Captain Ross wants to end his poor social life

Clyde’s recently installed captain Ross McMillan was hoping that his home bow as skipper against Albion Rovers at the weekend would have ended in a win as he has not been able to have a good night out for nearly six months now. However, he will have to wait that a bit longer following the postponement of tomorrow's match against Albion Rovers at Broadwood due to a frozen pitch.

The Bully Wee last won in August against Queen’s Park and centre-back McMillan has led a frustrating social life since. The 28-year-old said: “I never feel like going out on a Saturday night after a defeat so it has been a very frustrating period. Hopefully, we can put that right against Monstrose next Saturday as I feel it is time I got out and let my hair down a bit.”

It was all a bit different a year ago as McMillan was the captain at Junior side Largs Thistle and he was able to go out on a Saturday quite often as the Barrfield side won their way through to the Final of the Emirates Junior Cup.

McMillan was asked if he had any regrets about stepping up to the senior game and a lack of a social life following his summer move and he advised: “None at all. I had waited a long time for the chance to play senior so I am not going to be complaining about my move.”

McMillan has lived all his life in Greenock and had trials with the First Division side when John McCormack was in charge however, no deal was offered and he moved on to play at Junior level at a fledgling Clydebank side.

“I was with Clydebank in their early days as a Junior club and then I dropped out to play amateur football in Greenock. From there, I signed for the local Greenock Juniors side before playing at Largs for three and a half seasons.”

McMillan’s time at Largs culminated in that Emirates Junior Cup Final appearance last May.  However, it was to end in disappointment as the Ayrshire side went down 1-0 to a Linlithgow Rose side managed by Dave Baikie who had spells in charge of Arbroath, Cowdenbeath and East Fife.

Despite the result, it was an enjoyable time with McMillan saying: “It was a brilliant run to the Final. We put out a lot of good teams and we proved to ourselves that we had the ability to do well.

“Largs were written off in several games but we had a belief in ourselves and that helped push us through.”

After the Final at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park, McMillan was tipped off that Clyde had been monitoring his performances and to expect a call about signing for them.

McMillan advised: “I got the call and went to speak to Stuart Millar and Rab Sneddon, who I knew from the Junior ranks. They wanted me to sign straight away and that was really flattering but I went home and thought about it for a couple of days.

“In the end, I was delighted to sign as I knew that if I never turned senior this time on the back of reaching the Cup Final, I probably never would.”

“John Sweeney stepped up from Pollok as well to join Clyde and Bryan Dingwall was here as well before going back to Pollok so I was not totally alone. Jamie Longworth, who scored a lot of goals at Kilbirnie Ladeside, is now at Queen’s Park so there are a few ex-Juniors about.”

The early days at Broadwood brought a meeting with an Everton XI and McMillan found himself marking striker James Vaughan, who on 10th April, 2005, became the youngest ever goalscorer in the English Premiership when he netted for the Toffeemen aged 16 years and 271 days against Crystal Palace.

More recently, Vaughan has been the subject of seven figure transfer bids and there has also been speculation linking him with a loan move to Celtic.

McMillan said: “Playing against Everton in my first game at Broadwood was a bit of a culture shock but we performed well to earn a 2-2 draw.”

Clyde built on their fine performance against David Moyes’ side to make a solid start to the season, going down to a late goal at Partick Thistle in The ALBA Challenge Cup before shocking Cowdenbeath at home 2-1 in The Co-operative Insurance Cup.

“We played really well against Cowdenbeath,” said McMillan before adding: “We probably surprised ourselves at how well we had done and that raised expectations about how well we could do this season, which was unfortunate as Clyde were going through a rebuilding job.”

Unfortunately for the Bully Wee, only one more victory has been secured this season and that came a fortnight after the Blue Brazil win when Queen’s Park were beaten 1-0 at Hampden Park.

The win at the National Stadium was made the more enjoyable for McMillan as it was his first ever game at the National Stadium with the facilities there slightly different to what McMillan was used to during his career in Junior football.

“Playing at Hampden was a great experience and certainly very different from Barrfield and some of the other places I visited in my Junior days.”

McMillan advised: “It has been a very frustrating period and you hate having to tell family and friends that you have not won again.

“In saying that, I have enjoyed playing in most of the games as I have felt challenged in every one and that is why I turned senior as I wanted to test myself at this level.

“Clyde’s season has been strange in that we have done well against teams from a higher level. We beat Cowdenbeath, ran Dunfermline really close in The Co-operative Insurance Cup as well as competing really well in the friendly against Everton.

McMillan has been appointed skipper as Clyde look to start 2011 at Broadwood afresh against Albion Rovers and he advised: “I was captain in a few reserve games and you are always happy to accept the armband as it is an honour.

“I am not the loudest shouter in the team but I do not shrug the responsibility of being a captain and at 28, I am one of the oldest players at the club.”

“Hopefully, the change will bring us a better run of results. We are looking to make a fresh start this year and whilst the East Stirling game did not go too well last week, that match was played in really difficult circumstances."

The Clyde captain is hoping that another figure at the club is able to enjoy a night out again soon and that is Head Coach Stuart Millar with McMillan explaining: “Some fans have been giving Stuart a bit of a hard time at games recently and that has been unfortunate for him and he has never looked to pass that on to us.

“Our training has been brilliant under Stuart and we need to take that onto the pitch.

“He has been great with us and has kept the squad ticking over during the recent big freeze and Stuart has a wicked sense of humour that keeps us all on our toes.

“It would be good to get a win for him as well and start my reign as captain off properly. The Manager may even have a night out if we do!”