McGinn admits irony in Villa’s Rodgers link
National team assistant says he would never let Tartan
JOHN McGinn admitted it would be ‘ironic’ if Brendan Rodgers ended up being his manager this season.
Aston Villa look set to appoint Thierry Henry as their new boss, with John Terry as an assistant, but the Celtic manager, who tried and failed to sign the Scotland midfielder from Hibernian, is on a list of candidates to take over the Championship club.
McGinn is back home on Scotland duty but there was only one matter at hand three days before the actual game in Israel. Would he fancy Rodgers being his gaffer?
McGinn, with a grin, said: “That’s football, isn’t it? It’s ironic. We never know what’s going to happen. The international break has come at a good time for me, in that sense.
“Hopefully I get a couple of games for Scotland, go back and have a new manager to settle in with.
“I can’t affect that [what will happen]. I think Brendan came out the other day and said he’s happy at Celtic, he’s got a job to do. So it would be unfair for me to comment on that and fuel the rumours.
“What will be will be. If it is Brendan Rodgers or if it is somebody else, I’ll soon see.”
What McGinn was more open about was the size and stature of Aston Villa, a sleeping giant of the English game.
McGinn said: “When you go down and see the place, it’s an eye opener. It’s a club that deserves to be in the top half of the top flight, a massive club. And that means it’s very demanding.
“Whoever comes in, it doesn’t matter what name they are. If they’re not getting results, there will be pressure.” JAMES McFadden had not played for five weeks, his hamstring was far from perfect and he had no guarantee Walter Smith would start him in a vital home qualifier against France.
He still reported for duty. Pulling out of a squad, even when there was good reason, was for the weak. This is Scotland. The highest honour in football, especially for this footballer.
That day in 2006 became history and McFadden was at his brilliant best.
McFadden wasn’t always an automatic starter for his country over the 48 caps he garnered. He was certainly never fully fit after breaking a bone in his foot at the age of 23 for the fifth time in his career.
Not once did he turn down the chance to have that red lion against his chest.
And even after McFadden, still a national treasure, had his career at the top level taken away from him when he seriously injured his cruciate at only 27, this is someone who would happily have carried water bottles for the cause.
So, while on the face of it he was sympathetic to Leigh Griffiths and the Celtic man’s decision to pull out of the squad, it was clear this one-time talisman and now national team coach will never understand why any player feels anything is more important than Scotland.
Griffiths was the main topic of conversation yesterday and McFadden didn’t bat away any question about what is an awkward situation.
The assistant coach was asked whether he would ever have said no to his country for any reasons. You should have seen the look on his face.
He said: “It never crossed my mind. Any game, I wanted to play in it whether I was fully fit or not. I’ve played games in that situation. When we played France at home I hadn’t played in any games for four or five weeks due to a hamstring injury.
“We didn’t have any players and I didn’t expect to play. But I came and played as a lone striker. I wasn’t as fit as I would’ve liked to have been but I would never have said no.
“Scotland should still be the pinnacle but it’s a personal thing. I’m never going to tell people what to