Sport: Mcinnes’ booze warning as Dons back Mackay-steven
● Player ‘embarrassed’ after dramatic rescue from River Kelvin
Derek Mcinnes insists Aberdeen are standing by Gary Mackay-steven but the Pittodrie manager has issued a warning on excessive drinking following the player’s dramatic river rescue last month.
The £150,000 summer signing from Celtic had to be pulled from Glasgow’s River Kelvin by firefighters in the early hours of 27 August after a drunken night out.
The Scotland international spent over an hour in the water and had to be taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to be treated for hypothermia before being released.
The Aberdeen manager insists the incident should serve as a warning to other players about the need to control their actions away from their clubs.
However, Mcinnes has offered support to the player, believing the winger’s behaviour was out of character. He has made it clear everyone at Pittodrie will do likewise and that a fully recovered Mackay-steven is in contention to start against Hearts at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
Mcinnes said: “Gary is a good lad and has so much to offer. He is a young footballer with his best years ahead of him and I am sure we will see that in the next few years.
“We support Gary as it was a mistake and out of character for him. I am convinced of that.
“The boy is embarrassed as he feels he let people down and he knows he made a mistake.
“Gary had a fright and it was a bad error of judgment. However, he is one of us and we get round him.
“He made a mistake but we are not going to hold it against him as he is not the first player to do that and we move on.
“We have addressed it and I don’t expect it to be a issue going forward with Gary or any of my players.
“It could have been far more problematic for him but thankfully he is back with us.”
The incident happened hours after Aberdeen’s dramatic 4-3 win against Partick Thistle at Firhill when Mackay-steven was on the bench.
His manager insists he has no problem with his players going out and having a few drinks once their work for the week is taken care of.
However, Mcinnes believes this incident is a clear warning to others that they must be sensible and professional when they are out and about socially.
He added: “I have no problem with any player being able to go out and relax, unwind and have a few drinks. However, there has to be that element of restraint, discipline and control.
“There is no place for footballers in the modern game getting drunk and not being totally aware of all their actions.
“It is a reminder to all my players that they earn the right to go out and unwind because there are a lot of pressures with the job.
“But they always have to have that discipline and control at all times.”
“There is no place for footballers in the modern game getting drunk and not being aware of their actions”
Nearly three decades after leaving the city of his birth, it’s fair to say new Hearts goalkeeper Jon Mclaughlin’s journey back to Edinburgh has been a circuitous one.
Born into a Hibernian-supporting family, Mclaughlin left the Scottish capital for Saudi Arabia before he had even celebrated his first birthday, owing to dad Paul’s work commitments.
A career in professional football did not seem conceivable during his formative years in the Middle East as basketball and hockey were more popular.
Returning to England aged 11, Mclaughlin went on to earn a sports science and coaching degree at Leeds University before he landed his first professional contract at Bradford.
An unorthodox route into football was, however, the foundation for a successful career as Mclaughlin helped Burton Albion reach the English Championship with backto-back promotions in his three years with the Brewers.
Aware that he is in danger of provoking the ire of his family by joining Hibs’ fierce city rivals on a one-year contract, Mclaughlin is just grateful to be given the chance to return to Edinburgh.
“It’s funny the way things work, small world and all that,” remarked Mclaughlin. “You go off in all different directions, yet end up coming back to the place you were born.
“It’s nice because it’s something I did want to do in my career, at some stage, although I was thinking it might happen towards the end.”
Any allegiance Mclaughlin had towards Hibs growing up was influenced by his family, the 29-year-old confessing that he has not stepped inside Easter Road.
The shot-stopper still expects to be on the end of light-hearted flak from his relatives for defecting to the maroon side of the city.
“We left Edinburgh when I was not even a year old. I was born here but we very quickly moved to the Middle East for my dad’s work. We lived there until I was about 11, then moved back to England.
“The whole family, parents, uncles, aunties, the lot, are all from Edinburgh. I’ve still got a lot of family who live here. The majority are from the Hibs side, I’ve got to say.
“Growing up, with the parents and uncles who were Hibs fans, that was who I would look out for.
“But having never lived here, having never been given the opportunity to go and support any Scottish side, I’m certainly less of a diehard Hibee.
“My parents were made up for me [joining Hearts].
“But I wasn’t getting too many phone calls back from some of the uncles. They’re a bit more diehard.”
As fate would have it, Mclaughlin played his first game for Hearts in last week’s Under-20s 4-1 victory over Hibs. He joked: “It was nice of them to chuck me into that one straight away – just to test me and make sure there was no old affiliation still there.
“I showed that I’d burned all the bridges, I suppose.”
Reflecting on his unconventional path into football, Mclaughlin added: “It’s quite a good upbringing in Saudi Arabia because you get a taste of everything.
“It’s something I’ve always been really glad about, that I wasn’t just drilled down one route my whole life. I’ve been able to do everything. I’ve had a full school education, gone to university as well.
“I was about to turn 21 when I signed a professional contract at Bradford. I finished the degree, which was brilliant.
“I now get the added bonus of still being a professional footballer so I’ve been very lucky.”
Mclaughlin has certainly not arrived at Hearts to sit in the bench.
Jack Hamilton has been in possession of th gloves but Mclaughlin is hoping to be given the nod for Saturday’s clash against Premiership leaders Aberdeen at BT Murrayfield.
He added: “We have to work so closely together but only one person can wear the shirt.
“That’s the difficulty and challenge ahead of myself now. In the last five or six years I’ve been the number one playing a lot of football every season and that’s my intention again but it’s certainly not given that the shirt is going to be yours. You have to come in and fight to prove you’re the best man for the job, that’s the task for me.” ● Jon Mclaughlin helped Hearts launch their new One in a Million supporter benefit scheme at Divino Enoteca restaurant in Edinburgh. Funds raised will go to the Tynecastle Redevelopment Fund.
“It’s funny the way things work. You go off in all different directions, yet end up coming back to the place you were born”
JON MCLAUGHLIN