This is an excerpt from this week's McGarry on Motherwell, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.
Ordinarily, a free weekend because Motherwell have been knocked out of the Scottish Cup would be about as welcome as a colonoscopy. Or worse, that trip to McDiarmid Park a week after being knocked out of the tournament at the same venue.
Thanks to a glorious display of Wimmerball at Ibrox last weekend though, there is instead a welcome opportunity for ‘Well fans to luxuriate in that stunning performance and victory over Rangers, while there is also genuine anticipation about what the new manager may be able to get from this team against St Mirren after two full weeks on the training pitch.
That dismal double-header in Perth now seems as though it was from another age, and not just a month or so ago, and it is scarcely believable that it was largely the same group of players who were involved in those debacles that put on such a composed and clinical showing in Govan.
This is where I might normally caution against getting carried away, but where’s the fun in that? God knows that there are enough lows supporting a football team, particularly one of the provincial ones in Scotland, so when there is a little bit of excitement and a wave of optimism then I say ride it for all its worth.
It may all come crashing down, but it may not, and the early signs are that Michael Wimmer has brought with him a refreshingly aggressive approach, one that the fans have been crying out for and that a team and club in turmoil were sorely needing.
In such circumstances, the default setting of many would be to speculate that Motherwell needed a ‘safe pair of hands’, someone who knew the league and what would be required in a dogfight at the bottom of the table. In short, a Scottish coach.
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Intensity, clarity, no bull****': Former assistant on Wimmer
When Wimmer was appointed then, the reaction from some quarters was one of scepticism and concern, as a relatively inexperienced (at least as a head coach) candidate was plucked from Germany and tossed the unenviable task of righting a ship that seemed to be listing towards the Premiership trapdoor. Or the playoffs, at the least.
The Fir Park board then deserve huge credit for resisting those cautious instincts, because it seems in these admittedly early days of the Wimmer reign that they have found precisely the right man at the right time to galvanise The Steelmen and instantly reinstate the connection between the club and the fans.
The win over Rangers was the perfect example of why a fresh pair of eyes from the outside with no preconceptions about how difficult that match may be was valuable.
There are many good coaches around Scottish football who would have been perfectly reasonable candidates for the Motherwell job, but would any of them have taken their new team to Ibrox after a week or so in charge and pressed high with two number 10s to force the errors that ultimately led to an unlikely victory? I doubt it.
There were times when Motherwell had to come off the game and sit in a low block, of course, but other than the mistake that led to the Rangers goal, the team seemed comfortable in their shape and rarely looked like they were under any real pressure.
It’s not that Wimmer didn’t show Rangers any respect, but he set his team out in a way that signalled he had no fear of them, and that belief seemed to transmit itself to the players on the pitch, who kept possession and zipped passes around with a confidence and a comfort I have rarely seen from a Motherwell side at Ibrox. Or anywhere, recently, come to think of it.
So, hats off to the new management team, and to the Motherwell board for being brave with their choice.
It will be a tough ask to crack the top six, with St Mirren sure to pose a stiff challenge next week as they too look to make the top half, but at least Motherwell are now right up there in the mix again after the wins over Dundee and Rangers.
Yes, yes, I know it is early days, but the last two results, the weekend off and the prospect of watching some more Wimmerball will have ‘Well fans champing at the bit to get to Fir Park next Saturday.
