The former Aston Villa boss, who was more notorious for his brief spell, still left one legacy leading to the club’s recent success.
Aston Villa’s current success in the domestic league and Europe, by winning their second-ever continental title this year, might have been seen as only due to the amazing work of Unai Emery or perhaps Dean Smith, who built the squad almost from scratch, taking a Championship team to become a regular contender in the top five over the past three seasons.
However, fans often forget that the manager in between, Steven Gerrard, also had his own contribution to Villa’s success today. It was naming John McGinn as the skipper of the team. The Scotsman has been a key figure in the team’s form, and his influence has become more and more important to Villa’s triumphant campaign.
Steven Gerrard’s former assistant, Gary McAllister, shared his view during an interview with Record Sport, as reported by DailyRecord.co.uk, on how they eventually picked the former Hibernian man to be the team leader on the pitch.
“Tyrone was captain at the time, but he’d had a few injuries and you need a captain who’s robust and plays in games.
“Within a week of us arriving at Aston Villa, myself, Steven and the coaching staff all felt McGinn was a natural leader.
“He was very humble, he comes from a massive footballing heritage family. The way John conducted himself around the training ground at Bodymoor Heath, he was so popular with everybody. He had time for everyone.
“All of that stuff pointed towards Steven making a change and it’s no surprise that Unai has kept the same captain.”
It was a decision that impacted the team positively. Even to this day, McGinn, who also bagged the winning goal for Scotland in their World Cup opener against Haiti recently, seems to know how to make the difference in games. He was more or less a skipper like McAllister and Gerrard themselves during their playing years at Leeds United and Liverpool respectively.
Regarding McGinn’s potential to be the skipper who could make the difference on the pitch, the former Scotland international midfielder of the 1990s added his comments on him:
“He’s grown and grown. He also now has an understanding of playing in two or three positions. David Pleat once told me, if you’re an offensive midfield player, score a goal or make a goal, score a goal or make a goal. If you can tick those boxes from the middle of the park, you’ll do not bad. It’s a simple message but it’s true.
“There’s a lot of coaching and information now that makes you play square or backward passes. But John plays forwards and that’s a big plus for Villa and Scotland.”
Indeed, McGinn has proved his worth in crucial moments. Since being named captain, the 31-year-old versatile midfielder has continued contributing heavily in big games. In the 2022/23 season, his first full season as skipper, for example, he provided one assist in a 2-0 win over Tottenham away from home on Matchday 18 in the Premier League.
In the following season, he bagged the winning goal when Villa beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. McGinn was also a difference-maker as The Lions picked up a 2-1 win against Lille in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League, by scoring once and setting up another.
His contribution on the pitch does not stop there. In fact, he keeps adding to it every season, including last season. The Glasgow-born midfielder two vital winning goals in the first two Europa League matches after their winless streak at the beginning of the season, and one assist in the Europa League final.
McGinn can operate as a winger on both flanks, a defensive midfielder, and an attacking midfielder on certain occasions too. No wonder Emery sees him as one of the irreplaceable players in the squad.
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