Robinson is ready to defy the odds with underdogs
FOR the best part of two decades, Motherwell’s trips to Ibrox on league business have been about as appealing as a wet weekend in Grimsby. Not since Owen Coyle’s double spoiled the nine-in-a-row title party on May 5, 1997 have the Steelmen sampled an away victory against Rangers in the regular season.
The intervening period has witnessed 30 attempts but seen just four draws amid a blizzard of defeats, many of them heavy. Little wonder the Fir Park faithful aren’t exactly counting down the seconds to climb on board their buses tomorrow.
Yet if being huge underdogs to burst Pedro Caixinha’s bubble is no more than a natural consequence of 20 years of failure, one man in particular is entirely comfortable with the lie of the land.
Steve Robinson may have started out as a player at Tottenham but for the most part his has been a career forged on upsetting the odds.
‘Proving people wrong is lovely,’ smiled the 42-year-old. ‘That’s something I’ve been doing my whole career as a footballer and in management. Coaching with Northern Ireland as well, we were always underdogs.
‘I don’t mind it. At clubs like Bournemouth and Luton, you’re either in administration or fighting against money problems and you’re always defying the odds.
‘At Luton, we got two promotions and were sitting top of the Championship.
‘With Northern Ireland we got to the last 16 of the Euros with 35 professional players and only four of them playing in the Premier League, so whether I’ve been coaching or playing it’s always been the same.
‘I would put Motherwell in that category. We’re a very good club with a great history but financially we’re not one of the big boys and you’re constantly fighting against that.
‘But I enjoy that and it’s definitely more satisfying when it comes off.
‘We’re on a lower budget but we’ve got good people and there are people here doing two or three jobs at the same time ‘So when you’re successful, you’re successful as a whole club. There’s no distance between the first team and the Under-20s or the people who clean the offices.
‘Everyone is together here, so when we get a bit of success we all enjoy it. When you don’t, it hurts everybody.’
The psychological lifebelt for Robinson’s side to cling on to comes in the form of their play-off victory over then Championship side Rangers two years ago.
Facing a team that was strongly fancied to take the third step back to the top flight in its stride, Motherwell were cast as lambs to the slaughter.
The upshot — a 3-1 win for Motherwell at Ibrox followed by a 3-0 triumph on home soil — was, without question, their most significant result since the 1991 Scottish Cup triumph.
It is a positive memory that Robinson, who was deputy to Ian Baraclough back then, fully intends to recall.
‘It’s similar circumstances because people expect us to go there and get beat, and probably get beaten heavily,’ he added.
‘Being written off worked in our favour. We weren’t even there according to most of the Press and it was just an automatic promotion for Rangers. ‘But we used that to our advantage and went out to prove people wrong. ‘We’ve convinced these boys all week that it is possible again.
‘They believe in what we’re doing and we’ll go there organised and with a positive mindset. ‘We can take heart from that result and there are a lot of boys still here who were involved in that. You have to go there and play against the team that is out there on the pitch, not against 50,000 people and not against the badge.
‘We’ve got players who I believe could get in the Rangers team and we have to convince people here of that.
‘We’ve got boys who are very confident in their own ability. It’s just about getting the group to believe in that.’
The league table finds Robinson’s side in a precarious position. Just three points ahead of Inverness and Hamilton, they have much to do before a re-run of the drama of two years ago can be discounted.
Solace can be taken from the three performances since the man from Lisburn succeeded Mark McGhee, and it could be argued the team have deserved more than the three points they have accrued in that period.
‘I think our best performance was against St Johnstone and our worst was at Kilmarnock, but we won that game,’ said Robinson.
‘Defensively against Aberdeen, we were really good but could have been better on the ball. Against St Johnstone, we deserved to win the game. We had so many chances and you have to take heart from that.
‘You’ve got to believe that can be progressed and hopefully on Saturday that can result in a win.’
Two weeks ago, near neighbours Hamilton unwittingly walked into Caixinha’s welcome party and were routed by four goals to nil.
If anything, the international break will only have increased the will of his players to ensure the positive mood around the place continues.
Robinson and his charges can ill-afford to concern themselves with matters they cannot control.
‘I’m not concerned about what Pedro is doing at Rangers,’ he said.
‘I’m just concerned about Motherwell and what we can do against them.
‘He’s a new manager with new ideas, so we’re not 100-per-cent sure what he’ll do. He’s had two weeks to work on it, so we have to concentrate on what we’re going to do.’
Stephen Pearson’s recovery from injury will be assessed today but Richard Tait and Stephen McManus remain sidelined.
Robinson can call upon Ben Heneghan again, with the defender now free from suspension, and Zak Jules has fully recovered from concussion.