than mates now!!!”

“Adam sent out a few tweets when I got capped that actually got picked up by an Irish newspaper who ran a story as they thought they were quite begrudging. That was the first I heard about it. They obviously don’t know Adam’s humour! Adam is never serious!

“The whole experience with Ireland was hugely enjoyable. Going into that environment, I did not know what to expect. The management were great. Martin and Roy were both very encouraging. There is a great spirit there. It is easy to just say that but I think you can tell that from the amount of late goals they score.

“I was made very welcome when I arrived. I knew a few of the lads from Ireland youth teams. I think I knew 11 or 12 of the boys, so it was good to see them but even the lads I did not know, everyone came over and spoke to me.

“Everyone knew who I was, which was nice! It’s not like going into a new club where people maybe don’t know who you are. Everyone came over and wanted to speak about the title race. I was getting a bit of stick because we had just lost to Motherwell. A lot of them were disappointed because they wanted to see Aberdeen doing well.

“It did surprise me the number of the players in the Ireland squad who were keeping tabs of how Aberdeen were doing. I thought the boys who knew me might keep an eye on us but it was quite interesting to see how many people came up and asked me about it. I remember Aiden McGeady saying when he was at Celtic they expected to beat us comfortably so he understood how big a feat it was for us to have beaten them twice this season.

“Now we have to try and do it again on Sunday”.

“Now we have to try and do it again on Sunday”.