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Robinson hoping to convince Hastie to stay at Motherwell

Robinson hoping to convince Hastie to stay at Motherwell
© Reuters
Winger Hastie has been linked with a move to Rangers.

Motherwell have not given up hope of re-signing Rangers target Jake Hastie – who collected the Ladbrokes Premiership player of the month award hours after his future made back-page headlines.

A report claimed the winger was poised to sign a four-year pre-contract with the Ibrox club after making a stunning Motherwell breakthrough following a loan spell at Alloa.

The 19-year-old, whose contract expires in the summer, has also been linked with Celtic and the likes of Hull, Derby and Millwall after netting five goals in eight games.

But Well boss Stephen Robinson, who won the monthly manager award, said: "No decision has been made at this moment in time.

"Jake's got a decision to make. We do our very best with it. We can't pull money out of nowhere.

"What we do is try and convince him. We are very honest with people and Jake's very appreciative of that. It's up to him, it's tough decisions for young boys. But we are doing our very best with it.

"We are giving him game time and he's doing very well for the club at this moment in time, so that has to be our main focus, the game coming up (against Hamilton) and the next nine or 10 games of the season."

Hastie's meteoric rise has played a significant part in Motherwell's turnaround.

A William Hill Scottish Cup defeat by Ross County in January left Robinson facing criticism, but the manager admitted his prize was evidence of the "crazy world of football" after he was rewarded for guiding Well to a run of six consecutive league wins.

Robinson has switched from a 3-5-2 system to 4-3-3, with the team playing more football on the ground and utilising width after Gboly Ariyibi joined on loan from Nottingham Forest and Hastie returned.

"We had a lot of success last season playing the way we played," Robinson said. "I think you have to be brave enough to recognise when it's not working. We did that.

"We couldn't do a whole lot about it until we got players in, and also the young players needed another six months to develop. People say they should have been in earlier. They weren't ready.

"I had the privilege of going to a talk with Pep Guardiola on Tuesday night with the LMA (League Managers' Association). It was so refreshing hearing a manager of that calibre, probably the best manager in the world, talking about you play whatever suits your players.

"Last season we were able to recruit big, strong players who had pace. We were able to put a lot of balls into the box and it was very successful for us.

"We recognised after (Cedric) Kipre left, (Ryan) Bowman's left, if we include Stuart McKinstry in that who is going to Leeds as well, we lost eight players, people who made a big contribution.

"Once we were able to sign wide players and young players developed, that was the system we were trying to go for.

"People come out with coaching badges and pundits who have never managed say you need to do it a certain way. Load of rubbish. You play to win football matches and you play a way that suits your players.

"My favourite system is 4-3-3, contrary to other people's opinion, but if you don't have the personnel to play that you don't play it. We do at the moment, we are enjoying it, we are getting better at it and I believe we will continue to improve."

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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic220085275884
2RangersRangers220078255381
3Hearts20114637963
4Kilmarnock20114438652
5St Mirren21014246-446
6Dundee20024659-1341
Relegation Group
1Hibernian21014854-642
2Aberdeen22003749-1241
3Motherwell21015053-340
4Ross County21013459-2533
5St Johnstone20022550-2531
RLivingston21012563-3821
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
RLivingston3339212259-3718


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