Supporters of the Steelman have had a hard week. Most of us were reassured and content when Craig Brown let it be known on Wednesday that the temptation of a move to Aberdeen was not enough to take him and Archie Knox away from the “exceptional group of players” at Fir Park.
His views were firm enough for the club to issue a statement that drew to a close saying, “both have decided to reject any approach and reiterated their commitment to Motherwell”. No surprise then that we were relieved..
The news that a u-turn was in progress was met with a collective gasp. Brown’s reputation, quite apart from his command of the managerial job, was built on what appeared to be his open and transparent honesty. His affable nature enabled him to communicate easily with press and public and he spoke often of his gratitude that Motherwell had given him a chance to resurrect his career. The decision was made, the lure of a ‘bigger club’ and, no doubt, a much bigger salary, won the day. We’ll be grateful for his work over the past year but sad that the knife was twisted on his departure.
Given all that and the postponement of Motherwell’s game this weekend there was a keen interest from the west of Scotland in the Hearts v Aberdeen game. Brown took his bow and watched his “very fine football club” get thumped 5-0 by Hearts. The Gorgie team are our rivals in the top half of the table and there is little affection for them from Motherwell fans, but on this occasion there was barely concealed delight as Aberdeen fell to the bottom of the table.
We’ll have to hope that Hearts have had their quota of goals for the week as they are due to visit Fir Park on Tuesday.