Spot of bother is no longer thorny question for Rose
MOTHERWELL were just two minutes away from knocking the Invincibles crown off the heads of the Celtic players.
Leading 1-0 and oh so close to claiming revenge for defeat in the Betfred Cup final a few days earlier, the Lanarkshire side placed all hands on deck to repel a late surge from Brendan Rodgers’ team in November’s league fixture at Fir Park.
Midfielder Andy Rose matched a surging run from Callum McGregor and inadvertently bundled over the Celtic player as he retrieved possession from the rebound of a saved shot.
Willie Collum awarded a penalty and Scott Sinclair rescued a point from the spot.
Rose (below) was adamant no foul had been committed and protested loudly. He admits the sense of injustice burned for days after. Yet time has added some perspective and it’s unlikely he would be drawn into the same challenge should McGregor try something similar today.
‘We thought about that game for long enough and it was just a feeling of absolute frustration,’ admits Rose. ‘Sometimes you are going to feel hard done by but you need to pick yourself up and go again.
‘I am a tough critic of myself, as I think most players are, and I look back on every game.
‘Callum McGregor is a fantastic player and without a doubt there are things that happen in games where you look back and question whether you should have done things differently.
‘That game was no different. But it has happened, it’s in the past and we look forward.’
It’s to Motherwell’s credit that they have not allowed that week — which featured a third fixture against Celtic the following weekend — to define their season.
Going into today’s game they are firmly in the hunt for a top-six finish and have another visit to Hampden to look forward to next month when they face Aberdeen in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
Most impressive has been the club’s ability to cope with the loss of striker Louis Moult. The Premiership’s top scorer until injury intervened before Christmas, the striker was subsequently sold to Preston in January.
Manager Stephen Robinson, who exudes enough energy to power the floodlights at Fir Park, tapped into his contacts to sign 25-yearold Curtis Main as a replacement.
The ex-Portsmouth forward may not display the same finesse as Moult but he has been effective, netting five times. ‘People said we only got to the League Cup final because of Louis Moult but I can assure you we didn’t,’ says Robinson, decisively. ‘A lot of players created chances for him and scored goals on the way, so we proved we weren’t overly reliant on him. ‘Curtis Main has now come in and done the same job for us and I believe there’s more to come from him. I tried to sign him at Oldham, and I heard from a lot of people about his hunger and desire in training. He’s a winner, he wants to push himself and if you have that you have a chance. ‘Our recruitment has been good. We needed to overhaul at the end of last season — it was 14 in and 14 out. It doesn’t always work out but a lot of the boys we bring in have the right character and the right drive.’ Identified by Robinson after a year at Coventry City, few of the new recruits have a more storied past than Rose. Although Australian-born, the 28-year-old identifies as English but spent the formative years of his career in the MLS, where he turned out for Seattle Sounders. While there he met his wife Ryan, daughter of former Swansea and US national team boss Bob Bradley, ‘I’ve taken a different path,’ he admits. ‘When I was 18 I decided to go out to the States and do a scholarship programme and then I found myself with an opportunity to play in MLS.
‘I spent four years there, learned an awful lot and played alongside some world-class players.
‘Not everyone in this country will be aware of it but the atmosphere in the stadiums there is fantastic. We were drawing 45-50,000 fans every week but not every club over there could say the same.
‘The one thing I’ve been very impressed with in this country is the passion of the fans. You can tell how much it means to them and you have that responsibility when you step on the pitch.’
If the three November games against Celtic felt like overkill, Robinson approaches today’s match-up with compatriot Brendan Rodgers with fresh eyes.
Happy to revert to a one-off challenge, he expects his players to make it uncomfortable for the league leaders.
‘Those three games took their toll on us — Celtic had a lot of possession of the ball, and that does wear you down. It’s funny because we picked up a lot of injuries after those games, so they took a significant toll.
‘We’re way above where we should be in terms of our budget. I have to keep the club in the division, that’s what I’m judged on. Everything else is a bonus.
‘We’re a team who’ll compete against them. We’ve won games by being competitive, being aggressive and in people’s faces, playing at a tempo. We’ll make sure Celtic know they’ve been in a game.’
Sometimes you’ll feel hard done by but you pick yourself up and go again