Lasley’stenurehasthe worst possible start
Hodson (10), Callachan (49), C Smith (65) An angry Keith Lasley admitted his chances of becoming Motherwell manager have been dealt a blow.
The interim boss watched his men turn in a desperately poor performance as they were easily swept aside by Hamilton Accies in the Lanarkshire derby.
Lasley had been assistant to Stephen Robinson, who resigned from his post on Hogmanay.
Naturally, he hoped to end a poor run of results, but oversaw one of the team’s worst performances of the season.
He said: “I’m angry and gutted. It wasn’t good enough.
“I’ve been given the job to drive things forward in the interim and I still intend to do that, but this result certainly doesn’t help me. I hope it’s not the defining factor.
“I don’t want to say too much about the longer term because my thoughts are on the short term.
“I’m more gutted for the fans and everyone at Motherwell.
“I think everyone knows the feeling I have for this club.”
As a player, nobody ever doubted Lasley’s commitment. That must have made watching such a gutless showing very difficult for him.
He went on: “We’ve struggled all season to come back after we’ve gone behind.
“That gets to me, not having the ability to fight back. I’ve been at the club a long time and we used to always have fight. There are boys in the dressing room that I still believe in and have the club at heart, but we’re on a bad run.
“I now have a full week to prepare the players for our game at St Mirren and we hope for a different type of performance.”
Motherwell started yesterday’s game poorly and got steadily worse.
They were quickly given notice that Lee Hodson was in the mood to hit the target.
The former Rangers full-back had the first shot on goal of the game – an effort that was pushed wide by Chapman.
He popped up again in the 10th minute, running on to a lay-off from Winter and shot low past the keeper.
You wouldn’t expect him to be a prolific scorer, but Motherwell are definitely looking for goals from Tony Watt.
Unfortunately for a team low in confidence, he spurned a great chance just before Accies took the lead.
He had time and space in the box, but connected with a cross from the right and dragged his shot wide.
Accies could have been two up before the break after bit of poor goalkeeping.
Chapman spilled a cross and went chasing Winter as he tried to find an angle for a shot. The Hamilton man was forced wide and sent an effort over the bar.
Brian Rice booted the dugout in frustration but he had no need to worry about the outcome.
Lasley delivered his first halftime team-talk as a manager and would definitely have been looking for more from his players.
He didn’t get it. Several appeared to be going through the motions and that infuriates fans.
The home side doubled their lead when Moyo took advantage of defensive slackness and pulled the ball back for Callachan to side-foot past Chapman.
Accies’ third was Callum Smith’s first for the club. Callachan crossed from the right and the former Dunfermline forward nodded home.
Accies held on very comfortably, with Gourlay producing a fine stop from White to ensure the win came with a clean sheet.