Stevie Hammell says kids are Motherwell’s future, having handed a debut to young Kian Speirs during Sunday’s 1-0 Premiership win over St Mirren.
The 18-year-old midfielder climbed off the bench in 67 minutes to replace Sean Goss, and was joined in the squad by striker Mark Ferrie (16), as Hammell replaced Graham Alexander as caretaker boss for the trip to Paisley
Academy director Hammell says they wouldn’t have been pitched in unless they were ready, but wants to see other youngsters following their example.
When asked if Hammell always had ambition to be a boss, he hinted that his grounding in the Fir Park youth set-up has led to this.
He said: “I’m on the pitch every day. I’ve got a large number of staff working under me, I’ve got 150 players who work under me, so it’s not foreign to me, it’s not something that I’ve not been doing for the last four or five years.
“Kian Speirs has been good, he has been getting on, and I think he had a big adrenaline dump when he came on.
“He grew as the game went on, and I spoke to him after, and he will be better for the experience.
“He deserves to be here, he has worked hard, his attitude is second to none and he has the ability as well.
“That’s what we need to be. Motherwell needs to be that. It can’t be every four years we might go back and produce a number of young boys.
“This is us. This is now. This is always. This is the way it is, and what I, in terms of the club, are trying to do.”
Hammell added: “I’m confident that there are enough young boys coming through. Maybe not right now, to be starting every single week, and it has been difficult in the last couple of years, but we have had so much success over my tenure here over the last four or five years of bringing players through, and being known for that.
“I think the talent we have coming through in the next two or three years is as good as anywhere in the country.
“We need to make sure that the boys who are in the Academy – 11s, 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s – they’re looking at that and saying ‘you know what, Motherwell is the place to be’.
“The opportunity is open there for players. Obviously it’s going to be difficult, you need to work for it and you need to be ready, but the opportunity is going to be there, as it always should be.”
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