Robbo tells his players to stop believing the hype
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson wants his players to stop believing the hype.
The Fir Park boss watched his team suffer their second defeat in a row and is looking for a quick improvement.
He felt his young players were trying to score the perfect goal against Dundee United yesterday.
Scouts have been watching Motherwell’s performances closely in recent seasons and a number of players have secured lucrative moves to England.
But Robinson can’t see that happening again unless results improve.
He said: “I hope some players aren’t believing some of the hype and thinking they’ll be moving here, there and everywhere. They won’t be moving anywhere unless they start performing.
“Maybe inside I’m angry but I’m dealing with young footballers who are naive.
“We had lots of possession against United, but no end product. How many times did we have opportunities to put it into the box and do it? Not enough is the answer.
“It has to be total football and the perfect goal for them.
“It’s inexperience and a lack of being streetwise.
“We need to learn some lessons very quickly and we’ll work on that.”
The Irishman is searching for a more potent attacking formation.
Some of his players, he believes, need to step up their fitness to be more effective.
He added: “We have lost four left-backs now. I though Ricky Lamie did great there.
“We have plenty of options in midfield but I have to find the right combination up front.
“Once Callum Lang is back he will solve our problem on the left.
“Long and Hastie haven’t had much football in their legs in recent months and it’s looking like it. Jake was taken off at half-time because we needed more.
“I don’t have time to wait for players to get fitter. Hylton needs to get fitter to get in the team.
“We haven’t done enough up front in the last two games. We have to put the ball into the box more to make a difference. I’ve told them in no uncertain terms what I want from them.
“We won’t be bawling and shouting, we’ll be giving them the information needed to find a solution.”
Robinson insisted preparations weren’t disrupted by a player having a false positive test for Covid-19 and having to self-isolate for 10 days.
He said: “The player who had the false positive has had two negatives since. We’re just being ultra-cautious.
“It’s something we have to live with now.”