Motherwell star addresses two summer transfer hopes as he reviews own season in honest appraisal

Stephen O’Donnell hopes Motherwell recruitment can give the team a platform to build off going into next campaign - with some additional revenue expected from Lennon Miller.

The defender was a regular in an up and down season at Fir Park, which had the club finishing eighth in the Premiership. Stuart Kettlewell departed as manager during the winter and Michael Wimmer steadied the ship over 12 games, before his exit due to family circumstances in Germany, now managing SSV Jahn Regensburg. O’Donnell knows improvements can be made going into next term.

With Lukas Fadinger and Jordan McGhee signed up, Motherwell have continued transfer work despite the ongoing search for a new manager. The vice captain says there are positive to be found from what occurred during the 24/25 campaign, with recruitment set to be a key summer barometer.

Motherwell star reviews season

Speaking after the final game of the season at Ross County, before Wimmer’s exit, O’Donnell said to the Motherwell Times: “I think similar to stages last season, really good for spells, poor for spells and just kind of looking to recruit well in the summer to hopefully give us a platform to improve. I think finishing eighth isn't a disgrace, we win at Ross County, it gets us the highest points total in a long time which would have been nice.

“I think at times, we obviously lost a manager, but we could have done better and now we strive to be better next season. Obviously making changes (to the team) is always going to disrupt the side but the good sides, the side we want to be, needs to be able to manage that because that will come with injuries, it will come with lack of form, there's all sorts of changes throughout a season.”

O’Donnell was part of a dressing room that ballooned in size amid injuries, but says there were factors for that. He explained: “I think it made things maybe a wee bit more difficult but at times that was needed. We had a lot of injuries, a lot of boys breaking down and then snowballing and maybe players not delivering the expectations that managers were expecting.

“There's not really anyone to blame for that, it's just sometimes a collective and the snowball effect but hopefully, as I say, it would be nice if we had a smaller squad. A squad you can get to know well and hopefully try to build something again to be if not successful next season, to then have maybe more of a core for the following year.”

Lennon Miller transfer addressed

When doing an interview with a Motherwell player, coach or other members of staff, the topic of what comes next with Lennon Miller is never usually far away. He is part of the Scotland squad for friendly matches this month and O’Donnell has loved playing with him, but his other transfer hope is the money made from a sale he think will happen is reinvested wisely.

The defender said: “It was nice playing with Lennon. I'd imagine he'll be off in the summer but he's a talented player. Another one that Motherwell have brought through, you look at David Turnbull before that, Alan Campbell and I'm just excited to see where his career takes him. Hopefully a wee appearance in the summer for Scotland maybe boosts the money, we're all about getting money into Scottish football! No, he's a talented player, I'm excited to see what lies ahead for him but again we need to replace these guys, we've done it before and we need to do that again.”

On his own campaign, O’Donnell was honest in saying his own form has to get better. He added: “I think I had a slight change in role. Lots of improvement for me needed as well to maintain playing but again my target will be the same, try and play every week, stay available and hopefully deliver performances that managers trust and want me in the team. It's always been my aim. I've managed to do that pretty much my full career and I hope to continue that. More importantly I hope that we get better as a team and a more consistent team, and have a good season.”