John McGinn has revealed how Unai Emery went raking through his Hibs stats and more in search of the midfielder's top Aston Villa form.
The midfielder is captain at the Villans, who are competing in the Europa Conference League and pushing for a Champions League spot in the Premier League. He moved to Birmingham in 2018 from Easter Road, where he formed part of the 2016 Scottish Cup-winning team and played 136 times.
As manager Steven Gerrard was handed his Aston Villa jotters in 2022, McGinn was under pressure. Performances had started to decline for his club and he found himself on the bench. Emery sought him out, and went through stats from time at Hibs and elsewhere to find out what works best. In the end, a debt of gratitude was put towards Scotland boss Steve Clarke.
McGinn told TnT Sports: "I thought I was done. You kind of have a feeling as a player, at the time the supporters thought I was honking, I had just come out of the team and the team was doing well for a couple of games. You’re not stupid as a footballer, you think 'right, you might start having to look elsewhere', which I did.
"I spoke to the manager. He had every stat, every detail on his notepad, times of appearances I had played for St Mirren, Hibs, goals. Then he asked what my preferred position was and I just said not on the bench. I think he was getting a gauge on why I hadn't been playing so well, he then brought up the Scotland goals.
"Why are you scoring this for Scotland and not Aston Villa? Maybe a thank you to Steve Clarke putting me higher up the pitch because I said I play here for Scotland, a right-10, right-wing, which I hadn't done before.
"Steve Clarke showed a bit of faith and I started getting some goals. From there he said, before we played Man United, he said you might play, might not. Next game I was on the bench! I came on and the next game I started. Ever since then I have played the majority of the game which has been good."
