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.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece in this newsletter pleading for patience from the support with the new style being implemented by Jens Berthel Askou, and for my own part, pledged that when I was at the games, I would keep my reflex anxieties about a goalkeeper having the temerity to advance from his box to myself.
At times during the League Cup group games against Clyde and Peterhead that was easier said than done, admittedly, even for someone like me who is all in on the Berthel Askou project. For others, it was clearly too much to ask. Which got me thinking.
Following the game, the comments on social media were pretty much divided into two camps. On the one hand, there were those who were pulling up the moaners and groaners for their lack of faith and patience, and who argued that it was ridiculous to even be hearing boos at this early stage of the season.
On the other, were the confirmed sceptics from within the support and from without, who had been far from impressed by what they had seen so far and were even, in some cases, speculating that Motherwell would struggle in the league this season off the back of the draw with Clyde and the late win over Peterhead.
But to make such snap judgments when those two matches were played out in entirely different conditions (one in suffocating heat on a bone-dry, worn-out monstrosity of a pitch, the other in a monsoon), with a raft of changes between the starting XIs due to the close proximity of the games and a desire to manage workloads, all while those players are still getting to grips with an entirely new way of playing, seems ludicrous.
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Of course, there can be few excuses for failing to beat lower league opposition, and if the Steelmen don't progress into the next round of the tournament, Berthel Askou shouldn’t be immune from criticism. But while the results could have been better and the defending absolutely could, it wasn’t all bad, was it?
In fact, I would argue that on the whole, the new signings have looked promising, and when it has clicked, there has been a tantalising glimpse of what could lie ahead.
Take Emmanuel Longelo’s equaliser against Peterhead. I will add the standard caveat about the level of opposition, granted, but it was a brilliant team goal, and one that exhibited perfectly what it seems to be that the manager is trying to achieve.
The ball was played out short from the keeper (gasp) to Callum Slattery, who threaded a pass through the midfield to Elijah Just on the right, who in turn found Johnny Koutroumbis haring down the outside.
When the full back got his head up, there were four or five Motherwell bodies bursting into the box to aim for, including opposite full back Longelo, who eventually provided the emphatic finish following a flick from the impressive Lukas Fadinger.
It was a beautiful goal and an example of the sort of well-constructed, exciting football that many within the fanbase have been crying out for. I’m sure that even those with misgivings about some of the passing on the edge of the team’s own box would have to concede that the goal wouldn’t have happened had Matty Connelly instead simply shelled it out wide for Just to compete against a defender in the air.
It worked out not too badly for the big Aussie in the end, but it is sometimes airbrushed from history that a sizeable rump of the Celtic support were hugely sceptical about his approach before the players settled into it and the results began to follow.
So, it’s probably something more ingrained into the culture of Scottish football.
Berthel Askou clearly recognised this himself, with a stirring address issued to supporters before Tuesday’s game calling not only for patience, but promising that would be rewarded with a team that can scale new heights and break barriers. The question is, will the fans bend to his way of thinking, or will he inevitably bend to pressure and to Scottish football if things start off poorly results-wise in the league?
When it comes to Motherwell trying something different, my final conclusion is always this – what do we have to lose?
Our Premiership status, the doom-mongers may retort. But that is a risk at the start of every season. Is scrapping to survive no matter how it is done the limit of our ambitions? You pass this way but once.
Another notable aspect of Berthel Askou’s pre-Peterhead rallying cry was that he acknowledged there may be mistakes along the way, but affirmed that he and his players would never waver from the path he has set them on.
A couple of new defenders, and 11 pairs of ear defenders, and his team should do just fine. As the man himself signed off…keep the faith.
