Manager puts his emotions on hold
McCall fully focuses on honouring his pledge to ‘finish job’
FOR four years Stuart McCall was t he manager of Motherwell. Since leaving in November, the lines of communication with his former backroom staff have been restricted to a roundrobin text message once a week.
‘We are in this Predictor League,’ explains the interim Rangers boss. ‘Every time I come in after games you think I’m looking for scores for gambling — I’m not. Some of the Motherwell backroom boys — Gordon Marshall, Jonatan Johansson, Bobby Jenks — are in it as well. So there have been group texts about that. But not about Motherwell stuff.’
For McCall, there is a high level of discomfort ahead of tonight’s Premiership Play-Off final first leg. Motherwell were his life during his time there. Under his stewardship, the Lanarkshire side consistently punched above their weight. There were two second-placed finishes and one third. In 2011 they reached the final of the Scottish Cup.
He did all this on the barest of budgets, gambling on lower-league players from England.
He stepped down when it became obvious things would be different this season. That he might now be the manager who ends his former employers’ 30- year tenure in Scotland’s top tier is a source of acute and obvious discomfort.
‘I’ll only think about it in the aftermath,’ is all he will say on the matter. ‘I won’t think about it all until after the game on Sunday. I’m fully focused on what I have to do here.
‘ Whatever the outcome on Sunday, I think that’s when it will hit me. It’s football, and ever since I was a kid all I’ve ever wanted to do was win. That doesn’t change just because it’s Motherwell we’re against now.
‘I had nearly four fantastic years at that club and I can’t speak highly enough of the players I had there. The staff, supporters, were all incredible.
‘It’s a year since I came back down on the bus from Aberdeen as Motherwell manager, having clinched second place. Certainly, as a manager, that’s the best feeling I’ve had in the game. That will never go away and neither will the respect I have for the club.’
Asked if playing Motherwell is, in effect, his nightmare scenario, there is a sharp intake of breath.
‘It doesn’t feel like my nightmare scenario at the moment because I can’t allow the occasion to affect me like that. But I know it will feel like that after Sunday,’ he said.
The truth is, McCall has every incentive to relegate Motherwell. In the l ast week, signs have emerged that Rangers might be looking elsewhere for a manager.
Many think this is unfair. McCall has wrought a clear and steady improvement in the team and his best chance of persuading the board to hand him the job on a permanent basis lies in a convincing two-leg victory over his former club.
‘I’m fully focused on what we have to do,’ he insists. ‘We’re all excited by the prospect of running out to a full house at Ibrox.
‘When we first came in we gave the players two objectives. One was to make sure we were involved in the final game on May 31 and the second was to make sure we finish the job.
‘We had some great times at Motherwell but, no matter the success we had, the crowd was always going to be what it was. We had a loyal support. But after my first two games here, if you said we’d be running out to a full house on our final game I wouldn’t have thought that would happen. That’s why I’m really excited by this game.’
There is less prospect of a sellout for the return at Fir Park. It’s thought Motherwell were originally offered 1,700 tickets for Ibrox, in return for which Rangers would have sought their standard 4,000plus allocation in the South Stand of the Lanarkshire venue.
No agreement was reached, however, meaning 950 visiting fans will be present tonight — with Rangers restricted to 1,500 tickets for the second leg.
The prospect of a half-full stand for a showpiece play- off game would do nothing to enhance the image of a battered Scottish game. McCall is reluctant to criticise Motherwell but regrets the fact paying customers who want to see the game will be locked out. For the spectacle of the Scottish game, none of this helps.
‘I was led to believe the other week we were going to get the full stand. When I heard what we got the other day, I was disappointed.
‘This week our game will be the last game in British domestic football. Everyone is going to be watching. That’s what makes it harsh and disappointing.
‘I don’t know the ins and outs and why they have come to that decision — but f or Scottish football and everyone watching Scottish football, the situation
behind that goal will be a bit sad for our game.
‘If I were their manager, then I’d think the least amount of Rangers supporters in the ground the better — that’s from a selfish point of view.
‘But in terms of the game itself … it’s not as though we’ve not sold out at home — we have sold every ticket we can. But it is what it is.’
Motherwell are entitled to feel Rangers need no further advantages.
McCall knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Steelmen’s squad because he signed most of them, but claims that works both ways.
‘ I think Las, ( Keith Lasley), Hammy ( Stevie Hammell), Rammers ( Simon Ramsden), Mick (Stephen McManus)and Sutty (John Sutton), know how I work and how I do my set plays, so I might need to change them.
‘I think bookies have Rangers as slight favourites but that’s in part down Motherwell’s record at Ibrox down the years.
‘I’ve been there and it’s not been good. I didn’t play when Motherwell last won at Ibrox — it was 1997 and I’d had an Achilles operation and was watching from the club deck.’
When McCall was manager of Motherwell, they were persistently accused of lacking mental strength against Rangers.
The last time the clubs met was in a League Cup tie in September 2012. Rangers were a League Two team, Motherwell riding high in the Premiership. A 2-0 win for Rangers merely confirmed the impression that, on the big nights at Ibrox, Motherwell have a habit of folding.
‘As much as you can question mentality, Rangers had good players,’ counters McCall. ‘If you go to Ibrox or Parkhead and don’t get off to a good start, then it can be intimidating. That’s what we hope for tomorrow — to make it as intimidating as we can.’