GLF78 - Derek is impressed!
Stuart McCall Football God
The closing of the transfer window is supposed to be an exciting time but for Motherwell fans the whole experience was voyeuristic at best this time. While we had the usual thrills of watching other clubs scramble around in a panic, we could settle back and relax knowing the business at Fir Park was taken care of some time ago. A place for everything and everything in its place. Stuart McCall knows.
The manager and those at the club had indicated we would have room for a couple of more players a few weeks ago and we just went out and got them. Okay, the signing of Omar Daley was by its very nature a slightly longer process (assuming it’s not gone horribly wrong!) due to work permit issues but the way we moved for Tim Clancy is exactly how these things should be done. The injury to Steven Saunders left us short at the back so almost immediately we move for further cover . A new player, who can cover any position in the back four arrives, and Stuart McCall even has the satisfaction of having wheedled the board into enough funds for a permanent signing rather than a loan move. Happy day.
Because while the Sky Sports and Guardian blog-inspired excitement is thrilling, the managers involved in such frantic activity are only doing so because they are in trouble. Arsene Wenger has been linked to Per Mertesacker – at least in the German press – for 18 months yet still ends up buying him in a rush after a humiliating result. Eighteen months! Either Mertesacker still could not convince his new employer he was worth buying, for a relatively modest fee for a German international with close on 80 caps, or Wenger no longer trusted his own judgement in spending money. Whatever the case no one at the Emirates will be full of confidence in either party.
So while Motherwell fans may have wished for a dramatic last second move, our lack of need for such action shows that we are on the right course. Stuart McCall, just as he has his couple of routine tactical systems, had everything in place well before the Sky Sports countdown ticker appeared on his television. Managers often comment that they operate in a 24 hour job and are never off call. However, Stuart McCall does not seem like someone who struggles to sleep at night. Everything is in its place, for now anyway. And long may it continue.
Derek Wilson
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