Blaney impressed by Miller temperament
Defender feels youngster is ‘finding his voice’ at Fir Park
SHANE BLANEY claims Motherwell team-mate Lennon Miller’s temperament is strikingly beyond his years. The 17-year-old was this week named on the shortlist for the PFA Scotland SPFL Young Player of the Year award following a breakthrough campaign which has seen him make 28 appearances despite missing several months with a fractured kneecap.
Miller became the youngest Motherwell player of all time in August 2022 when he made his first-team debut six days after his 16th birthday and the midfielder has continued to display his precocious talent.
“I’ve been really impressed,” Blaney said. “He’s a really good footballer. I have probably been more impressed as a person, a really good fellow for the age of him, the way he carries himself.
“It’s mad to think he is the age he is because I remember the way I was at that age, I was nowhere near the way he is on the pitch or the way he carries himself, so it’s testament to him and his family and the people around him. He’s a great fellow and a really good footballer.
“He takes everything in his stride. It’s scary, to be honest. Nothing seems to faze him. I think you grow to learn that with the best players, they always seem to be like that. Nothing fazes them, and he seems to be like that.
“He definitely is [finding his voice]. He is a big part of our team, you see that on the pitch.
“There’s no better way of explaining that than when he was out of the team, we definitely missed him. It’s great having him back after injury and that’s another thing to say about him. It was a big injury he had, at such a young age, and to come back the way he has done is brilliant.”
Motherwell host cinch Premiership bottom club Livingston THIS this afternoon looking to make up ground on Hibernian and Aberdeen above them after Jack Vale’s red card proved costly in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Pittodrie.
“We want to finish seventh so we don’t have time to be losing any more games,” Irish centre-back Blaney said.
“We need to get the win this weekend, which won’t be easy because Livingston will be firing.”
Livingston manager David Martindale, meanwhile, has revealed he has signed three players on pre-contract agreements for next term.
The Lions boss is braced for a major summer rebuild as his side face the prospect of relegation to the cinch Championship, a fate that could be confirmed this afternoon if they fail to win away to Motherwell.
Martindale revealed last month that several players will be leaving at the end of the campaign, but he was delighted to report that he has found others who have an appetite to play for the West Lothian club next season regardless of what division they are in.
“That’s us got three on precontracts that will get announced over the coming weeks,” he said. “They were probably done three or four weeks ago. They are boys who for me could play in the Premiership but who were also willing to commit their futures to Livingston knowing we could be in the Championship.
“It’s about attracting the right type of character, and the three we have got tied up just now are the right char
acters because they’ve committed to us before we know where we’re going to be playing next season. That’s what I want, boys committing to the football club.”
Martindale gave an insight into the type of player he is looking at recruiting.
“I’m not really bothered about age, it’s more about how many games they’ve got under their belts and their ability,” he said. “Has my recruitment changed from previous seasons? Of course it has.
“Where I’m shopping from has probably dropped down a couple of tiers. In years gone by I’d maybe try and get a couple from League One [in England] while looking at League Two and the National League. Now, in all honesty, I’m looking at National League North, National League South and focusing on academies.”
Martindale also revealed that he is trying to sign a goalkeeper on an emergency loan to provide back-up for Shamal George in the closing weeks of the campaign as Jack Hamilton is still struggling with a groin problem.
It’s mad to think he is the age he is because I remember the way I was at that age, I was nowhere near the way he is on the pitch or the way he carries himself