Mick looks to spoil Hoops day by coaching Well to third Cup triumph
BY ANTHONY HAGGERTY STEPHEN McMANUS didn’t win a trophy in his four seasons as a player with hometown team Motherwell.
But the Fir Park first team coach insists lifting the club’s third Scottish Cup as part of their management team would rank alongside all of his achievements at Celtic.
The former Hoops, Middlesbrough and Scotland defender admits he’d love to shatter Celtic’s quest for an historic double-Treble at Hampden on Saturday.
Well have lifted the Scottish Cup twice – in 1952 and 1991 – and the 35-year-old said: “It’s not just Celtic who are looking to win a treble.
“Motherwell are also going for a treble too – a hat-trick of Scottish Cup wins.
“That is a good enough incentive for us.
“Our last Scottish Cup Final victory was 1991. For our club it would be massive to win a cup.
“When I came back up the road, I would’ve loved to have won a trophy with Motherwell as a player but to win one as part of the coaching staff would be the next best thing.
“We know it’s going to be very difficult if Celtic perform the way they can but we believe we can go there and compete.
“If we do that then you never know.”
Having tasted success in the Premiership play-offs against Rangers back in 2015, McManus believes the Hampden showpiece should be savoured and enjoyed.
There will be huge pressure on Well to pull off Mission Improbable in Mount Florida.
However, McManus reckons any burden that Stephen Robinson’s players are carrying pales into insignificance after the events of three years ago when livelihoods and the club’s existence were at stake.
McManus said: “The pressure of relegation is different to the pressure you have in a cup final.
“With a lot of the clubs in Scotland, you are playing under the threat of relegation, you are playing for other people’s lives and livelihoods.
“That was the pressure we felt in the play-offs. It’s not an experience I’d ever like to go through again.
“As players, you know you’ll get another club.
“The people who make our club special, the ones who have been there for a long period of time, they are the ones who create the culture of the football club – they are the ones you do it for.
“It’s great to be involved in these cup finals.
“When I think of someone like Alan MacDonald our kit man who’s Motherwell through and through, you would love to win the final for people like him.”
Under Northern Irishman Robinson, the Lanarkshire outfit have had a fantastic season reaching both domestic cup finals.
And McManus said: “The team is a mirror of the manager’s personality and style.
“We have a lot of guys with big personalities who believe we can win.
“The good thing is our players are used to winning at Hampden. In big games this year the players have stood up.”