Tony Mc Inally

LUFC spoke to Yowes' manager Tony Mc Inally today (13/6/08) for his thoughts on potential signings, the season just ended and the campaign ahead...

Site Ed: Tony, can you tell me the latest situation re players?

Tony Mc Inally: " We've managed to retain the majority of the players we wanted to sign- Craig Brown, Paul Burns, David Middleton, Davy Gray, Craig Stark, Tom Hanlon, Grant Cuthill, Tommy Franch & Craig Miles. We've made offers to Kieron Downs and Darren Jaffray, we want those two to stay and Mark Keegans is coming for pre-season training with a view to signing. Movers and shakers- we've agreed to listen to offers for Tommy Mc Guigan, and we've let Stevie Mc Cluskey and Andy Hunter go. Stranraer have come in for John Osborne. He's got an invite for pre-season training with a view to signing." 

Ed: The transfer-listed guys- your decision or theirs?

TM: "My decision. Andy Hunter left in March but that's it finally decided at the end of season. Stevie Mc Cluskey- I was very disappointed with Stevie's professionalism towards the end of the season, he basically went AWOL for five weeks. We can't have unprofessionalism at the club. Tommy Mc Guigan- there was no guarantee of him being number one. He was looking for a commitment to be no.1 but we said no so we're listening to offers for him."

Ed: Any new signings in the pipeline?

TM: " Yes, we met seven players this week. We've put offers on the table to them and I'm hopeful of getting quite a few of them. We shook hands on a few deals on Wednesday night but we haven't signed them yet as, one, we need to negotiate with their clubs and two, circumstances regarding finance so I need further discussions with these players. But let's just say they're good players from the league we played in and the league above and one's a senior professional."

Ed: These young guys who contact the website asking about trials, have you got a message for them?

TM: " The message is, one, I've never seen them play. Two, they've not been on our radar as potential signings and thirdly I'm more than willing for them to come along and see what it's like at junior level because some of them think they can make the step up from u-18 to junior. Maybe the best step for them is to go to u-21s to toughen them up against older players because good u-21 players struggle to cope with the physical nature of the junior game so the u-18s will struggle too. We've got Mark Keane from Blantyre coming on board and another who's with another club potentially coming to us but I'll let you know his name nearer the time."

Ed: Your view of the season?

TM: " On the whole we must be pleased with our season. The aim at the start was to get out the league and we managed to do that. However our promotion came tinged with a fair bit of disappointment for me and the players. I felt we were the best team in the league, that we should have won the league and gone up as champions but we faltered in the last few weeks of the season. And I think that wasn't down to lack of ability or the team, more down to the lack of bodies for games over the final weeks."

Ed: Midweek games particularly? I noticed we lost just once on a Saturday but three times in midweek?

TM: "There was a couple of things that happened there. First and foremost we didn't have the depth of squad due to a number of things- people not being there, people on holiday, people working and people injured. There's a lot of players at junior level with working commitments and that takes its toll on training attendance and when it comes to midweek games. In fairness to the players they tried their best to get promotion, just thought we were very unlucky not to win the league in the end. Harping back to when you interviewed me in October, and I told you who I felt were going to be in the shake-up, was I wrong? (laughs). I said Ashfield, Port Glasgow, Cumbernauld and Glencairn.

In terms of runs in the cups, I felt in the league cup we put up a good defence of the trophy won last year, getting beat in the quarter final by Renfrew. I thought we were a better team than them and I thought we put out a better team in Vale of Clyde than Renfrew. So that was disappointing but on the night when you've only got 12 fit players it's very difficult to change things when you don't have depth in a squad. In terms of the Scottish cup I was delighted with the run we went on. We played some okay sides in the earlier rounds, I thought we beat an excellent team in Camelon, who I felt were the best team we played in my time at Lanark and then we fell to Pollok. They look like they're going to maybe win a double- league and Evening Times cup as well as being West of Scotland runner up- so it was no disgrace to go out of the Scottish cup to Pollok who, to my mind, set the standards in the junior game, both as a club and the manager Rab Sneddon. The new manager Jim Sinnet, a man I played under at Benburb, has had success at every club he's been at so I'm sure he'll be anticipating that at Pollok."

Ed: Aims for next season. Survival or can we aim reasonably high?

TM: " The first thing I'm pleased about is that I've retained the core of best players in the squad. And we've got a stability and resilience about the club, now we need to kick on and prove ourselves week in, week out in the superleague set-up. It's okay in the past few years beating a number of superleague clubs but now we need to do it on a week to week basis. So that's first and foremost the challenge for the team and the club. Secondly I'd say we have a good chance of doing well in the league, but the teams who've come down from the premier and those who've come up will make that league better. I think that Shotts, Port Glasgow and ourselves will enhance that league. Hurlford and Girvan will do okay as well, added to the teams in that league such as Clydebank and maybe Cumnock or Kilwinning, so it's a very competitive league."

Ed: Have you seen many of the teams in the league?

TM: "Fortunately I have. I'm not the type of manager who sits focussing on Lanark, I've seen quite a few of the other teams. Most of the time when I'm idle I'm out watching teams, players and how they're performing. Over the course of the season I've seen the majority of the clubs."

ED: I've seen a few as well and they didn't strike me as anything to be scared of. No reason why we can't compete with them.

TM: " I think we can compete as well but I wouldn't make any rash predictions. But I think what's essential in any league is to make a good start, it usually sets a good grounding for the season. I'm hoping Kieron and Jaffa will stay and to supplement that with five or six quality players. Obviously I need to live within the financial constraints at the club and our budget but we'll be trying our best to bring in the best quality to play with the good players we've got at the club."

Ed: Are you pleased to have a break from football or have you been watching the Euros?

TM: " I have and I've bet Spain and Portugal, although both haven't won a major honour since I think 1964. Teams who've impressed me are Germany, Holland, Croatia and Italy, I think the winner will come from that group of six. But I like to see teams like those (Spain and Portugal) with flair and the way they play football. It would be good for everyone if countries like that won. I prefer teams that have flair and mobility rather than Greece and the likes." 

LUFC spoke to Tony this week (Dec 2007) to get his impressions of life in his new post at Lanark to date. The 39 year old played for Ayr Utd, Albion Rovers and Queen's Park as well as enjoying a successful playing stint at Shotts and Benburb before having to retire from an achilles injury. He was coach at Irvine Meadow before moving to Cumbernauld, whom he steered to third place last season. He has made a good start at Lanark, and is unbeaten in eight games since taking over the reins at Moor Park in October. 

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Ed: On the Scottish cup game (against Cumbernauld), and the chance they had at the end you must have feared the worst. Would have been unjust had they scored and we went out?

T Mc Inally: "Most definitely. Would have been a case of a sucker punch at the end after all the chances we had, particularly in the second half. The last 70 minutes of the game was one way traffic, in the opening exchanges they played better than us but certainly the last 60-70 minutes was all us. We just couldn't get that second to kill the game off." 

Ed: What attracted you to take the Lanark job given that Cumbernauld were one of the pre-season favourites for the league after doing well last season?

TM: "The players. Guys like Tom Hanlon, Craig Stark, you know, the core of the team. Some smashing football players there, that was the biggest attraction. I admired them last year. The likes of Grant Cuthill, Craig Stark, Tom Hanlon, Paul Burns. The players who were already there, Middleton and Gray allied to the ones who came this year like Jaffray, Mc Cluskey and Osborne. Cumbernauld did very well but nothing stays the same in football, that's the bottom line. They did well, I'd to take them from scratch and build them up. But in terms of matching our ambitions, we wanted to take Cumbernauld on a stage but unfortunately the club's owners didn't think the same way. There wasn't a joined up thinking from the committee to the sponsors to the management team to the playing pool and I think the major difference is everyone behind the scenes at Lanark, the management team and the players wants success for Lanark."

Ed: In yesterday's paper you mentioned the incredible desire at Lanark to do well, did you get that from the committee or the players?

TM: "Both. There's a tremendous desire behind the scenes. Guys like Tom Anderson, Geordie Reid, Gerry and Russell and guys like that. They're desperate to bring success to the club but I would say more so on the playing side. The boys want to play at a higher level and have a real determination to win the league, go as far as they can in the cups and be better players."

Ed: Are you happy with the form of the team?

TM: "Well I'd have to be. Since we took over we've had a terrific response from the players in terms of at training, application, attitude and effort on the training ground and on a Saturday. There's a real desire among the players to be the best this year. I think that's shown in their performances. I've had no complaints about the players I just thought we could have won the game in 90 minutes on Saturday. The only other game we should have won and didn't was the Yoker game."

Ed: You've had a while now to assess the squad. Do you think it's a) good enough b) big enough to succeed on two fronts? (league & cup)

TM: "Well obviously the squad size isn't big enough at the present time because between Tom Mc Donald leaving and myself joining Gareth Davies was transferred. Grant Cuthill unfortunately had to go away on a 6 month placement with his job so that was two players down and we transferred Allan Watson. The playing squad of 19 was immediately down to 16 of which includes two goalies, we've only actually got 14 (outfield) players. So we brought in Andy Mc Farlane to boost the playing side to 15 and two goalies but I'd say we're maybe two players short."

Ed: And of course Rab (Struthers) too?

TM: "Rab's another one, we'll just bide our time with Rab because I don't know if he'll come back or not. He's said he's wanting to retire but he's going on 5 months' nightshift so I have to respect his decision from personal and family reasons. It wasn't footballing reasons that made Rab retire."

Ed: Have you got many signing targets in mind? (I don't expect you to name them!)

TM: " I've got plenty of targets. [laughs] It would be an act of folly to tell you who they are and nobody comes in but needless to say when you're a football manager you're always always on the lookout for better players and if good players become available we'll certainly be in there pitching that's for sure"

Ed: Is Lee Imrie a signed player?

TM: "Yes. Lee's just a young boy, 18,19. He's not started any games, he's a boy we've brought along to train and play with better players than he's used to. He's one for the long term and I don't want to put any pressure on the boy by comparing him to his brother. We're trying to nurse him along, he's still developing as a player and a person."

Ed: Tomorrow's cup draw- any preferences, any to avoid?

TM: "Obviously prefer to avoid the Polloks, Linlithgows and Tayports for common sense reasons. I would prefer to get so-called minnows all the way to the final. [laughs]"

Ed: There won't be many left though.

TM: "Well you'd be surprised. There were a lot of lesser lights paired together and a lot of big guns paired together in the draw the last time. For example Carnoustie and Tayport, Bo'ness and Linlithgow and the round before the same thing happened a lot of big guns clashed. We'll take what we're given."

Ed: The cup runs are great but the league's surely the priority? A club like Lanark should be competing regularly against superleague sides, not just a few times a season.

TM: "Most definitely, 100% right. You've got to be ambitious and play week in week out at the highest level. There's no point punching above your weight beating teams in the cup we should be playing superleague teams on a weekly basis. That's where the drive and determination is, to go in there and play against these teams. I mean Rob Roy and Clydebank have shown since going up from our league last year, they're sitting first and third in the league above so it shows the quality of the league we're in just now. There's no reason why we can't go and compete at the next level."

Ed: Port Glasgow on Saturday. Already shaping to be a crunch game?

TM: "Well I think it's too early to say any game's crunch, we're not even halfway through the league campaign but let's just say there's a big incentive to win on Saturday. Should we win it puts us top, so that's what we're aiming for. I know it's an old cliche but one game at a time. If we can win on Saturday it could possibly put us top of the league at Christmas, always a good sign. I always think in league campaigns that wherever people are at Christmas tends to determine they can kick on into the new year."