Stuart McCall is targeting another strong league campaign as ‘Well prepare to get the 2014/15 SPFL Premiership season underway tomorrow.
The former Scotland midfielder has guided the Steelmen to a Scottish Cup final and three consecutive ‘Best of the Rest’ finishes in his three and a half years in charge, but finds his team written off by most commentators.
It’s a familiar theme, it was the same last year when seven first-team stars headed for exit door only for the re-shaped team to set a new post-war points record in securing a second consecutive runners-up spot with a last-gasp win at Aberdeen.
Despite only a couple of players leaving this year and the prospect of new faces still to arrive, many expect the Motherwell bubble has burst.
However, McCall insists the joy of securing second spot last year can motivate both the management staff and players in what is certain to be an ultra competitive top league.
[pullquote]There will be challenges, there will be ups and downs. There’s no doubt, just like we did last year, we’ll have some massive blips and bad results and fans will say they’re not going back again, but if we can maintain the consistency and keep bouncing back, then that’s what we’ll try to do.[/pullquote]
Speaking to the broadcast press at Motherwell’s pre-St Mirren news conference, McCall said: “We are very much looking forward to the new season.
“We need to start on the front-foot and put the disappointment of the European defeat firmly behind us which we obviously didn’t go the we wanted or hoped for.
“That’s all gone, it’s in the past now and all our focus is on the league season and St Mirren on the opening day.
“People always say ‘what can you do next? You have been there a long while’. You only have to look back at the last minute of last season. That’s what I’m in football for.
“All right, we didn’t win a trophy or do anything outstandingly spectacular, but the enjoyment for the group of players that had produced what they had to get to 70 points and finish second, that’s why we’re in the game.
“There will be challenges, there will be ups and downs. There’s no doubt, just like we did last year, we’ll have some massive blips and bad results and fans will say they’re not going back again, but if we can maintain the consistency and keep bouncing back, then that’s what we’ll try to do.”