Motherwell reveal Campbell bids rejected as Magloire arrives
Motherwell took their transfer-window arrivals to seven with the loan signing of Blackburn defender Tyler Magloire but manager Graham Alexander feels their best business is keeping hold of their star men.
Motherwell rejected bids for Allan Campbell last month and survived interest in skipper Declan Gallagher, while Scotland full-back Stephen O'donnell signed a new shortterm contract on deadline day.
Magloire, a pacey 22-yearold who was recently on loan at Hartlepool, arrived yesterday after experienced Crewe defender Eddie Nolan and Hearts winger Jordan Roberts signed temporary deals on deadline day.
They followed Liam Kelly, Steven Lawless, Harry Smith and Sam Foley in joining Well over the past month but ahead of tonight’s visit of Dundee United, Alexander said: "For me the biggest bonus is we have kept our best players in the building.
"We knew there was a possibility of them leaving. We
turned down substantial bids for Allan Campbell in January.
"That was probably 10 days ago and you see in Allan's performances, nothing has changed. He is an absolute top professional and he has just wanted to win. The same with Dec and the same with Stephen O'donnell.
"If I thought they were not focused on us and were looking elsewhere and it was affecting their performance, then we would probably help that happen, because we only want committed players. But all we have seen is every player committed.”
Dundee United manager Micky Mellon will take a step back to more familiar tactics after conceding seven goals in two home matches. Mellon lined up with Marc Mcnulty and Luke Bolton out wide but the move to be more expansive backfired in a 5-1 humbling at the hands of St Mirren with a 2-0 reverse against Hibs.
He said: “I tried to change things up, get a wee bit of width into the team and attack that way. It's not a path I want to continue because we were losing too many goals."
Mellon, who didn’t bring anyone in and said he was unaware of any bids for his players during the transfer window, added: "I have a group of players who I will coach and try to make them better.”