Stephen O’Donnell hopes for a fresh start under the next Motherwell manager – as he opened up on his fallout with former boss Graham Alexander.
And the Scotland right-back reckons bringing in reinforcements at Fir Park is more important than rushing into appointing a successor.
O’Donnell made his first start this season during Saturday’s defeat by St Johnstone, with caretaker boss Steven Hammell giving him the nod in an unfamiliar left-back role after a tough summer.
He’s barely had a look-in of late and was stripped of the captaincy at the start of the season.
O’Donnell saw the armband handed to keeper Liam Kelly amid a disagreement with Alexander, who was sacked by the Steelmen in the aftermath of the club’s embarrassing Europa Conference League exit to Sligo Rovers last month.
He now hopes for a clean slate under the next gaffer, whether that be Hammell or someone else.
But he believes the most crucial element for Motherwell is strengthening the squad, which would get a frustrated fan base back on side having become tired of Alexander’s tactics during a run of five wins in 23 before his exit.
O’Donnell, who has 26 caps, said: “Reinforcements are more important than the manager.
"What we’ve worked on last week with Stevie, there’s been a lot of positives.
“The manager isn’t essential, it would be nice as you want clarity. The manager right now is doing a good job and there’s no immediate rush.
“If the board want to get someone in soon, then great. I think Stevie would like it full-time. But the recruitment is probably more important right now. You can sign good players if you have a style of play.
“The fans weren’t happy with the previous style and if you want to change that you need to bring in players who fit a profile.
“We all want to get our heads down, work hard, training is good and everyone is enjoying it and we want to put in better performances than we did against St Johnstone.”
On his rift with Alexander, he added: “It’s not that important if I am captain or not.
“I had a discussion with the previous manager about it. I wasn’t happy and neither was he, that’s what happens.
“What hurts is maybe he was right.That’s football, I work hard and I was waiting for an opportunity to do well under him and didn’t get it.
"Now I hope to get a chance under whoever the next permanent manager is.
“You have tough spells in your career where you disagree with people. You have to carry yourself in a professional manner and I think I’ve done that.
“It’s a fresh start for everyone, not just me. Every manager has players they prefer and ones they dislike.”
It ended up being a losing return for O’Donnell, who thought he had played a hand in earning his side a point. His stoppage-time glancing header was knocked on by Sondre Solholm-Johansen and was turned into the net by Saints’ Graham Carey, cancelling out Jamie Murphy’s 28th-minute opener for the visitors.
But more drama followed when Carey knocked the ball across goal and over O’Donnell’s reach for Stevie May to pop up and poke home the winner for Saints.
That sickening blow inflicted a first defeat on Hammell following last week’s gutsy 1-0 win with 10-men at St Mirren.
And O’Donnell warned they need to cut out sloppy defending if they want to have a positive season under a new boss.
He said: “As a team we need to have a hard look at ourselves and make sure we want to be footballers and do the basics right.
“We should be able to see out three minutes of the game at 1-1. That’s not good enough, it’s a cheap corner to give away and we don’t pick up after it is cleared.
“It’s the basics. So it is two easy goals and it is criminal.
"If we keep defending like that, no matter who is in charge, it’ll be a very long season.”
Motherwell chiefs are expected to meet this week to discuss the next managerial appointment, with the potential of having a new boss in place for Saturday’s trip to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen.
And O’Donnell says there is plenty of backing for current academy chief Hammell and his assistant Brian Kerr.
“It’s nothing to do with the players who is appointed the manager, but I think what you saw in the second half, outside the poor goal, is we want to do well for the manager,” he said.
“No one didn’t not want to do well for the last manager, but sometimes football doesn’t always reflect how you are feeling.
“We should have got something from the game and we should have certainly performed better.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
