MIKAEL MANDRON has found an altogether more studious manager at his latest club in Steven Hammell than the one he first encountered as a professional at Sunderland, with fiery former Celtic hero Paolo Di Canio giving the striker his professional debut.
Hammell brought the big forward north from Gillingham this month as he looks to add some support to Kevin Van Veen in the Motherwell attack, and Mandron has enjoyed his first couple of weeks working under the mild-mannered Fir Park legend.
It is all in stark contrast to the time he spent at the Stadium of Light, but he says the experience stood him in great stead for the rest of his career, and that he is still using the lessons he learned under the combustible Italian to this day.
“Paolo was my first manager and he was great to me,” Mandron said.
“He gave me my debut so I will be forever grateful to him. He was a very good coach, he was big on detail and he was great for me.
“He has his own way of doing things but he had success at Sunderland. He kept the team in the league and that was his task and he achieved it.
“He had a fiery reputation and that’s how he managed and how he played. He was passionate about his football and he gives everything to his job.
“He never gave me the hairdryer treatment, I was always on his good side thankfully. I was a young player so I was on the bench, I wasn’t a regular starter so I didn’t come on the end of it. I have seen others get it mind you.
“But every manager will come in at some point at half-time and if the team haven’t done well they will let you know how disappointed they are. They can get angry and in your face but it is to help you get better. You have to be able to take it.
“The memories I have of him are good ones. For me, it was great to work with a guy like that.
“The gaffer here is a bit different to Paolo. He likes to get his message across in a very calm manner.
“The message after the Ross County game was that we were disappointed with the goal we lost.
“We looked at ways we can improve and do better and hopefully that starts at Arbroath.”
Mandron has had a knack for finding the net in cup competitions over the years, with
his latest strike helping Gillingham knock Premier League side Brentford out of the Carabao Cup in November.
He is hoping he can maintain his scoring form in the cups to ensure Hammell’s struggling side can avoid being on the wrong side of a giant-killing at the hands of Arbroath. From the outside, their visit to Gayfield on Scottish Cup duty has all the makings of a potential banana skin.
“I played a lot of games in the cups down in England and I have always enjoyed them,” he said.
“My first FA Cup game was for Hartlepool and I scored late on against Salford. It was a good volley.
“For some reason I always seem to score in the cup and I did it again this season against Brentford for Gillingham. I scored late on and then we beat them on penalties and that was a great memory for me. So I have been involved in a giant killing but this game it is the other way around.
“It is about how you prepare mentally and it is more about how you approach the game. We have to make sure we do things right and are up for the task. You have to be ready for a fight in games like this.
“We don’t want to give Arbroath any encouragement and we have to show our quality and why we are in the Premiership.”
That has been the message hammered home by Hammell this week. Calmly of course, but forcibly too.
“It’s the cup and they will be looking at this fixture and thinking it’s a good game for them to come into and give it everything they’ve got,” Hammell said.
“They will be up for it and motivated for the game, we have no doubt about that.
“It’s a game where if you’re not at it you could struggle, so that’s been the message this week, it’s about our attitude and our application and we will be well prepared.
“We understand it will be difficult circumstances, an away game, a tough away fixture in the cup.
“There probably will be upsets this weekend and we need to make sure we are not one of them.”
Hammell wouldn’t be drawn on how his ongoing bid to make Riku Danzaki his latest January signing, with the midfielder believed to be awaiting a decision on a work permit. He hasn’t been able to secure a return to Fir Park though for Ipswich left-back Matt Penney, and will now assess other options.
“We’ve got a couple, well, more than a couple, we’ve been communicating with a lot of players recently and there’s a couple further down the line than others,” he said.
“But until we can actually confirm a player that is at Motherwell and is signed and over the line, then we can’t really talk about players that aren’t attached to this club yet.”
