It’s been almost a year since Jordan McGhee signed a pre-contract with Motherwell ahead of the 2025/26 season. Having put pen to paper on a deal, McGhee was excited for the next chapter in his career and was ready to pull on the claret and amber for the new season.
But what followed was a chain of events that led to McGhee being sidelined and unable to make his debut for his new club. He suffered a gruelling six months that took its toll on the 29-year-old. But staying strong and determined during the dark, lonely mornings in the gym by himself as his teammates were catching the eye of everyone in Scotland for their impressive displays, he fought to come back stronger than he was before.
Finally, his moment and reward arrived against Hibernian when he was able to come on as a substitute and register his first appearance for the club.
“It was an amazing moment, obviously,” he smiled.
“Obviously, it hasn’t been an ideal start to my career here at Motherwell, and it’s not gone how I’d have wanted it to so far, but I worked hard, and I just want to thank everyone in the club from top to bottom for being there for me and supporting me.
“That includes physios, coaches, manager and then obviously the players have been top class with me. They’ve all been understanding. Hopefully this is me over it all, and I can kick on from here.
“It’s probably been the worst six months of my life. I picked up the first injury and then lost two people in my family within the same week. Then, I got back and then needed to get surgery on a new injury. It’s been rough, but with the team doing so well on the pitch, it takes a bit of the darkness away. You’re coming into training, and everyone has a smile on their face, and you’re in a really good changing room, so it helps out a lot.
“I’ve got a great family at home with great friends, and I can rely on them all. It’s the same for every player; if you don’t have that strong network around you, it can be a dark place, and that’s why when it’s boys that are coming up from England or further, it’s imperative you make them feel welcomed because they may not have that strong group of people around them.
“I’ve had the same friends since I was young, and it’s something I’ve used throughout the low points in my career, as well as the high.”
Things looked a bit different at Fir Park when McGhee signed his pre-contract. Stuart Kettlewell was manager, St Johnstone had just knocked the Steelmen out of the Scottish Cup, injuries were plaguing the squad and results were proving difficult to come by.
Between January and the end of the season, Kettlewell would depart the club, and Michael Wimmer would become the new manager and also leave.
“There was a lot of change going on at the club, but it didn’t really faze me because I was always going to have change,” McGhee answered.
“I was coming from Dundee, a place I’d been at for six years and know inside and out. I knew I needed a fresh challenge, and once I knew Motherwell were interested, it was more a case of ‘Let’s get this done straight away.’ I knew all about the club, and I’ve got family who are Motherwell fans and stay in the area. So, it puts a bit more on it for me as well.
“It was always going to be change, and it was something that I was really looking forward to. The Gaffer has got his own style of play that I’m used to coming through at Hearts, so I’m looking forward to getting myself fully fit and keeping buying into his philosophy.”
With those managerial alterations at the club, McGhee was somewhat relieved when he first met Jens Berthel Askou and began to understand what would be expected from him.
But McGhee was always excited about joining the club, no matter who was in charge.
“There’s always the risk when it’s a new manager coming in, but my pre-contract was more of a club thing, really,” he explained.
“I knew this was the correct place for me to sort of develop as a player. I felt I could use my experience to benefit the club, and my playing style would suit the team. I spoke with the last two managers, and both came across really well, and then the gaffer came in. Everyone hit it off with him straight away, and it’s made it easy to buy into his philosophies, and we’re reaping the rewards on the pitch.
“I had initial conversations with Brian [Caldwell] about coming to Motherwell. The plans for the club were explained to me, and you can see that coming to fruition with the things going on off the field, and it’s something I buy into. Giving back to the community is important, and me being from the area, I know the history here. There’s always someone worse off than you, and this club is good at giving those the helping hand they need.”
Now back playing, the focus turns to the of the Scottish Cup and league campaigns for Motherwell, and McGhee is looking for a second cup run this season due to his absence for the semi-final match against St Mirren in November.
“The Premier Sports Cup campaign was great for the club, but it was horrible for me, I won’t lie,” McGhee added.
“I’ve been in quarter-finals numerous times in my career and then have been drawn against the Old Firm and then didn’t make it through. But it was a dark time for me, as I wasn’t back from injury, but to see the boys, the staff and the fans all putting in so much effort to get there was brilliant, and hopefully we create those memories again, and I can be a part of it and go another step further.
“Motherwell have had a good record in the cup competitions in recent seasons. Why can’t we do it again? Let’s go out there and create more memories. Ross County are a good team, and I watched their game last Friday night. League position may suggest that they aren’t doing the best this season, but the squad is competitive, and you can see they’ll be up for the fight.
“We’ll take this game like we do all games and go in looking to give it everything. It’s a game we need to win if we want to get into the next round, but they have some really good players and got a new manager bounce last week, so we need to keep doing what we’re doing and prepare properly mentally and physically, and hopefully we can get the job done.
“Your aim is to win the game no matter what competition it is; it can be friendly, cup or league. There’s no fallback for these games; it’s not something we can fix the following week, so it’s do or die in these types of matches. Everyone in this squad has that competitive streak in them, so no matter what game it is, we want to win.”
With his eyes firmly fixed on kicking on for the remainder of the campaign, McGhee feels that having watched every match in the stand so far, he has a strong understanding of the system and feels he will be able to add to the squad.
Familiar with a possession-based approach from his days at Hearts early in his career, the utility man is ready to get stuck right into the action.
“I grew up at Hearts, and our youth team manager at the time placed a lot of emphasis on not playing long balls and playing out from the back,” McGhee explained.
“Obviously came through the Scotland ranks too, playing games against European sides that try to play the way we play, so I’ve played centre-back in this style and have since played full-back and midfield. I don’t necessarily see myself in a single position; I’ll do the job wherever the manager needs me. As the weeks go by, the manager and I will end up working out where I’m needed most, but I’d imagine it’ll probably change week to week.
“I’m happy to play anywhere for this club, and I’ll give my all. The style is a big jump from what the club has been used to, but the way the manager came in, he produced presentations and adapted training to help us. It’s not a surprise it’s clicked this early because of that. Everyone goes out on a Saturday and knows exactly what they’re doing. Nothing has really changed since day one; he set out his stall, and that’s what we’ve stuck with to this point. Everyone at the club bought into it.
“We need to make sure we’re on it for the rest of the season to keep things moving forward.”
