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.”
