'Figurehead'
The 35-year-old collapsed towards the end of the Scottish Premier League match with Dundee United FC and it was announced later on Saturday evening he had passed away. "Our players are so close, and Phil was a figurehead to them," McGhee said. "It has been well-documented how few [players] we have used this season and that is something that brings them together. There is a unity about them. Phil was not just any player, he was the focal point and the senior member of the squad. For any of us to contemplate going on a training ground, never mind a football ground, at this moment is impossible. We are all going to need time to get back to work."
'Perfect role model'
Former Motherwell manager Terry Butcher was another to pay tribute, saying: "He was the perfect role model to any young professional. Phil was part of a very big and a very strong family and they'll need that strength now. Everybody loved him, I don't know anyone in the game who did not like Phil O'Donnell." Craig Brown, the former Scotland manager who gave O'Donnell his only full international cap and also coach him at Under-21 level, added: "There is no doubt that anyone who knew Phil O'Donnell knew he was a gentleman, a good family man, a courteous, polite, totally conscientious guy. It's very, very sad news. I just can't get over it. Everyone in the game will acknowledge what a wonderful player he was and an outstanding gentleman."
Hometown hero
O'Donnell was part of the Motherwell side that defeated Dundee United FC in the 1991 Scottish Cup final, scoring in a 4-3 victory when still a teenager and, having made his first-team debut for his hometown club as a 17-year-old, moved on to Celtic FC for €2.4m in 1994, a fee that remains the highest Motherwell have received. He helped the Glasgow side lift the league title in 1998 before a spell in England with Sheffield Wednesday FC, although a number of injury problems restricted his impact. Upon his release by Wednesday in 2003, he rejoined Motherwell under Butcher and became a key figure to a young and exciting squad that lies third in the table. As a mark of respect, Motherwell's games against Hibernian FC on 2 January and Celtic four days later have been postponed, as has the game between Gretna FC - who are using Motherwell's Fir Park at their home ground - and Saint Mirren FC on 6 January.