Graham Alexander reflects on his time in charge of Motherwell as the club search for another new manager; Ian Holloway, Grant McCann and interim boss Stuart Kettlewell are in the running
Thursday 23 February 2023 07:19, UK
Motherwell are closing in on their next manager, with Ian Holloway, Grant McCann and Stuart Kettlewell on the shortlist, but what challenges will the successful candidate face?
The new appointment will replace Steven Hammell, who was sacked after the club's Scottish Cup defeat to Raith Rovers and a dismal Scottish Premiership run.
Hammell, 41, was appointed after Graham Alexander was sacked on the eve of the new season following a disappointing Europa Conference exit against Sligo Rovers.
Six months after his departure from Fir Park, Alexander has exclusively told Sky Sports about the task of managing the club, as well as reflecting on his achievements which included survival last season and qualifying for European football…
What was your remit when you were given the job as Motherwell manager?
It was quite clear; stay in Premiership. When I spoke to the board, when I had the interview, they made it clear how much of a nightmare it would be if the club got relegated. It was basically looking to see if we could bring any players in during the January transfer window, but it was really difficult, because of Covid, and lockdown, but yeah it was just to stay in the Premiership.
It was difficult because of the context; we looked at the team and which had only won six out of the last 35 games, there was a real tide to turn. We managed to do it, we cleared bottom spot by 15 points, did it quite comfortably in the end but there were certainly moments along that run when we were looking over our shoulder.
How did you go about turning the team's form around?
We had to get the players' confidence going again; make them believe we would get results to get out of trouble. We weren't going to suddenly turn a team that had a difficult record over the last six months, into a team that kept loads of clean sheets and scored loads of goals so we sort of had to focus on one thing. We decided, as we have done at our other clubs, to try and score as many goals as possible, to just really attack teams, to play three strikers, every game. I think we were the joint top scorers outside of the Old Firm for the rest of the season and picked up some massive wins to get out of trouble. It was more of a mindset, not to just feel our way through but to attack the rest of the season, and we managed to do that really well.
After staying in the Premiership, what was the message from the board?
The club didn't want to be in that situation again. We had to change the squad. It was a big squad, around 40 players, and we had a lot of injuries. So we trimmed the squad down and put a different fitness structure and injury prevention setup in place, to try and run a smaller squad and keep everyone fit. To hopefully compete for the top six, that was the ambition but the main thing was to stay in the Premiership, there was nothing said about Europe or anything big like that.
How do you look back on that full season in charge?
With pride. Not just that season but the whole job. We got to January in fourth position in the table. It was a fantastic first year, just under a 50 per cent win ratio, but we lost Tony Watt to Dundee United, and Devante Cole in the previous summer. We had lost our two top strikers but made a decision, because part of the club philosophy is to bring players through, to not spend that money on readymade players to come in.
We wanted to commit to the younger players, Cornelius, Shields, Tierney. We had a difficult two-and-a-half month period where we didn't win a game, which was really difficult but we looked around and every club apart from top three had a really similar period of two or three months without winning. We won (against St Mirren), then drew at Livingston with that famous equaliser with 20 seconds to go and got into top six. Then the challenge was to get into Europe and we managed to do that by beating Hearts at Fir Park. Qualifying for Europe after the difficulties and challenges Motherwell always will have, I thought was a fantastic achievement.
Did the way in which you picked up your points skew the view on the season you had?
Yes, 100 per cent. We looked at it and we knew that every other club had gone months without winning a game or winning two in 16 or 18. People spoke about us having a bit of fortune getting in there, but we were in there for nearly 30 weeks, in the top six that is. Obviously it went to the last game, getting in there by skin of our teeth but we certainly deserved that position. Over that 18-month period, only Celtic and Rangers won more points than us. That's a fantastic achievement by a group of people to do that. If I concentrate on the two months when we didn't win it looks like a difficult time but the other 16 months were a very successful time, I'm always a positive guy try to focus on that.
How challenging was it trying to prepare for the Sligo Rovers games?
Really difficult because when we found out what date we would play it was quite late. We were scrambling around trying to get pre-season friendlies organised, our pitch had been ripped up so we couldn't play any games at Motherwell, we were then let down by a couple of clubs, so we only had three pre-season friendlies before going into European competition and they were 20-odd games into their season.
How do you reflect on the games themselves?
It was a difficult night when we got beat at Fir Park. We gave a poor goal away but that can happen. Going into the second leg there was a lot of anger and frustration, which I can understand, but it was difficult. We had only brought three players in because of the budget constraints we were under, we had invested in a brand new pitch, for the long-term benefit of the club, and that's the issue you'll always have at Motherwell, the previous manager had it, the next manager will have it, that it's not just winning games you have to tick a lot of other boxes.
The club since it's been fan owned has those restrictions which make it extremely difficult, and I think it's only finished in the top six twice in that period, so you have to balance all these things, as a manager, I can't be selfish and be like "I just want to win" and "I want that money instead of the pitch I want it on the squad" I had to look across the board and see what was right in the long term. There were a couple of players coming back from injury which we didn't play in those games which we knew would play in the league because it was just too early for them, so it was a difficult moment because we were so excited about it, but to go out in the fashion we did was really disappointing and I can't Hide away from that fact. I can fully understand everyone's frustrations.
Did you feel the club put too much of their money into infrastructure, rather than the team?
I had no input in that decision. I think that's for the long-term benefit, the next 10 or 15 years of Motherwell, and with the best will in the world that probably wasn't going to involve me over that period of time. The club, and the board, are very aware of the survival of Motherwell, over the long term and not just one season. I was informed that was what was going to happen with the pitch, and I had no problems with it. It was described to me when I first took on the job, that there were a lot of difficulties with the job and we had to tick a lot of boxes and keep Motherwell as a sustainable club for the long term and that's why the decision was made. We brought in three free transfers before the Sligo games because that's what the budget at the time was showing and I was well aware of that.
I don't understand the history of when the club was really on the bottom, administration, and going out of business, I wasn't here then, these people were, and I was always conscious of that fact. The board members had the best interests of the club in the long term. Not just me as a manager, even though they gave me great support over the 18 months. They have to make decisions that look after the club in the long term, and they are quite realistic of where Motherwell sit in the food chain of Scottish football, but it's always going to be a challenge for Motherwell to compete into the top six and beyond, and that's the reality at this present moment.
What happened after the defeat to Sligo Rovers?
I stayed up until the early hours, with staff talking about the game, then had a period on my own. I went to bed and got up in the morning and saw the chairman Jim McMahon and said to him, something has to change. There were things going on I'm not happy with, I'm sure the supporters weren't happy with, and we came to the conclusion it was the best time for me to go. It's the first time I've ever done that, I just felt after what we had done in that 18 months, that something had to give. I didn't think it was a healthy situation at that particular moment, I didn't want to get five games into the season and I've signed other players, and then leave, so thought best to go at that moment. It was a difficult time for myself and for Jim because Jim understood my point of view. Jim understood we had ticked every box and some more in that 18 months but it was a difficult moment that had to have a conclusion.
Would it have been better for both parties if you had left at the end of the previous season?
I didn't feel that way at the end of the season. I think that two-month run (when not winning), was difficult. There was a lot of frustration, but I thought over the summer having had the success we had, it would die down and we could have another successful season, but I thought it was clear after the first leg (against Sligo) it was still there a little bit. We still left before a ball had been kicked in the league and only signed three players, there wasn't a raft of players coming in, the transfer window was still open to bring in new players, the new manager's players, so no I thought the time was right, it never crossed my mind to leave at the end of the previous season.
How do you look back on your time at the Fir Park?
I really enjoyed managing Motherwell, I really did. I had a fantastic time, worked with some fantastic staff and players, and had some really good times. I'm not going to forget the Livingston game when the crowd wouldn't go home, we had to go back out to see them! Or the songs at the Hearts game to qualify for Europe. The lap of honour, all that sort of stuff, we had a brilliant time. I know when the emotion is taken out of it, we certainly did the job that was expected of us over that time, but football is football and things change.
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