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Aberdeen game was decent, Rangers game was good, Dundee Utd game was great. All recent matches. I've been going for 40 years and it's always been the case that if you went to a Motherwell match it was more likely than not we wouldn't win or wouldn't play well. Motherwell are a team you support. It's not an entertainment event. You have to have the stomach for it and you have to have realistic levels of expectation. If you don't, Rangers and Celtic are just down the road. And of course the standard of the game has regressed massively over the time I've been going but that's mostly down to economic factors that extend across the whole of Scottish football and most other nation's football. It's not dross every week but it is a lot. That's just how it is and it's not going to change. So you either have to accept that or move on. Every single person here would love it if Motherwell played better football and scored more goals and won more games but that's not the reason you go.

This forum is exactly the type of place for these discussions to be had by fans. The whole concept of sharing opinions and information on topics of shared interest is the very reason why such fora exist. At the end of the day, this is a ‘fans’ forum, and nobody is forcing the manager or players to read our thoughts. This is not the open terracing where folk often shout unnecessary and viscous crap at people trying to do their jobs, which is a whole different story. So, if robust and colourful debate on the suitability of Kettlewell as manager is too much for some, then that’s not the problem of the forum, it’s your problem.

I find the perspective of some of the comments on here regarding the disallowed goal and SK reaction to the decision a little strange. We are allowed as fans to be biased in favour of our own team. It is part of the game to look at the world through Claret and Amber specs. Rangers have made an art form over decades of putting pressure on match officials so that 50/50 decisions get viewed 55/45 in their favour. They have piled on the pressure since the league cup final and it has gained traction in the press. This is designed to make it more difficult for match officials to decide against them in future games (particularly the next OF game). They do this because it works. No conspiracy, no agenda on the side of the referees, it is just human nature to balance a decision on it's potential repercussions. The question I would ask is had the roles been reversed would Oxborough have benefited from the same decision in the same circumstances when the score was 2-0 or 2-1. I don't think he would because it would have been a tougher decision for the VAR officials to make. That is just the laws of human nature and it is a law that the OF are very good at working to their advantage. I welcome SK showing the passion, the frustration and standing up for his team and his club. I find it odd that some don't seem to share his passion given the Motherwell bias that is our right as subjective, irrational football fans. In a different circumstance, the goal could have been given. You can guarantee that had Rangers been disallowed a similar goal they would make plenty of it and another strongly worded statement could have been making it's way to anybody who would listen.

I think the majority of the 2000 or so Motherwell fans who were there today would support Casey if he did actually have a go at Kettlewell. in doing so they would not be excusing Casey's own abysmal performance but holding a Manager to account for what has now been dished up in four consecutive away performances. And at other times earlier in the season. As to the future if Kettlewell does leave, any new Manager will also be called out if fans are expected to suffer what we have seen in those four matches and others....... having had two years to build his own squad.. And why shouldn't he be? Like you, like many on here and in the stands I was supportive of Kettlewell when others were not so keen. As you have said, he earned leeway. Injuries, VAR decisions, the youthfulness of some players and our league position have been touted in his defence. Valid to a degree. But enough is enough. Tynecastle was bad. Rugby Park was worse. Easter Road even worse. And then today. And by the way, every team has to deal with injuries and sometimes those injuries can appear overwhelming. That's why teams have a squad and why Boards support Managers in bringing in players as cover. Nobody can deny that SK has been supported in that manner. Again that maybe brings the focus onto the nature of players recruited. I keep hoping he will try something different in an effort to pick us up. Agreed, he does change the line up from time to time but nothing changes tactically or approach wise. If the squad is incapable of changing formation then that is down to the Management team that constructed the squad. Today straight from kick off we handed the initiative to a team adrift at the bottom of the league. A team you would think more fragile than us. I had hoped he would do things differently for once. Something that would encourage me to support him a bit longer. More fool me. Does anybody really think it will be any different next week?

Kettlewell is a decent manager for our level imo. I like the drive, enthusiasm and passion he's shown for our club and the job. He has shown that he isn't afraid to make tough decisions when it comes to recruitment in and out and also that he will stand up for our club and staff in the face of criticism. He won't get everything right but what manager does? Even old Fergie made mistakes in his career. Our league position is good and long may that last. Yes, the team can be inconsistent but that's what you get at our level and it's what keeps us coming back week in week out. Up the Well.

I've been critical of our fans for many years, but in the case of SK, I think barring the usual inarticulate numpties on fb and twitter, by and large those on here and P&B have been pretty measured in responses during last years bad run and this most recent situation. I do think though that Saturday's reaction has been on the cards for a wee while but I also think SK has also become a bit of a lightning rod for what has been an abysmal 6 years or so since Robbo held his hands up then GA sucked the life out the place, and Hammell's ill fated tenure. Apart from the Spittal/Bair purple patch, there has been no excitement in watching our team for a long time. I like SK, and he has a lot of credit in the bank for getting us clear of relegation, keeping calm, keeping the dressing room, and guiding us clear of trouble the following year. The support deserves credit also for by and large sticking with him during that spell. However a lot of goodwill was used up, and the signs are there that he is not responding well to the difficulties this season, the well documented injury situation, his pressers have been more downbeat, criticism of players/team more regular, a passive inflexible tactical set up, poor haphazard recruitment, and the constant yellow/red cards is doing no one any favours, but indication that he is feeling the heat. He must at the moment feel the world is against him and Saturday's (justified btw) fan reaction will have cut deep. The rumours of dressing room issues add to the problems he faces. He needs help and I find myself wondering what his assistant and our 'army' of coaches are bringing to the table. I hope for his sake and ours he can turn this round, but it would need such a change in approach that in my heart of hearts I can't see it. When you lose the support its only a matter of time, and seeing negative comments from fair minded folks previously supportive on here and Pie&B says to me he needs to arrest this slide starting Saturday or rightly or wrongly things will become toxic at matches benefitting none of us.

Took a night off to digest that yesterday and offer thoughts when less emotional. Firstly what a great away support yesterday. Large in numbers, but also started the game in good voice. Much better than the team. Couldnt really argue much with the starting line up due to injuries and differing levels of fitness, but it wasnt long before the same old mistakes reared their ugly head. Slow ponderous possession. Wing backs way too deep to help an overun midfield and literally zero secure possession to build any play from. The worrying thing for me was the body language of some of the players. Something has changed and some of them clearly look like they no longer believe what the manager is telling them. Others look like they dont understand what they are being asked to do and as a result you get the impression of a team that isnt trying. I dont believe that to be the case, but its very difficult to give your best if none of the building blocks are there to allow you to do so. Felt really sorry for Kai Andrews yesterday. He was having a poor game no doubt. But he is one of the few actual footballers we have at the club and he was left cruelly exposed yesterday with little or no support. Hooking him felt harsh, and I felt there were other options that could have been explored to support him rather than remove him from the game. Thought the one bright spot in the first half was Nicholson. I had forgotten what a good footballer he is. Hopefully he can build up his fitness and become an integral part of the team in the second half of the season. Second half was a bit better, was just a shame Nicholson couldnt last the 90 minutes as it would have been nice to have seen him and Slattery on the pitch together but clearly they need their minutes carefully managed to prevent any relapse. Overall, a depressingly predictable performance and result which reduces the second half of the season to a scrap towards safety. The supports patience with the manager is clearly wearing thin and he will have to dig out some results in the next few weeks if he is going to avoid it all turning a bit toxic. Our league position keeps him safe for now, but if we get dragged down into the battle for the play off place, the wolves will rightly start to circle. He needs a tactical re-think or a big window (or both) to stall the immediate decline in our fortunes until he can get our better players back fit and into the first team. If he does that he will survive. If he doesnt, then this happy clapper will have to admit its time for him to go.

You clearly weren’t at Perth if you think that.

Casey was horrendous today and was rightly hooked. Casey is an old fashioned Centre Back and nothing more. Asking him to play on the right of a back three with responsibility for covering wide right and with no support from a right wing back who appears to have decided defensive duties are not for him is madness. And that is down to Kettlewell. Same applies to the left side. Every opponent we play targets those wide areas for good reason. If Casey was having a go at Kettlewell for repeatedly sending out a formation that exposes him and others, and fails week after week, then good for him.

I completely understand your perspective, but I’d much prefer having a manager like Kettlewell who refuses to doff his cap and simply accept the status quo. In my view, the more he calls out the shambles that is officiating in action, the better. It’s worth noting that his approach could easily boost morale and foster an "us vs the world" mentality in the dressing room, which is no bad thing. I’m not referring to you here, but the reality is that Kettlewell can’t seem to win in the eyes of some fans. If he manages with passion, wears his heart on his sleeve, and kicks every ball like we do in the stands, he’s labelled a "twat." Yet, if he kept quiet about the poor decisions, avoided making waves, and let it all slide, he’d likely be called a "twat" for that as well. What I hope is that fans recognise a manager and team who are clearly on the same page, putting in the effort and having a decent season. We should be backing them, supporting the manager and club when they call out dodgy decisions, not tearing them down for it.

Can we all take a minute to appreciate Tony Watt's performace today btw, What a shift he put in and im gutted for him both goals he scored got dissallowed 👏💛

I mean, he signed Bair, Biereth, Furlong, Gent, Spencer, AP, JT, Gordon, Seddon, Kaleta, all if whom seem to be consensus good signings. He has got Miller to this stage, and improved Max and Spittal to the degree that they got good moves. Wilson has flagged lately but it wasn't that long ago we were all raving about him too. He also got a ridiculous tune out of KVV, and an equally ridiculous fee, but we prob don't want to talk about that one much. I know he's signed a fair few duds as well, but I'm genuinely interested to see his hit rate compared to other managers, and what other clubs our size have been selling folk for.

I normally enjoy your posts as they are always thoughtful and well reasoned, but I think you are off the mark with this one. The manager and the team may or may not be in turmoil, I would say thats quite a subjective assessment. But things in the garden are certainly not rosy. We have a squad with 9 injured players, several of them long term, a situation which has been pretty much ever present since the start of the season. The team is misfiring badly and is struggling to create any meaningful chances, far less score consistently. We cant keep a clean sheet. We have a manager who is wedded to a system he doesnt have the players to implement and shows no sign of changing it. The style of football has been terrible for large parts of the season and we just got knocked out of the cup by the worst team in the league without so much as a whimper. Ive defended SK on here for the most part as there has been plenty of mitigation for performances and the circumstances he has had to face. We ARE still in a reasonably healthy position in the league, and until that changes he does deserve the opportunity to turn things around. But lets not pretend its a conversation that shouldnt be happening, because its getting talked about plenty in the stands and in the pubs. Thats not to say the discourse surrounding the subject cant be more respectful. But we shouldnt be comparing this place to Twitter or Facebook.

It's not though. What we often forget is that there is a human being on the other end of this discussion, who is working really hard for the club and who has saved us from relegation in the last two seasons. This thread was started very early in SK's tenure and has trundled on throughout his time at the helm. We are talking about a guy who has a career to build, a family to feed and who is an honest hard worker professional who has done well for this club. The appetite to sack managers is generally distasteful and it is really easy to be smart ( and often anonymous) on a football forum. I am not referencing you in this mfc88, just quoting your last sentence. Sacking manager threads should surface in times when a team is in turmoil. This team is not in turmoil and yet there are fans hell bent on creating instability and a false sense of turmoil. It seems that this is now as much a part of the entertainment as the football itself. I think SK deserves a bit more respect. He has earned it.

Motherwell are 10th out of 12 in total league attendances this season. I don't have accurate up to date wage info but one of the clubs marginally below us (St Johnstone 5,602 v us 5,748) have traditionally paid higher wages than we have. I don't know how true it was but it was claimed only Livingston had a smaller budget than us last season. We are a bottom 3 club in this league and if Falkirk come up next season we'll be a bottom 2 club. If you don't believe me Falkirk got 1,500 more fans in their last home match against Queen's Park than we did against Aberdeen with a big travelling support. A lot of our fans need a long hard introductory course in reality. Our extended stay at the top level has made some of our fans think we are far bigger and better club but we've escaped relegation on technicities three times and that's not including a relegation play off. For us to be in the Top 6 is a tremendous achievement. If we finish in or around it that will be an excellent season. If you don't like the standard of modern Scottish football, I sympathise with you. But don't put that on a manager or club officials or staff. Aberdeen and Hearts played out one of the most woeful matches you will ever see at the weekend and they have facilities and a budget we could only dream of. I've seen bad, good and indifferent performances this season. Same as every other season. Like I've said over and over the standard in Scottish football is a shadow of what it was in the 80's and 90's but that shadow casts a pall over the whole league. I try and watch as many games as possible and the standard elsewhere is pretty much the same as we watch at Fir Park.

How many of those belittling Kettlewell were pushing for Valakari a few years ago. A bullet well and truly dodged.

New Year, New Goals! As we step into 2025, the Motherwell FC Heritage Trust is ready to make this year one to remember. The charity formally established in October 2024. With our 2025 action plan in place and a service-level agreement signed with the club (thanks to Chief Exscutive Brian Caldwell’s support), we’re poised to preserve and celebrate our proud history like never before. Thanks to the generous contributions of our early funders, we’re set to get cracking and deliver something truly special. Special thanks to the amazing former player and coach Cammy Murray who has been a driving force for years to ensure we preserve and celebrate our history. Also thanks to Sally Hall, The Well Society Development Manager for her support and advice. At Motherwell FC, #Heritage Matters. Let’s make 2025 unforgettable! www.mfcheritagetrust.com @mfcheritagetrust.bsky.social @mfchistorian.bsky.social ‘X’ @SteelmenHistory #OneMotherwell #COYW

A bit of sound advice for tonight guys, when midnight arrives, wait at least 5 mins before celebrating until VAR confirms it. 👍

The 2 playoff games in 2015, the league cup semi in 2017, granted against weaker Rangers teams than they have now, but it can be done. Sitting back and letting rhem come on to us, hoping to keep them out only ever ends in defeat. Rangers are fragile at the back get right into them from the start and we have a chance.

Is this what you mean by colourful and robust. Each to their own. I don't think I have a problem if all I am suggesting is that the manager of the team we support be treated with a little more respect, particularly when he has contributed significantly towards keeping us in the top division. As you well know, social media is powerful, perhaps more powerful than the man shouting obscenities from the stand and it can create a tone, positive or negative, supportive or toxic, that can influence outcomes. Steelmen Online does not exist in a vacuum.

Fair point but I think most fans are not so much concerned about our position or what we have achieved but rather they are looking at the rest of the season ahead and are rightly worried about where we are going to end up. We need the club/manager to be proactive and change things for the better now. Don’t wait till we are deep in trouble and then make changes. Those changes could be tactics, attitude, formation, team selection or whatever. SK is the guy getting paid to figure out the best changes.

You've obviously no been to my work.

You don't. But some people act like they do. I've seen it all over social media. The name calling - the demands that he gets out of our club. Completely pathetic in my view. I actually don't know why anyone would come to this club given the abuse thats dished out to managers when some fans think it's time for the manager to go. I'm not talking about the booing. I'm talking about the name calling on social media - I get why he doesn't look at it

I think you are confusing the entire Motherwell Support for this place. If we win tomorrow Im pretty sure the entire 1700 Motherwell fans or whatever the number is will go mental and appreciate the players for keeping a dream alive.

Just wish people would realise playing two centre midfielders in a 442 is suicide these days...

If true, that’s no great loss. Casey tries hard and often puts his body on the line, but those attributes are replaceable at this level, and let’s not forget that he didn’t want to be here in the first place.

Decent result, if not performance. We've lost 2 in our last 8 and one of them was at Celtic Park. That's reasonable since we've played Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts, Kilmarnock away and Top 6 sides Dundee United and St Mirren.

We supporters get incredibly frustrated with useless officials but it must be worse when your job may well suffer due to incompetent refs. Kettlewell and the players prepare meticulously for each game only to find the plan ruined because the ref makes crazy decisions. I can fully understand Kettlewells annoyance as it must be so difficult to stand on the touchline and say nothing while the ref makes himself the centre of attention in every game. I just wish Collum would remind his refs that the best ones are those who go about their business quietly but efficiently and don't need to flash cards in order to maintain control.

Whilst I get the need to slow things down, I understand the shouts about Ox not releasing the ball early. On a couple of occasions when 10 man Aberdeen were fully committed to attack, we outnumbered them 2 to 1 on the halfway line and quick punt up the park to the likes of the expectant Maswhanise or Vale or indeed almost anywhere would have caused all sorts of problems for them. That's why some fans became animated.

I see Paul Smith is recovering from a heart attack, wishing him a speedy recovery. Him and Andy Walker had a good partnership in the 80's, both ....ahem.....crisp finishers !! 🤪 Get well soon Smudger, will never forget that equaliser in cup at tynecastle in 1987 when you cemented Henry Smith to set up Walker, plus your overhead effort against Rangers in league cup semi in 1987 also

Taking a risk on someone coming back from injury isn't a terrible idea in isolation. However, we signed Callachan when our main midfielder in slattery was out for a year, and we already had Nicholson and paton who have been injury prone, and halliday who cant last 90. Then add the fact that we knew Miller was on borrowed time with us, and you can see the whole midfield recruitment strategy was a shambles. Especially when we lost our best player from last year in that position. On the squad size. We had a number of injuries at the start of the season, so that has to be a factor in making more signings than planned. If Nicholson wasn't injured, would we have got maswanhise? Are the loan kids inuded in the 28? How many players are fit and not in the match day squad each week? A couple? If we had our usual squad of, say 23, we'd be royally fucked with the injuries right now. We got a good turn out of Wilson due to seddons injury, but he seems to be feeling it now, as tends to haplen with young players. Are any of the other young players real prospects? I'm not seeing much from their loan exploits to suggest so.

As others note, and with our supposed budget, we should never be running with a 28-man first team squad or taking 10 gambles.

Kettlewell has been given the budget to run a 28 man first team squad this season, not including those out on loan, so I would suggest that the budget argument can be dismissed as not being a limiting factor this season. Also, there are many injuries, but he still has 19 first team players available to work with. If he can't get a tune out of them, then he's in the wrong job. I did wonder how long it would take for someone to trot out the 'without investment' line. You've also managed to completely contradict yourself in what you've said here. That is, are we being left behind or are we doing well competing with other more financially liberal clubs? It can't be both. The body language of some of the players at the weekend, as well as some of the subsequent rumours about disharmony, would suggest that he's well on the way to losing the dressing room. I think the tipping point has likely already been reached. On the rallying round point; what do you think that massive away support at the weekend was?! We're witnessing the most stubborn of busted flushes take himself and the team down with him. Is hoping for someone with at least some semblance of tactical nous too much to ask for? Who that is is up to the current Board to seek out.

I don't boo managers or players. Never have. Never will. If people want Kettlewell out fair enough. I just hope the next manager lives up to expectations. I know plenty of Motherwell fans who don't want Kettlewell out - my issue is that we're supposed to think the entire support hate him based on yesterday? I don't. It's all a tad polarised on here at the moment and if you say you support Kettlewell you get laughed at and told you're an idiot by people who weren't even born when you started going to games. Or that you somehow are responsible for Motherwell not performing because you don't have high enough expectations for your team (I really have seen it all when I saw a post like that). People who like Kettlewell are responsible for Motherwells current performance I really hope that in two years time when he's gone - if we are still struggling that some people might revisit their opinions of him - doubt it though

Nobody knows where we’ll end up, though. Let’s say we lose this weekend, and Hibs manage a win away at County. Suddenly, we’d drop from 5th to 6th. Would the manager be sacked for that? If so, I’d have some serious questions for the club. Chief among them would be: who’s taking over? I’d assume there’s someone better lined up, ready to step in and make an immediate difference? Because for a club like ours to sack the manager while sitting in the top six would be absolutely baffling. Given all the hand-wringing over a supposed “financial gap” during the summer, I’d also want to know the cost of letting the manager—and presumably his coaching staff—go mid-season. Now, if we were down in 11th, fair enough, that’s a different conversation. But in the top six? Is that really where we’ve set the bar for managers at Motherwell? Have we reached the point where making it to a cup semi-final and being in the top half of the table doesn’t guarantee job security? If so, I’d seriously question the judgement of those making these decisions. For me, it’s about keeping our heads above water, and seeing how things improve once our key injured players are back in the fold. When the season’s over, by all means, let’s reflect on what worked and what didn’t. But making drastic changes mid-season? That should only ever be an absolute last resort.

The glaring issue is Kettlewell. Why anyone would want to give him yet another transfer window is beyond me. We’re being completely outplayed by the team at the bottom of the league, yet it’s somehow totally unsurprising.

I think we sold extremely high, and made out like bandits, I would pass.

The competing with teams who a pay more is overblown. SureSt Mirren and Killie have bigger crows but jesus christ it's in the hundreds not in the thousands. A decent commercial side, small gains in the transfer market and running slightly smaller squad should able to negate most of that advantage. We have 4 teams that we should be able to compete with financially and that's Killie, St Mirren, Ross County and St Johnstone. To suggest otherwise is over egging it.

Said this for a few months now, desperate for it to work but he’s miles off it. So slow and can’t beat a man, very guilty at ball watching as well and losing his man

Another game against a very average team and we continue with 30% possession and 1 shot at goal . i know many will point to the point tally etc but it’s absolutely atrocious approach to football .

Watching this shitfest lying on my bed,20 mins in my mind wandered to pornhub,fucking hate myself.

See this is the thing. I sit within earshot of him and Kettlewell has always been VERY vocal on the sidelines and imo he's not any more vocal now than he was last season. Is it just a coincidence that he's had these cards since he came out and openly criticised the Refs and VAR decisions? Don't get me wrong, he should learn to control himself on the touchline and not give the Refs the opportunity to flash the cards in the first place but I think he's become a bit of a target for them.

and we need the manager to employ tactics that actually suit the abilities of the players.

A donkey of the highest calibre, and unfortunately he’ll be getting yet another transfer window to further bloat the squad with crap.

I ain't confident at all. No Miller so hee haw creativity in midfield. The league is getting tight so genuinely fear us getting dragged into relegation territory. I am really losing faith with Kettlewell, loves sound of his own voice but hee haw tactical awareness

I'M sure we are not alone in getting dubious decisions against Celtic and Rangers. Maybe if all the managers in the league stood against them, and did what Kettlewell did, things might get better.

Summer of 2026. Extended in October.

Write out 100 times “I should never believe what I read in The Sun cause it’s all shite”

Dodgy penalty, watt getting in the way of kaleta goal attempt and deflected goal. I think at this point we realised it was not going to be our day. You need luck to beat them, and with the official being card happy towards our players, it's no wonder heads and effort went down. I think it's very harsh to have a go at the team under the circumstances. Looking at football in general, unless your an elite team, and even then, there are very few teams who constantly get clean sheets. Sure we have what 1 in 100 games or what ever, but even teams of our standard are hardly that much better than say 4 or 5 in 100. I personally don't care about clean sheets as long as we outscore the opposition. Outwith Celtic, don't think there is many clubs where their fans are totally behind the manager and their tactical approach to the game. Money, technolegy and negative coaching, ie where are the flair players? has given us a modern game which is as someone said is like a boring chess game.

That referee hasn't just made a mistake...he's proven that belief from some quarters, that referees are arrogant, belligerent and unapproachable...how often do we hear players and managers say that a referee wouldnt talk to them or wouldn't explain a decision either during a game or after it? This referee in particular, instead of realising his clear mistake that was recognised by everyone who had the ability to rewatch it, doubled down on his decision in a show of 'I'm right and everyone else is wrong', his hand gestures to casey and his stomping around the field of play displayed a real arrogance. I genuinely believe we wouldn't lose much if he was never allowed to referee at our level again. People pay good money to watch football, not a display such as this by a trumped up wee fanny, that's managed to pass a few courses to get him fired into the limelight.