Maddison to bring festive cheer by extending loan stay
NORWICH CITY are ready to deliver some much-needed festive cheer for Aberdeen by allowing them to keep on-loan James Maddison until the end of the season.
the talented 20-year-old’s deal was due to expire next month amid fears that under-pressure Canaries boss Alex Neil would recall the player they bought for £2million from Coventry in February.
But ex-Hamilton boss Neil believes Maddison’s long-term prospects will benefit from an extended stay at Pittodrie — and that will be warmly welcomed by Dons fans in desperate need of a boost after watching their team slump seven points behind second-place Rangers in the Premiership table.
Aberdeen expect official confirmation of the decision after tonight’s trip to Motherwell, but the player himself has already made it clear that he would be happy to stay.
the young Englishman’s silky skills and passing ability have quickly made him a favourite with supporters, with his hero status guaranteed after scoring a stunning last-minute free-kick to beat Rangers 2-1 in September.
‘Before coming here I didn’t actually realise how big a game that was,’ said Maddison of the club’s rivalry with the Ibrox men.
‘Now I know, and to score that goal will be one of the highlights of my career and something I’ll always look back on.
‘I’m so grateful to the fans and how they’ve treated me. the majority wouldn’t have known me before I came here, they’ve been really good with me.
‘they’ve taken me to their hearts and I appreciate that. Not just on the pitch, but off it as well.
‘If you see fans when you go out for food in the city, everyone’s really kind and really nice and they always have positive things to say.
‘But everything has been really positive, to be honest.
‘you go out on loan to gain different experiences that you haven’t experienced before.
‘I’ve played in a League Cup final (the 3-0 defeat to Celtic), I’ve played in front of 50,000 which I hadn’t done before and I’ve taken a lot of physical knocks. I think I’ve ticked off all the things you need to have had a successful loan.’
the only sour note for the youngster, apart from the Dons’ recent downturn in form, has been his bookings for diving against Inverness and Kilmarnock and a perception among some rivals that he goes to ground too easily. His yellow card against the Highlanders was subsequently overturned, but the second one still stands — albeit Maddison insisted he is no cheat. team-mate Adam Rooney recently called for referees to offer the midfielder more protection but Maddison said he is not looking for special treatment from officials.
‘I’m not a diver, on both counts I was wrongly cautioned,’ he claimed.
‘One was rescinded and the other we didn’t appeal but I’ve watched it back and I still feel as though I was fouled. It’s hard for a referee if he thinks I’m trying to con him. then he’ll book me for diving, even if I think it was wrong.
‘I’m not a diver, I get fouled quite a lot as it is, so I don’t need to buy cheap free-kicks. If I’m dribbling with the ball I’m just thinking about how I can get to goal or how I can get it to a team-mate.
‘Everybody keeps telling me I’ve been in for this rough treatment but it doesn’t really faze me, to be honest.
‘As long as the ref is taking the right action and giving a yellow card when it should be — so that they can’t keep going in and doing it — then that’s fine.’
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes will be hoping the full force of Storm Barbara doesn’t blow his team further off course tonight. Last week’s game with Motherwell at Pittodrie was abandoned after just seven minutes due to a power failure. Now McInnes is looking for the win that will ensure his team’s challenge for second place doesn’t dim any further after a dismal run of three wins in eight games.
He said: ‘It was just one of those things at Pittodrie but that wasn’t a great night for us. It was frustrating.
‘Now it’s on to Fir Park and, while we have a decent record down there, it’s always a tough game.
‘Since Mark McGhee has gone in they have always been capable of scoring goals and wee Scott McDonald is important to them.
‘On their day they can be difficult to contain so we need to impose ourselves on the game.’
McGhee, meanwhile, is set to unleash 19-year-old forward Dylan Mackin on the Dons tonight after he helped destroy their Under-20s side 9-1 at Links Park this week.
And McGhee challenged the youngster to use his big chance to push himself up the pecking order.
‘Dylan will be on the bench because it’s important young players see a pathway,’ said McGhee.
‘If it’s going well I’d imagine we’ll put him on for some part of the game. Or if we needed a goal late on then Dylan would be one we’d consider putting on. We brought in Ryan Bowman and Jacob Blyth, who are both similar players, because we were thinking Dylan was not quite ready but now he’s coming up the rails and it’s up to him to displace them.’