Shaughnessy hopes to have stories to tell
JOE Shaughnessy is no stranger to hearing tales of Scottish Cup glory. But now that the St Mirren defender is preparing to face St Johnstone at Hampden this afternoon, with a place in the final of the showpiece tournament up for grabs, he is hoping to one day regale a few people with stories of his own success.
The centre-back spent four years at McDiarmid Park between 2015 and 2019, arriving one year on from Saints’ memorable Cup triumph at Parkhead. Shaughnessy might well have missed out on that historic success but the run to the final and their 2-0 victory over Dundee United remained a popular conversation topic during his time in Perth.
It’s for that reason Shaughnessy insists he knows just how meaningful a rare piece of silverware can be to a support unaccustomed to days out at the national stadium. And now that the Buddies have made it to the final four – as they did in the League Cup before they were eliminated by Livingston – the defender says he is determined to seize his opportunity.
“Yeah, I joined St Johnstone in 2015 and it was always talked about,” Shaughnessy said of St Johnstone’s sole Scottish Cup win. “Every year they had their May 17th or whatever it was and all the fans, that was all they wanted to talk about.
“They always wanted to talk to the players who had won it if they could. So I know what it means to fans of clubs, to all clubs I guess, but especially the ones who rarely get the chance to win competitions.
“I am sure that, as in the League Cup semi-finals, all four clubs will be thinking they have a bigger chance than they would in other seasons when you are thinking you are probably going to have to meet one of those two [Celtic or Rangers] in the final, if you get that far.
“All clubs will be thinking the same thing: that this is a chance to put their name on the trophy.”
Success in the Cup this season, however, is accompanied by several weighty carrots. The first is that thanks to the introduction of the Europa Conference League in the next campaign and Scotland’s rise up the coefficient standings, the winners of this year’s tournament are guaranteed a minimum of eight European fixtures next season.
That prestige alone will naturally appeal to St Mirren, St Johnstone, Hibs and Dundee United – none of that quartet have ever participated in the group stage of a European tournament – while the £3m in television and prize money alone represents a game-changing payday for whoever lifts the cup later this month.
Shaughnessy, however, isn’t getting ahead of himself. The thought of playing on the continent is an enticing one for the 28-year-old, but he is adamant that the thought of simply lifting the Scottish Cup with St Mirren provides him with all the motivation he requires.
“Just winning a major trophy in itself is something that everyone would want to do,” he explained. “That is almost enough of a motivation to really get you through a semi-final.”
Few would have predicted that St Mirren would find themselves in the final four or the two national cup competitions when the campaign began,
and fewer still would have foreseen the elimination of the Old Firm in the earlier rounds.
It leaves us with an open final four, where each and every one of the semi-finalists will feel like they have a legitimate chance of lifting the famous old trophy later this month. And Shaughnessy insists that the youthful squad assembled by Jim Goodwin (inset) have learned lessons from their painful exit to Livingston at this stage of the Betfred Cup.
He said: “We have a lot of young players in the squad for whom that was the first taste of semi-final football and we didn’t perform how we wanted to perform. We didn’t give a good account of ourselves and yeah you would hope we can use that memory to really put in a performance which does us justice and one which hopefully is enough to get us to the final.”
The two Saints meet at Hampden today after jousting for a spot in the top six – a spot that Callum Davidson’s men nicked in their final pre-split Premiership fixture on goal difference, with the two sides level on 40 points.
It’s for that reason that Shaughnessy expects this afternoon’s encounter to be a cagey and tight affair.
“They are very closely matched,” Shaughnessy said of today’s semi-finalists. “You see in the 33 games before the split that we were only separated by two goals.
“Especially since Christmas, they have been brilliant. They have had very consistent performances and results. They have hit a really good bit of form, that is probably the difference: they have had a bit more consistency.”