THE MOTIVES of Rowan Alexander were last night called into question after he turned up for Gretna's opening SPL fixture in an attempt to take charge of the team for their match against Falkirk, despite the fact he is in dispute with the club and had been requested to stay away.

While his actions were undoubtedly designed to generate maximum publicity for his grievances against his employer, the stunt brought a strong response from Gretna captain Chris Innes, who insisted that Alexander should stay away from the club if he really has its best interests at heart.

"I would advise him to stay well away from the club because at this time we don't need any distractions. If he had the best intentions of the club at heart he would be best to leave us alone, rather than try and interfere," said Innes after his side had been thumped 4-0 at Fir Park, their temporary home.

"He Alexander has got to understand he is no longer part of this club and he should respect the players and the management team which is at the club now," added Innes, who said he and his team-mates all viewed Davie Irons as their manager.

"Coming to an SPL team on a Saturday, at the biggest game in our careers, at 2pm - I think that's trying to steal a couple of columns in the press and focus attention on himself, which is extremely disappointing. I don't think it is a professional thing to do and I don't think it is good for the club. He should leave the club well alone and have a little bit of pride."

"We haven't been told anything about Rowan's position other than Davie is taking the team and that's that. As captain I informed the players that Davie is obviously the manager. He has been taking pre-season, he has been bringing players in and he has been working with us, so he is the manager."

Actually it is not as simple as Innes makes out, for Irons has been appointed head coach, rather than manager. Alexander was relieved of his duties with eight matches remaining of last season amid claims from the club that he was suffering from a stress-related illness.

He remains an employee of the club and if he had paid to watch from the stands yesterday, or indeed taken up a sponsors' offer to watch the match, he would have been welcomed, insisted club chief executive Graeme Muir.

Instead, he arrived at Motherwell's ground - an hour before Gretna were due to raise the championship flag and begin their first season in Scotland's top flight - intent on taking up his duties as manager. He was turned away at the door by a Gretna official and ended up spending the afternoon watching the Hamilton versus Dunfermline match.

He issued this statement through his advisers: "Today, as the manager of Gretna, I attended Fir Park to do the job I am contracted to do. My representative, Kevin Drinkell, and my solicitor, Leo Martin, have made numerous and repeated attempts to clarify and resolve my situation currently with Gretna, without success.

"As a friendly suggestion from Brooks Mileson, I took some time away from my role. Throughout, there has been nothing medically wrong with me. However, I have been requested by the club to stay away. Today, I am here to celebrate Gretna's achievements as the manager who has guided the club to a Scottish Cup final, into European competition and through three divisions into the SPL."

Muir said he hoped there would be a swift resolution to the situation and he admitted he was surprised that Alexander had attempted to attend the match as a club official since he believed there had been an agreement he would stay away.

"It will be in the interests of the club and the individual to get this resolved as quickly as possible," said Muir. "Personally, I am a wee bit concerned for him. His actions today appeared strange to me."

o Match report, page 4