Tawanda Maswanhise’s celebration after rising like a salmon to score his late header at Dens Park on Saturday was perhaps only surpassed by that of the McGarry family, as my boys and I were photographed in various sports pages making a right old spectacle of ourselves.

Ah, perhaps it wasn’t my most embarrassing contribution to Scottish football journalism.

The Zimbabwean’s ecstatic roars told a bigger story than just the goal, which secured three points for Motherwell and guaranteed Premiership football would be played at Fir Park for the next 41 seasons.

Maswanhise’s situation at the club has been intriguing since Michael Wimmer’s arrival, and he appears to have enraged thousands of his countrymen, who, judging by social media reactions to his recent starting lineups, are about to launch the German over the Victoria Falls.

(Image by Craig Foy, SNS Group) It is possible, however, that Wimmer’s management of the 22-year-old will bring out his best qualities over time.

It was interesting to note that from early in the game at Dundee, Wimmer was in deep conversation with Maswanhise on the sidelines, pointing out areas of the park where he had presumably identified space for him to enter and exploit.

After successfully switching to a back four the previous week against St Johnstone, it was surprising to see Wimmer return to a three-man defence from the start at Dens Park.

The coach was dissatisfied with his team’s performance in the first half and spoke with Maswanhise to prepare for a change at halftime.

What also piqued my interest as I tried in vain to hold together a rapidly disintegrating macaroni pie was that, within a minute or two of the half-time whistle, Wimmer and assistant manager Ahmet Koc appeared back in the dugout, having presumably said their piece and leaving the players to sort it out among themselves.

It worked, with Motherwell putting on a vastly improved performance and thoroughly deserving of their victory, despite being reduced to ten men and benefiting from VAR, which correctly ruled out an earlier Dundee goal for offside.

Incidentally, if it hadn’t been against Motherwell, I wouldn’t have liked to see technology interfering with spectacular strikes like Antonio Portales’ second goal.

But Clark Robertson was offside and motioned towards the ball. The refereeing team’s superiors would have scolded them if they hadn’t followed the rules, which are not null and void just because someone yelled “thunderb******.”

Anyway, I digress. The point I’d like to make here is that not only did the team look fitter and stronger than they have in a long time, possibly due to the more intensive training that Wimmer has mentioned implementing, but Maswanhise as an individual appeared hungrier and more motivated than he has in the past.

There is no doubt about his talent. I interviewed him for this newsletter in January, shortly after he scored a brilliant goal against Rangers in a 2-2 draw at Fir Park. He also appears to be a lovely lad.

However, his goal against Dundee was only his second since a strike against Rangers in late December. He scored against Aberdeen the following week, but did not score in his next 12 appearances. Furthermore, since Wimmer’s arrival, he has only started two matches.

 

Granted, there was some disruption as he travelled to represent his country during that time, and he has had the occasional niggle, but he appeared to be falling down the pecking order under Wimmer, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the manager was making a point to his player.

Wimmer would never explicitly name individuals, but when I met with him for a one-on-one a few weeks ago, he spoke in general about the importance of his players working hard every day if they wanted to play on his team. When I gently pressed him on who he might be referring to, he simply replied, ‘look at the teamsheet’.

Wimmer commented on Maswanhise after the weekend win, saying, “In the last few weeks, he has worked much better in training.

“I think of how important JT could be for the team, and how much quality he has, as he showed today.

“Hopefully the penny has dropped, and this is now our JT, and we will have a lot of fun with him.”

We can only hope. Given the team’s lack of attacking creativity at times this season, as well as the impending departure of Lennon Miller, Maswanhise could be a key player in the upcoming season.

If he wants to make the move back to the top level that he mentioned in this newsletter earlier, he will have to work for it. Wimmer has made it clear to him that talent alone will not be enough to get him into his Motherwell team.

Hopefully, both the player and the team will benefit from the way his manager has handled him from this point forward. My daft mug will only appear in my byline photo.

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