In December 2009, Motherwell appointed Craig Brown as their new manager. He was replacing Jim Gannon, the former (and now again) Stockport County manager, whose appointment had gone badly wrong. Gannon had enjoyed a good start to his career in Scotland, guiding Motherwell through two Europa League ties before losing to Steaua Bucharest, and winning manager of the month in October, he was apparently less than committed to Motherwell, and had a public falling out with club captain Stephen Craigan.
It was Brown’s first manager’s job since leaving Preston in 2004, but he and assistant Archie Knox helped the club to a top 6 finish in the SPL. Under Brown Motherwell had a decent start to their league campaign last season too, but when Aberdeen sacked Mark McGhee in December, they set their sights on Brown. Brown was working at Motherwell without a contract, and although he rejected Aberdeen’s first approach, he changed his mind when they offered it to him again, and he left on December 10th after less than a year in charge.
Stuart McCall had been managing Bradford City until February 2010, when he left after mutual consent after failing to guide the club to promotion from League Two during three seasons with the club where he started his career. When Brown left Motherwell, McCall was amongst a number of candidates to interview for the vacant position, before being hired by chairman John Boyle on December 30th. He didn’t get off to a great start back in Scotland, with Motherwell winning just one of his first 7 league games, but Motherwell did beat Dundee, Stranraer, Dundee United and St. Johnstone to reach the Scottish Cup final, their first since winning it in 1991.
Although Motherwell finished the first part of the SPL season in the top 6, their post-split results actually left them with fewer points than Kilmarnock, who finished on 53 points, but were still classified 7th despite finishing with more points than Motherwell AND Inverness Caley Thistle (such are the wonders of the SPL season). They faced Celtic in the Scottish Cup final, but were comfortably beaten 3-0.
Motherwell got off to a flying start this season, winning 4 of their first 6 games, and were joint top with Celtic before losing heavily at Parkhead in September. They did suffer early exits in the League and Scottish Cups this season, but when they faced Celtic in November at Fir Park, they were still splitting the Old Firm clubs in the SPL, with Rangers top and Celtic in third. Celtic won 2-1, but Motherwell responded by going four games without defeat before losing to Hearts and Rangers either side of Christmas.
They started to drop behind leaders Celtic and Rangers before Rangers went into administration in February. Suddenly there were just a few points between Motherwell and second place in the SPL, a position they hadn’t finished in since the 1994-95 season under Alex McLeish. They won four of their next 5 league games and when they faced Rangers on March 31st, there was just three points between the clubs. But a late Lee McCulloch goal gave Rangers a 2-1 victory, and Motherwell were left looking over their shoulders as Dundee United, Hearts and St. Johnstone all still had enough points to play for to catch Motherwell in 3rd.
But McCall’s side have rallied post-split, and although they lost the first game to Celtic, they hammered St. Johnstone 5-1 at the weekend, before beating Hearts 1-0 in Edinburgh on Tuesday. The next day Rangers cruised to a 5-0 win over Dundee United, confirming Motherwell would finish the season in third place.
But this season, a third place finish in the SPL offers a unique opportunity for next season; Champions League football. With Rangers still in administration, they will not be allowed to play in Europe, putting Motherwell into the qualifying rounds for the 2012-13 season. They’ll become just the fourth SPL club to compete in the Champions League at any stage (after Celtic, Rangers and Hearts), and while they could face an extremely tough draw, it will be a unique experience for Motherwell supporters.
Stuart McCall should be a strong candidate for manager of the year awards, having done an excellent job on a limited budget, and bringing European football back to Motherwell.
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