Stephen Welsh’s deadline day move to Motherwell was met with delight and excitement from the Motherwell fans. The 25-year-old Celtic defender arrived in North Lanarkshire with experience of playing with the Scottish Champions, winning trophies and ample experience on the big stage.
With a new style, Welsh’s upbringing in the Celtic academy has probably prepared the defender for the possession-based football the Steelmen currently play. And as we move into January, Welsh looks back fondly on his time at Motherwell so far.
“I saw the plan and vision the manager had,” Stephen Welsh explained.
“He explained it all to me in our first conversations, and when you look at the quality on the pitch and the good guys we have in the dressing room, it’s not really a surprise to see it’s working so far.
“I think we’re fully deserving of our league position. The club didn’t get top-six the last couple of seasons; right now we’re on track for that, but we’re not really looking behind us or anything. It’s just looking to see how many points we can get and see how far we go.”
Having played over 60 games for Celtic and scoring his first professional goal against Motherwell, Welsh is more than familiar with the Scottish football landscape, with perceptions and expectations for every Scottish club. So does it surprise him to see Motherwell picking up so many positive results, clean sheets and points, playing the way they do?
“It’s maybe a little bit surprising, but when you have a manager and coaches that implement style and get it over to the players in the right way, you can see how good it is,” the defender stated.
“You can see a few teams in the league struggle, maybe because they don’t have a proper style or way of playing. What the manager and coaches have done is they laid it out to the players; everyone knows exactly what we’re doing. Every single player in every position knows exactly what they should be doing.
“Honestly, if you put a forward player back one position, they would know exactly what they’re doing because we all work together every day. So, you could say there’s maybe a bit of surprise about our league position, but if you’re in the building every day, you’re not surprised. You see training, you watch how hard the boys work and how the manager operates, and it’s just worked.
“It’s been a great few months for me. I’ve loved every minute of it, and I hope it continues. The manager said he signed me because I’ve played this way ever since I was a young boy. I was told when I was young that I needed to play on the halfway line and that I needed to be good on the ball. If you’re not good on the ball, you’re not going to play for Celtic. I feel I’ve managed to bring that into the team.
“We need to be good on the ball, and we need to be brave, and having midfielders like Elliot [Watt], Lukas [Fadinger] and Oscar [Priestman], they always want to be on the ball, which is a dream for a centre-back. But also, the boys around us centre-backs, the full-backs and also Liam [Gordon] and Paul [McGinn] – have been outstanding. They’re probably not as used to being on the ball because they’ve maybe not played this way before.
“You need a manager who is going to come in and implement a style and ensure everyone knows their roles. I always think it’s a bit of a myth in Scottish football that Scottish centre-halves can’t play this way. But see, if they’re coached in a certain way, they absolutely can. We’ve got the forward players who can hurt teams; we’re just missing a few goals just now. That’s all we’re needing; Apostolos [Stamatelopoulos] and Callum [Hendry] have been magnificent for us.
“I’m sure come the second half of the season, their luck will change because we’ve had so many chances. I’d be worried if they weren’t getting any chances. We’re coming in after a game, and Callum and Apostolos are saying they should have scored a couple each! It’s a good sign, and I can see it every day in training; they’ll come good.”
Whilst the demands and expectations weigh heavy on the players individually, their spot in the starting 11 is never guaranteed due to strength and depth within the team.
“We’ve got boys on the bench that’ll come on and change a game,” Welsh added.
“It’s about competition, but it’s also a bit of security. You know that if one of the boys doesn’t have a good game, on the 60th minute someone will come on and change the game. You can see the depth we’ve got, but that comes from the training every day. The boys coming on know exactly the way we want to play, and it can only be a good thing to have the competition. Your position is never secure.”
Welsh arrived on deadline day on a loan deal until the end of the season. And every Motherwell supporter can see the desire and determination from Welsh to influence games in a positive way. The old cliché tells us to never fall in love with a loan player.
But when the defender is a consistent performer, it’s hard not to appreciate him. The interesting thing is, Welsh is also feeling the love for his temporary home.
“I’ve loved every minute so far,” he smiled.
“What helps is you’ve got a good football team, but we’ve got good people around the club too. Outside of training, it’s a great group of people I work with. They all bring positive things to the team, and I think everyone could think of a player who joins on loan and maybe doesn’t give it 100%.
“That simply wouldn’t stand in this changing room. You won’t play, you won’t be involved in matches, and it should be like that. You have to work hard, and that’s how it should be. The football has been great, but it starts with being good mates. On the pitch, you’ll help each other out, and off the pitch, you’re friends.
“The last 12 months have been really good for me. 2024 was a tough year because when you’re not fancied by a manager, it’s not easy. You come into training every day, work hard and nothing happens. There’s not much you can do. I was over in Belgium earlier in the year, and it was similar to here. When I was in there, it didn’t feel like a loan move.
“There were a lot of English-speaking players, which helped, and I was open to going back again because I loved it there. But the manager here phoned me a couple of times, and I understood what the plan was here. At the time, the team just drew every match. And I watched the games back, and I couldn’t believe they hadn’t won a game. I honestly thought they should’ve been right at the top of the table at that point.
“But that’s the level of this league. I think it gets looked down upon, to be honest; every team has got something. We struggled away to Livingston, for example. We managed to get a last-minute winner, but it was anything but easy.”
With over 65 games in a Celtic jersey, numerous pieces of silverware to his name and international experience with the Scotland youth sides, the 25-year-old may be one of the more experienced players in the setup. Despite his age, the defender has endured the highs and lows of football, and that experience could be invaluable when it comes to working with younger players.
“We’ve got some young boys in the squad, so I feel old for sure,” he laughed.
“I think the experienced boys really help. We’ve got McGinn, Gordon and O’Donnell, who play big roles in the dressing room. They’re proper leaders. You’ve got the young, hungry lads, but you’ve got the experienced heads too. The boys are on each other every day in training, which can only be a good thing.
“As long as you listen, especially to the senior players and coaching staff, it’s a massive positive. In the last 10 or 11 games, we’ve been on a good run. But where I come from, and the club I come from, it’s not a good run. It’s the standard. That’s how we should be looking at it.
“We shouldn’t be looking at games thinking we can maybe pick up some points. The next game, we need to win this game. That’s the pressure that comes with that. I know how it feels to go on these runs and go ten or 15 games unbeaten and be up at the top of the table. It’s good to have that experience in the team, and I’ve won some things. That’s the standard for us; it’s not just a good run.
“My target is to keep training every day, preparing for the next game and working towards our next target as a team. You could probably look at the points we had last season; we’re looking to reach that and keep going. I feel like we’ve played the teams ahead of us in the table and deserved more points than we got.
“I firmly believe we’re one of the best teams in this league. We play the best football, we’ve got the best coach and the best defensive structure. We had a good clean sheet run, so it’s not just a myth about our structure. It’s not just luck; it’s by design. That’s the standard now; we need to get better than where we are and look forward.”
