SCOTLAND legends Gordon Strachan, Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen all gave John McGinn their seal of approval when Aston Villa asked for an opinion on his ability.Manager Steve Bruce – a former team-mate of Strachan at Manchester United and McGinn’s previous Scotland boss – and his coaches made exhaustive checks on the talented midfielder.The feedback convinced them to push the boat out to sign him from Hibs in a £3m deal, beating off fierce competition from Celtic to do so.Everyone Villa turned to told the English Championship club that they would be signing an excellent player, one who could help the club win promotion.When the deal had been done, Brendan Rodgers remained fulsome in his praise of McGinn, but was clearly disappointed to have missed out on one of his major signing targets.For his own part, McGinn is delighted to be part of such an ambitious club, and is excited – and humbled – to be following in the footsteps of one of his heroes, Stan Petrov, by joining the Midlands outfit.In an exclusive interview, McGinn told The Sunday Post: “It’s very flattering if people with such standing in the game have said such nice things about me. It’s very kind of them.“This an exciting challenge and it has always been an ambition of mine to play in English football.“Looking on from afar, I always had an idea Aston Villa were a big club.“But now realise I misjudged it – they are a massive club.“The training ground is out of this world, and the stadium has that old-fashioned feel about it, a proper, traditional stadium.“I want to do my bit to see it bouncing every week as we all pull together to help the club win promotion this season.“The Villa fans have a brilliant reputation, and it’s going to be my privilege to play in front of them for the next few years.“I feel tremendous pride to be here.“I’m also following in the footsteps of guys such as Stiliyan Petrov.“He was one of my favourite players at Celtic, and he enjoyed many successful years at Villa, as well as captaining the club.“Stiliyan made an exceptional impact here – on and off the pitch – and I can only try to live up to the high standards set by him and others.“There is also a strong Scottish connection, from Alan Hutton in the team to Colin Calderwood on the coaching staff.“The Scotland manager, Alex McLeish, used to be the manager here, and Eric Black, Steve Clarke and Gary McAllister have all coached here in the past few seasons.“Paul Lambert was also the manager.“Going even further back, my dad tells me there was a Scottish influence when Aston Villa won the European Cup in 1982 when they beat Bayern Munich, and guys such as Allan Evans, Ken McNaught and Des Bremner were in the team.“So I feel proud to be here and to be a part of such a special club.“The onus is now on everyone here at the current time to create our own history, and try to get us back into the Premier League.“We have an excellent manager in Steve Bruce and he has brilliant guys beside him. We are geared up to give it a right go.“However, we are well aware that there are some top sides in this division, and there will always be a fancy from the neutrals for the newly-relegated clubs such as Swansea, Stoke and West Brom to be heavily involved when it comes to the business end of the campaign.“You can then add in other clubs such as Middlesbrough, Derby County, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and a few more.“So we can all see just how tough a challenge faces us all. But I’m up for it. I love this kind of stuff. I’m ready for it.”
Blimey, a footballer with a brain, respect and insight. Is there anything this lad is crap at?
Quote from: eamonn on August 14, 2018, 01:07:28 AMBlimey, a footballer with a brain, respect and insight. Is there anything this lad is crap at? As he's from Scotland - probably sunbathing
I'm just excited our central midfield will be Xacki and McGinniesta
Good lad. And fair play to his dad for his educational output. 😊
2 games, 2 assists. This is my main gripe with Grealish - for all his obvious comfort on the ball he rarely makes a contribution that changes a game. This fella on the other hand has come in and immediately started creating goals. Long may it continue.