FORAN CAN THRIVE AT SHARP END
But Lasley cranks up pressure
FOR Keith Lasley, the sight of Richie Foran launching his latest savage attack on his underperforming players last weekend prompted a nod of recognition.
The Motherwell captain may have only briefly crossed paths with the Inverness boss as a player at Fir Park in the first half of season 2006-07. But it was still long enough for him to be on the end of a few of the Irishman’s blisteringly honest half-time rants.
The 36-year-old Caley Thistle manager’s future is currently under debate at boardroom level with his side rock bottom after a run of one win in 21 league games.
After their latest defeat, a 3-0 home loss to St Johnstone last weekend, Foran publicly questioned the courage of his players.
Despite his old team-mate’s acerbic tongue, Lasley still counts himself amongst the many admirers of Foran from their playing days together in Lanarkshire. On his return to Fir Park on Saturday, though, the Steelmen skipper will have no qualms ratcheting up the pressure on the struggling Inverness boss as the Premiership’s bottom two sides meet.
‘As a player, Richie was blunt — and I was on the end of some of those opinions at half-time,’ said Lasley, whose side are four points clear of Caley Thistle. ‘I’m not saying he was ranting and raving every half-time but, when he had an opinion to give, he gave it.
‘But that was one of his biggest attributes. He was very aggressive and assertive in his approach to playing the game and that’s how he is now as a manager.
‘Players respect that honesty. There are times you need to hold back the truth in certain situations but more often than not honesty is the way forward and Richie played with real honesty.
‘You could see back then in his character he had leadership qualities.
‘He was a good player for Motherwell — wholehearted and with a great goal record.
‘He’s still well thought of at Fir Park and rightly so. I know the fans still have a good affinity with him but that won’t be the case for 90 minutes on Saturday.
‘He wants the best for Inverness now and we want the best for Motherwell. And we know his team will be up for it because that’s the kind of character Richie is.
‘He will see this weekend as a chance for them to get right back into it. I just hope we can curtail his team on Saturday.’
On Tuesday, Caley Thistle issued a statement describing a board meeting where Foran’s position will be discussed as ‘routine’.
It carried a whiff of a vote of confidence about it. But Lasley points out there is not a manager in the bottom six who is free from pressure in the most exciting battle to avoid relegation in years.
‘Everyone has had their turn of the spotlight being on them,’ he said. ‘It’s Richie’s turn at the moment but he knows a couple of results and someone else will get that vote of confidence.
‘We don’t take too much notice of it. We know Inverness are capable and if they turn up they can cause us problems. We need to be at our best to give ourselves a chance to win.
‘They’re all big games at this stage — and they seem to be getting bigger every week.
‘We’re at home against the team directly below us, so it goes without saying it’s a massive game in terms of points and also psychologically going into the split.’
The last time Inverness visited Fir Park, Foran’s men ran out 3-0 winners in October and Motherwell were jeered off.
However, Caley Thistle have only won one Premiership match since, against a Rangers team managed by caretaker Graeme Murty back in February.
‘We won 2-1 at their place in December, so the away team has had the better fortune in the matches between the teams this season,’ Lasley pointed out.
‘Hopefully that isn’t the case on Saturday. But it’s indicative of this league this season that home advantage isn’t the be all and end all.
‘We need to be wary of that but, as the home team, we need to try to set the agenda and get the fans behind us early.
‘With the split coming up, there’s a week to reflect on the outcome and it’s always easier if it’s a positive result.’
Lasley picked up his UEFA Pro Licence before Scotland’s World Cup qualifier win over Slovenia at Hampden last month. Despite another season that has seen bosses under huge strain, with Mark McGhee sacked as Motherwell boss, the veteran midfielder has no doubts that he sees his future in the technical area.
But he won’t let his career plans let him lose focus on the task of keeping Motherwell in the top flight.
‘I don’t know how many more grey hairs I can get as a manager but doing your badges opens your eyes to the stress of the job,’ said Lasley.
‘You can never be fully prepared but the course is a great learning experience and being a manager is a future ambition of mine. But I hope to keep playing in the short term.
‘I’ve seen a lot through the years at Motherwell — more ups than downs, which has been great for a club this size. There have been testing times, too, and that is the case just now with a fight to keep our league status. But we are all up for the fight. We’ve got relatively recent experience of being involved in this kind of thing, so hopefully that can drive us on to keep us out of the play-offs.
‘It may have ended well (beating Rangers over two legs in 2015) but it wasn’t much fun.’
Keith Lasley was speaking at the SPFL Trust Trusted Trophy tour, which sees all five national trophies — the Ladbrokes Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two plus Betfred Cup — taken to Scotland’s clubs, shining a light on the valuable local community work done across the country — www.trustedtrophytour.co.uk