Opinion: What next for Andy Shinnie?

Since the arrival of Jon Toral on loan from Arsenal, Blues fans haven’t really seen much of Andy Shinnie, apart from his match winning performance against Bristol Rovers in the Cup.

Arsenal playmaker Toral has really hit the ground running at Blues and as much as I love to see players do that for the side, I also dislike seeing other performers getting pushed out of the team.

No doubt, Toral has a fantastic ability under his belt and he certainly knows where the goal is, with two in his last two for those who didn’t know, but I think Shinnie is a different sort of player to him.

The Scotsman tends to work harder for the team from what I have seen and that isn’t putting Toral’s effort down in games! I am just saying that Shinnie plays completely differently to the way that Toral does.

For me, Shinnie finds pockets of space in between the midfield and the defence that I have yet to see Toral find. Yes, I know he has only played two games for the club but does he have the footballing brain of Shinnie yet? I am not so sure.

Despite his lack of goals for the first team, Shinnie is the sort of player that every manager would love to have in his squad and this is the reason I am arguing his case. He is a fantastic reader of the game and I think Blues need to utilise that more than they have in the past.

Since Toral has come in, Shinnie has been pushed out the team and I can see why but does he deserve another chance? Of course he does! Rowett has gone on record to say that he is happy to use both in alternate games but personally I think it could disrupt the peace of the side and that is something that none of us fans want!

For me, both players in question have outstanding qualities which can be distributed into the team in different ways. For starters, Toral seems to have a better finishing touch, as shown with his fantastic volley against Burnley at the weekend. This is something that Shinnie doesn’t have and I think it is good for us to have that to add to the team.

However, Shinnie does seem to have that extra yard of fitness on him and he also seems to have slightly more tactical awareness about him which is something that I like in a player.

Before people judge me, no I am not saying that Toral doesn’t have tactical awareness. Of course he has it, he is an Arsenal player! But I just think that Shinnie has a bit more of it.

I have to say, for me, I would love to see how both work together in a team but it would mean pushing the boundaries of the team and I don’t think that Rowett will be experimenting with a perfectly good formation anytime soon.

However, I do still think there is room for improvement and after Shinnie signed his new deal, I am sure we will see a lot more of him in the near future or perhaps over the course of the whole season should Toral’s form drop.

Blues fans, what do you make of my thoughts? Do you think I am right with what I am saying? Who do you prefer as your no.10? Andy Shinnie or Jon Toral? Let us know in the comment section down below!