This is an excerpt from this week's McGarry on Motherwell, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.
We’ve all been here before. One of the big two are supposedly ‘out of sorts’. Motherwell, on the other hand, seem to be on the up. All the ingredients are there, many pundits will say, for The Steelmen to cause a shock in Glasgow.
Of course, we know better. Or we should. Yes, in recent times, Motherwell have actually managed a couple of victories at Ibrox and even the odd draw on the other side of the city, but that glorious Louis Moult double that claimed a comeback win back in December 2015 remains the last time that a side in claret and amber bagged the three points at Celtic Park.
Still, rarely can there have been such a high level of optimism among the Motherwell fans themselves ahead of a trip to face the champions, and rightly so. Manager Jens Berthel Askou has been bullish in his own comments this week, saying that his team will not be going to Celtic Park to frustrate, but to win.
Furthermore, in a shameless plug for a sensational long-read one-to-one interview I have conducted with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos this week, and that will be in The Herald (available at all good newsagents and supermarkets) on Saturday, I am happy to report that the Motherwell players seem to be in quietly confident mood as well.
Not that there is any bombast. All at Fir Park are aware that pride cometh before the fall. And as usual, reports of a crisis at Celtic are somewhat exaggerated.
The champions may not be as potent an attacking force as they were last term in the early stages of this, but they have yet to lose a goal in the league at home and were unfortunate not to score from their 26 attempts in the goalless draw with Hibs last weekend.
Yes, their fans are up in arms about their summer transfer business, but after their dismal Champions League exit at the hands of Kairat Almaty, they did still go out and sign a couple of £5m wingers and a striker in Kelechi Iheanacho who has scored goals at the very top level.
I was invited onto a podcast the other day alongside media colleague and fellow ‘Well fan Gordon Duncan to discuss the hugely encouraging start to the season that Motherwell have made, and he made a shrewd observation (one of us had to) which I feel has a lot of truth to it – that there are many within the Scottish game who are rather desperate for Berthel Askou and his men to fall flat on their faces.
This isn’t specific to Motherwell, and actually happens quite regularly when an outsider comes in with ‘new-fangled ideas’ and playing an entertaining brand of football that earns plaudits from commentators and pundits, but draws a wee bit of jealousy, dare I say it, from elsewhere. I’ve probably been guilty of it myself in the past.
These doomsayers will insist that Scottish football is a different ball game. That you can’t play an expansive, passing style here and expect anything but failure. That you are naïve to think otherwise. That getting it into the channels and scrapping for second balls is the only way to survive.
This isn’t a dig at any coaches who do adopt such tactics, which can undoubtedly be effective in Scotland. But it does almost seem as though there are those who would take great pleasure in Berthel Askou being brought back down to earth for daring to have Motherwell fans believing their team can strive for something better.
So far, Motherwell are confounding the doubters, recording the first league win of the season to much relief over Aberdeen last Saturday night and remaining unbeaten over the first 12 games of the manager’s reign (and remarkably, for 14 games in total).
If they are to have their bubble burst, then Sunday would seem the most likely time and place for that to happen. But you know what? Even if that long unbeaten sequence is brought to an end, as long as they go down by staying true to themselves and their style, I won’t really be all that bothered.
I do believe that this Motherwell team can go to Celtic Park and play their football, and cause problems for Brendan Rodgers and his men in the process. In the end, that might not be enough when coming up against such a calibre of player, but parking the bus is hardly a guarantee of a result either.
For the fans who are travelling, it’s much better to see their team having a go and genuinely trying to win the game, rather than sitting in for 89 minutes and hoping the ball breaks off someone’s backside late on to snatch a result.
In speaking to Stamatelopoulos this week (just a reminder, my big interview with the striker will also be available on heraldscotland.com…) what came through clearly was that the squad have a steadfast belief that the path the manager has set them on can lead to success. What message would it send to them if he tore up his plan entirely for a one-off game so early on that journey?
No, better to stick to your guns, play your own game and let the chips fall where they may. If nothing else, that will also give both the manager and the fans a real indication of where the team currently are.
For the first time in a long, long while, I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing how Motherwell will fare at Celtic Park. Even if it ends in defeat, I just hope they are themselves.
