EVEN by football’s breathless nature, the pace with which the mood music has shifted at Fir Park has been like someone knocked a needle off the record.
Now sitting pretty in the Premiership’s European places, it’s hard to believe this is the same team dumped out of continental competition in such embarrassing fashion that it was touch and go whether or not they’d be welcome in Lanarkshire again.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks and they seem a different beast entirely. Gone is Graham Alexander and in his place stands Stevie Hammell, a man so cut from Motherwell cloth he makes Tam Cowan look like he was born in Airdrie. Crucially, Well’s post-war record appearance holder is also getting a much happier tune out of the side.
Saturday’s arduous win over Livingston – courtesy of Kevin van Veen’s second-half penalty – made it two from two, and out of nothing the Steelmen are looking up again. Something not lost on the match winner.
“It’s such a big difference,” Van Veen said. “A lot happened at the club. Everybody has seen it.
“There’s been a lot of changes. The mood was not good. We let ourselves down in a game that everyone was looking forward to but to come back and get nine points is great.
“And we shouldn’t have lost to St Johnstone. We should be unbeaten this season. But it’s a massive positive after the hit we took at the start of the season. We have massive character in this group.
“We showed it last season as well. Hopefully we can keep it up. It’s very enjoyable at the moment.”
During Alexander’s final days, there was a sense that Motherwell were only delaying the inevitable, such had been their wretched form for much of 2022. Sligo Rovers was the nadir. But Hammell, a Hall of Fame member, appears to just ‘get it’ and Van Veen was
effusive in his praise for the new manager.
“He’s given us a fresh wind,” Van Veen, whose penalty was his third goal in four games, said. “He’s very positive. His style of play is to take responsibility on the ball.
“Don’t hide. Try to play football. He was a good player himself and he really wants us to play football and you could see in the second half we played football and broke them down.
“It could have been 2-0 or even 3-0 if we were not sloppy in the final third. But he’s made a massive difference with a fresh wind and positivity. There’s a good buzz around the club at the moment and hopefully that continues next week.”
Of his own form, van Veen added: “I’m happy to score three goals in four games. It’s three decisive goals from my end but I still think I can improve. I thought last year I was a lot better than I am at this very moment.
“I am not there yet. I’ve got a lot more to give and I’m striving to get better and better every week. I’m slowly getting there.”
While Saturday kept the good times rolling for Motherwell, it was a bump in the road for Livingston. After impressive wins over Hibernian and Dundee United, the Lions never looked like laying a glove on their hosts.
Manager David Martindale had suggested there was an air of his side rocking up to Lanarkshire and thinking the three points were already in the bag, albeit he was – with some justification – unhappy about the decision to award the decisive spot kick for a handball by Cristian Montano.
For Jason Holt, their effervescent midfielder, it was a disappointing day at the office – and one he knows they’ll have to bounce back from quickly.
When asked what was behind the poor performance, Holt said: “Nothing you can put your finger on. Not one player gets pass marks and we were well below the levels we have set in recent weeks. That’s the most disappointing thing.
“We’ll look at it, see what we can do better - which is a lot - and put it behind us. We want to put it right and go and impose ourselves next week.”
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