Hibs goal hero McGrath in 'shank' quip as midfielder names surprise Man of the Match contender from Dons win
‘I feel like it has been coming’ - why 4-0 didn’t flatter Reedijk’s men as attacking threat reveals final third instructions
The best shank he’s ever hit, a muted celebration for his personal glory moment – but unadulterated joy on behalf of fringe players rewarded for their professionalism. To say that Jamie McGrath ran the full gamut of emotions at Pittodrie yesterday would be selling the Irishman’s experience short.
Scorer of an absolute screamer to open his team’s account in a 4-0 victory over Aberdeen, the Hibs midfielder was just as much value as he reflected on Marink Reedijk’s first league win as manager. From addressing his team’s recent struggles to picking a surprise Man of the Match contender from a day when his own claim on the honour seemed fairly unshakeable to most, the Irishman also provided some insight into his own role under the new gaffer – and even teased a “beers and music” celebration when Hibs return to Hampden next month.
Second goal in as many games for McGrath
The former Aberdeen favourite, asked if he’d scored a better goal than the 25-yarder that broke the seal on his team’s scoring potential, admitted: “Probably not, no. It has been a long time coming. I haven’t scored from outside the box in a long time.
“It was a lovely pass from Joe (Newell). I know he can see the forward pass. My first touch set it up for me. It was a bit of a shank, but it went in!
“It was important to get the lead at that stage of the game. I think we fully deserved it. In this league, you can concede at any moment. Aberdeen have a lot of threat going forward and it was important to go ahead in the game.
“We did brilliantly to keep the Aberdeen pressure away after we scored. I thought we were good value in the end. The boys who came on brought a lot of quality and produced a lot of quality, which we have been lacking in recent weeks. It is a hard place to come, but to score four goals and to keep a clean sheet makes it a good day.
“I feel like it has been coming. I know we haven’t had the results since the gaffer came in, but I felt we were getting better and better.
“I thought we deserved to win against St Mirren but we conceded. We were conceding silly goals. If we can eradicate that we give ourselves a good chance to win games and I feel like we have done that over the last couple of games. We showed good character to come back against Hearts at Hampden.
“The international break probably comes at the wrong time for us. But we can go into it now by keeping the hard work going and looking forward to attacking Christmas now.”
McGrath - who scored the winner against Hearts last weekend, of course - was especially impressed by the performance of early substitute Alex Williams, who entered the fray after just eight minutes. Stepping in for injured captain Felix Passlack, the on-loan West Brom right back had previously been given just 11 minutes of game time in a Premier Sports Cup win over Ross County.
‘Hardest worker’ rewarded with first league action
Insisting he wasn’t surprised to see the 21-year-old step straight into the gap left by the skipper, McGrath said: “Not at all. We see the boy's quality in training every day. He keeps his head down and is the hardest worker at the club.
“I sit beside him in the changing room and he is a top, top lad. We were all so happy for him at the end.
“We said that is his reward for being ultra-professional. He has come in and it has been tough because he has been on the sidelines. I am so so happy for him and we all were.
“He came in and replaced Felix. It is a tough place to come in and play your first league game. For me, I thought he was man of the match.
“He was brilliant with his defensive work and his positioning going forward was really, really good. It shows his levels to play having not played for a long time.”
Every single substitute made an impact yesterday, with Callum Wright, Nicky Cadden and Thibault Klidje all scoring. Club record signing Klidje’s goal was celebrated with particular gusto by a group who have watched him struggle to adapt to the Scottish game, including spending the second half of last season on loan in Denmark.
“He is a great guy,” said McGrath. “We are so happy when he scored. He works his socks off and is similar to Alex.
“The culture in the club is very good. The boys who aren’t playing as many minutes as they want—every one of them trains their hardest.
“I have been there myself, where you don’t get the game time you want or deserve. It is great when the squad is rewarded.
“It is about the boys celebrating and we are so happy for Callum coming back from injury, Rabbi Matondo and Cadds. They are all hitting form. All the guys who came on did really well.
“Winning breeds confidence. Hopefully, we can kick on from Hampden and we can attack this Christmas period. There are going to be a lot of games and a lot of points up for grabs.
“We can’t get carried away. We know we are not at the right end of the table. We have to use it to our advantage. Hopefully, everyone can come through the international break health. We have a big game against Dundee United at home and I am sure the fans will be right behind us now.”
Climbing the table a relief
Admitting that there is a sense of relief after climbing off the foot of the table, McGrath said: “Probably, mentally it is not a nice place to be. You have to remember it is early days, but you don’t want to be there for long periods of time because it can weigh on you.
“But, as I say, we are nowhere near where we want to be. There are signs of us turning it around and fingers crossed we can start climbing the league.”
Insisting that his low-key goal celebration was “the right thing to do” after enjoying such happy times at Pittodrie, McGrath explained a little of the role he’s been given by Reedijk, saying: “The gaffer likes to give the attacking players quite a lot of freedom. We still need to be disciplined in our slots. It is about filling holes.
“We are constantly learning bits of details every week. If we keep learning we can get better. You can see what the gaffer wants to bring. We are by no means the finished article and there is still a lot of work to do.”
Explaining that the celebrations after yesterday’s game wouldn’t quite match the party enjoyed after beating Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final six days earlier, McGrath quipped: “We will save the beers and music for the final.”