interview taken from recent Red Matchday Magazine issue.

2023 has proved to be another pretty big year for Jack MacKenzie, completing the step up from being a youngster making his way in the game to a fully fledged member of the first team set up, and an important one at that.

It hasn’t always been easy in a year for the Dons that has lurched from one extreme to the other, and back again, from some of the lowest moments in club history to others that have been as good as anything from the last 30 years of football. It hasn’t been dull, has it Jack?

“2023 has been bizarre, it’s been absolutely bizarre. Obviously, we started the year really poorly, with a few really bad results against Darvel, Hearts and Hibs, and then the management team changed. That gave us a big kick and we had a really strong end to last season, and that meant we finished third and we qualified for the group stages in Europe, which was obviously massive for the club.

“When we came back in for this season, we had European football to look forward to, there were a lot of changes to the squad and it’s taken us a wee bit of time to gel. From there, it’s been a strange season. In the European campaign, we’ve performed really well and were very unlucky in my opinion not to maybe get through the group, and we’ve obviously performed well in the League Cup, getting to the final, though losing that was then a massive disappointment. But in the league, we haven’t been good enough at all. So there’s been a lot of major ups and downs over the 12 months, a lot of highs and lows.

“It’s not easy when you’ve got that number of players leaving every summer. It takes a while to develop partnerships and to understand each other, and there’s no short-cut to doing that. You only get it from playing and training over a period of time. For pretty much the last three years since I’ve been involved in the first team, there has been a big overhaul in the summer.

“It is really difficult because the new players have then got to adapt to what we do here, they have to settle in, there’s a lot of players having to do that and it does take a lot of time to understand each other and build a relationship. That’s obviously something we are keen to avoid doing year on year, because it doesn’t help anybody. I think we’ve adapted pretty well this year and you can see it with some of the performances we have put in, but the more the group stays together, the better it gets. Hopefully the core of this group can stay together for a while now.

“It’s a really strong group, all the boys get on really well, it’s a very tight dressing room. I think we’ve needed that this season, because we’ve had quite a few setbacks, bad results, and you can see the boys get around each other and normally put it right in the next game.

“I think probably the best example recently was the Hearts game because first half, we were poor and fans were understandably getting frustrated. That needs a strong set of boys to stick together in the second half and they were excellent and won the game. That, for me, goes to show the sort of mentality we’ve got in our dressing room. But we just need to show our quality on a more regular basis.”

That quality was a regular feature of our European adventure this term, and perhaps that’s a refection of the fact that our side regularly includes Roos, Gartenmann, Rubežić, Jensen, Miovski, Sokler, Duk et al, players who grew up on the continent and have an innate understanding of that kind of football, something that is easier for them to slot into compared with the Scottish game, which is clearly very different. Whatever the reason, the Dons’ performances in Europe were up there with some of best on the continent in more recent years.

“Playing in Europe was brilliant,” enthuses Jack. “The Häcken games were really exciting because you knew you could achieve something that hadn’t been achieved for a while in reaching the Europa League group stages. We were pretty disappointed after that one, because I think that was a missed opportunity. But we knew we had the Conference League group stages to come, and that was a massive opportunity for us.

“When they made the draw, on seeing those three teams that were drawn against us, the Finnish champions, the Greek side currently top of their league, and then Frankfurt, who won the Europa League 18 months ago – it was clearly a Europa League standard group. It was a ridiculous level that we were going to come up against, so it was just really exciting for us.

“You need to be as professional as you can going into those, you can’t get overawed by it, you just need to treat it as a normal game. But there’s so many games that you just naturally go on to the next one, the next one, you don’t really have time to think about the occasion or the size of the team or that sort of stuff.

“That first one being Frankfurt away was amazing, it felt like a proper, proper European game. We ran them so close on their patch and put in a really good performance and that probably gave us a lot of confidence going forward because we won three on the bounce after that. We were in a really good place after that one.”

That Frankfurt game was also key in Jack’s development, illustrating just how much he has grown up over the last couple of years. His resilience, and the quality of his performance, after giving away an early penalty was hugely impressive.

“Conceding that Frankfurt penalty was difficult for myself, because I think that’s where the standard caught me out a wee bit in terms of the speed of the players you’re coming up against. He made that darting run in, 99 times out of 100 in the SPFL, I get there first, but he was just too quick for me. After that you just need to forget about it and just carry on with what you’ve been doing which is actually easier said than done.

“Obviously I felt a bit down after that one because we lost the game 2-1 and I was responsible for one of the goals. I just couldn’t let that affect me going forward. Thinking back, it was a really good night for everyone – I know we lost the game, but the fact we went toe to toe with a top team in the Bundesliga was important for everyone.

“And then in the home games, we performed well, but maybe it was just a bit of naivety or whatever, we just couldn’t get them over the line. But I’m sure that next time the boys are in Europe, hopefully next year, we’ll be in a much better place to get those games over the line and pick up some more results. I don’t think we got the points that we deserve, but I look back now, what an experience that all was and it just makes the boys hungry for it to happen again next year.”

The Dons were able to keep things bubbling away in the League Cup too, a competition which proved Jack with a huge setback, but also a huge learning point, after he was sent off in the semi-final at Hampden.

“The semi-final was a massive game for the club. I just felt in the game, that we weren’t playing well. I think Hibs were on top, and I was just frustrated with the way the game was going. I didn’t think my first yellow card was justified because he pulled me back before, so my head was maybe gone a little from there. And then a few minutes later, he just pushed me off the ball and I snapped and ran after him and pushed him back.

“It was a really strange experience for myself because I like to think I’m normally quite calm and composed, although I like to be aggressive. But I just lost it for a second and then I saw the red card and knew I had let the boys down, let all the supporters and the management team down. Thankfully, Bojan scored, and the boys pulled through, but that was obviously a very, very steep learning curve because I knew I could have cost us the game and then I knew I was going to miss the cup final from there. That’s the biggest lesson. I’ll never make that mistake again, I can guarantee that.”

That incident aside, this has been a season of real progression for Jack, who is now very much one of the established members of the first team squad. That brings with it different challenges, as he explains.

“There is more pressure probably now that I’ve been around the team for three years. I think there’s more expectation as well. I’ve seen myself evolve this year from being that up and coming young player into, not necessarily one of the more experienced ones, but I’m getting there! Whether that’s just driving standards up in training, making sure everyone’s up to what I believe is the Aberdeen level or just giving absolutely everything on the pitch, those are things I need to do. When you’re playing these big games, you’ve got to have guts to play in them too, and I think that’s something that I’ve proved to myself, so I’ve been delighted with that side of this season.”

From playing largely as a left-back in the past, Jack has been playing in a wing-back role this term, something he has come to relish.

“The left wing-back job is a bit different but I love playing it because it gives you the freedom to go forward, but it also leaves you isolated on the wing, one against one, which I think is my strength. I’ve absolutely loved it. I think some of the performances there, at Rangers, the games against PAOK, I’ve really seen myself kick on. Getting the injury was really frustrating, but I’m ready to kick on again now.

“There’s nowhere to hide, because it’s basically a position where it’s you against him, and he’s going to take you on so you got to be up for it. That’s something I love and I also love the pressure of knowing that if I’m not up to it today, I’ll be made to look silly. That really motivates me and kicks me on.

“Getting to grips with that, getting a bit older, I think I’ve probably matured a wee bit, in terms of everything, I think I’m a bit calmer before games. I used to get really excited for them but I feel a lot calmer. I feel a lot stronger, mentally, to deal with mistakes, if it’s not going my way or the team’s way.

“I feel in a much, much better place. I feel a lot more confident on and off the pitch, comfortable coming into training and stuff like that. I’m just really looking forward to the second half of the season and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.”

Loan Update | Evan Towler