Mark Reynolds will stay at Motherwell

Jun 18 2008 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

MARK McGhee’s efforts at holding on to his prize assets who helped steer Motherwell to their best league position in more than a decade have been boosted this week after star defender Mark Reynolds pledged his future to the club.

The 21-year-old followed the lead taken by his manager by committing himself to the Fir Parkers European crusade that begins in earnest on July 17 – in the process ignoring the interests of Rangers who were courting the highly rated stopper a fortnight ago.

However Reynolds has admitted that a move away from Motherwell could be on the horizon come next summer.

Speaking about the decision by chairman John Boyle to reject a £750,000 offer from the Ibrox club for his services, Reynolds said: “The story broke in the papers whilst I was on holiday in Mexico.

“I think it was important that the first person who phoned me was the gaffer and he was the first person that I had heard it from.

“He told me that he didn’t want me to go and that if I waited another season and kept playing the way I have been then I could potentially be worth a lot more to Motherwell.”

He added: “I think every player has aspirations to move onto bigger things – I don’t think that is insulting to the fans to say that.

“Everyone knows that in Scotland, Rangers and Celtic are massive clubs with the opportunity to play in European football on a regular basis and winning medals year in and year out.”

With his short term future already secured, the Scotland under 21 internationalist is now looking forward to the draw for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup which takes place on June 27.

And despite the fact ‘Well will need to win three ties before reaching the potentially lucrative group stages of the tournament, Reynolds believes there is a massive incentive for them to do well.

He said: “We have at the very least, one tie in the UEFA Cup to look forward too but you saw what the group stages did for Aberdeen and the games they got to take part in.

“I think the fans and players at Motherwell would love that so something like that would be good.

He added: “It’s all in stark contrast to the back end of the 2006/07 season where we were just hoping to survive and it’s good to be involved with a club who have these goals and aspirations.”

Meanwhile manager Mark McGhee can expect a frosty reception on the first weekend of the new SPL season when he takes his charges to Hearts – the club he snubbed last month minutes before boarding a flight to Lithuania for talks with their owner Vladimir Romanov.

The Tynecastle hierarchy were convinced they had their number one target and without a plan B have yet to announce a new manager that will take charge of the Jambos when they entertain Motherwell on August 9.