Fresh from successive successful showings for Bristol City, midfielder Marcus McGuane was as lively in his interview after the game as he was on the pitch in the Robins’ 3-1 triumph over Preston North End.
McGuane came off the bench for City at Deepdale, replacing the injured Joe Williams after just 34 minutes, to make his second appearance in a row for Liam Manning’s side after making his full debut against Leeds United.
A livewire throughout, the 25-year-old gave the Reds midfield an injection of energy.
Once again, he demonstrated his rapid recovery pace, intense pressing intent and composure on the ball in his side’s victory, most notably preventing a certain tap in for the opposition in the first half as he sprinted back to poke a Preston cross wide and away from the despairing Mads Frøkjær.
“It was a fantastic display from the boys,” McGuane said at pitch side after the game.
“It’s good for the fans that have travelled up and the fans that are supporting from home. I think it will obviously give the boys confidence, but the boys know every day what we put in. We know the plan for us as a team. So, for us it’s just to carry on going taking game by game.
“Every game’s going to bring different things and I think it’s just sticking together and knowing the quality of our team and believing in ourselves.”
The ex-Barcelona B man has had to bide his time since arriving in the summer. Formerly of Oxford United, one of McGuane’s last appearances before the Leeds game was in the League One play-off final with the U’s and, after a few months without much action, he has finally been given his chance to shine in red.
“I’m happy to be here,” the Englishman affirmed. “I’m just buzzing to play. Any time I do get an opportunity, and of course I want to play all the time, I’m going to take it with both hands. I’m really proud to be here; really proud to be a Bristol City player and I’m just going to keep my head down and carry on going.”
McGuane worked with head coach Liam Manning and assistant Chris Hogg during their time together at Oxford with the fact that the City boss brought McGuane along with him to BS3 showing a clear admiration for the midfielder.
Manning helped brought some terrific form out of his player when they were at Oxford as they sat in second in the table at the time that the head coach departed for the Robins.
On both a personal and performance level, Manning clearly has been of enormous value to McGuane.
“The gaffer is a great person; he’s really helped me a lot,” the ex-Oxford man said about his boss.
“For me, the main thing with him was that he got to know me on a deeper level, more than a footballer. I feel like sometimes, with the backgrounds that we (football players) are from or places that we’re born or that we grow up, not everyone understands the things that we’ve had to go through.
“He really took the time to understand me as a person, so I’ve got nothing but great words for him. He’s done a lot for me. He’s gone through a lot recently so hopefully for us as a team we can give him a little bit of happiness and repay that faith that he puts into us.”
Prior to McGuane’s return to England, the Greenwich-born man was on the books at Barcelona, moving there after graduating from Arsenal’s academy.
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He played for Barcelona B and performed alongside names such as Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig and Jorge Cuenca, now of Barcelona, LA Galaxy and Fulham respectively.
It would be easy for McGuane to look back at those times and wonder what could have been for him with the Spanish giants, however City’s no.29 operates with an admirable professionalism.
“At a young age, I experienced quite a lot,” confessed McGuane.
“I think [it is] good for me, that I’ve experienced and seen a lot; different cultures and different aspects of football and stuff like that. Everyone’s got their own journey. Players here have been at top clubs as well, so I don’t really look into that too much, but I think we all bring different qualities from places we’ve been before.
“[Barcelona is] a chapter that’s come and gone. Something that I wouldn’t change..and something I cherish but that’s a chapter that’s gone.”