McCALLWARY OF REUNION WITH PAL YOGI
PARTICK v DUNFERMLINE TONIGHT, 7.45PM
IAN McCALL is the Godfather off the pitch and a reunion with the pal he considers the cup’s Don is an offer he can’t refuse.
The Thistle boss was in jovial mood this week as he looked forward to taking on manager John Hughes, whom he played alongside as well as bossed.
Dunfermline head to Firhill tonight to start the Scottish Cup third-round action, having won two on the trot since Yogi’s appointment after going 13 league games without one.
McCall deemed a Pars resurgence a case of when not if after they left Firhill with a 0-0 last month. He said: “They had too many good players to be in the doldrums for so long.
“They have a five out of 10 manager now so they might get a bit better!”
At Falkirk, the men in the dugout wanted to see Yogi the bear and McCall is the last person who’ll ever underestimate him.
On Hughes being a man who can get a reaction from his players and give them a lift, the Jags boss added: “I would agree with that totally – as long as he doesn’t put his posh voice on that he uses in the media because it’s just embarrassing! Yogi is a good friend of mine, I’m godfather to his daughter.
“People seem to think he’s got a mixed record but what he did at Inverness – win the Scottish Cup and finish third – is as good as anybody has done in Scottish football.
“He knows what he’s doing, he is infectious. I’ve played with him, I managed him, which was an absolute experience. He kept trying to pass the ball out. Billy Brown and Jim Jefferies used to shout at him to be the bear – just head the ball and kick it!
“Whether it’s too late for them to make the play-offs I don’t know but they’ll have a run at it with him in charge.”
Pars attacker Ryan Dow, part of the Dundee United side dumped by St Johnstone in the 2014 final, says the dressing-room atmosphere is “night and day” to when they were still chasing a win.
He added: “We’re the same players, it’s unbelievable what confidence does.
“It’s been really good, you see the boys are a lot more confident now with the two wins. We know we have got good players, it was just a matter of time.”