When a club appoints a manager who has not played professionally, whose background is in youth football and who has had limited time as a head coach in the senior game, if often raises concerns among a section of their support.
Could Alfred Johansson’s background in the age-group ranks in Denmark, though, help to ensure that he is successful at Motherwell in the months ahead?
The 35-year-old Swede, who replaced Jens Berthel Askou at Fir Park last month, spent two-and-a-half seasons in the dugout at renowned Norwegian outfit Rosenborg and he is sure to draw greatly on his experiences in the Eliteserien going forward.
However, he is hopeful that his stints with the under-17 and under-19 teams in the academy set-up at Copenhagen will prove invaluable to him in his new role as well.
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The Lions have done well both domestically and in Europe in recent years thanks to the outstanding footballers they have produced and have also received big transfer fees for their homegrown players from clubs in major football nations.
Roony Bardghji (Barcelona), Mohamed Daramy (Reims),Hakon Haraldsson (Lille), Rasmus Hojlund (Napoli), Victor Kristiansen (Leicester City) and Jonas Wind (VfL Wolfsburg) all came through the FCK Talent Department.
Motherwell have done far better than most of their William Hill Premiership rivals on that front as well – Max Johnston, Lennon Miller and David Turnbull served the Steelmen with distinction before moving on for six and seven figure sums.
Johansson, whose team will take on Havnar Boltfelag of the Faroe Islands in the Conference League second qualifying round later this month, admitted that he is keen to promote promising kids to his first team during the 2026/27 season and beyond.
“I love the energy of youth,” he said. “I love the energy they bring to the training pitch, to the style of play. It doesn't mean that we're only going to play with young players at all. The experience and quality from some of the players that have been 23, 24, 25, or even older than that is key as well.
“But my upbringing as a coach is as an academy coach. It's coming mainly from Copenhagen. In Denmark, they’re renowned for the good quality of youth players going through the ranks, breaking into the first team and then some of them also going abroad to bigger addresses than Copenhagen.
“That's a part of the Motherwell identity. Everyone is so proud of the academy here. That's a part of how a well-run club should be run. I'll only be looking to add to that.
“But the players need to prove themselves. Sometimes they need a little bit of extra time to show themselves, but if they live the values, if they do everything that they can in training, they will get the chance to show how good they are.”
Johansson looks set to lose Elijah Just, the Motherwell midfielder who scored three goals for New Zealand at the World Cup, and Tawanda Maswanhise, the Zimbabwean forward who netted 22 times for them last season, this summer.
But he understands that the Fir Park club need to cash in on their prized assets in order to flourish financially and is determined to develop the young players who are brought in to replace anyone who departs.
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“It's a part of every football club,” he said. “Every football club in 2026 is asked to do that. Even the biggest clubs in Europe. They are buying young talent to develop them even to their level. So it's a part of every football club, every well-run football club anyway.
“Motherwell has a good record especially. I want to praise again Nick (head of recruitment Daws) for how the squad's been developing the last couple of years. There's been a lot of good players getting sold from here, key players getting sold in the past. The recruitment, the scouting, has been strong.
“That's just a testament of the work that's been done. If need be, then I'm confident that the club will be able to do that again. It's how it works in the business. Then it's just the question of how big of a transfer fee, how much are you able to pay as a club, how good is your scouting and recruitment, and all that. That is how it should be.”
Johansson needs to find a centre-half to replace Stephen Welsh - the Celtic defender who spent last term on loan in South Lanarkshire, but who joined Swansea City last month - before Motherwell take on Havnar Boltfelag.
However, he is optimistic that his side will be well placed to progress when the first leg kicks off on Thursday, July 23.
"Firstly, I am trying to get to know the squad that we have, all those very committed players that we have,” he said. “Obviously, together with Nick, we will have a look at players. We need to do our due diligence and we need to look at potential players coming in the future.
“The good thing is there's a fit between the way that I want to play football and the way that the club wants to play football, which means that the scouting processes that Nick has been initiating since a long time ago is just plug in and play. I am just getting into, all those processes, right now. But it's smooth and easy, to be honest.” Johansson added, "We want to be in as good a position as possible to compete with HB. Which means that right now we have to focus on ourselves rather than anyone else.
“So we need to make sure that we get the boys up to the fitness levels that they need to be at, get them ready to compete at full speed, full intensity, full resilience, when the game starts. So these are the main concerns at the moment, the football part and the physical part. We will try to bring that up over the next couple of weeks."
