IAN BARACLOUGH has told the Motherwell board the prime candidate to be their new manager is right under their nose in the form of Steve Robinson.

The Northern Irishman was Baraclough’s No.2 during his year in charge at Fir Park but is now tasked with being the caretaker manager following Mark McGhee’s departure on Tuesday.

Originally brought in by the Englishman, Robinson stayed on to assist McGhee only to eventually leave for his first managerial role as boss of Oldham Athletic. He returned to Motherwell last month to form part of the coaching staff but after just one game – a 5-1 defeat to Dundee on Saturday – now finds himself shunted to the front of the coaching pack during this worrying period.

Baraclough followed Robinson to Oldham as he then became his assistant, and has told the Motherwell board they don’t have to look too far to find the right man for a permanent solution.

“I think he’s got to be a prime candidate,” Baraclough told Sport Times. “He’s someone with managerial experience and he has the energy and drive to go and do well.

“He is organised, he’s a good coach, players will want to play for him. It’s just about what the board are looking for.

“Do they want an experienced man or someone with that energy? He has all the qualities and I know he’d bring them to the job to make a success of it.

“I’ve only spoken to him via text. I text him yesterday as well as the day before and I spoke to him when he went back in. It’s been a busy week for him.

“I know he would have been disappointed for his first game to go as it did and be five down by half-time. It’s not great for anyone.

“I know he was determined to initially help Mark and I know he enjoyed working with him previously. There will be disappointment there for sure with the way this first week has panned out. But that’s football and he has to get on with it.

“He’s fresh from managing his first role at Oldham and he will take what happened there into his next role.”

The departure of Robinson during the summer was a major blow to Motherwell’s preparations for this campaign given the high regard he was held in by not just McGhee but the Motherwell players.

Sadly for the 42-year-old, his time at Boundary Park only extended until January when he was sacked after his team had gone almost three months without a League One win.

Still, Baraclough reckons his former coaching partner will be better off by the experience as he takes charge of Motherwell for the first time at Rugby Park this Saturday.

“He is a very good coach. We knew that anyway,” he said.

“He’s someone who likes to be organised and for the players to be organised. He will tell them exactly what their roles are, there are no grey areas with Steve.

“It can be said he definitely knows what he wants and in no uncertain terms he will tell the players if they are not performing or not producing what he wants them to.

“He puts on an enjoyable way of coming in. Training sessions are varied and if I was a player I’d look forward to coming in.

“He’s a safe pair of hands in terms of him knowing the place, the players and what is best at this stage to try and steady the ship.

“He is working with Stephen Craigan who is obviously a fans’ favourite and respected throughout the club. He’s done very well with the U20s. Together they can certainly steady the ship in the short term.”