STEPHEN McManus last night described criticism of Motherwell’s playing style as “disappointing” and insisted they would once again prove what a good footballing side they were in the Betfred Cup final against his former club Celtic.
The Fir Park club were branded a dirty team by many in Scottish football in the wake of their 2-0 win over Rangers – whose centre half Fabio Cardoso ended up with a broken nose – in the semi-final last month.
Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, was particularly vocal afterwards and claimed that Stephen Robinson’s men had “endangered players’ lives and careers” with their “constant physical challenges”.
However, McManus, the former Celtic captain who is now a key member of Robinson’s backroom team, believes the condemnation was wholly unjustified and is confident that Motherwell will show that at Hampden this Sunday.
“A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon,” he said. “What certain people have said after certain games has been disappointing. But our players just get on with it and play.
“We play a certain way and it’s a way that suits us. It is ideal for the players the manager has recruited. It is a physical game. But we can play the ball about when we need to. We are not just a direct long ball team.
“You don’t beat good sides just by being physical. If that was the case we wouldn’t have had the results we have had (Motherwell have defeated Aberdeen twice this season as well as Rangers this season). We have got players up top who can finish off, we have two guys (Ryan Bowman and Louis Moult) who can score goals, who can convert the chances.”
Celtic are on a record-breaking 64 game unbeaten run domestically at the moment and are the strong favourites to beat Motherwell – who they will face three times in the space of six days – and retain their trophy this weekend.
But McManus revealed that Robinson’s men are content being underdogs. “Our players are in a good place right now,” he said. “They know they can play well whenever they take to the field whoever they are up against. Nobody expects us to get a result. That suits us. Every player and every member of the coaching staff believes we win the game on Sunday.
“When the whistle goes we always believe we can win. We are full of confidence at the moment. It is important that in a one-off game we don’t have any regrets at the end of the 90 minutes. We will certainly be well prepared because of what the manager and the staff have been working on.”
Louis Moult, who scored both goals in the semi-final win over Rangers and whose double against Aberdeen at Pittodrie last weekend took his tally for the season to 14, is the undoubted star in the Motherwell team.
McManus believes it is the the English forward’s desire to succeed which makes him such a dangerous proposition for opposition defences.
“I trained with Moulty every day for a couple of years,” he said. “He is an instinctive goalscorer, a real penalty box striker. But he has this hunger, drive, determination, call it what you will, to make the most of the opportunity he has. He has had setbacks earlier in his career and he doesn’t want to go back to that level.”
But the 35-year-old, who lifted the League Cup twice as a player, including as captain in 2009, during his time at Celtic, has stressed that Motherwell are much more than a one man team
“There is a real togetherness in this group,” he said. “Motherwell is not just about Louis Moult. Moulty gets the headlines. It is a collective unit that works extremely hard.”
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