Baraclough plays it Well cool

Even at his maiden press conference he spoke of a desire for his team to try to win the SPFL Premiership. It seemed preposterous given Motherwell were two points off the bottom at the time.

On top of that, Baraclough was not scared to bring in a host of his own players and oust many who were considered natural first picks under his predecessor Stuart McCall. Names such as Conor Grant, George Long, Marvin Johnson and Louis Laing were just a few of those added in January that had the club's supporters frantically flicking through Wikipedia pages. Baraclough was bold enough to see major surgery was needed if he was to save Motherwell's season and he acted accordingly.

Now those he entrusted appear to be shouldering that responsibility with him as Motherwell are alive and kicking. Of the starting XI who beat Rangers 3-1 on Thursday's play-off final first leg at Ibrox, five were signed by Baraclough.

Bearing in mind the stark financial implications which would come into play at modestly-resourced Motherwell if things don't go to plan over these two legs, one would forgive the club's manager for being a nervous wreck. The reality, however, appears very different.

"I try to be placid, calm. If you do get wound up in the technical area or with the media, you're not focusing on what you're doing," Baraclough said. "If players see that you're calm, then it rubs off on them as well. That's my style. It's not me being false with it. I can lose my cool. There are times to go and do that. I've never been one to scream and shout and bawl.

"Having worked with someone like Nigel Adkins, he has that persona as well. There's a calmness and it's no problem. Of course it doesn't always work out like that and I've alluded to it before, it's like a swan on the water. It all looks graceful on top of the water and going 10-to-the-dozen underneath. There are nerves and there has to be nerves.

"As an assistant manager I didn't get those feelings, believe it or not, but as a manager I get the same feelings as I used to get as a player. You need that."

One reason for Motherwell's resurgence is the faith placed in Baraclough by the club's new majority shareholder Les Hutchison. The Lanarkshire-born businessman is helping to facilitate a Well Society takeover but also ploughed extra funds in at the start of the year to strengthen the squad. He also took an active role in the manager's appointment.

Despite now being based overseas, Hutchison was front and centre at Ibrox on Thursday night to see Motherwell take a two-goal lead into today's return.

Baraclough said: "He was very pleased. He came down after the game as well. He's one who, when he's been over, likes to come in and speak to the boys, just say hello and well done. It was a proud moment for him last night.

"He didn't speak to the team beforehand, he just came down after- wards and said 'well done, it's just half time but so far we've gone quite well about it'. It was a compliment to the players."

The biggest compliment to one of those in a Motherwell jersey was his ability to outshine his sibling in the opposing team. Josh Law lined up against his brother Nicky for the first time just 24 hours after signing a new two-year contract at Fir Park.

Josh is living with the Rangers midfielder and his family ahead of his own wedding next week - Nicky is best man - and he admits it was a strange moment.

"I saw him when we got in, we had a little cup of tea and then went off to bed," said Josh. "It's a little bit surreal when you look up and it's your brother there, but obviously when you're in the game, you're concentrating more on what's going on.

"Obviously Nicky's my best man so it'll be interesting to see what his speech is like!"

Given the motivation of Motherwell's players on Thursday, he should perhaps ask Baraclough for a few pointers.