I’m ideal man to replace Talented Mr Ripley at Fir Park
AS Craig Samson made his longawaited Motherwell debut, his clean sheet helped the Fir Park side leapfrog St Johnstone into fourth place.
And, after playing his part in a merited win over Hearts, the veteran goalkeeper admitted his sights are now set on claiming the No 1 spot for himself.
Deputising for regular starter Connor Ripley, the 32-year-old enjoyed a comfortable afternoon in his first outing since playing for Kilmarnock in a 4-1 win at Partick Thistle in May 2015.
And with the Talented Mr Ripley due to return to his parent club, Middlesbrough, in the summer, Samson sent out a timely message to his manager Mark McGhee that perhaps his next first-choice keeper is already at the Lanarkshire club.
‘It’s always nice to get a clean sheet but this is the first game I’ve played all season, so it was especially nice,’ said Samson.
‘Of course, I knew when I came here what the position was. We were a good bit into the season and Connor Ripley was playing and doing great the whole time.
‘But I want to play games and the ideal scenario would have been Connor going back to Middlesbrough in January, which would have allowed me to go in the team.
‘However, that never happened and Connor has kept playing well.
‘As far as I’m aware, he is going back to Middlesbrough in the summer but you never know what will happen in football. But next season I’ll be looking to be No 1 at this football club.
‘Before the match, the manager told me he knew he could rely on me if he put me in. So, hopefully, he sees it that he already has a No 1 here at the club for next year.’
Having seen Aberdeen lose to St Johnstone on Friday night, Hearts had a chance to up the pressure on the Dons in the race to finish second behind Celtic. But this was a curiously listless display for a team who had loudly proclaimed that bridging the eightpoint gap on the Dons was their aim. Not to mention a team that had knocked six past Motherwell the last time the teams met at Tynecastle in January.
There had been nothing exceptional about the opening 28 minutes, except perhaps for the immaculate state of the Fir Park pitch.
But the game burst into life when good build-up play from Steven Hammell and Scott McDonald ended with Ainsworth bursting into the box and cracking a low shot beyond the helpless Neil Alexander.
Motherwell could have won by a bigger margin but Alexander tipped a Louis Moult shot brilliantly onto the post, and McDonald robbed Prince Buaben only to blast the ball over the bar with just the Hearts keeper to beat.
For all Alexander’s heroics, though, it was Samson (below) in the home goal who had most to be pleased about after a sixth win in seven matches for the Premiership’s form team.
But he pointed out that Ripley was left out due to tonsillitis, rather than for letting a shot by Leigh Griffiths squirm through his legs in the recent 2-1 defeat to Celtic.
‘I thought Connor was the best player on the park by a mile that day, bar none,’ countered Samson, who is in talks about a new deal with Motherwell.
‘No Celtic player was better than Connor, either. I felt sorry for him that day but unfortunately that’s the life of a goalie. ‘But he certainly wasn’t dropped from the team for that. Connor hadn’t been well at the beginning of the week and had a couple of extra days off. ‘Even when we were on a run when we weren’t doing as well, Connor was still performing to a high level. ‘I’ve just had to wait patiently for my chance. Of course, sometimes I’ve been itching to get into the team but I’ve also had to be professional and support Connor to go out and do his best for the team.
‘It’s difficult as a sub goalie because it’s not like other positions where you get five or 10 minutes at the end to impress. You’ve just got to bide your time. In terms of not playing games every week, this is the first time in five years I have experienced it.
‘My job was just to keep training and doing my best in case I do get thrown in. Hopefully, that’s paid off for me today.
‘I had a conversation with the manager a couple of months ago (about a new deal) and we spoke again last week. We’ll hopefully sort something out soon.
‘I definitely feel I have a lot to offer. At 32, I’m still young for a goalkeeper and I have a lot to give.’
Meanwhile, a defiant Don Cowie insisted Hearts won’t give up on trying to pip Aberdeen to second place.
‘It was just so disappointing,’ said the 33-year-old.
‘With Aberdeen losing, it was a great chance for us to make up ground. It was up to us to take advantage of that and put extra pressure on Aberdeen before we play them in a couple of weeks.
‘That could have made it interesting but we just weren’t good enough.’