Dundee United skipper Mark Reynolds has revealed the squad were told stories of legendary boss Jim McLean by Paul Hegarty shortly before his death.
McLean, who passed away on Boxing Day at the age of 83 after battling dementia, is undoubtedly United’s greatest ever manager.
Hegarty was club captain and a mainstay in defence under McLean as the Terrors won the League Cup in 1979 and 1980, the Premier Division title in 1983 and went on runs deep into European competition.
In some ways, centre-back Reynolds has followed in Heggie’s footsteps and the 33-year-old revealed the Tannadice hero reminded the current crop of McLean’s greatness.
“It’s a similar type of legacy to what Alex Ferguson created at Aberdeen,” the former Dons defender said.
“You always comment on it when someone passes, that it’s a shame it has to take something like that to happen for people to start remembering.
“In the case of Jim McLean, he’s always spoken about here.
“We had a chat with Paul Hegarty a few months ago. He was telling us stories of his time, how Jim was a forward thinker.
“He said the things they did back then, a lot of people almost laughed at them – but now they’re regular practices.
“He’s someone we don’t know but we’re all familiar with. His presence and legacy will be felt as long as Dundee United are here.”
‘Jim McLean gave the club the rich history it’s got’
Reynolds insists the feeling of McLean’s presence at Tannadice still remains at the club as they absorbed some of the tributes laid out for the great man in front of the stadium.
He continued: “We’ve been out at Tannadice and had a look at the tributes.
“Jim McLean is synonymous with Dundee United, bringing the club to the forefront of Scottish and European football. He gave the club the rich history it’s got.
“With the state of the country in lockdown, not as many people have made it to the stadium as would have liked but there are certainly a few who have come to pay their respects.
“Everyone at the club feels a loss. It’s a name that is still adorned on the walls, there are pictures everywhere – and that will be like that forevermore.
“He’s one of the main men responsible for making Dundee United such a big club in Scotland.”
Reynolds added: “It’s still part of the club. I’ve been lucky enough to be at clubs where the history is all over the walls.
“This club has a proud history, a successful history. You walk down any of the corridors at Tannadice and you see that. That will never change.
“His legacy will always be there, rightly so. It was such a successful period for the club, a period when he launched the club into the public perception and to a wider European audience.
“He will always be about this club and this stadium.”
Turning his focus to on-pitch matters, Reynolds looked ahead to today’s trip to champions Celtic and insisted the Tangerines go to Glasgow with a belief they can come away with something.
“I think we go into every game with a real belief that we can get a result,” he said.
“I don’t want to sit here as though we’re going to Celtic Park with real belief when we don’t usually.
“Every game we go into, we don’t expect to win – but we expect to take part, show up, compete and fight as hard as anyone.
“We’re going into this game knowing that we can focus on ourselves and, if we bring the quality we have in this changing room, we give ourselves a chance.”
Celtic under pressure this season
With an Old Firm clash against Premiership leaders Rangers to come for the Hoops on Saturday, Reynolds insists United will be trying to use that distraction to their advantage at Parkhead this afternoon.
“Celtic have dominated Scottish football for however long so you look for any tiny advantage,” he admitted.
“They are a team who are playing under more pressure now than at any time I can remember.
“They are up against a Rangers team who have found their feet and have been as relentless as Celtic have been in the past few seasons.
“I think Celtic are aware they have no room for a slip up and they realise every game is huge for them.
“For us, we can only try to do what we have been doing every week and make the right decisions on the day.
“We know we have the quality in the final third to make it a really interesting game.”