He is younger than his new captain Paul McGinn, he never played professionally, he studied football coaching at university, he worked an analyst in the age-group ranks and he is in his new position as the result of a data-driven recruitment process.
Alfred Johansson, the 35-year-old Swede who Motherwell have chosen to replace Jens Berthel Askou at Fir Park, is a modern day manager in every way.
Yet, the former Rosenborg man, who was officially unveiled by the William Hill Premiership club yesterday, was still sold on Scottish football when he witnessed the passion of the local people for the game during a visit to a Glasgow pub.
Read more:
- The inside story of Hamilton Accies' FIFA transfer ban and a 'b*******' fraud case
- Craig Telfer of The Terrace showing Scotland fans shine at World Cup in video diaries
- How will Scotland stop Vinicius Jnr if Steve Clarke ditches his defensive game plan?
“I was here before for two or three weeks on a study trip in 2017,” said Johansson. “I watched a few games live and many games on video in that time and then I reported back to my university. It's good to be back here after so many years.
“I was at one Rangers game at Ibrox, I was at one St Johnstone game at McDiarmid Park and then I was at Hampden Park and watched Motherwell beat Rangers in the League cup semi-final.
“I grew up in Scandinavia and we see all the football from the United Kingdom on the telly. It's something that you dream a little bit about. You want to go there and experience it. So it was really cool to be able to do that that early on.
“The football was very energetic with a lot of physicality and a lot of questionable duels. There were some things that didn't end up being a yellow card that maybe should have. It wasn’t what we're used to in Scandinavia. But it was really energetic, passionate and exciting.
“But I would say the passion was the thing that stood out in all those games. Going down to the local pub in the area where I was staying and hearing people talking about football and seeing people watching football on all the screens was amazing. That passion was massive.”
Johansson’s enthusiasm for his new role also shone through as he spoke to the Scottish media yesterday.
He understands that taking over from Berthel Askou, who departed for Toulouse in France after leading Motherwell to fourth in the Premiership and a place in the Conference League qualifying rounds last month, will not be easy.
The exciting, innovative, attractive, high-pressing, possession-based football which the Dane’s side produced was the best that many Motherwell supporters have ever seen their heroes play.
His successor, though, has been impressed by the vision of the Fir Park hierarchy as well as the talent which is at his disposal in the squad which he has inherited and he is optimistic that he can maintain the forward momentum with their assistance during the 2025/26 campaign.
“All the good people here at the club, all the good players that we have right now, it gives you a lot of confidence that we'll be able to continue the journey,” he said. “We want to try to consolidate the style of play. We want to try to build on top of the good foundation that's been here.
Read more:
- Lou Macari on helping people escape the 'hell' of homelessness and World Cup untruths
- The Tartan Army have shown fans of Scottish football clubs how to conduct themselves
- Rangers icon on Danny Rohl's major mistake and the key change Derek McInnes will make
“This club is run is with a very strategic approach. I can't praise enough the process that I've been through with Nick Daws (head of football), Kyrk Macmillan (chairman) and Brian Caldwell (chief executive). The clarity about how the style of play should be at Motherwell is coming from the club.
“How that was conducted last year was brilliant. It was a very brave team that was playing out from the back. It was a forward-minded team that wanted to attack the opposition half and go into the box with many bodies.
“On top of that, there was a really good sense of unity and togetherness in the defensive work. Everyone was working hard for each other. There was collective pressing, collective defending when we had to sit deeper, tracking back, helping each other.
“That’s a pretty good description of how I would want my team to look like. Will there be some small tweaks here and there? Probably. I'm Alfred, I do my things in the way that I think is the best for the team.”
Johansson worked in a number of a different positions with the under-17 and under-19 teams at Copenhagen, where Berthel Askou was the assistant manager before he joined Motherwell, and he spoke to his predecessor before accepting the offer he received.
“When you're about to go to a new club then you do your due diligence,” he said. “You take a lot of references, you try to get to know the people from an outsider perspective. One of those talks was with Jens. We have mutual friends. I wanted to understand how he saw the club, the team and everything. We had a good chat and it was helpful.”
He may be 35 and might only have worked as a manger in his own right for two-and-a-half seasons - but Johansson has certainly served his time in the dugout.
“I've spent a lot of hours on my passion since I started coaching at around 20,” he said. “That's brought me to sit in front of you guys today. Obviously, there's a lot of hours behind it. But when you're passionate about something, you don't really think of it as work.”
Johansson was 33 when he took over at 26-time Eliteserien champions Rosenborg and led the Trondheim club to fourth place in the league and back into Europe. He is hopeful that being in charge of the Norwegian side has prepared him for life at Motherwell.
“I was living under that big interest and scrutiny for two-and-a-half years,” he said. “But this is a part of the job in top football. If you don't want that then you should just do something else. If you try to fight it, you're going to have a problem.
“It's passion in the end, right? That passion, that interest, I love that. It gets me excited. The fact that what we're doing means a lot to people is only exciting me more.”
It is unlikely that Motherwell will be able to hold on to Elijah Just, the midfielder who has been at the World Cup with New Zealand, this summer, but Johansson is unconcerned about the situation.
“I haven't caught up with Elijah yet,” he said. “I think it's fair to him to be able to be in America and focus on the national team now. I've focused more on the guys that are actually here and had good talks with them.
“He's a good player and he's a Motherwell player. I think there's always going to be rumours and links. I guess that there will be questions about that pretty often, especially when the window is open. It's going to be a big thing, players getting linked right, left and centre. It's a part of the expectation so I don't focus too much about it.”
