McGinn’s the man, says Ross Star’s early stint with Saints is paying off
Growing up in the St Mirren dressing room taught captain Stephen McGinn the demands of being a professional footballer.
Breaking into the squad at the age of only 18, McGinn was surrounded by strong personalities who weren’t for giving an inch when it came to what they expected of their teammates.
Ten years later, one of those teammates, unafraid of giving the midfielder a hard time, is now his manager.
And Jack Ross believes he can see the influence of the old Saints changing room on the skipper, who he insists had no qualms handing the captain’s armband to McGinn’s on his return to the club in January.
McGinn would prove to be the driving force in the reversal of Saints’ fortunes.
And Ross insists he expected nothing less, having snapped his main man back up from English side Wycombe Wanderers.
Ross told Express Sport: “You forget sometimes how good a player he really is. I played with him when he was only 18 and he was a good player then.
“He got his move to England off the back of that and he has matured into an even better player. His understanding of the game is good.
“Because he grew up in a dressing room here, he knows what I expect from him. By his own admission, there was a lot of strong characters at that time, so he learned the hard way in terms of how to be demanding of teammates.
“Just because he was 18 didn’t mean he got an easy time from the experienced guys. He got told when he didn’t do things properly, and he enjoyed that.
“You can see it now, he’s crabbit on the park, but you need that from a captain.
“Stephen took on the responsibility of the role and he knew what I expected of him. His performance level on the park was terrific.
“I like players with causes, players with a drive. His cause is he wants to take this club back to the Premiership, which is brilliant.
“That’s what I want from this club as a whole and he fitted the bill perfectly. He stepped up to the plate and grabbed the team by the scruff of the neck.”
McGinn was handed the armband a week after his arrival at the turn of the year, taking the role from experienced defender Andy Webster.
Ross admits it was a risk to make such a change at that stage of the season but, despite Webster having now departed the club, the St Mirren manager heaped praise on the former Scotland international for they way he handled the change.
Ross added: “There was an element of risk in me giving him the captaincy because Andy Webster was still at the club. I had conversations with Andy and what I would say, is that Andy was great in the second half of the season in and around the club and on the training pitch.
“It was testament to him and it was a big help to me – he could have been difficult because of the circumstances in me making that change – but he wasn’t.
“He was very supportive.”