Stuart McCall urges Chris Cadden to stay at Motherwell

Former Motherwell boss Stuart McCall has told Chris Cadden he should be in no rush to quit Fir Park.

Stuart McCall
Published 9th Apr 2018

McCall gave the Scotland Under-21 international his Well debut back in 2014 and has been impressed with the winger's progress since.

The Steelmen reportedly knocked back bids from Hearts and Oxford last year while Aberdeen are currently understood to be keeping tabs on the 21-year-old.

But with Motherwell flying high under Stephen Robinson, McCall advised his former protege against repeating the mistakes made by ex-Well team-mate Lee Erwin, who saw a dream move to Leeds turn sour and is now playing second fiddle to Kris Boyd at Kilmarnock.

"Hats off to Motherwell because they could have sold him - and for decent money too,'' said McCall, who was back in Glasgow ahead of Well's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen on Saturday.

"I know for a fact they've already rebuffed offers for him, not just from Scotland but down south too.

"They kept him after deciding he was one for the future. Maybe in time it will be an ambition for Chrissy to move on and I'm certain he'll be one Motherwell will make money on in the future.

"When will he go? Well if he was at a club that was struggling, fighting to stay in the league and not getting to semi-finals and finals, then he maybe might have already thought about it.

"But when you've had a season like Motherwell have - been to one final with the chance of making another - then you'll be relishing it.

"Sometimes the grass isn't always greener, so enjoy the good times is what I'd say.

"You can look through the last 20-odd years and see a lot of Scottish boys going down to England. The two Hamilton boys, James McCarthy and James McArthur, did fantastically well.

"But there's been a lot who went down too soon and ended up having to come back having not made a mark. Just look at Lee Erwin. He went down to Leeds, it didn't work out for him and is now back at Kilmarnock.

"There will come a time when Cads will move on but while he's enjoying his football, developing and improving, then stay where you are.''

Well have already experienced one Hampden showpiece after losing out to Celtic in the Betfred Cup final.

But McCall believes they are in with a great shout of reaching another as they take on a Dons side missing banned trio Kenny McLean, Shay Logan and Graeme Shinnie.

He said: "To make two finals in one season would be a fantastic achievement for a club the size of Motherwell.

"With Aberdeen having three players missing, that balances things out a bit.

"Shinnie is a real leader - he's as important for them as Scott Brown is to Celtic.

"Kenny McLean can open teams up and score goals at any given moment in a tight game, while Logan has been consistent all season so that evens things up and Motherwell go in with a good chance of making the final.''

McCall was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup