Paul McStay backing Stephen McManus and Tony Mowbray

PAUL McStay now makes public appearances about as rarely as he misplaced passes during his playing career. Since an ankle injury forced him to hang up his boots at the age of 32 back in 1997, he has successfully evaded the limelight.

The former Celtic and Scotland captain always preferred to let his gifted feet do his talking for him, yet was often worth listening to whenever he had to undertake media duties. So it proved yesterday when McStay helped his friend Benny Higgins, now chief executive of Tesco Bank, launch a 1 million Scottish schools football initiative.

"I don't come to many of these things, because I know you guys will ask me about other subjects," said McStay, who at 45 has changed little from his playing days, as he greeted reporters. He wasn't about to be proved wrong.

Inevitably, events at his former club were high on the agenda, notably the issue of the Celtic captaincy following Gary Caldwell's transfer to Wigan Athletic and continuing uncertainty over where Stephen McManus figures in manager Tony Mowbray's long term plans.

McStay, who is enthused by the direction his former team-mate Mowbray is seeking to take Celtic, believes McManus deserves the opportunity to re-establish himself at the heart of the defence and retain the armband.

"I know Stephen well and he is very passionate about Celtic and about his football," said McStay. "As long as he is at the club, he is a great figure to have as club captain. I went to Milan to watch Celtic a couple of years ago in the Champions League and Stephen was absolutely outstanding that night. He played with an injury but held things together for the team. That's the type of player Stephen McManus is.

"Sometimes you have a wee dip in form, your confidence goes and you are in and out of the team. You never know what will happen down the road, whether he gets back into the team or not.

"Hopefully he can get back playing the way he did against Milan that night, because he has definitely got it. People can go through bad times, on and off the park, but I think he should be given space to get back to his best. To become captain of Celtic and a Scotland international, you need a certain level of quality and technical ability. That doesn't disappear overnight.

"Gary Caldwell has been a great servant to the club, he put his heart and soul into Celtic. He has made the decision to move down south and I'm sure he will do well there. He has plenty of experience and has played at the top level for a few years now.

"I believe Celtic have made a good signing in Jos Hooiveld but only time will tell how quickly he can settle in."

Mowbray, who shared McStay's travails in the Celtic side which struggled in the shadow of Rangers' dominance in the 1990s, still has much to prove as manager of the club but his old friend has no doubts he will emerge from the test successfully.

"You can only go by the last game and I thought the way Celtic played against Rangers recently was fantastic," said McStay. "They played football the way I like to see it and the way I think all Celtic fans like to see it. It was just unfortunate on the day that they didn't get the victory.

"When Tony was a player, he used to talk a lot about his philosophy for that pure type of football. He has his thoughts on who he has to bring in to improve that. Again, it's all about time. If they keep playing as they did against Rangers, I think Tony's team can turn it around in the league this season."

Aiden McGeady is seen by Mowbray as central to his title hopes, with a 'not for sale' sign placed on the Irish winger. McStay, who turned down lucrative moves to England and Italy to spend his whole career with Celtic, can identify with the kind of decisions which may ultimately face McGeady.

"There is a lot of money in the game in England and, as I know, it is a very short career," he said. "You never know when it is going to end. If there is a lot more money to be made elsewhere, that's the player's choice.

"Aiden is a sensational player. That's the kind of player you want to develop in Scotland, the kind fans want to come through the turnstiles for. You want to be entertained and Aiden is one of the few who can do that at the moment."

McStay has had no direct involvement in football since forming his Midgibyte Creations graphic design company, which continues to thrive, five years ago. But he remains passionate about the kind of initiatives announced by Tesco Bank yesterday which will see every primary school in Scotland offered coaching for seven and eight-year-olds.

"Before I went into business, I was in Glasgow schools coaching with Derek Ferguson, Tosh McKinlay and Robert Prytz," he added. "I know how difficult it is. Sometimes the resources are not there to get coaches in. So this is a great project, not just in football terms, but in helping the kids' lifestyle and wellbeing as well.

"I think the development side of the game in Scotland is already in place and is fine. What has been lacking is first team opportunities for young players. Scottish football had a period when there was a lot of money around and it maybe took its eye off the ball. Kids came through at Celtic and Rangers, for example, but never got a chance in the first team and had to go to another club. When I played, you came through and there were first team opportunities for you.

"It is disappointing for me as a fan now that Scotland are no longer getting to the big tournaments. We will all be watching the World Cup in the summer and regretting again that Scotland are not there.

"But I think there are enough good quality players in the squad. It is maybe just a case of Craig Levein getting his hands on them and putting his stamp on it. He did it at Dundee United and I'm sure he can give some structure to the Scotland team. Hopefully we will be in with a shout of qualifying for the next tournament.

"I think Craig will do very well and I'm delighted he has got the job. I didn't think he would take it, but he is obviously happy at what he heard from the SFA and is willing to take up the challenge. Hopefully he can make a difference, which for Scotland means getting to a major championship finals."