THE adoration of the Aberdeen supporters and encouragement of Pittodrie manager Derek McInnes is helping Gary Mackay-Steven get back to the level he was at when Celtic signed him three years ago, according to his former mentor Peter Houston.
Mackay-Steven netted the goal of the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round against St. Mirren on Saturday when he jinked past opposition right back Liam Smith and rifled an unstoppable shot from the corner of the penalty box and into the top corner.
The winger’s sensational effort, which will be a strong contender for goal of the tournament after the final is played in May, was the latest indication that he is returning to the sort of form he showed during his successful four year spell at Dundee United.
The 27-year-old also netted a hat-trick in the space of just 26 minutes during an emphatic 4-1 win for Aberdeen over an Hibernian team enjoying an excellent run in a Ladbrokes Premiership game last month.
It has taken the once-capped Scotland internationalist some time to settle in the north-east since moving there from Parkhead for a nominal transfer fee during the summer.
Indeed, Mackay-Steven has made more of a splash off the park than he has on it - on a night out in Glasgow back in August he had to be rescued after falling into the River Kelvin and then taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia.
Houston, who spotted the potential in the fair-haired forward when he was playing for Airdrie in the old Second Division and signed him during his time in charge at United, was as surprised as anybody when he read about an incident which made the front pages of every national tabloid newspaper.
“I have a lot of time for him as a lad,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard about the incident he was involved in. He is a lovely boy with a good family behind him.”
The former Scotland assistant and Falkirk manager, though, hasn’t been in the slightest bit taken aback that Mackay-Steven is, slowly but surely, starting to grow in importance at Aberdeen.
Houston feels the mercurial player struggled to cope with the scrutiny which he was under, and criticism he was often subjected to, during his time at Celtic, where he himself worked as a scout for a spell, and his confidence in his abilities nosedived as a result.
Mackay-Steven started well after joining the Scottish champions along with his United team mate Stuart Armstrong in 2015 and featured in both of the Europa League last 32 matches against Inter Milan – including in the second leg in the San Siro.
But after that the £250,000 signing featured less and less and he moved on after being unable to win a regular place in the starting line-up ahead of James Forrest, Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair.
“I spoke to Brendan Rodgers when I was up there at Celtic and he really admired GMS,” he said. “The problem was he wasn’t as consistent as he needed to be. The criticism was just too much for him. He didn’t like criticism. If you aren’t doing well at Celtic there are 60,000 people criticising you.
“You have to put an arm around him. He needs encouragement rather than criticism. When he signed for us he was a wee bit overawed. He thought he shouldn’t be out on that pitch. I just tried to give him the words of encouragement that he needed to hear, I just told him he could do the business and mess with defenders.
“For a spell, he did exactly that. On his game, when he’s hot, he is the most exciting player to watch. But he needs to have the right mentality to go out there and perform.”
Houston believes that McInnes - whose team return to league action on Wednesday evening with a huge game against Rangers, who are three points behind them in the league table, at Ibrox - deserves enormous credit for helping Mackay-Steven to rediscover his self-belief.
The BBC Radio Scotland pundit believes he will have one of the most dangerous players in the country at his disposal if he can continue to eke performances like the one the prodigiously talented player produced against St. Mirren, when he set up a goal as well as scored one himself, at the weekend.
He said: “If you give him a lot of encouragement he is more than able to make a mess of the opposition. He did exactly that against Hibs. What is really important for Gary, and for Stuart Armstrong as well, is for them to feel confident. You saw that on Saturday. He needs to do it on a more consistent basis.
“I think it’s wingers. I heard Derek McInnes speaking after the Hibs game and saying that he wants much more from him. The biggest thing for Gary and for most wingers is consistency levels. They aren’t as consistent as a defender or a midfielder.
"But when he adds some consistency to his game then there aren't many better players to watch in the country."
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