Willie Mc Stay interview

This week we give you paart 2 of our interview with former Rovers manager - Willie Mc Stay

Rovers didn't have a spectacular start to the '93/94 season when did you feel the team began to gel into promotion hopefuls

I'm trying to remember the game we played before the game against Home Farm the night the lights were switched on, I think we won that game (two draws against U.C.D. preceeded the switching on of the floodlights - Ed) and this created a double sided effect, people came (to the Home Farm game) because we had a good result and also because of the novelty of the floodlights coming and the crowds then increased the tension on the players and the whole club increased at that time and that was the catalyst. A lot of things came together it was perfect timing and I'm sure we won that game four nil against Home Farm and from there we went on in that particular time in the Shield, the semi-final and obviously the double headed games against Waterford in the final and that was the big occasions that gave not just the players but gave the club a taste of success and they wanted more of it.

When talk of the treble started to surface was it hard to keep the players focussed on the primary job of winning promotion?

I think from the two games that I have mentioned the Shield Final against Waterford then every game after that was a cup final from there on in. So in most of the games we were underdogs as well, there had been some memorable nights, obviously Cork, Cobh, the big cup ties at the Showgrounds but also the games against Athlone at the time and the tremendous support we took down there the night we clinched the Championship as well. So every game was a big game and a game that we had to win, I just think that the players at that particular time, everybody just thrived in that expectation and as I said we were always looking to the next game, always looking forward, nobody stopped for a minute to think what have we done, it was only once we had achieved it.

With the league and the shield in the bag did you look on the cup run as a bonus or was that the crowning glory?

I think there was no fear for the cup, I think the main prize was the League, winning the Shield beforehand had given us all a great confidence booster, but the League was probably the main prize. But we were building up a reputation and nobody wanted to play us, even the big Premier clubs at that particular time the last one they wanted in the draw was Sligo and we got a little bit of fortune with having home ties but as I say we feared nobody at the time and the players were confident you know you just had to see the crowds that turned up, people enjoyed the football.

Did you feel that we rode our luck in that cup final or do you make your own luck?

I think that we all knew that Derry City was a great team that year with quality players, I had them watched and I had a sneaky feeling that we could do it. The game was tight but sometimes it's not just ability that wins you games it's desire and belief and that was one thing that we believed that we could win the game.

What would you say were the key factors in Rovers winning the treble that season?

I think the players gelled and we had good pace in the team in wide areas, we had a great engine room in midfield with Hastie, Carrie and we didn't give too much away. We had experience at the back and we had enthusiasm from middle to front and we managed, we generally had Eddie Annand, we knew he'd score goals and Gabbiadini came in at the right time for us and I think that was how it was. We had experience in the right area, the defence, obviously Gavin, Martin McDonnell, myself, we had experience there and great pace from middle to front. We worked hard as I say in our team play and I think it was our team play that was significant and the team spirit. The team spirit was great; we definitely had a great spirit in the team, which I think pulled us through in the cup final.

Were you disappointed that you weren't here to lead Rovers into Europe?

Yes!

That was at the time I left to go to Celtic, it was a phone call I got while I was preparing for the new season and going into Europe. We already knew we were playing Floriana and for me I had run in a new career from being a player into management. It was in the close season that you'd realised what you had achieved and here was I set as a young manager preparing a group of players to play in a European competition. You know you had to pinch yourself to make sure, to see that it was real. It wasn't a formality to go to Celtic because I had gone there initially and refused the job because I had felt so much of a pull to work with what I had achieved with Sligo.

Celtic came back in again, spoke with the club and obviously made their peace with the club for Sligo to give me permission to talk and then go. They came back to me with a new angle on what my role would be at Celtic and then we evaluated everything and decided to go but it wasn't an easy decision and it was the week leading up to the game. Obviously talking to Chris on the phone half of me was there at the game. Obviously I went back to see the home ties and I went back to see the Brugge as well which was very emotional but it wasn't easy to make because when as an individual, as a manager to have taken it to a level which I had thought was a fairytale ... it was hard to walk away from that.

You were here for the Bruges game, how did you feel about Rovers finest ever performance in Europe?

I thought it was fantastic and very unfortunate not to win that game. I know that the game in Brugge as well, they must take a lot of credit from that game as well because the report that I got from that game I think it was a great achievement to get there. But once they got there to win the first round against Floriana and then obviously to do so well against Brugge must have been, as you say, their finest hour because they just didn't get there but when they did they performed very, very well.

Rovers are now placing the emphasis on developing local talent, do you think this is the right way to go or should we still be looking at bringing players from abroad.

I'm just after being talking with Don as well and I think you have to look at your youth. In 1994 it was not just the team that won the treble but we did put together a youth team. John Lynch was taken it at the time and Fago was taking the reserve team. I thought that was the way the club should be structured, we started the FAS course for the first time which helped bring Devaney and Scanlon and people like that which gave us a great base for training. So we came from a part-time set-up to still have the same wage bill but creating a full-time set-up because of the introduction of FAS and I think it's the best way to go. But I do think that the young players need a helping hand. You know Dennis Bonnar was doing that when I first came over to the club and obviously that progressed to Gavin, Martin McDonnell and people like that and you asked me what were the strengths in the team that we had well we had great young freedom and no fear feeling about the club from middle to from but we did have experience which helped the youngsters out all of the time.

I do think that you need that blend. You notice the players that I brought to Sligo Rovers, none of them were over the hill, they were all players that wanted to progress in their own right. They were young and enthusiastic and they knew that this was their second chance of getting back into football. Eddie Annand is typical of that, he's went and made a good living for himself because of that second chance. So if you can get good players round about the youngsters whether that's experienced League of Ireland players or one or two players that can come in and adapt, you don't want journeymen that will just come in for a season and are gone again. You want players to come in and be there for two or three years and help bring these boys on.

With almost a decade of experience at Celtic behind you what advice would you give to Rovers on operating a youth system here?

You obviously know I'm a fan of it, but it's to persevere with it and you will get the fruits of it. Not only do you get the fruits of it by some young players making their way into the first team, saving you money from bringing players in, but you create a spirit, you create a togetherness and you bring the town into the club and I think that's the key. Sligo to me is, in that time, I know the cup was won in Fago's time and they had big crowds but Sligo is a soccer town and with success the crowds will all come back again but to me it was remarkable the crowds that we got and the way that the success was received and I think that the town is crying out for that and the advice is just to persevere with it, it will be worth it.

Have you been impressed with the quality of the players in Rovers underage teams?

Well at the moment my team is going to play them today, Gavin Dykes was over in Scotland with the Academy and the boys competed very well. I knew some of them, obviously Rossiter and people like that, but at the moment I wouldn't say I know them too well, I'd be telling a lie if I were to say that but obviously today I'm going to get an opportunity to see them first hand in a competitive match - Sligo Rovers versus Celtic Youth I never thought I'd be there to see that one.

Finally a cheeky one, you don't have any plans to poach some of these lads?

I'll answer that one after ninety minutes !!

This tournament is about PR, Celtic coming over to Kilybegs, it's not only the tournament we're here for, we'll be doing coaching in the community which has been a great success. There's fundraising events for local charities that they donate the money to but it also gives us a chance to look at the Donegal selection, Galway and Sligo. To look at these players that people promote, phone us about or our scouts in Ireland have heard of, so we can get a first hand opportunity to see these boys in action so hopefully they do well and we might be on the phone to Don.

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