John McMaster has revealed Aberdeen had a special code whenever they headed for Glasgow to face the Old Firm – chocolate biscuits.
But it had nothing to do with Jaffa Cakes or caramel wafers – it was just Alex Ferguson’s squad’s secret way of underlining their confidence of winning at Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden. Fellow full-back Stuart Kennedy was responsible for dreaming up the term. And Gothenburg great McMaster hopes the class of 2023 are now ready for a crunch clash with Gers on Sunday at Pittodrie as they bid to make it seven wins in a row under Barry Robson.
He said: “It was part of the chat on the team bus. At 2pm on a Friday when we were going down to Glasgow to beat them we used to say, ‘Chocolate biscuits tomorrow?’ That was from Stuart’s lips. It was the way of talking about whether we thought we’d have a win bonus or not. If we didn’t win it was, ‘No, rich tea’. It was the mentality of the boss who had put that in with wee seeds here and there.”
Fergie created a “them and us” siege mentality with the media whom he claimed were biased towards the big two. And the players bought into that strategy as he took them to three top-flight titles, four Scottish Cups, and victories in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
But McMaster insisted Ferguson didn’t dwell on wins and good performances. And ‘the boss’ didn’t particularly welcome compliments. He added: “I’d been in two League Cup finals and a Scottish Cup final and missed out. I was fed up being called a legend because I wasn’t. I was a loser.
“When we were heading back up the road after winning my first championship I told the boss it was my first winners’ medal and thanked him. He said me I was a pest and told me to get out the way.
“I just cuddled him. He hated being praised and being cuddled as well. We’d won the league but it was already out of his head. Can you imagine Fergie diagnosing a game on a Sunday or Monday? That was never going to happen. He would never let something like that lie for a week or two.”
While the culture within top clubs has changed and old-style gaffers have been replaced by modern young coaches, McMaster believes Ferguson’s style would still be relevant today.
He added: “He’s done it before with millionaires at Manchester United. He dealt with a drink culture among the players at Old Trafford, too.
“His HR methods might be different though. Managers are well-rehearsed behind the scenes today. You don’t see a lot of managers screaming and bawling. He was a one-off.” The former full-back recalls how the Dons during Ferguson’s eight years in charge were full of quality.
McMaster said: “Every player I played with in that team, when I was on the ball I had four options. I had Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan, Mark McGhee, John Hewitt or Eric Black. They were the sort of players you wanted.
“They knew each other from training and the boss would use young boys to work on the team shape for games.”
