THE Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson isn’t worried about his
side being written off ahead of their visit to Ibrox tomorrow, because he
has been proving people wrong his entire career.
And, although he knows that everyone will be expecting a heavy defeat for his men as they take on Pedro Caixinha’s Rangers outfit, he is taking heart from recent history.
Robinson was assistant manager to Ian Baraclough when Motherwell went to Govan as underdogs in the Premiership play-off in 2015.
What followed, of course, was a remarkable upset as the Fir Park outfit comprehensively defeated Rangers in both legs to maintain their top-flight status.
But that wasn’t Robinson’s first taste of proving the naysayers wrong after relishing the opportunity to upset the odds throughout his coaching and playing career, and he is trying to impress a similar mentality onto his men.
“Proving people wrong is lovely,” Robinson said. “That’s something I’ve been doing my whole career as a footballer and in management –coaching with Northern Ireland as well – we were always underdogs.
“I don’t mind being the underdog. At clubs like Bournemouth and Luton, you’re either in administration or you’re fighting against money problems.
“At Luton we got two promotions and were sitting top of the Championship.With Northern Ireland we got to the last 16 of the Euros with 35 professional players and only four of them in the Premier League. So, whether I’ve been coaching or playing, it’s always been the same.
“I would put Motherwell in that category. We’re a very good club with a great history, but financially we’re not one of the big boys and you’re constantly fighting against that. But I enjoy that and it’s definitely more satisfying when it comes off.
“We’re on a lower budget but we’ve got good people and there are people here doing two or three jobs at a time. So, when you’re successful, you’re all successful. There’s no distance between the first team and the Under-20s or the people who clean the offices. Everyone is together here. So, when we get a little bit of success, we all enjoy it. When you don’t, it hurts everyone.”
Robinson is hoping that the similarity between everyone dismissing their chances in that play-off and again in this encounter will urge his players to use that as motivation.
“I think being written off [in the play-offs] worked in our favour,” he said..
“We weren’t even there according to most of the press and it was just an automatic promotion.
“But we used that to our advantage and we went out to prove people wrong. It’s similar circumstances because people expect us to go and get beaten, and probably get beaten heavily.”
“We had a long time to prepare for it and the message was the same – we have to believe.
“We’ve got players here who I believe could get in the Rangers team. There are a lot of boys still here who were involved in that play-off.
“I know they believe in what we’re doing, and we’ll go there organised and with a positive mind-set.”
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