This is an excerpt from this week's Claret and Amber Alert, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.

It is easy when you sign 17 players in one window for one or two to go under the radar. Particularly when their job is among the less glamorous roles.

He might not catch the eye with skill and pace like Tawanda Maswanhise, but for me, Liam Gordon has been the standout signing of the summer – and perhaps not just for Motherwell, but across the entire Premiership.

The big centre-half has been solid as a rock since his move from St Johnstone, bringing aggression and leadership to the heart of the Motherwell backline.

The Steelmen have conceded just four goals in their five Premiership matches to date, and while Paul McGinn, set-piece carnage causer Dan Casey and Aston Oxborough have all been integral to that new-found solidity, no one has had a greater influence on the improvement at the back than Gordon.

I took my boys up to McDiarmid Park at the weekend, and beyond embarrassing them greatly by losing the run of myself after the injury-time winner, one of the standout features of the afternoon for me was the display of Gordon.

Yes, Motherwell did concede, when Gordon was left with a two-on-one situation and was forced to rather hedge his bets, forcing Benjamin Kimpioka as wide as he possibly could before he got his goalscoring shot away. But over the piece, it was another towering display from the 28-year-old.

The locals must have been wondering just where this Liam Gordon has been for the past year or so. The boyhood Saints fan and cup double-winning hero had rather lost his way in Perth, and it was felt at the time of his departure that a fresh start was probably in the best interests of both the player and the club.

The player has certainly benefitted from the change of scenery, and the Saints’ loss has very much been Motherwell’s gain. He looks a man reborn.

In the air especially, Gordon has dominated his immediate opponent. According to StatsBomb, he wins 5.68 aerial duels on average per game, putting him in the 96th percentile in the division, and wins 76 percent of the aerial duels that he contests.

There may have been some concern that Motherwell would be vulnerable in the air after the departure of Bevis Mugabi, but Gordon comes with all of the aerial attributes that Mugabi possessed, but also brings a level of calmness and assuredness to the backline that Bevis – bless him – absolutely did not.

As I have mentioned in a previous newsletter, manager Stuart Kettlewell had clearly decided to address the defensive issues that plagued Motherwell last season as a priority in the summer, having scored the third most goals in the Premiership but conceded the third most too.

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That had a knock-on effect at the other end, but with some of the attacking recruits now getting up to speed, Maswanhise offering a different dimension out wide and Jack Vale returning to the club, that should hopefully remedy itself in due course.

In the meantime, we can always just rely on set-pieces. With the delivery of Andy Halliday and Lennon Miller and the will to get on the end of the ball from the defenders – particularly danger man Dan – the team are carrying a real threat from dead ball situations, a crucial weapon to have in the arsenal in this league.

It all adds up to a very decent start to the season, with the team sitting in fifth place and having the League Cup quarter final tie against Dundee United to look forward to on a Friday night under the lights at Fir Park.

Before that, once the international break is out of the way, there will be a real test of the team’s credentials when they visit Pittodrie to take on in-form Aberdeen.

The Dons are absolutely flying under new manager Jimmy Thelin and sit joint-top of the table with Celtic after winning all four of their league matches so far, but as Ross County showed last weekend, they are far from infallible.

It took a stunning penalty save from Dimitar Mitov and an even later winner than Motherwell managed against St Johnstone from new arrival Kevin Nisbet to keep the Thelin bandwagon rolling, and it is far from inconceivable that Motherwell could be the ones to bring it to a screeching halt.

To have any chance of doing so, the team are going to need another colossal performance from Gordon and co at the back. But all signs point to him being up to the task.

AND ANOTHER THING…

It would be remiss of me not to give a wee mention to the disgruntled St Johnstone fan who threatened to ram ‘Well TV commentator Luke Irons’s microphone somewhere wholly inappropriate after Moses Ebiye’s late winner on Saturday.

I hope he has since calmed down and is having just as fabulous a week as the Motherwell fans just along from him at the time of his meltdown have been enjoying. Hiya pal!

Glorious scenes all round, and it made the win just that little bit sweeter