Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by John McGinn
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Scottish athlete John McGinn.
Last updated on September 1, 2024.
It's never nice looking over your shoulder and needing other results but sometimes that happens in football. It's a lot better to know your future is in your own hands.
No matter where it is or who it's against, I will always be available for Scotland as long as I am fit.
I think people maybe had a perception of me that I was just a hard working player, just a runner. Don't get me wrong, I think I am that but I've got a lot more to my game than that.
People do like to talk us down, it's a Scottish thing. We are pessimistic, we look for the negatives all the time.
If we can get Hibs into European football it would be massive for everyone involved.
You cannot look back and think what if.
You want to be challenging for titles and in semi-finals and finals. Everyone is excited by that.
Hopefully I can challenge myself and establish myself as a Premier League player for Aston Villa.
For every Scottish player and whoever qualifies to play for Scotland, it's important to put in the performances and, when a squad is coming up, to stay on your toes and prove you deserve to be there.
I've never hidden the fact I'm ambitious at some point.
When you come to a club like Hibs not everyone can handle it, there's pressure in every single game to get results.
Sometimes in football you have to take risks.
I remember when I was at St Mirren someone called me the ugliest thing they had seen at Tynecastle, and two minutes later I scored - it was brilliant. I just laugh it off - I agree with them most of the time!
When a Scottish player goes down the road you're always going to get doubters. You always get people saying you're from a pub league.
Football is a great place to get away from things, and going over to Greece was amazing and I've loved it - it is basically getting away from all the talk.
I was fortunate to be able to go to the Scotland games with my grandad and it's scary to think I could now be playing in one.
I'd been with Saints for 13 years, so it was always going to be a bit strange going back for the first time.
I've always said the same thing - I'm learning, I'm getting better and I'm loving playing in front of sell-out crowds.
You have to beat the best if you want to win tournaments.
The benefit of coming to a place like Greece and winning is priceless for your development.
I think everyone will agree that it doesn't matter how we get to an international tournament. We are going to do whatever it takes.
I'm ambitious, which is why I chose Villa.
You need to be brave to able to stand up to tough atmospheres and against top players.
I remember when I was training with St Mirren as a young boy Ralston was my Hampden and my Wembley.
We can take these things for granted, when we have everything on a plate.
Sometimes a manager will assess the other team through the warm-up and try to get an inkling as to what way they are going to be playing.
It is not easy to get out of it. It is much nicer to be fighting at the top of the league but it is only nicer if you can get something at the end of it.
I've worked under a lot of managers, whether it's the national team or at St Mirren and everyone has their moments. I think it is important, you can't just let things pass if they are not good enough.
In football you can take the praise when it comes, but you've got to be ready to take the criticism as well.
You want to play in big games.
You just want to prove people wrong and, over time, people start believing in you.
I want to play for Scotland at a major tournament, that is the dream and the drive for me.
There is not really any point in having a big squad if you don't use it.
You're always looking to go one step further and I'm an ambitious boy.
I'm going from Somerset Park one week to Wembley the next. It's crazy but that's football. You don't get to where you want to be without going through all these different places.
To be honest, I had a brilliant group of players at Hibs and the support were very fair with me. They didn't make it difficult.
The advice I would give to young players is always give St Mirren an opportunity.
If someone is going to spend a whole game marking you, then there may be games when I will have to sacrifice myself for the team and take them away and create space for a team-mate.
It's always nice to be getting personal recognition, but I wouldn't be getting it if it wasn't for the help of my team-mates and the backroom staff.
That is what all the top players do and if you want to be the best you know you are going to get marked.
I think you're always fighting a losing battle when you're Scottish and I don't think that's right. I think the way that people look at Scottish football is wrong, but at the same time, we have to start proving it on the park and start showing it again.
It's one of the reasons you play football, to make people happy.
I was so used to playing at St Mirren and then Hibs all the time, so it was really important that the next place I was going I was going to play.
The Villa boys will not be shy in telling me that I talk about Hibs all the time. I loved my time here, it was a special three seasons so I have a lot to be thankful for from my time here.
You work so hard to get to a level and you need to grab your chance with both hands.
Playing away from home in Europe is never easy.
There's something special about big midweek games at Easter Road, under the lights, that makes us have that little bit extra about us.
I feel as if I'm getting better all the time. At the same time, though, I'm ambitious.
Sometimes you just need a wee bit time away from football to freshen things up.
We don't want to have to rely on last-minute goals every time!
If you are going to be successful in football you have to make sacrifices and that's something I am happy to do.
Going to places like Tynecastle, where you're so close to the crowd, you get reminded how ugly you are and stuff like that!
When you are growing up to even be involved in a Scotland squad is a massive achievement, to go on and play for your country is an amazing thing, something I will never take for granted.
You always need to be on your toes.
It was always going to be a risk if I went to America.
It's an amazing feeling playing at a packed-out Villa Park.
I'm the kind of guy who always gives 100 per cent.
The refs try their best. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they get it wrong.
You are professional so you want to win every game you play.
I'm grateful for what this club has done for me and I love playing for Hibs - I never take that for granted.
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