Well boss Hammell urges his Steelkids to find their voices
Steven Hammell has gone back to the future by coaching Motherwell’s young players to shout when they are on the pitch.
As the Fir Park boss recalled, when he first broke into the Steelmen’s side as a teenager, he found the environment to be extremely vocal.
“We had loads of guys who were happy to speak up,” he said.
“Our dressing room was full of experienced pros . Billy Davies’ squad had guys like Andy Goram, John Spencer, Lee McCulloch, Shaun Teale, Don Goodman and Roberto Martinez – a massive diversity of characters.
“Everyone had a personality and spoke their mind. There was never a single day at training where there wasn’t an incident of some kind. But it was all positive, all about players wanting to do as well as they could for the club.
“It was a steep learning curve for me, but also a great platform. It was something that improved me, that’s for sure.”
Since taking up coaching, though, Hammell says he has noticed a distinct change in the culture of the game.
“It’s now very rare for young players to be vocal, and it’s something we try to coach the kids coming through our academy,” said Hammell.
“I know it sounds very basic, but the boys coming through nowadays, although they are talented, are naturally much quieter than they were when I was that age.
“That’s why we expose them to the first-team so quickly.
“We have youngsters training with us each day, and that way they get to see what the demands are and that the environment is different. It’s sharper, livelier, more demanding and more vocal.
“I didn’t think I was particularly quiet when I was young. But it was an eye-opener when I first met the first team and people were digging each other out for mistakes.
“The game’s moved on slightly since then, but there still needs to be that element of being ready for those demands, understanding what goes on there and being able to compete.”
As much as the coaches will stress the need to speak up, he is also looking for his skipper, Liam Kelly, and his other senior pros to help him mould his younger players into confident competitors.
“It’s what I want here and I think we have it,” he said.
“No one will look after the young boys more than me, but they know they need to stand on their own two feet.
“The first-team boys challenge them and demand things from them. They push them every day and when we do things like analysis, we want the young boys to contribute.
“We have certain characters whose attitude off the pitch is excellent, and those are the ones we want the youngsters to gravitate towards and use as role models.
“It is part of the process here. Everything you see on a Saturday is what they are doing during the week.
“If you can, as a young boy, gravitate towards the group who is proactive in improving themselves, then it is only going to help you.”