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.
Well then. Last week’s newsletter, an interview with Luca Ross where he spoke of his excitement at working under Michael Wimmer next season, fairly aged like milk.
It was thoroughly deflating when the news landed on Friday afternoon, and not only because I thought I had managed an early finish and was enroute to beat the teatime queue for an Asda pizza, before a quick about-turn, pizza-less, for home.
It was also because it hadn't only been the players like young Luca who were intrigued by what Wimmer may be able to do next season with the summer transfer window and a pre-season with his squad under his belt, but it was an exciting prospect for the fans too.
There was then some pragmatism and flexibility when it dawned on him that such an approach with this group of players was unlikely to yield the points required to stave off any lingering relegation worries, and he showed in-game nous in matches like the home win over St Johnstone and the away win at Dundee that secured Motherwell’s safety.
He had spoken of how he didn’t feel particularly comfortable compromising his principles to such a degree, which was something of a teaser over the more front-foot style he would be looking to adopt next term.
It was a shock initially then to hear that he wouldn’t in fact be here to see that through. But on reflection, the signs that life in Scotland far from his family was proving increasingly difficult for Wimmer were evident.
He said as much when I had the chance to chat to him back in April.
“I had the job in Nurnberg, that’s one hour 20 with the car,” Wimmer said.
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“Then the next job was in Augsburg, that was one hour 35 with the car, then came Stuttgart, that’s two hours 40 with the car, and the next step was Vienna, there's three hours 50 with the car. So, it's getting further and further!
“But if there was an issue with my son, you could also use the car, and in three hours you are at home. So, this is now the first time where you have such a far distance. My son is growing up and now he's 11.
"I felt that it is very difficult for him, and if your son is at home and is not happy, perhaps a little bit crying, then it obviously isn’t a good feeling.”
As chairman Kyrk Macmillan revealed in his excellent update this week, there had since been further complications at home for Wimmer, so while I can understand the disappointment from fans about his sudden departure, family has to come first.
So, thanks for the very brief memories, Michael, but it is time now to move on. My one hope though as the board embark on the recruitment process all over again is that they haven’t been stung by the difficulties Wimmer had as a foreign coach in Scotland and are subsequently discouraged from going down that road again.
There are some decent Scottish candidates for the position, of course. Robbie Nielson, for instance, couldn’t have made it much more obvious that he was interested in the role supposing he turned up outside Fir Park with John Spencer’s old ‘Gizza job’ T-shirt on.
And his record is more than decent, albeit his stats do benefit from three seasons managing Hearts and Dundee United in The Championship.
But the best man available for the job is the best man for the job, no matter where he may be from.
The extension of the season ticket deadline hints that the club recognise many fans are hedging their bets on committing to the big up-front outlay before knowing what it is they are signing up for.
Wimmer was a refreshing appointment and was exactly what was needed at the time to provide a contrast to the style that had grown rather stale under predecessor Stuart Kettlewell. You only have to witness the reaction of the Kilmarnock support to Kettlewell's appointment at Rugby Park this week to see that while he will likely do a decent enough job there (as he did at Fir Park, incidentally), that it hasn’t exactly sent pulses racing.
This is anecdotal, but for many fans I speak to now, Motherwell just keeping their heads above water in the Premiership by any means necessary isn’t really cutting it anymore. Survival is always the priority, but there has to be some excitement somewhere along the way to stave off apathy.
Let’s hope that’s the case, and the sooner the better. There are still some player contracts to be sorted out (or not, as the case may be), and hopefully a good chunk of change courtesy of Lennon Miller to be invested in adding some quality to the squad.
This can still be an exciting summer for Motherwell, but that will rest on the board and what is a big call for them to make in the coming days.
