TALKING MOTHERWELL
RYAN BOWMAN is still buzzing from the arrival of his baby boy Oliver last week. But the Motherwell striker reckons he can be Daddy Cool as he and his team-mates look to hold their nerve for the Premiership run in.
Last Friday Bowman and his partner Louise welcomed the addition to their family just a day before the Lanarkshire club travelled to Ibrox to take on Rangers.
In the end Motherwell earned a vital 1-1 draw with Pedro Caixinha’s team ahead of Wednesday’s goalless stalemate with Hamilton Accies.
It has been a whirlwind few days for the father-of-two, but one he hopes can stand him in good stead as his side attempt to climb away from 10th place in the Premiership.
“My partner and I have been joking about it. It was Thursday evening and we were just watching the television as normal,” explained Bowman.
“It got to around 11pm and we were going to bed. She started getting little pains so we phoned the doctor just in case. They got us in and come 2am the contractions had started. By 4.42am he was born.
“Even the midwife said it was one of the quickest births she’d seen.
“Rangers away, if you are not up for that anyway you shouldn’t play the sport.
“But with my little boy coming I was just buzzing, running off adrenaline. I was a bit tired physically but adrenaline got me through.
“It was good to take the point. You’d have taken that before the game, wouldn’t you? But we were unlucky not to get three.”
There is no panic coming from the former Gateshead man at his current side’s predicament.
The last two games in many ways could be viewed as a missed opportunity for a club that sits just one point above a relegation play-off place and four from bottom-markers Inverness.
Instead, Bowman appears inaugurated and buoyant on the back of the stability brought by
You can’t think about relegation... Well are too big a club for Championship
new manager Stephen Robinson in the last few weeks.
“No you can’t contemplate relegation. Motherwell are too big a club to be in the Championship,” he said.
“I’ve only been here a season and I know that. The fan base, everything around it, it’s just too big to go down.
“If we carry on playing as we have been with the same effort and hard work shown in the last five or so games we’ll have no problems.
“I’ve got another year left here. Me and the boys don’t want to be playing at the Championship level, they’re too good for that.”
Bowman’s confidence has also been boosted by the ap- pointment of the Northern Irishman as Mark McGhee’s successor.
ORIGINALLY brought in by McGhee in the summer, regular appearances and starts were hard to come by for the English striker.
Under Robinson, Bowman has featured in every game.
“He’s been brilliant. He’s been a breath of fresh air for me,” he added.
“I don’t think I was getting a fair crack of the whip under Mark.
“He was a top man and we got on well but certain managers have their ways of playing.
“The new manager came in on his first day and had a chat with me.
“He’s told me he likes what he sees. He said I’m a big boy who can get in behind and link up play.
“He said ‘we are going to play to suit you’ which is a confidence boost straight away.”