Carlsberg weekend? MacKay’s too young to know what that is
SAYS JOHN ROBERTSON
IT Will be another year, three weeks and two days until Daniel MacKay can lawfully enter a public house and buy a pint. Quips about starring in an advert for a famous brand of Danish lager were always going to fly straight over the Inverness schoolboy’s head.
If Carlsberg did fairytale football experiences, though, 16-year-old MacKay’s weekend with club and country would certainly fit the bill. The Millburn Academy pupil, currently preparing to sit six Highers in May, could hardly have hoped for a better 24 hours.
Having netted a dream opener in Friday night’s schoolboy international victory over England in York, the following day he came off the McDiarmid Park bench to set up the Irn-Bru Cup final winner for Carl Tremarco.
Amid celebrations, his Caley Thistle team-mates were supping bottles of champagne, but young MacKay advisedly stuck to the sponsors’ soft stuff. For manager John Robertson, the winger’s reaction to jokes about his dream weekend told a story in itself.
‘The name on everyone’s lips is young Daniel, who, at this moment in time, is back at school and probably doing double maths,’ said Robertson. ‘He is a lovely lad. It was Roy of the Rovers’ stuff for him, but that’s the funny thing about it.
‘The lads were kidding him on it was a Carlsberg weekend for him — and he hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. We had to rephrase it, such is his naivety and youth, so we said it was a Roy of the Rovers tale... and, again, I don’t think he knew who Roy Race was!
‘It’s just fabulous. We needed him for the final, but we were also really keen for him to be involved with Scotland Schools against England.
‘They were happy to bring him back north part of the way, but, for his parents’ peace of mind, I decided to take the worry and hassle out of it and go and pick him up from York and drive him back myself.
‘It was a long trip, but well worth it. Daniel got brought down for the penalty against England and then missed it — but then scored a minute later. He had a terrific game before coming off.
‘It was a wonderful win for Scotland and then, obviously, to come on and provide the cross for Carl Tremarco’s winner is brilliant for the lad. More importantly, we now have lots of our youth team thinking: “That could be me in two or three years’ time”.
‘That’s the pathway we want. Already, we’ve had Cameron Harper, Jack Brown and Daniel in the first team — and there are plenty others.’
Robertson could rest MacKay against Dundee United tonight, if numbers allow. The former Hearts striker is respectful of the youngster’s desire to make the grade academically.
‘We have to be patient with Daniel,’ said Robertson. ‘What the fans don’t always understand is he is not a full-time player. He has massively important exams in early May and needs to study.
‘It’s one of the more unusual problems I’ve had to deal with, but one I totally respect. He has worked so hard and we want him to get good exam results.
‘Anything else he does for us this season is a complete bonus.’
With ten games looming over the next month, Robertson wants Caley Thistle to use the cup final triumph over Dumbarton as a catalyst for a massive promotion push.
‘Relegation is horrendous for a club our size — and a lot of people walked away from us. But for those loyal fans who have stuck by us, it’s a fantastic thing. You saw how everyone reacted to the late winner,’ he said
‘Now we need to use that as a launchpad for the last ten games. We know we’re only four points ahead of Dumbarton, but we’re trying to look up. We have three home games in a week (Dundee United, St Mirren and Brechin).
‘If we do well in those, we can launch ourselves into an outside chance of reaching the play-offs.’
While young MacKay is feeling pretty good about himself at Inverness, United veteran Scott McDonald has called on his youthful team-mates to show similar self-belief during the Tannadice club’s desperate bid to return to the top flight.
The Australian is a big fan of the likes of Jamie Robson, Matty Smith, Sam Stanton and Scott Fraser and believes their contribution will be vital in the closing stretch as Csaba laszlo’s strugglers try to catch livingston in second place.
‘The young players here are as good as anybody when they believe in themselves. That’s the big thing,’ said the former Celtic striker. ‘I think that’s what we’ve lacked a bit in recent weeks. Slowly but surely, though, they will get there.
‘We can definitely still get second place. We might even see it go down to that very last game with livingston (on April 28).’