Trevor Carson: Motherwell goalkeeper reveals how Stephen Robinson's superb man management helped persuade him to stay

The Northern Ireland cap (32), said that the superb man management skills of ’Well gaffer and fellow countryman Stephen Robinson had played a massive part in him opting to stay at Fir Park until summer 2022.

“Me and my missus sat down in January when I had a couple of offers from a couple of other teams,” Carson, whose seven-year-old daughter from a previous marriage – Katiya – lives in England, told the Times and Speaker.

“And we had the offer from Motherwell. We literally went through the pros and cons for signing for each team and one of the many reasons I decided on Motherwell was how good the manager is with you.

“Other managers can promise you this and that but the gaffer here, Robinson, has never once denied me the chance to go to my daughter’s parents meetings, Christmas plays or stuff like that.

“Sometimes you’re not always that lucky at clubs, so that was a massive part for me signing.

“The gaffer understands the personal side of me having a daughter in Newcastle from a previous marriage.

“We are footballers but first and foremost we’re family people as well.

“Since I moved up here three years ago (from Hartlepool United) I get my daughter every Friday, which is not ideal with a game on the Saturday. So I’ll travel down. The manager will sometimes let me crack on a bit earlier on a Friday after training to go and pick her up.

“I don’t travel all the way to Newcastle. To be fair my ex-wife’s quite good, she’ll meet me a wee bit nearer.

“And then on a Monday, the players are usually in (training) but he lets me report at 12 because I stay down in Newcastle on a Sunday night and take my daughter to school on a Monday morning.

“That was a big part of me signing for Motherwell, I didn’t want to miss taking my daughter to school otherwise I would have stayed down in Hartlepool.

“Stuff like that it makes you want to go the extra distance for a manager when he does something like that. There are a lot of our players do come up from the lower leagues in England who he helps.”