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This time last year fans favourite Keith Lasley admits he had grown sick of the club he loves.

The Motherwell midfielder’s relationship with boss Jim Gannon was damaged beyond repair and Lasley was on the verge of quitting the club he loved.

Then Gannon left and Craig Brown was put in charge of the Steelmen.

Overnight, Lasley’s luck changed for the better.

The 31-year-old found himself back in a team that was winning again. Weeks later he signed a new long-term deal and the rest is history.

Lasley recalled: “A year ago I’d had enough. Honestly, I had become so disillusioned with what was happening at the club that I was looking for a move.

“I wasn’t in the manager’s plans and for the sake of my career I had to get out. It would have been a massive wrench to leave Motherwell but I felt I had to.

“It was really getting to me and I felt I had no choice. Luckily for me the management team left and Craig and Archie joined.

“Almost overnight everything changed for the better. Within a wee while I had even signed a new contract. It’s amazing looking back when you realise how quickly things changed for me.”

It’s almost 12 months since Well chairman John Boyle handed the reins to Brown and his No2 Archie Knox.

Seen as a gamble at the time, Lasley reckons there is no reason why the veteran management duo can’t go on for another few years at least.

He added: “I got a feeling straight away with the manager. This time last year this wasn’t a nice place to be.
“The fun had gone out of it and no one was enjoying their football. Craig and Archie changed all that and brought with them so much experience. They got us playing as a team together. It was a shock I suppose that they got the job because Craig had been out of football for a while.

“But when you look at it now it made perfect sense.

“They both have so much experience and it was exactly what we needed. They turned the whole place around. There was a lack of morale around the place and they galvanised the whole club. They got our instant respect. There’s no doubt in my mind they can go on for a few years yet. I certainly hope they do as they’ve been brilliant for me and the club.”

Lasley has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since October, now the weather is stopping him making his first-team return.

He said: “I’m beginning to wonder when it’s going to happen for me. I almost made it back for the Hibs game but I tweaked my hamstring again, as sometimes can happen, and that set me back another couple of weeks.

“Being out injured is not a great feeling at the best of times but I’m fit now and can’t get games.

“There’s nothing that can be done and what it does give me is another couple of weeks to get this sorted. I always try and look at the positives and hopefully long term it will be good for me.”

Lasley’s influence has been hugely missed in Motherwell’s midfield. He’d been playing arguably the best football of his career when injury struck against Dundee United.

“This injury was especially tough to take as I was enjoying my football and the team was playing well,” he said.

“It’s frustrating because I don’t like missing games. When you can’t play your part it does get to you but again I look at the positives. There are a lot of games coming up and I want to make sure I’m back fit and able to do my bit.”

Both home and away tickets are currently on sale from the Fir Park Ticket Office for the Rangers game on Boxing Day (Sunday 26th December).

The last time the Steelmen overcame Rangers was Boxing Day 2002 when a single James McFadden goal gave Terry Butchers’ side all three points.

An omen perhaps; who knows?

‘Well fans will be housed in the Davie Cooper, East and the Central section of the Phil O’Donnell Stand.

Rangers supporters have been allocated the South Stand and, if required, both the North and South wings of the O’Donnell Stand.

Tickets are priced at:

Adults: £25 / £20 (East Stand)
Concessions: £17/£15 (East Stand)
Juveniles: £14/£10 (East Stand)
Family: £32/£27 (East Stand)

• Juveniles are listed as Under 16’s
• Concessions are listed as Over 60’s and Full Time Students.
• Family Tickets consist of 1x Adult and 1x Juvenile.
• Fans requiring Wheelchair Accessible Area tickets should contact Elaine MacDonald at the club at tickets@motherwellfc.co.uk or telephone 01698 338068.

Tickets for Motherwell’s trip to Celtic Park on Wednesday 29th December are now on sale from the Fir Park Ticket Office.

Tickets are priced at:

Adult: £25 or £22 for Restricted View
Concession: £16 or £13 for Restricted View

• Concession tickets are listed as Over 65’s and Under 16’s.
• Fans who require disabled access should contact Elaine MacDonald at the club on 01698 338068 or email tickets@motherwellfc.co.uk.
• This match is ticket only – there will be no pay at the gate facility at Celtic Park.

Motherwell Football Club can confirm prices for the Scottish Cup 4th Round clash with Dundee at Dens Park.

The match will be played on Sunday 9th January with a 1.15pm kick off to accommodate Sky TV and their live broadcast of the match.

With this in mind, both clubs discussed the pricing for the game and agreed on £15 for adults and £5 for concessions to try to ensure a healthy crowd in front of the cameras.

Entry will be pay-at-the-gate.

Motherwell today received confirmation that the rearranged Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Hearts will now take place on Tuesday 14th December.

The game, originally scheduled for the 28th November, was postponed due to severe weather despite a playable pitch.

As originally scheduled, the match will be shown live on Sky Sports.

The club issued the following press release today in response to newspaper articles relating to the Ravenscraig Facility and North Lanarkshire Leisure (NLL).

Commenting, Manager Craig Brown said, “The team are chomping at the bit following last Sunday’s postponement and emotions were running high yesterday with everyone desperate to train in spite of the recent inclement weather.

“However, those frustrations should not have been taken out on North Lanarkshire Leisure, or the Council, and, as a club, we wish to make clear our unreserved apology that a minor situation has been blown out of all proportion.”

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster added, “Motherwell Football Club enjoys a very positive relationship with our local council and we are working very hard to make a deeper partnership work for everyone.

“We have a number of ideas being worked on at present and will only be able to succeed in them if we deliver positively for the Council’s agenda as well as our own which I know we can.

“The Ravenscraig site is a hugely positive asset for Lanarkshire and Scotland and for sport and football in particular. We want to play our part in making it an even bigger success and hope we can draw a line under this incident and move forward together.”

In light of the severe weather conditions across Scotland, which are forecast to continue for some time, all Clydesdale Bank Premier League games have been postponed this weekend, Saturday 4 December.

It is hoped that this early notice of postponement whilst disappointing will allow everyone to plan accordingly.

New dates for the fixtures will be announced in due course.

The Under 19’s game with Dundee Utd, scheduled for Thur 2nd December, has also been called off.

Motherwell’s Scottish Cup 4th Round clash with Dundee has been moved to Sunday 9th January with the game screened live on Sky Sports.

No kick-off time has, as yet, been confirmed.

More details to follow…