Mark Reynolds

RedMatchday has been so busy these last few months in checking off milestone after milestone – and home game after home game – that it’s only now that we’ve had the chance to sit down with Mark Reynolds and congratulate him on reaching 200 games for the Dons, a figure he chalked up against Motherwell in that turning point game just before Christmas. Not that he minds. Much…

“It used to be a big thing when you reached 200 games for this club. You used to get on the front of the programme, but now it just comes and goes and you get a mention three months after it happened!

“All joking aside, the squad the manager has built, the group of players we have here now, we have all been here for a while. I think Niall and myself hit 200 games at the same time, there are a few boys around the 100 mark and big Andy is now into the all-time to 10. That speaks volumes for the consistency we have had and the fact that the club have managed to keep players here.

“The boys have been playing good football and attracting interest, so it says a lot for the club that we are keeping these boys here. You could play 200 games for a club who are doing nothing much and not challenging for cups and leagues. We have been doing all of that, challenging in the league, finishing second consistently, winning the League Cup, getting to cup finals and semi-finals and we have also been playing European football. Those are big achievements in Scottish football.

“The level of consistency that we have had here with the players has been incredible. The level we have been playing at for so long will attract interest but the club has so much about it that is good, with the manager and the chairman backing him. We can fend off clubs who coming looking for players and that has allowed us to build something and have a sustained period of success here.

“Reaching the 200 is a nice personal milestone to tick off and hopefully there will be another couple hundred to come that can be as successful as the first 200 were. The game is always changing. Physically it gets harder as you get older, but that gets cancelled out with the experience you have. The game is as hard or as easy as you make it depending on what level you want to play at”.

Clocking up the games has been put on hold for a few weeks though as Mark looks to recover from the hernia problem that saw him substituted at the interval in the recent game at Hamilton.

“The injury is very frustrating, especially when I’d just done the first part of a long interview for the programme about nobody being injured a few days before! I have had it since the turn of the year, probably the Hearts game was when I first felt it. Since then, the physios have been keeping on top of it to try and manage it. I was hoping it would just hold off and we could get something done at the end of the season, but that is not the case so we have to try and fix it and get back as soon as possible after it went completely in the Hamilton game. We’ll see how it goes but I will probably be out for a month to allow it to get back to where it needs to be.

“I am not sure if the artificial pitch at Hamilton played a part in worsening things. It certainly had a role in the incident as the ball never kicked up and so I had to generate all the power, which then caused me to overstretch it. It was about 37 minutes into the game and I was heading the ball back to Joe and I felt everything go. You could argue that on a normal park that situation would never have arisen, but it was maybe just one of those things.

“Apart from my shoulder injury last year, this is only the second injury of note during my time here. Before that it has just been broken noses and split lips and missing the odd game here or there. But we cannot change what has happened so I have to get my mind right and prepare myself for the time out and listen to what the physios are saying.

“I am not the easiest when I’m out injured as most of the staff in the club will tell you. Our physios, Adam, John and Aimee, are loving me being out already. Day two and they have already kicked me out of the treatment room twice, so things are going great!

“Generally we have done well on the injury front. There is always bit of luck with these things, you can’t do much about contact injuries, but the medical staff and the sports science guys have kept on top of everything. With the manager and Tony having been here a few years now, we have been learning as we go and refining it each season. The manager will always ask the boys how we are feeling, they are always looking for feedback from the players. There has been a proactive and scientific approach to it so it is not all down to luck.

“The manager isn’t averse to changing the training plan if it is needed. They are always looking after us and making sure they get the best out of us. The sports scientists are using the data from the heart monitors and the GPS and we also fill in questionnaires about how we are feeling. They have a good base of information to work on and they know how we are feeling going into games.

“Everyone looks after themselves too, there are no boys going absolutely mental. In the past, I have played with young boys who maybe were going out during the week and on a Saturday night. Down in Glasgow, boys maybe got away with it because they could disappear but Aberdeen is a small city and if anyone is out misbehaving, it gets reported back to the club very quickly. We don’t have a group of boys in the changing room who are desperate to go out. Most of the lads have young families and just want to spend time away from the ground doing the things all fathers like doing, like going to the park, going to the cinema.

“The senior boys here are good pros and know how to look after themselves. They know when to push on, they know when to go to the gym or when they need to step away and take a break. The young boys look up to them and feed off that and copy them. There are some good role models at the club and the youngsters are picking up some good habits which they are latching onto.

“We’ve done really well to stay in such good condition given that we haven’t got a training ground to call our own. Training on different surfaces each day is a real concern. It is only the people in and around the club who realise just how big a factor it is. We are finely tuned athletes and we need good facilities. At the moment, we are going to different grounds so one day, the surface is heavy, the next it’s like concreate, the next day soft and then the following day we’re on a 3G. It makes it really difficult when you are trying to perform at the levels we are trying to perform at.

“I am biased by saying how much we need our own training ground and how much the community will benefit, but I cannot see the negative impact it is going to have. A football club is a beacon within a city and draws everyone towards it. The club does so many positive things and so much good for the whole community and the new facilities are something we would be able to offer everyone. I do not understand the negativity surrounding the move. That’s just my opinion, but we are at a crossroads and we need to get it done. The benefits are not just for us but for the whole community in Aberdeen”.

With a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals booked, we can concentrate on the league for the next few weeks, right up to the split. How does Mark assess the campaign so far?

“The game against Motherwell just before Christmas, I think that was a turning point. It was certainly for me personally. When you look back, results before that game had not been too good for us. Personally, I had been in and out of the team, the manager had rotated things because of the strength of the squad. That Motherwell win was a big result, a massive win at a crucial time. To then go on a winning run during that period over Christmas was good because it was so important that we went into the break in a positive frame of mind.

“The break worked really well for us, especially the trip to Dubai. A few of the boys were joking that we needed to work extra hard when we came back because it is something we want to do every year! I think if we had come back and struggled in the cup games and struggled in the league, it would have been decided we were not going back!

“Joking aside, we came back feeling strong. We definitely felt the benefit, but the ten days off before that were beneficial too. It gave us something to work towards in the games in late December. You live in the pockets of your team mates and you see them more often than your family, so a little spell apart is sometimes needed, especially as we are together now for twelve months of the year. We do though have a fantastic dressing room and everyone gets on very well. Everyone feels the break was used to its absolute maximum and we got everything out of it that we needed.

“We came back and continued the form, we have looked strong. There is obviously going to be the odd blip in the league, which we had against Hamilton, but when a team is going well and has the confidence that we have got, then you never know when you are beat. You just keep pushing to the very end.

“When you look through all the good teams throughout the history of the game, any team that has done anything of note, they all score late goals. I that comes down to a combination of things. You have that desire to keep pushing for chances and pushing to the final whistle but good teams also have that quality that means you can score at any time. They are, like us, are always fit teams and can run to the death. Fitness levels can make a big difference in the last ten minutes of a match and can give you an advantage over the opposition.

“We can go for more than 90 minutes comfortably. We have had heavy loads, we have had a lot of midweek games and had eight, nine games in a month which is a lot, but we have come through it”.

Defensively, the Dons have looked sound throughout the season, something Mark puts down to the fact that he and his colleagues at the back are clocking up the games.

“Familiarity breeds that confidence amongst you. You all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and you complement each other. You accentuate each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses.

“I have been playing with big Ash for a few years now and he is built like the side of a house. He is huge. There is no one in the league that is going to throw Ash off a ball or outmuscle him. Any time there is a ball between us, I know he is going to be there and nine times out of ten he is going to win it. Alternatively, if the ball goes over the top for a chase, there are not many players who are going to outpace me and Ash knows that, which allows him to cover in behind me. Little things like that allow you to form a relationship on the field and that can make a big difference in a game of football”.

The next few weeks will be season defining ones of the club as the Dons go in pursuit of another second place finish in the league and a place in the Scottish Cup final. For the players, it’s not a case of either / or, but of wanting to achieve both.

“We will try and go after both as hard as we can and we will not sacrifice one for the other. The boys who won the League Cup a few years ago tell the other boys what it was like and how good it was for the city and everyone involved with the club. It was just such a great day. You never want to take away from that day at Hampden in May with the chance to lift the trophy. The way this team is and the expectation levels we have got, we want to finish second and lift the cup as well.

“But saying all that, obviously the League Cup final in 2014 stands out as a highlight during my time at the club. My first five to ten games were very memorable for me personally too, because they meant I was back playing football again. They allowed me to enjoy my football again and I was felt as if I was somewhere that I was wanted and somewhere I was appreciated.

“I had had that so long during my career at Motherwell that it was just a given and something I took for granted and forgot about. Then I went down to Sheffield and it never really happened for me. I was in and out of the team and could not get a game. I was not enjoying football or anything about it. Then I came back up here and was playing football again and enjoying it.

“All the European games are always special. You want to pit yourself against top European teams, to test yourself against the best players and different styles of play and tactics. You want to test yourself against the likes of Real Sociedad, Groningen and Rijeka. It is very special when you come out on top against these teams – my goal against Sociedad was one I will enjoy for a long time. The home European nights have always been great as we have had decent crowds with most of them all near full houses.

“There will be plenty of time to look back upon career once I hang my boots up, and that will not be happening for a while. I am still young, still a spring chicken so hopefully there are a few more games left in me yet and a few more memorable moments!

“I’ve always said I have enjoyed it here and I am quite happy here and hopefully I will be here for a number of years to come. Football is a funny game and you don’t know what is around the corner, but I would love to make it to another 200 games on top of this”.

“I’ve always said I have enjoyed it here and I am quite happy here and hopefully I will be here for a number of years to come. Football is a funny game and you don’t know what is around the corner, but I would love to make it to another 200 games on top of this”.