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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'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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

He still managed to mention that were 5th in the league ( not for long ) and still mentions the semi ( where he set up to shit the bed ) but doesnt mention much bout the fans hard earned money pished away watching his dire 90 mins against the worst team in the league and only managing 1 shot on target Wake up n smell the coffee stuart shape up or ship out the balls at your feet

A balanced assessment which pretty much sums up my feelings at the moment. If SK can learn from this low point and show an ability to change then he can survive. If he stubbornly sticks to a no Plan B mentality then the next few months will be difficult, and unsustainable if he has truly lost the support and the dressing-room. A team with no Plan B is very easy to play against, as Mr Postecoglu is discovering at the moment.

I think the majority on here are fairly measured , even if they don't rate him. There's still one or two on here who can't help getting personal and another few who would but seem yo have disappeared...personally don't miss them , it helps if you can debate different opinions without the posts that are just on to stir things up. Things are never black and white especially in Scottish football. Anyway coyw.

If the offers are there, that has to be the way to go. I reckon Turnbull should have gone that direction too.

I think it is fair for folk to criticise Kettlewell. It's all about opinions and while some folk can see so fault with him I think it's only right to criticise when it's deserved. His style of football is terrible and he seems incapable of having a plan b. And as I have said before, I am someone who has defended him loads so it's not just a case of looking for any reason to want him punted. Now is the time for him to step up and prove why he deserves to stay in the job. A win this Saturday would. E a great start COYW

He was anything but astute,he's an average player that's had a number of serious injuries over the past few years,he should never have been signed.we keep hearing we have no money and running on a tight budget,we can't be gambling like this when it comes to handing out contracts.

He might have been given the budget to run a 28 man squad but let's face the facts, Motherwell aren't going to be ever be in a position to sign 28 players worthy of being first team regulars and standouts - he has assembled a squad of maybe 15/16 who I think are good enough to play every week however most of them are injured - purely bad luck, not because of the manager. Not contradicting myself, I'm stating a fact that without investment we are getting left behind off and on the pitch and we are punching above our weight by being ahead of teams spending more money than us, because the manager is doing a decent job with what he has at his disposal. As you say, rumours of disharmony, nothing confirmed on that front and don't expect it to be - let's face it on Saturday and a few recent games how many times have you sat there and watched Casey punt the ball high into the air only to come straight back to us, or thunder a 5yd pass off his teammates chest giving him no chance, his distribution is terrible so if rumours are true and Kettlewell dug him up for it at HT on Saturday then well done SK, if Casey can't accept criticism amidst rumours of him going to Hearts then let him go, nobody is bigger than the club. Be careful what you wish for is all I will say on that - Everyone wanted Simo in, with the exception of Saturday his team have been rotten and are likely to be playing Championship football next season.

We have enough fit players the now to change the formation a bit and have a go from the off if he at least tried that and we lost I don't think folk we be that bothered tbh. I just don't get what Kettlewell has seen to suggest to continue this way it doesn't make sense we are not playing to the abilities of the players we have left that's fit. That left wing right now is so weak any team with any one with pace that can play down the left will murder us.

Manager coming under a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion. Yes we aren't a great watch, but who would be with our budget and injury list? I'd also like to hear who the "Kettlewell out" campaigners would take in place of him because in my opinion there's nobody out there who would take the job and do better for what we are able to pay and give as a transfer budget. The bottom line is without investment we are being left behind by other clubs in the premier league and we are contrary to what others think are doing well competing with sides who are spending a shed load more money on us per month - that's testament to the manager and his staff. Those criticising his decisions on Saturday clearly fail to see that at HT when he brought O'Donnell and Sparrow on we went to a back 4 and pushed Kaleta into midfield, so for anyone to say he was still playing 5 defenders is baffling. Also, those critisising the substitution of Sam Nicholson who was indeed our best player on the park, need to realise he got kicked u and down by St Johnstone and has only actually played about 40 mins of football all season so was never lasting the full 90 mins plus extra time had we managed it. I agree Kettlewell's stuborness of continuously setting us up from the start to not lose and then we lose is frustrating and will probably be detrimental to his job in future, the same stubborness his predecessors also encountered but he certainly hasn;t lost the dressing room like Hammell and Alexander did so we should rally round him and try and get the team back to winning ways. As a side note, who would people realistically want in to replace him? I hear the same names all the time from the stands, Yogi Hughes, Steven Naismith, Liam Fox, Tam Courts, Rhys McCabe - sorry none of them will do a better job than Kettlewell in my opinion.

Views probably conform to a normal distribution curve. There are a few who will back him come what may and a few who have never liked him. The vast majority will be somewhere in between.

It will never change sadly but it be fair it's not really that bad on here it's more constructive of the actual formation and player selections it's never really personal. It's this old paid my ticket mindset which has morphed into faceless social media which has took it to a other level. Imagine players/managers/officials went into these morons work place and treated them by throwing coins at them,threaten there families and such,calling there wives and kids every name under the sun.How this has become so normal is beyond me but nothing really gets done about it same old same old.

really? Explosive? What do you think 🤔

I don't hate Kettlewell. But he needs to turn things round. If he does I will be first on here apologising

It's far from simple. However to date, SK has proved to be inflexible and slow to learn from his mistakes.

I wasn't. But that doesn't change my opinion. Being booed off the park after a very poor result doesn't necessarily translate to loads of fans turning against him. And I'm not the only person who has said the same on here over the last 24 hours Ps. I knew I would get the laughing emoticons but it's no biggie. I've been supporting Motherwell for decades and I don't boo players or the manager - Id rather back the team when we are struggling

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.

I'm not sure there's anything to buy in that regard. Or even an argument. We are sitting 5th. That's just a fact. Only the teams above us have won more games this season.

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.

Right own up.....who has hacked MJC's account? 🤪🤪