Stubbs says John is bargain of window
ALAN Stubb s described John McGinn’s move to Aston Villa as the bargain of the transfer window as he paid a warm tribute to the Scotland internationalist.
It was Stubbs, now at St Mirren, who signed McGinn for Hibernian from the Paisley club and went on to achieve three seasons, one promotion, a Scottish Cup win and now a move to Aston Villa for the best part of £ 3 million.
Stubbs and the 23- year-old remained close and the Englishman yesterday revealed the class of his former player.
“I was at Celtic Park on Wednesday night and I didn’t leave the ground until late so I was still in the car park when I took a phone call from John,” revealed Stubbs.
“He thanked me for everything I’d done for him, which was very nice but I told him: ‘ Don’t thank me – thank yourself because you’re the one who’s done this.’
“But that sums him up as a person and I’m delighted for him. I wish him all the best and I believe that, at that price, he’s the snip of this transfer window.”
St Mirren are due a third cut of the fee which means almost £ 1m will be coming into the Premiership new boys, even if the manager himself is unsure how much he will get to spend.
And Stubbs, who has signed Danish strike rNicolai Brock- Madsen on a six- month loan from Birmingham City, has a game at Ibrox to look forward to and can’t wait for Sunday to come.
“They are great occasions and I touched on this briefly with the players,” he said. “If you can’t look forward to going to Ibrox and Celtic Park and Easter Road and Tyne castle and Pittodrie then you shouldn’t be a professional footballer.”
As for McGinn, he thanked Gordon Strachan for having the ‘ bravery’ to hand him his Scotland debut – and reckons his Villa move can help him cement his international place.
And he also had a special word of praise for Stubbs.
“All my former managers and teammates have had a massive influence on me in different ways,” said McGinn. “In the year that I started at Hibs, Alan Stubbs and Gordon Strachan were fantastic with me. They really started to get people to sit up and take notice.
“They ignored all the chat that was happening in the media. Gordon Strachan was brave enough to put me in the Scotland squad; he really believed in me and I’ll be forever grateful for that.
“And Alan Stubbs gave me the platform at Hibs to go and show what I could do.
“But, equally, [ as has] every manager that I’ve worked under – even Neil Lennon there, he was different class.”