Well adjusted

MAYBE STEPHEN Hughes's passport showed the wrong nationality. Perhaps his Lithuanian wasn't up to scratch, or there might have been something about him which suggested he wouldn't take kindly to an interfering club owner. Whatever it was that gave Hearts second thoughts about signing Hughes last summer, it was their loss.

While their season is about to dribble away in the graveyard of meaningless bottom six fixtures, Hughes will be at the heart of Motherwell's midfield today as they aim to defeat Celtic for the second consecutive weekend. Doing so would maintain their vibrant prospects of finishing third and playing in Europe for the first time in 13 years.

During last summer's transfer window Hearts contacted Leicester City about taking Hughes back to Scotland two-and-a-half years after he left Rangers. The idea immediately seemed attractive given that Leicester's new manager at the time, Martin Allen, had suddenly decided that someone who had made over 100 appearances was no longer worthy even of a first team squad number.
advertisement

Allen admitted he had never seen him play but his mind was made up. It suited Hughes' wife and young son to come back to Scotland and negotiations proceeded with Hearts. A transfer seemed so likely that at one point Hughes was waiting in the Tynecastle car park for details to be finalised, and then the deal collapsed.

"Hearts offered me something," he said. "Everything seemed near enough completed, and sort of at the last minute they pulled it away from me."

Whenever Motherwell manager Mark McGhee reflects on that episode he can hardly believe his luck. "I think it was as much to do with Hearts and their inability to make a decision at the time, for whatever reason. I think he just tired of waiting for them to make that decision and we benefited from that.

"Stephen has been critical for us this season. Of all the teams that I've had over the years, the best ones have always had a Stephen Hughes type in them. A fulcrum for all the play. He's been pivotal for us in the middle of the park. I don't think it would work unless Stephen was there."

If there were reservations about his physique and presence which prevented him from developing into a major player in his six years at Rangers, the elegance and intelligence of his passing and movement has never been questioned. He remained hopeful of coming back to Scotland after Hearts' offer dissolved and an approach from McGhee became a meeting of minds.

"It was the way he wanted to play football that attracted me. I knew it would suit me. Motherwell were up the top of the league at the time he signed when the season was five games old so that was a big part of it too. He likes to get the ball down and pass it around and that's my strength. I'm delighted about that because I've played in The Championship where a lot of the games aren't like that, they miss the midfield out."

Hughes was excellent in last weekend's 1-0 win at Parkhead, the first time in his career he had been on the winning team against Celtic.

In the middle of the campaign there was the tragedy of losing his midfield partner, Phil O'Donnell, but Hughes has maintained a consistency of performance which has helped propel Motherwell towards the Uefa Cup. They have not appeared in that competition since 1995-96, when Alex McLeish was manager, but to do so next season could have massive advantages.

McGhee has been linked with the vacant job at Hearts and others in England, but Hughes was hopeful that making his European managerial debut with Motherwell next season would be too great a temptation to resist.

"It's a great incentive. I think if we get into Europe the gaffer will stay. When I was at Leicester I thought I'd never play in Europe again. We will be going all out to try and get it. All I'm thinking about is trying to get into the Uefa Cup next season and play in it, nothing beyond that."

Motherwell have seven league games left and four of them are against Celtic or Rangers; today's was originally scheduled to take place on January 6 but was postponed because O'Donnell had died the previous weekend. It has been to the club's credit that they have maintained their challenge after the horrible blow of losing their captain and the nuisance of multiple postponements because of the poor drainage at Fir Park.

The squad went to Malaga for a training camp last week which was described in some newspapers as a "sunshine break". In fact it poured with rain most of the time, but the facilities were excellent and morale was maintained by golf and enthusiastic poker games.

Facing Celtic again means McGhee may heap even more stress on one of his closest friends, Gordon Strachan. Criticism of whom was merciless last week.

"I feel for Gordon. I feel for any manager under that sort of criticism or scrutiny, and even more so because he's a mate. He's got broad shoulders and thick skin. He will take it head on.

"To me it looks like the deed is done; it looks as though Rangers are going to win the league. But if we were to win again on Sunday, or they weren't to beat us, it would just give people the opportunity to crank it up a wee bit.

"It's not easy to block out fans' criticism. Regardless of how we display it most managers have got some sort of ego where they need reassurance and need to be loved. It's a difficult job when you don't feel that. After all, you are there to work for the fans, get results and make them happy.

"Gordon will eventually leave Celtic whether it's this year, next year or whenever. When the Celtic board then goes to interview their next manager, if he says this is what I can guarantee you', and it's the same as Gordon's record then, I would bet that would be the manager they would employ. That speaks for itself."

Others would have basked in the satisfaction of coming away from Parkhead with a win, but McGhee was critical both of his players and the consequences of his own tactical changes. They have played a bright 4-3-3 for much of the season but withdrew to 4-5-1 and that led to an uncertainty which was disguised by Simon Lappin's goal.

McGhee will not play the same system again today, when he will have to do without David Clarkson and Bob Malcolm because of suspension. "I hope the result is the same but I'd like the performance to be a bit better. I don't think we deserved any more credit than we got last week. We played 4-5-1 and got it all wrong. It was only when we changed it that we did alright. I don't think we deserved any song and dance about the result. I would hope for better on Sunday.

"There was a danger the players would kid themselves on when we scored last week. It wasn't their fault, we put them out in a 4-5-1, but I was frustrated by our performance. The goal didn't suddenly wash all those problems away. Bob Malcolm came over to me at that point and I said to him make sure the guys aren't kidding themselves on, we're rubbish, even if we're winning 1-0'.

"But we have played some great football this season and had some great individual performances. Given all the other stuff that's gone on it would be satisfying for us if we could see it through and finish third. It would be as though we did it despite everything."

Taken from the Sunday Herald