Dundee new boy Stephen McGinn has revealed that manager Paul Hartley was the main reason for him returning north of the border to help kick-start his career.
The 26-year-old joined the Dark Blues on loan on Friday after being frozen out at Sheffield United, and the Scot hopes to repay the faith of his new boss after making his debut as a second half substitute in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hamilton.
“I’d been out of favour at Sheffield United and the manager phoned me a few weeks ago to see if I’d be interested,” he explained.
“He’s been great, he’s been in touch constantly, and when it came to a decision about where I wanted to go and play and football it was clear he really wanted me.
“One of the things he said to me was that he’s seen a lot of me, he’s played against me in his career and he knows what I can do.
“He knows I can maybe add a few goals to the team and I can only learn from the other midfielders who are here, like Kevin Thomson.
“My younger brother Paul’s obviously here but the only time the manager really mentioned my brother is when he said ‘you can ask him about it, if you don’t believe me’.
“He told me it was a good coaching set-up and told me to ask my brother!
“Paul didn’t sell it quite as well as the manager!
“But hopefully we’ll both be playing well enough to get in the same team.”
McGinn, who started his career with St Mirren, reckons he has returned north of the border older and wiser for his experiences down south, and he revealed that things suddenly turned sour for him at Sheffield United under Nigel Clough.
“When I first went down, the first few years with Watford were really good and I was delighted with my first season at Sheffield United,” he explained.
“But the manager turned quite quickly and I found myself out of favour.
“Sometimes it happens in football, but today was my first game in three months so it’s been a really difficult spell.
“The manager didn’t really say much he just kind of said to me that I’ll not play again and I’ll not play any reserve games, go and find yourself a new club.
“It was a really strange situation but you just need to get on with it.
“He brought in a lot of players who play in my position, so when you are out of the team sometimes it’s better to be told you can go.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind because on Friday morning I was told: ‘Right, you can go to Dundee.’
“So I spent seven hours in the car, including fighting snow in Sheffield, so it’s good to be here.
“I’ve played in a lot of big games with Sheffield United, winning at Villa Park and at Fulham in the FA Cup, so I feel I’m coming back up with a lot more experience.”