McGINN KNOWS THE DEAL WITH ACE OF HEARTS
Experienced Fir Park star insists McKay is visitors’ trump card
IN years past, Paul McGinn would take extra care with his pre-match stretching routine. Nowadays, the challenge of stopping Barrie McKay requires not just supple muscles but a laser-focused mind. McKay has started the season as Hearts’ top performer and he can’t have been too far away from a call-up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad.
Motherwell defender McGinn has long been an admirer but has had to adapt his own defensive response to a player who has become more varied and thoughtful in his approach since his early days at Rangers.
‘I played against Barrie years ago and he’s definitely changed,’ said McGinn. ‘He used to be a speed demon who would knock it by you and try to run you.
‘Now he’s a really good passer of the ball and so clever. If you give him time and let him lift his head, he’ll cut teams open.
‘He is one of the best in the league but my hamstrings are probably happy that he’s changed his game.’
While Hearts still retain an element of raw pace in Josh Ginnelly and, to a lesser — indeed, a lesser-used — extent, in Gary Mackay-Steven, Robbie Neilson has favoured guile as an attacking asset.
Strikers Lawrence Shankland and the injured Liam Boyce favour service to feet, while even as a teenager, new signing Robert Snodgrass was happiest probing and feeling his way around the final third.
‘Snodgrass always played on the other side, cutting in on his left foot,’ said McGinn of a player who could make his debut for the Edinburgh side at Fir Park today. ‘He’s a clever player and his set-pieces are dangerous.
‘They have options to change it with Josh Ginnelly’s pace and Shankland is also clever, so we need to play well.
‘Hearts have their options and we need to be alive.
‘Hopefully, they had a bad flight home from Latvia!
‘We are playing well and we’re now making Fir Park a place where it’s hard to come and win.’
McGinn’s relationship with Hearts should be less needly now that he has left behind the Edinburgh football scene, where he performed for two-anda-half years as a Hibs player.
One of Jack Ross’s first signings for the club, he subsequently played under Shaun Maloney and then found himself out of favour shortly after the appointment of Lee Johnson as manager. In common with some odd business and public pronouncements conducted under the current Easter Road regime, the club trumpeted a new one-year contract extension for the defender before telling him he was free to leave. Experience told the 31-year-old that he might well have been able to convince Johnson of his worth in time. Equally, after a prolonged stint commuting to the capital, he felt inclined to move closer to his Renfrewshire home. Asked to sum up his final season at Hibs, he immediately thinks of the turmoil that saw both Ross and Maloney sacked. Yet it’s also the case that within that same timeframe he made his Scotland debut as a substitute in a World Cup qualifying win in Austria.
‘It’s been a mad year, a lot of change,’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s weird to think I won my cap last season as it ended up in a bit of a mess.
‘I needed a bit of luck which I had from Covid instances. At the same time, I’d like to think they thought: “He can actually play”. They can’t take it away from me now.
‘I had a bad injury and then there were different managers at Hibs. The whole situation with my new contract seemed strange because of the way it came out.
‘I actually signed it under Shaun Maloney but they took so long to announce it. Then a new manager came in and quite quickly said to me that I could look elsewhere.
‘Part of me thought that if I stayed there they’d realise — as normally happens — that I’m better than their initial perception. But I’m not a young boy any more, I didn’t want to wait and fight my way back.’
When Graham Alexander tabled an offer, McGinn went for it — only to find himself in a fresh episode of unrest.
He debuted for Motherwell in the Europa Conference League defeat to Sligo and, before the domestic season had commenced, found himself playing for a managerless club as Alexander departed.
Although Motherwell had qualified for Europe, the rot had set in throughout a ropey run of form that accounted for much of the latter part of last season. The summer recess did nothing to refresh the mood or the fortunes of the team.
‘There were wee grumbles but I was thinking: “That was last season, let it go”,’ said McGinn. ‘I wouldn’t say it was blatant but things became clearer after we had those two terrible results.
‘I wasn’t in long enough under the old manager to tell you if there’s a complete difference but it wasn’t relaxed after Sligo.
‘It’s happened to me a few times. When I first signed for St Mirren, Jack Ross left for Sunderland.’
Fortunately, the Lanarkshire club had a solution in house.
As a player, Stevie Hammell was a one-club man who served the Steelmen with loyalty and distinction. He’d cut his coaching teeth in the academy and, basing his methods on the personable style of Stuart McCall, quickly won over a dressing room that was in need of a fresh voice.
‘You saw a change in momentum,’ added McGinn. ‘From the start of the year, things were going one way and it doesn’t matter who you are as a manager, when that starts it’s hard to halt.
‘Maybe even just having a new face could be the difference. I can’t say the manager’s changed the world but it’s been sharp in training and a few new faces have helped matters.
‘But getting results in games can change things. It’s enjoyable to start hitting a bit of form but there’s still some frustration from the last game against Dundee United. We could have won 4-0 or 5-0 easily but we walked away with a 0-0.
‘Hearts aren’t in the greatest of form but they are favourites and they were the best team outwith the Old Firm last season.’