McMaster was ‘medal’ mentor
IF Derek McInnes’s Aberdeen dump Morton next weekend to earn a place in the League Cup Final, it will be thanks to foundations laid by Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup side.
The Dons’ boss explained: “I was eight-and-a-half years at Cappielow and every time I think of Morton I think of good memories and good people.
“John McMaster, who was my assistant manager under Allan McGraw, was really the guy who moulded me, who got a hold of me.
“John had been brought up with Sir Alex’s demands and we were treated as young players. We had jobs to do.
“I remember John was moving to Erskine and he said he needed six or seven of us to move house. He said there was a prize, a reward for us at the end of it.
“We were lifting, hauling his stuff up for five or six hours to this new house. The rain was teeming down.
“I kept saying to myself: ‘C’mon, he’s going to give us a reward, he’s going to get us something.’
“So at the end of it, the last bit of furniture came off and he just said: ‘Right take your shoes off now and you can come in.’
“We were soaked through and we walked in. He took us through to where his European Cup Winners’ Cup medal was sitting in the cabinet, just sitting on its own.
“And he said: ‘There you go. Look at it. Now, off you go!’
“So there was our reward! A chance to see his medal! Have a good look at it – take it in!”
“It’s funny now,” McInnes tags onto the end of the story, but he insists McGraw and McMaster’s approach was as fair as it was tough.
That fairness is reflected in the Dons boss’ assessment of the ‘Ton side that stands between him and a second cup final inside two years.
“I think any time you get to a semi-final it’s a real opportunity whether you go in as favourites or underdogs,” said McInnes.
“We will be tagged favourites here but it doesn’t give you any guarantees.
“I have full respect for the job Jim Duffy has done, I’ve seen Morton a few times over the last 18 months and you can see the organisation about them.”