St Johnstone fans don’t need to worry about Steven MacLean’s tunnel vision in their Premiership survival fight.
As the interim manager’s family will attest, getting the Perth side in the best possible shape for the challenge they’ll face this weekend has been the only thing on his mind from the moment he was given the job of taking over from Callum Davidson in the short-term.
“I’ve been so consumed with Hibs, I even forgot my son was going to uni on Monday,” MacLean joked.
“I phoned my wife and said ‘where’s Luke?’
“She let me know he was in Aberdeen!
“He’s studying chartered accountancy – he’s got a lot more brains than me – and goes up there for exams and stuff.
“All I’ve thought about is Saturday’s game.
“Have I had thoughts of being a manager? Yes, I’ve had thoughts of being a manager all my days.
“But right now, it’s about Hibs.
“It’s full-on. You’re just trying to do everything right and wanting it to go well.
“Myself, Liam (Craig) and Alex (Cleland) are concentrating every minute of every day on Hibs and how we can get a result. We’re working tirelessly on that.”
Davidson’s approval
MacLean, a trophy winner as a player and a coach at McDiarmid Park, admitted that getting Davidson’s ‘blessing’ was essential before he accepted his third job title with St Johnstone.
“Callum brought me back to the club,” said the 40-year-old. “People who know me will tell you I’m as loyal as can be.
“As a player I was loyal to my team-mates and to the club.
“On Sunday (when Davidson left Saints) I didn’t know what to think, if I’m being honest.
“I had Callum’s blessing and he said I needed to do it.
“If he had said ‘I don’t think you should do it’ then I would’ve walked away, simple as that.
“Callum said I am good enough to go and do it. He said put your own stamp on it and be your own man.
“I can’t thank him enough.
“I learned so much from him on a day-to-day basis.
“This was our third season and I took in so much from him – watching games with him, doing the video stuff, everything.”
MacLean added: “I know he’ll be wanting us to do well
“He’ll be sitting at home on Saturday desperate for us to win. That’s a big thing for me.
“Callum’s not just a good manager and a good coach but he is a good man and a proper gentleman and I think that’s why it’s been so hard.
“To go back to what the chairman said, he’s a legend and that will never change and that’s why he had such a difficult decision to do it.
“Callum’s going to be a manager again somewhere, he’s going to get another job and he deserves a top job.”
New manager bounce
The success of in-house appointments at Aberdeen and Motherwell may have influenced Steve Brown’s decision.
MacLean doesn’t feel a weight of expectation as a consequence of the Barry Robson and Stuart Kettlewell factor, however.
“There’s no real pressure on me,” he said.
“They got a bounce. We’ll be hoping we get a bounce. We want to win games, but there’s no pressure on me.
“I’m just going to prepare the players properly, do my job, and then like I say, I hope I get a reaction from the players.
“We’ve done the work. They’ve now got to go and take responsibility themselves and I’m sure they will.”
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