Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Mannus insists Saints goalkeeper spot is in a safe pair of hands
ALAN Mannus was a huge part of the St Johnstone goalkeeping line of succession that has been the bedrock of a golden era for the Perth club.
And, with Ross Sinclair expected to be the longterm heir to the Northern Irishman and Zander Clark, the McDiarmid Park school of excellence is in safe hands.
Sinclair starred for Scotland’s Under-21s against Belgium recently and again in Denmark on Friday evening, which came as no surprise to Mannus, who is still going strong himself at 40 with Shamrock Rovers.
“Ross was working with us in my last year at Saints,” said the 2014 Scottish Cup winner. “Maybe even a bit longer.
“It was Paul Mathers, myself, Zander, Mark Hurst and him.
“We all knew he had something and I definitely had high hopes he would kick on as his career progressed.
“He had a lot of the qualities you’d want to see in a top goalkeeper.
“First and foremost how he is as a person – down to earth, hard-working, good to be around, great attitude, would take advice and want to be better.
“We message now and then it’s good to see him improving – I’ve always thought he would go on to big things at some point.”
Mannus, now dipping his toe into the coaching waters, believes Sinclair’s comfort with a ball at his feet will be crucial to his career rise.
“Paul would work a lot with us on playing the ball out,” he said
“It’s a really important quality for goalkeepers – more so now than ever.
“For some teams, it’s the first thing people will look at.
“In my time it was always: Can he make saves, can he take crosses and can he kick long?
“It will be an important attribute of Ross’s game.”