McCall started his reign at Hamilton for the Ne’erday game. Despite the winter weather he stood in the technical area in shorts. He could not have been impressed with the dull goalless draw but he would have been heartened the following weekend when we overcame a Dundee in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Our league form had slumped and only one win (2-0 v Hibs) broke the gloom of eleven games from mid-November till the start of February. It was only the weak challenge from our competitors that kept us in the hunt for the profitable top six finish that seems to be the limit of our SPL hopes. When we lost to St Johnstone then Kilmarnock on consecutive Wednesdays the table has us in eigth place.
Motherwell’s first trip to Hampden was in the CIS semi final. Messrs Brown and Knox had got us there and later they were to start proceedings to recover what they claimed was an agreed bonus but that does detract from the fine performance the team delivered for around 5,000 ‘Well fans who saw us lose 2-1 to Rangers. Keith Lasley scored an equaliser to offer some resistance but there was to be no final appearance in that competition. A routine win at Stranraer delivered us into the quarters of the ‘big’ cup.
We had to endure a 6-0 thrashing at Ibrox before the corner was turned. Three wins in four games moved us to fifth by the end of February. Among them was a 2-0 sweet victory over Brown’s struggling Aberdeen side and a joyous crushing of Celtic at Fir Park.
February 2011 included a significant moment off the park. At the AGM John Boyle released a personal statement indicating that he was to stand down. His shares were to be passed to the club and the intention was to set up a community owned enterprise to run MFC. All Motherwell fans recognise the contribution he made to the club.
The win over Celtic saw the emergence of a John Sutton purple patch. He scored six in as many games including two against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter final. That forced a replay under the Fir Park floodlights when 8,337 turned out to see us brush them aside and march into the semi final against St Johnstone.
Home wins against Aberdeen and Dundee United (for the fourth time at Fir Park) had us in confident mood for our second trip to Hampden. Humphrey and Murphy had developed into feared attacking threats and with a confident central pairing of Craigan and Hutchison expectation was high. The team did not disappoint and by half time we were 3-0 up. A rare Craigan goal set us on the way.
We started the post-split fixtures at Tynecastle where we came from three behind to grab a point with an exciting fight back. Sutton caught Jeffries’ eye with a double (his last goals in claret and amber) and by the end of May he had joined the Jambos.
The SPL season petered out with little drama. McCall rotated the squad with all energy focussed on the Scottish Cup Final on 21 May. Motherwell town centre was kitted out in team colours with bunting and window displays. We sold out 17,000 our allocation of tickets and turned up to a rainy National Stadium to face Celtic. Our best chance came when a Gunning rocket rebounded off the bar but we never looked like wining the game. The twenty year wait had come and gone – when will the have another chance?
The loss in the final meant that there would be no entry to the Europa League but the season has to be recognised as a success. Six European games, a league finish in the top half, a CIS semi final and runners up in the Scottish Cup amounts to a decent showing for Motherwell. Can we improve on that in 2011/12?