Alexander puts points before new contracts
New Fir Park boss says he’ll assess situation after game
GRAHAM Alexander says that he wants to keep Allan Campbell and Stephen O’Donnell at Motherwell, but getting a win in today’s game against St Mirren is his top priority.
Alexander will take charge of his first game since being appointed as Stephen Robinson’s Fir Park successor as his team travel to Paisley this afternoon, having held his first training session with his new players yesterday.
His main concern during that session was using what little time he had with his men to get some of his ideas across to them, but he will soon turn his attention to the make- up of his squad, with Campbell and O’Donnell’s situations uppermost in his mind as their contracts near their end.
“Every manager wants to keep their best players, but I don’t know all the ins and outs of Allan’s contract, what he feels and believes, what is on the table for him going forward,” Alexander said.
“I have stayed away from that stuff when I spoke to the board because I want to get this game done, then we have a week until the next one and I can get into the bones of what we need and what we have in the squad now.
“I wanted to give the players my full focus and not have other issues. They all trained really well, I was so impressed.”
While Campbell has been attracting interest from English Championship side Millwall with his Motherwell deal due to expire in the summer, O’Donnell’s situation is even more pressing, with his contract expiring this month.
“I have had a little chat with him about the game tomorrow – something I think we need
to tweak which will help him – and he was great,” Alexander said. “He agreed. Going forward I will have these more intimate conversations about people’s futures and what we want to bring to Motherwell.
“There’s always speculation about players especially when they are playing international football. It’s always going to be that going into December and January. But I want to focus on the St Mirren game and these boys didn’t show me anything to suggest they didn’t want to play. If I felt one wasn’t focused then he wouldn’t be in the team.”
Alexander spoke to his predecessor and former Preston team- mate Robinson before taking on the position at Fir Park, and while he says he didn’t discuss individuals, he is aware that there are members of the squad currently performing way below their capabilities.
He says it is his job to get the best out of those players once more, and has offered all of them a clean slate upon his arrival at the club.
“I’m not one who comes in and gives this big Churchillian speech because it’s words and anyone can say words,” he said. “But I think they’ll learn over the next few weeks how I behave and how I am as a person and they’ll know that it is like that. It’s about who helps the team win. That’s it.”
Meanwhile, St Mirren midfielder Jamie McGrath admits that he and his teammates will be stepping into the unknown somewhat when they take to the pitch this afternoon to face Alexander’s new- look Motherwell. The Steelmen were awarded a 3- 0 win after a Covid- 19 outbreak meant St Mirren were unable to field a team during the first meeting between the two sides this season, but that decision has since been appealed and the points have been temporarily stripped from the Fir Park club.
McGrath downplayed the notion that today’s match is a six- pointer as a result of the pending decision – insisting that Jim Goodwin’s men are fully focused on matters on the park.
“It was a bit of a blow when we originally found out about [ the 3- 0 walkover to Motherwell] but we just need to concentrate on getting as many points on the board as we can,” he said. “Whatever happens with the appeal, we’ll just continue to train and play.
“It’s three points that are up for grabs, not six and who knows how our appeal will go? If we get the original decision overturned we’ll have a few games in hand.”