DOUBTS were raised over his character following some rather strained job discussions towards the end of last year, but the references received prior to his arrival at Motherwell remain resolutely positive.

Stephen Robinson will pitch up for his first day as assistant manager at Fir Park on Monday with a reputation carved primarily in youth football and through the drills and training routines he specialised in during his work with the Irish FA on their A-Licence coaching programmes.

He has been in charge of Northern Ireland's international teams from Under-16 to Under-21 level and spent four months helping out the senior squad's manager, Michael O'Neill, after Billy McKinlay had left for a short, ill-fated stay at Watford. He was lined up to go there himself at the end of October as a professional development coach until negotiations ended rather sourly.

Robinson, born in Lisburn and boasting a playing career that started at Tottenham Hotspur and took in Bournemouth, Preston and Luton Town, claimed in the wake of protracted talks that he had decided to stay with the Irish FA out of loyalty to O'Neill despite the finances on offer.

Chris McGuane, Head of Academy at Vicarage Road, saw things a little differently. He insisted the move broke down because Robinson demanded terms the Championship club felt unable to offer.

"With regards to him saying that he wanted to be loyal to Michael, that is not something that has come across to me," stated McGuane.

O'Neill is happy to set the record straight. Robinson was highly respected in his homeland and will, unquestionably, be missed, but the move to the SPFL to serve as Ian Baraclough's right-hand man is the correct one for him at this stage of his career.

"He is a loyal person, but it is a great opportunity for him and you like to see people develop and progress," said O'Neill. "It is an opportunity that I don't think Stephen could turn down.

"Some people jump into jobs like that without having a huge amount of experience, but Stephen has done an awful lot of coaching.

"He is extremely hardworking and there is no doubt that he will live and breathe the job.

"Approaches had been made in the past for Stephen from different levels of the game.

"When the Motherwell situation came up, though, and there was that chance to be an assistant manager, he felt it was right for him and he goes with my blessing.

"He is a big loss to us. There is no doubt he will give Motherwell everything he has."

Robinson, 40, insists he will continue working with the senior Northern Ireland squad, but Herald Sport understands that is not entirely clear-cut. Discussions are understood to be taking place within the Irish FA over the possibility of restructuring the national team set-up with decisions pending on the future composition of the coaching network.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Irish FA, thank them for all they have done for me and look forward to continuing to work with senior squad in the coming months and years," stated Robinson in a statement on the Motherwell club website yesterday.

O'Neill has yet to confirm that Robinson will remain on his staff, but he is a clearly a strong believer in his work to date.

"Stephen is not going to be a high-profile media figure," he said. "He is interested in the game. That is where his focus is.

"He has proved himself at underage level, but he has worked with senior international players and is capable of that. I think it is a clever appointment by Ian to go for someone of that nature.

"Stephen moved back home to Northern Ireland after a long career in England to be part of the Irish FA and he has really got into the coaching side of things. He played a big part in the development of something called the Excellence Programme.

"There has been some radical change there and Stephen had a real say in it. He loves being on the training pitch whether it is with 15-year-olds or senior internationalists."

Baraclough, who takes his side to Ross County this afternoon and may offer debuts to his recent signings George Long, Conor Grant, Nathan Thomas and Marvin Johnson, sees Robinson's rich background in coaching and knowledge of younger players as a major weapon in Motherwell's armoury.

"When I was between jobs, I took it upon myself to watch as many different sessions as I could and was hugely impressed the times I watched Steve in action," said Baraclough. "He's a very modern, forward-thinking coach and I am sure the lads will love working with him.

"Not only does he put on a great session, he is very tactically aware and very good at working with young players, which is essential in the new model and with the refocused strategy we have at the club."