New Motherwell manager Eric Black admits he feared he would never have the chance to take charge of a club on his own.

The former Aberdeen legend spent a turbulent spell at Celtic as assistant to both Josef Venglos and John Barnes, during what was one of the stormiest periods in the Parkhead club's history.

Since then Black has turned down various job offers in England and overseas while waiting for the right offer to come around.

But he admits he was starting to worry that his chance to manage a top level club would never come.

"I think that's always the concern as time passes, that there are a lot of good people out there and you might never get the opportunity," Black said.

"But I always hoped that at some point that I would be given the opportunity to be a number one and go myself and I'm delighted to be presented with this chance.

"You go through various things in your head, thinking 'Has it passed me by? Will I ever get the opportunity or not?'

"These things happen but I've always been involved in football and I've probably watched more games now than I did when I was actually coaching so I don't think I've lost much of that in terms of what is happening in the game.

"Over the period of time there has been interest and I had opportunities to go abroad and down south.

"But I think I've made the right decision because I've been a given a great opportunity here.

"Motherwell offer a club where the people are like minded in terms of where they want the club to go.

"I'm delighted that they've brought in three or four people who together can take the club forward. We've all got experience at various levels."

Black takes over a month after Billy Davies was sacked for failing to win a single league game this season.

He brings with him Terry Butcher as his assistant and Chris McCart and George Adams as part of his team for another three years after this season.

And he insists the difficult experiences he had at Parkhead - including Celtic's infamous Scottish Cup defeat against Inverness Caledonian Thistle - will stand him in good stead for this role.

He added: "You have to take your experiences and I was very fortunate to be at an exceptional club and learn an awful lot and work with exceptional players and see how things work at a football club.

"I've taken that on and at times you probably learn more in adversity than in other ways and I've been fortunate to have experienced that."

Black and Butcher have worked together over the past year at a company called Inside Soccer, which involved dealing with various players and agents.

Butcher's previous managerial experience has consisted of short spells at Coventry and Sunderland and coaching roles at Raith Rovers and Dundee United.

But he insists he had no hesitation in taking on the role as number two to Black instead of waiting for the chance to manage a club on his own again.

He said: "I've worked with Eric for over a year now and I've been impressed by what he has done.

"It's a great opportunity for me and the rest of the boys here. Motherwell have produced a lot of young players in the past and there's a lot of talk about how much money is available so it's great to see home-grown talent coming through.

"The people at the club previous to us have done a very good job producing the youngsters and we'll have to continue that.

"In saying that, Eric can bring players in that will compliment the youth so it's very exciting times."