Zak Jules arrived at Motherwell on-loan in January with a decent reputation, and there was a feeling that the Steelmen may have pulled off something of a coup by enticing him north of the border. Capped at under-21 level for Scotland and playing in the Reading youth set-up under the guidance of legendary former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam, it was easy on the face of it to see why the recently departed Motherwell manager Mark McGhee was keen to add the imposing figure of Jules to his backline.
But as first impressions go, Jules’s had been about as promising as when that bloke infamously turned up on Blind Date in the 80s with multi-coloured patchwork trousers and a Sooty puppet on his hand.
Remarkably though, the ‘wacky’ contestant managed to charm Cilla and the female contestant, landing a date in the process, and there is a feeling that Jules could well be in line for his own form of redemption after a less than promising start to his Motherwell career.
Conceding a penalty at Celtic Park and scoring an own goal in the home humiliation at the hands of Dundee that ultimately cost McGhee his job, Jules might have felt as if he had landed in the wrong movie.
But after heading the winner for Motherwell against Kilmarnock on Saturday amid an encouraging showing by the much-maligned visiting defence, there may be more than a hint of promise behind his union with the Fir Park club yet.
"I didn't speak to anyone after the Dundee game,” Jules said. “I think my phone was off all week.
"[Today] was more like the old Motherwell. We showed pure character today. Robbo [Stephen Robinson] stressed to us that if we work hard and show character the performance and result will follow. That's what happened. It wasn’t tidy in parts but the result is all that matters.
"It has been crazy [since coming here]. It was a brilliant feeling coming on to make my debut against Ross County and getting the points. Then I started against Hearts and we played well but went down to 10 men and lost three goals.
“Then it was a positive performance against Celtic and I spoke to the press afterwards and praised the performance and said I hoped we could kick on. But then last week against Dundee happened and it was down to rock bottom again. But now we are back on a high after this win.
“It's about not getting too high and not getting too low. I need to try and do that for the whole of my career. You need to be thick-skinned and strong-minded.”
Those are adjectives that could not easily be credited to Motherwell in recent weeks, but they were hugely appropriate in the wake of this comeback performance that claimed a crucial three points against a more than decent Kilmarnock outfit.
Kris Boyd had got the ball rolling just after the half hour as he brushed off Ben Heneghan in the area like a troublesome gnat before finishing low past Craig Samson for his 200th goal in the Scottish top-flight. It represented a remarkable achievement by the former Rangers and Scotland hitman, but unfortunately for him, his day would take on a more unfortunate twist before the end.
Motherwell interim manager Stephen Robinson deserves huge credit for recognising that his team could use an injection of energy at the break, and he certainly got it by sacrificing two of his stalwarts in Steve Hammell and Keith Lasley for Elliot Frear and Ryan Bowman.
Frear immediately made an impact, winning and then delivering the corner that eventually led to the outstanding Carl McHugh slamming home the equaliser from close range.
He then put in the pin-point free-kick that led to Jules heading home the winner, although the Kilmarnock defence had almost as much to do with creating the opportunity as they neglected to pick up any one of three Motherwell players who could have finished at the back post.
The stage was set in injury-time though for Boyd to take the headlines as referee Bobby Madden gave a soft-looking penalty after Frear’s challenge on Callum Roberts, but much to the surprise of everyone inside the stadium, the striker’s spot-kick cannoned to safety off the face of the post.
“You would fancy Boydy to score the penalty but these things happen and it’s hugely disappointing,” said his crestfallen teammate Rory McKenzie.
“We have had chances this season to get out of trouble but we haven’t taken them. I said to the boys in the changing room that I have been here for four years and every season we have chances to get away from trouble and we don’t take them.
“We have massive games coming up before the split against Ross County, Partick and Inverness and they are like cup finals now.”
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