McInnes was a born leader. I knew he was destined for the top
ALLAN McGRAW is sitting in his living room, enjoying the spectacular views across the Firth of Clyde, when he smiles and recalls the distant day another dazzling sight took his breath away.
The unlikely venue was an ash field in Greenock’s Broomhill area in the mid-1980s. It was there the then Morton manager first spotted a young footballer whose ability was as striking as the cranes that dotted the local skyline.
However, the 77-year-old admits that luck played a huge part in finding a 16-year-old midfielder by the name of Derek McInnes.
Handed his big break on a YTS contract, McInnes duly embarked on a career path that would ultimately lead to management of an Aberdeen side who this weekend face a Betfred Cup semi-final against the Cappielow club where he spent his formative years.
‘We had this trial for the Under-16s but it turned out we were a player short,’ Morton legend McGraw told Sportsmail.
‘One of the lads we were interested in, Chris Buckham, said his friend could make up the numbers. That boy was Derek and we signed him immediately after the game.
‘Some boys are a bit shy and don’t want to impose themselves. But Derek’s determination caught the eye straight away. The longer the game went on you could see he was a player. It didn’t take a genius to see he had great ability.’
Buckham won a contract with Morton that day, too, but subsequently carved out a career in freight and now works as a manager at Grangemouth Docks.
McInnes, by contrast, was skipper at Cappielow by the age of 18. His footballing journey took him to Rangers, Stockport, Toulouse, West Brom, Dundee United, Millwall and St Johnstone. But Morton was the making of him.
‘Derek was always a leader from a young age,’ said McGraw. ‘When we were doing long runs — which I hated when I played — he was always out at the front.
‘Even though he was young, the players listened to him. He was a born captain.
‘I remember (Morton assistant) John McMaster saying to me that maybe Derek was a bit young to be a captain and what if the players resented him? Not one of them did. They all accepted him.
‘In one game, we were going for the Second Division title but were going through a bad spell. We were playing Clyde at Broadwood and I told Derek to lead from the front because the boys would follow him.
‘Clyde took the kick-off and Derek was right in about their player, taking the ball off him and shooting. He didn’t score but he set the tone, as I had asked, and we were quickly 3-0 up and on the way to the title.’
Regarded as Morton’s greatestever servant, prolific striker McGraw became manager for 13 years from the mid-1980s.
McGraw was always certain McInnes would become a coach and believes his protege has a big future ahead of him. Given local allegiances, however, he naturally wouldn’t be so keen on him adding this season’s League Cup to the one he won with Aberdeen in 2014.
‘With most players, you tell them what to do and they do it,’ he said.
‘But, with Derek, it was always: “Why are we doing this?” He was always inquisitive and had this great drive about him.
‘I was his guest at Pittodrie recently when they beat Rangers and we spoke afterwards. We didn’t get a chance to talk about this weekend’s semi-final. I want Derek to do well but I want Morton to win on Saturday.’
McGraw will be at Hampden and hopes one of the Class of 2016 can take his record as being the only player in the club’s 142-year history to score the winner in a League Cup semi-final
That came in 1963 when Morton were a Second Division side and McGraw’s penalty felled Hibs.
‘Morton had missed a few penalties that season and, after one game, the manager Hal Stewart told me I was now on them,’ he recalled.
‘We went another six games or so and I forgot all about it until we got one in the semi-final replay. Our captain Jim Reilly reminded me. But I’d never taken a penalty before and asked if anyone else fancied it. Nobody did.
‘I didn’t even place the ball on the spot. I got Jimmy Wilson to place it for me.
‘Ronnie Simpson was in goal and I noticed he was standing more towards his right post. So I ran up and placed it in the other side.
‘Years later, I met Ronnie and he said it was a deliberate plan to put me off. He said players would normally try and put it in the smaller side, thinking he was going to dive across to the bigger end.
‘I just told him: “Sorry, I’m not that brainy. I just saw the bigger side and stuck it there!” Most of the Morton players had their back to me because they were all frightened I’d miss...”
His recollections of the final, where Morton lost 5-0 to Rangers in front of a crowd of 105,907, are less pleasant.
‘I hit the bar twice,’ he recalled. ‘But I blame Hal Stewart to this day for our defeat. It was 0-0 at half time and our centre-half Jimmy Kiernan, who was a good player, was handling Jimmy Forrest of Rangers well.
‘He was worried about Forrest’s speed and Hal changed tactics at half-time, which wasn’t like him. He normally just picked the team but he told Jim Reilly to drop back and, with him out of the midfield, we lost (with Forrest scoring four goals). I still don’t understand why Hal changed it...’
So, where would Jim Duffy’s men rank in the pantheon of Cappielow greats if they can successfully negotiate the club’s first League Cup semi-final since 1979?
‘It would be a great feat,’ said McGraw. ‘It’s hard to compare teams across different eras but they’d be right up there with the best of them.’
I want Derek to do well but I want Morton to win