Connor Shields eclipses Greg Stewart record to make history and ex-Rangers man on his radar AGAIN
Connor Shields has made his own bit of history as he has now created the most chances in a single season in the history of the Indian Super League.
The 27-year-old set-up his 66th scoring opportunity in Chennaiyin’s weekend’s 2-2 draw with Odisha. That took the former Motherwell player past the previous record, which was 65 and it was set by another Scot in Greg Stewart. Shields still has a few games left and wants to try and steal another of Stewart’s records before the end of he campaign.
He proudly said: “As a personal thing it is nice but it would be better if we were higher up the league. It’s now 66 chances that I have created, which I am pleased with. Greg had the previous record which was 65 chances. So to beat that has been good but it would mean more if I could chip in with more assists and goals in our remaining games and especially if we could sneak into the play-offs.
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“I’ve got eight assists so if I can get, at least, another two it would get me into double figures, which could be a decent return, and would also equal that record for assists in a season. Greg's also got that record and all, so you can imagine how well he has done out here. He's got the records for everything.
“I’ve still got four games to go, I think, so hopefully I'll try and get a couple more or even three more. Hopefully, I can break that record, that'd be good. “I’d be happier with that one, to be honest.”
Shields is now in his second season in Chennaiyin. He has made his name as a striker but Owen Coyle has transformed him into a creative midfielder. He explained: “Last year I was playing as a striker then I was a winger but since last January I’ve played centre midfield, which was obviously something new for me. I think Coyley just thought, let him do all the running in the middle.
“I was like, you sure? I've not played there since I was about five or six and I used to run a bit. But I say it was last year, last January, we came back from the break. He said they wanted to try me in the No. 10 position. Since then I have played as a No. 8 or 6.”
Chennaiyin still have an outside chance of making the play-off but they will need to go on a late winning run. It is a big spell for Shields as he is out-of-contract in the summer and will have options to consider. His productive spell this season has put him on the radar of a number of other clubs in India, back in Scotland in Europe.
Shields admitted: “Hopefully in the last four or five years we've got we can try and push for the playoffs. It'll be hard right off, but I say fingers crossed we can get there. Then we've got a tournament in April, it's like the Super Cup is coming here, so hopefully we can do well in that as well.
“My contract's up in June. I’ll wait and see if I've done well enough myself to have some options. I certainly wouldn’t rule out staying in India but we will see what options I have come the summer.”
