Dismissal and love – how Motherwell made Portugal’s coach Martinez the coach

Roberto Martinez pushes open the door of a busy hair salon in Motherwell and sits down awkwardly.

One can only assume that he will then be asked whether he has an appointment, as it is usually very busy here.

He doesn’t, but he’s lucky. The barber, unaware of this and perhaps confused because he doesn’t have enough hair to cut, calls him over before he starts work.

Imagine the reaction of your colleagues and other customers when the question “What are you doing, buddy?” comes up in small talk.

To be honest, he doesn’t have much planned at the moment. He’s just taking a little break from managing Belgium’s golden generation with Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and the others.

Perhaps that’s something Martinez enjoys about his trips back to Motherwell, a town on the outskirts of Glasgow. After all, the west of Scotland often brings you back down to earth, even if unintentionally.

It is also the birthplace of his wife Beth, whom he met during his year-long stint as a player in Lanarkshire, an experience that was “very good because it wasn’t good,” the Portuguese head coach revealed in 2014.

“The layoffs at Motherwell made me a manager”

Anyone plugged into Motherwell’s social media algorithm may be used to seeing Martinez’s content pop up in their feed from time to time.

During the 2018 festive season, he was photographed with one of the chefs at the Moorings Hotel. In 2021, a picture of him circulated watching local boys’ club Motherwell Phoenix train.

“It’s not every day that Roberto Martinez shows up, watches your training and shows genuine interest,” they tweeted at the time.

The Spaniard was in the middle of his six-year tenure as Belgium’s head coach at the time.

Under Martinez, the Belgian team celebrated the title of top-ranked FIFA nation for three years in a row, but he failed to lead a star-studded team to a major title.

However, he led the team to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. Both times he lost to the eventual tournament winners – France and Italy.

He had spent those six years in Belgium after leading Swansea back to the second division of English football, winning the FA Cup with Wigan and finishing fifth with Everton.

But it was the nine months in Motherwell that shaped Martinez. There he met his future wife, with whom he raised two children.

There was no romance on the pitch, however. The former midfielder failed to live up to expectations after his move from Wigan in 2001.

Sixteen appearances, of which only eight were from the start, then sacked – along with 18 other players – when the Fir Park Club had to file for bankruptcy.

“Motherwell was a very good experience because it was not a good experience,” he recalled.

“It helped me enormously as a manager. Understanding what it was like to have a dressing room under receivership was very painful at the time, but it made me the manager I am today.

“Overall, I really enjoyed Scottish football. From a personal point of view, it wasn’t a success at the time, but it was one of the biggest football lessons in my development as a manager.”

From Lanarkshire to the European Championship finals?

Martinez also endured relegation at Wigan, a sacking at Everton and a surprise World Cup group stage exit with Belgium before announcing his retirement in 2022.

Would any of that have hurt as much as being fired as a player? Who knows, but it certainly contributed to his resilience as a coach.

As Portugal’s new head coach, he is once again looking after a new group of world-class talents with great expectations.

Martinez has lost just two of his 17 games since his appointment last year, winning all 10 of his Euro 2024 qualifiers – scoring 36 goals and conceding just two.

Portugal underlined this with two wins – against the Czech Republic and Turkey – in two group matches at the finals.

There is probably no stronger team in Germany: Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Joao Palhinha, Vitinha, Rafael Leao, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix and Diogo Jota, to name just a few.

This Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t bad either. And the list doesn’t end here.

Whether the pressure that comes with such a selection is a good thing remains to be seen, but Martinez’s similar experience with Belgium could well be crucial for him on the way to his greatest achievement.

When he lifts the trophy in Berlin next month, there will be no reason for him to go unnoticed at his next hairdresser in Motherwell with the European Championship winner’s medal around his neck.