Former Motherwell boss Graham Alexander has opened up on his Fir Park exit after leaving the club by 'mutual consent' last week in the aftermath of the club's embarrassing European exit.
The 50-year-old's final act at the Steelmen was to oversee a 3-0 aggregate loss to League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League last Thursday.
He was let go the following day and replaced by Steven Hammell on an interim basis, with the 'Well academy director guiding the club to an opening day win at St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.
But now Alexander has broken his silence, releasing a statement through the League Managers Association to speak of his pride at what he and assistant Chris Lucketti achieved in their 18 month spell at Fir Park, taking the club from the bottom of the Premiership in January 2021 to a fifth place finish last season and a venture into Europe.
The statement read: "Whilst mine and Chris Lucketti’s time at Motherwell Football Club has come to an end, it is a period that I will always remember fondly and be proud of what we achieved during our time in charge.
"First, I would like to thank the board for giving us the opportunity to lead the club and for their continued support throughout my tenure. The staff behind the scenes have been great, and my support staff have been incredible to work with making it a joy to go into work every day.
“It has been a privilege to coach the players and they deserve so much credit for what we achieved. We have made many friends and that means as much to us as our record of results.
"When we were trusted with leading the club 18 months ago, it was a daunting challenge. Bottom of the league and staring relegation in the face, the task was quite clear.
"Succeeding in preserving Motherwell’s SPL status, with a few games to spare, was so important to the club both on and off the pitch, as we knew what relegation would mean to the club and its fans.
“Our next challenge was to trim and improve the squad, to create a group of players that could aim for a top half finish.
"Whilst focussing on those aims, we also reintroduced the U/18’s back into full-time training, allowing us to include several academy players in our senior squad.
“In our only full season, we managed to do all of this and qualify for Europe, after spending 27 weeks of the season in the top six.
"That achievement is one that everyone at the club can look back on with pride.
“I will always remember what we, as a team, achieved together – qualifying for Europe, earning the third highest points tally behind only Celtic and Rangers, and being the fourth highest scorers across the league.
"It has been a fantastic 18 months. Finally, thank you to the supporters who got behind the team and helped us to reach Europe last season.
“Good luck to everyone and take care.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
