McManus article from The Scotsman:
The remarkable rise from Bhoy to man
TOM ENGLISH
THEY sat side by side on the bench that night, one old dog coming to the end of a long road, one young pup barking and yelping and impatient for a run. It was October 20, 2004, a Wednesday in Donetsk, a Wednesday when the name of Francelino Matuzalem flashed across the consciences of the Celtic fans and left a permanent mark, a Wednesday that Paul Lambert and Stephen McManus, among others, will not forget.
Thirty minutes in and Jackie McNamara gets injured. Jackieâs replacement is McManus, a left full-back in the eyes of the manager Martin OâNeill. Jackie hits the deck and immediately McManusâs back straightens and his eyes widen and on his face Lambert can see that âoh f***â moment that every young player experiences when heâs about to enter an arena that is utterly alien to him.
âGood luck, Mick,â Lambert says.
But Mick McManus says nothing. He doesnât even look at Lambert. He looks straight ahead and goes out to play his first Champions League game. Celtic get destroyed 3-0 and Lambert goes up to McManus in the aftermath and asks how he is. Heâs fine. Really? âReally.â Why wouldnât he be? Hadnât he been waiting for an opportunity like that since he was a boy? Hadnât he wished it and dreamt it for years? How was he? He was on top of the world.
Spoke to Willie McStay the other day. If you want to learn about McManus, Willie McStay is not a bad starting point. âMy father scouted him, you know,â he says. âHimself and Hugh McGovern. They were a double act. Still are. Iâd get these calls every weekend. 'You gotta have a wee look at this boy, McManus. Heâs a wide lefter, got stature, he can get past people and deliver crosses. You gotta do something. This kid has a chance.â Willie went to Sunderland to view the apple of his fatherâs eye. He remembers it well. A day in August in 1994. Down to the Sunderland international tournament he went. Celtic had a team there and McManus played on its left flank. He saw enough that afternoon to know the old man was right. He called home. âAye, he fitted the picture you painted. Weâve got to do something right enough.â
They did plenty. They signed him, encouraged him, shaped him. They withdrew him from wide left midfield to left full-back and then into centre-back. "He wasnât too sure about centre-back. We sat him down one day, got a piece of paper out and said âright, letâs put down here the things youâre really good atâ. The pen came out and by the time theyâd put it back down again McManus was a centre-half.
A lot has happened since then, a lot of good stuff and a lot of bad stuff. OâNeill didnât buy the McManus conversion. The few chances he gave him were at full-back and they came and went in dribs and drabs. âYou could see he was made for Celtic,â said Lambert, but he wasnât getting an opportunity. Not with the immovable forces of Balde and Varga and Valgaeren ahead of him. âAll you had to do was be around him and you knew he had it,â added Lambert. âHe was hungry for work. And I mean hungry. He was an animal for it. You see some young fellas coming into first team training and they arrive with their shoulders back and their heads in the air and they disappear in a whimper an hour later. Mick arrived quietly and with no bullshit. I remember saying to Lenny one day, âthis oneâs got a bit of somethingâ. Lenny says, âaye, you can tellâ.â
Not everybody could tell. OâNeill struggled to see it but Strachan did not. Under OâNeill, McManus had his moments when he thought about leaving, thought about taking up one of the many offers that came his way. Nothing personal. It was just the way it is. He needed to play. âThe thing was that John Kennedy and Stephen signed full-time terms on the same day and John progressed far quicker than Stephen,â says McStay. âJohn was a man at 16. A man! Stephen only got that way at 21. I know he got dejected but he dusted himself down every time. That was the making of him. He wanted to be a Celtic player so badly you wouldnât believe it.â
Everybody said it would happen. He was with his agents one night. Martin Reilly, Mark Donaghy, McManus and Lennon, who they also represent, all sitting down for a chat. Reilly says, âIâm going to make a prediction and you see if Iâm not right. Mick, youâre going to captain Celtic one day and whatâs more youâll captain Scotland.â McManus, a Celtic reserve, laughed out loud. Shut your noise, Reilly. âOne down, one to go,â said Reilly, in August when Strachan handed McManus the captainâs armband and told him he was the only man for the job.
Strachan raves about him, not just as a player but as a man. A proper man at 25. Not since Billy McNeill has there been a younger captain. Not since Paul McStay has there been a captain that has come through the ranks. Now Alex McLeish is raving too. In the last week we saw two breathtaking defensive performances from McManus, first against Lithuania at Hampden (where he also managed to score the critical goal) and secondly against France where his leadership was immense and where his ability to read the game and throw himself in front of danger stirred the soul.
âI love that guy,â said McLeish on Thursday. âI love him in every way, shape and form because he wants to learn, he is a willing listener and heâs a professional. I saw him as a kid as a left back and I thought, well, Iâm no sure, but ever since he came in to the Celtic team at centre-backâŚâ
Celtic return to Donetsk on Tuesday night. The Ukrainians will notice many changes in the visitors but the greatest one of all, you suspect, will be in the authority of one player, who was a boy the last time they saw him but whoâs done a bit of growing up since then. From a minnow to a colossus in three years. Makes you wonder what heâll be like in three more.