Boss praises heroes in blue for delivering Cup gift to so many
TOMMY WRIGHT did not get as far as copying a complete Jose Mourinho touchline dash as he masterminded the greatest day in St Johnstone’s history. He was quick off the mark, though, to praise the Special Ones at his club, to whom he deferred credit for winning the Scottish Cup.
He recognised that a clutch of his heroes in yesterday’s 2-0 win — including captain Dave Mackay, Steven Anderson, Chris Millar and Frazer Wright — had suffered a series of semi-final setbacks long before he joined as assistant to Steve Lomas in 2011.
And, in typically classy fashion, the Northern Irishman spoke of his pride in giving the Brown family — former chairman Geoff and current incumbent Steve — the trophy that their safe 28-year stewardship of the Perth club deserves.
Of his halted hare down the sidelines after Steven MacLean netted the clincher in 84 minutes, Wright said: ‘I started running and realised all the Dundee United fans were on that side and thought: “Oh god”. It took me a couple of strides to stop.
‘Managers get wrapped up in that, as well.
‘I was never going to slide on my knees, though, as I wouldn’t have been able to get up.
‘To win the Scottish Cup is the pinnacle of my career and it means everything. To get the Scottish Cup, our first major trophy, words can’t describe how I feel.
‘But it means a lot more to a lot more people. To the supporters, the players, the staff and Geoff and Steve Brown, who put a lot into this club.
‘I like to think I work hard for the chairman and he knew what he was getting when he appointed me. I’m really pleased for him and know he will feel in some way that I have repaid his decision.
‘It’s well-documented I have a really good relationship with him. But we’ll still work within our means, we are fully aware of that. The chairman won’t say: “There’s X, go and spend”.
‘St Johnstone is more important than Tommy Wright, it has to be here for another 130 years. We’ll sit down and see if I can squeeze a little bit of money out of him and we’ll see if we can freshen the squad up.’
Wright believes that beating Aberdeen at Ibrox last month was the key to making Saints trophy winners at last.
The former Manchester City goalkeeper, who won a League Cup in his homeland for Lisburn Distillery, added: ‘The players who have been at the club and lost semi-finals go into the group of special people, I think.
‘I don’t know how many semis Dave Mackay lost, I think it’s six. Anderson has lost five, Millar lost four.
‘Frazer Wright (left) played in the League Cup Final at Kilmarnock and got really turned over. That’s why I think winning the semi-final against Aberdeen was a psychological barrier broken for us.
‘This was a Final and obviously different but something was lifted off us at Ibrox.
‘Dave Mackay is quiet for a captain but he leads by example. I could point to maybe five or six captains but Stevie MacLean is one of the leaders in the dressing room. He’s a big influence on Stevie May and someone I’m glad we have for another couple of years. He’s tremendous on and off the field for me.’
Wright’s parents were unable to travel over for the game and join the 15,000-strong St Johnstone support. However, compared with the extra-time dramas from Wembley, Wright revealed that his Parkhead part in making mum May, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, happy was plain sailing.
He said: ‘My brothers, Jack and Al, are over and I managed to see my wife Anne straight after.
‘Dad went out this morning to get a few beers so he was sitting in to watch it.
‘My mum’s an Arsenal supporter and she said this morning that she hoped both her teams would win.’