MJC

Arsehole or not he’s still a good manager at this level. Yes of course. He is just a young boy after all and can’t really be expected to play every game.

Biereth and Wilkinson up top, SO’D returns to the starting lineup, still no Miller.

The players can’t be absolved of blame but if they are collectively downing tools then it raises the question of the strength of the management team.

For me this is a big worry because it’s eerily similar to how things were in the last few weeks of Hammell and before Kettlewell took over. In the 2-3 loss v Hibs at home, the losses at St.Mirren and Aberdeen, the home loss v St.Johnstone midweek and the Raith cup tie several players looked absolutely disinterested and disheartened. Then Hammell goes and Kettlewell takes over and you had Spittal, KvV, Slattery, Goss all looking like different players with a much improved attitude. Unfortunately now we are seeing heads drop again and too many look disinterested, disheartened and lacking any direction and unless we get a positive result tonight and again on Saturday then you worry about how and if we can get back on track. Tonight is vital.

I’m a wee bit younger than you by the sounds of it but inspite of how some of my posts may sound at times I’m exactly the same. I genuinely couldn’t imagine life without supporting Motherwell FC and like you whenever I meet my dad for a beer it’s one of the main topics. They frustrate the shite out of me more often than not but outwith family and friends the club is the one constant in life for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Absolutely. Woods just kept turning up like a bad penny during his nine long year stay with us. Numerous keepers came in, dislodged him as first choice then moved on and there he was again, as bad as ever.* As for Howie he really came onto a game whilst with us and was even talked about for a Scotland cap. As I remember he refused to sign a new contract, went awol, couldn’t get a club then tried to come back before he was eventually signed by Tommy Burns at Reading. *And yes, I am fully aware that Stevie Woods is now the top goalkeeping coach in the country having worked at Celtic for years and is no doubt a very decent guy who gave his all when he was with us. It’s just unfortunate that his all wasn’t near good enough and he wasn’t half as good at goalkeeping as he appears to be coaching it.

Yes that’s true I did say that and I don’t see any reason to believe otherwise. Unlike the players, the coaching staff and those higher up in the club I am not in a position to be able to properly influence and affect results. The reason I don’t think we’ll ever beat either of them again is because we have the wrong mentality that runs right through the club nowadays which basically shrugs off these games and dismisses them because “we can’t compete with their budgets”. And while that bit is undoubtedly true we are no different to every other non OF side in that regard, yet Killie, St,Johnstone, Livingston, Ross County, Dundee Utd, St.Mirren and Accies have all managed to beat one or both of them since we last managed it. But sadly “we’re just a wee club punching way above our weight” and as long as we don’t get relegated and continue to “exist to improve people’s lives” then all is good and we should just be grateful eh?

It’s certainly not the best circumstances for us and why I felt it was a bad thing for us when the original game was called off, because we badly needed to halt the run of what at that time was four straight losses. Since then that run has become six defeats from seven with only one point picked up with games against Hearts and Celtic coming up. Meanwhile St.Johnstone have sacked their manager, picked up a big win last week and now appointed a good manager. Somehow we just have to find a way of getting a result tonight but it’s hard to see it.

Being an arsehole doesn’t make someone a bad manager. Quite often you find it’s the opposite. St.Johnstone haven’t hired him to hand out werthers originals at training and dance through the fields of rural Perthshire of a summer evening, they’ve hired him to get them out of a relegation battle and Levein will do that imo.

He was a pretty decent keeper for us I thought. The way he left us left a bit of a sour taste though.

Yes, I would. I’ll only quote that part because the rest of your post is long, however it’s a good post which I won’t and indeed can’t really argue with. What I would say though is that in regards to Clarke at Killie and now McInnes, Clarke didn’t win a trophy with them and McInnes probably won’t either, but in Clarke’s case he instilled a winning mentality where they weren’t cowed or fearful of any side. That showed in their record against both OF clubs in the league during his tenure there. McInnes hasn’t taken them to the heights that Clarke did so far and it’s unlikely that he will but he’s already overseen an Old Firm double in just a few weeks this season. Again, could we have done that? I don’t think so.

Yeah a 20 year old to be our entire goal threat and a 17 year old to carry our midfield. Unrealistic and unreasonable but that’s where we are thanks to dismal summer recruitment.

My point was that if we had been in the Championship then there was no way we would have appointed McInnes or anyone of that calibre. Kilmarnock themselves weren’t in the Championship in 2017 when they appointed Steve Clarke, a man who had managed in the English Premier League and been assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and also been involved at Liverpool. Again that is the type of appointment we just would not make. Likewise St.Johnstone appointing Craig Levein, a solid, experienced and high profile manager in the Scottish game just wouldn’t happen at Fir Park. We couldn’t/didn’t even sign Steven Fletcher in the summer there when we were crying out for a striker, but we baulked at his demands and instead used the money on deals for Shaw, Wilkinson and Bair ffs! I’m not asking or expecting us to be challenging for the top two spots or to be getting to semis/finals regularly, this is the type of retort anyone who dares suggest we show a bit more ambition always gets. I would just like to see us as a club aim a bit higher than simply finishing above 11th every season and not exit every Cup competition early and/or as soon as we are paired with a top flight side.

And if we were in the Championship do you seriously think we would have gone out and appointed a manager who won a cup, finished second several times and took Aberdeen to numerous semis/finals? Not a chance! We would be howling even longer and louder than we usually do about how skint we were and how we would have to cut our cloth and tighten our belts and all that pish. It’s more than just a good few years now, I’d say more like 15-20 and social media has made it even worse imo.

The change kit yet again making an appearance on Tuesday night it seems. We really need a win but the best result we’ll get is a 0-0 draw I reckon.

Six losses out of seven…doom and gloom, realism/to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to. Or perhaps you’d rather hear the story of Goldilocks and the three Bears? Albeit in the Happy Clappers version Goldilocks is wearing a Claret & Amber ribbon when the bears find her asleep in their bed having eaten their porridge and broken their chairs, so for that reason they forgive her, fire up Twist and Shout on Alexa and they all jump about the house shouting “there’s only one James McFadden”…

Who has won two trophys since we last managed it in 1991? Us or Kilmarnock? Who has beaten Rangers several times in the league since 2002? Us or Kilmarnock? The answer to both questions is the same. I’ll give you a clue…it isn’t us.

I don’t see much wrong with what he says to be fair.

And do Kilmarnock really have a bigger budget than we do? Or a budget that is significantly bigger enough to attract a McInnes type manager? Or are we just unable or unwilling to push the boat out a bit more and are instead happy enough with our status as a two-bit tinpot no mark of a club who have zero ambition whatsoever?

Well they certainly wouldn’t touch our job with a bargepole. Other clubs our size like Killie or St.Mirren? I’m not so sure. As I said Killie managed to land McInnes, something we wouldn’t have a hope in hell of doing.

Firstly I would disagree that “almost everyone agreed both interim managers had earned the job” especially in Hammell’s case. Even SK was handed the job pretty much straight away on the back of two wins iirc. Towards the end of Hammell’s tenure it was clear that the players had lost faith in him and for whatever reason weren’t playing for him. Kettlewell came in and seemed to transform a good few over night but now it looks like they are downing tools for him too which obviously points to an issue with player attitudes but also weak management. Secondly as you yourself mentioned after the St.Mirren cup loss a few months back, there is little to zero expectation or scrutiny on Motherwell managers from within the club. It’s as if we are happy to just bumble along aimlessly in the hope of avoiding relegation and nothing else. With largely the same people who appointed Hammell and then Kettlewell in charge what makes you think that they will make the right choice, a different type of choice this time around? They were stung by Alexander who proved to be a poor manager with a surly divisive attitude so who does that leave? As I said we’re never going to see our board go for a Neil Lennon or Paul Lambert type. Even someone like Derek McInnes at Kilmarnock, a similar sized club to us is an appointment we could only dream of.

With certain defeats to Hearts and Celtic looming after this one then anything but a win here will confirm 100% that we are in serious relegation trouble and should spell the end for Stuart Kettlewell. Needless to say I can’t see us getting the much needed win. 0-0

Yes, I would say so.

The problem is though that it’s quite clear that it goes beyond the man in the dugout. You look at Robinson, Alexander, Hammell and now Kettlewell. What’s the common denominator? The people running the club with the exception of Burrows that’s what. You mention Robinson stopping signing duds because Lasley is overseeing him. Could another explanation for that not be that he is now working for a club with a better set up than us who is better run and isn’t hampered by our losers mentality? We as a club are ran like a bowling club committee and show absolutely no ambition whatsoever. If Kettlewell went tonight would you have any faith whatsoever in those same people then making the right appointment? I certainly don’t and that’s why we have no chance of a Lambert, Lennon, Levein type appointment. The type of man who will rock the boat and make demands of the board. It just won’t happen and that’s why we are more likely to see Ricky fucking Foster as our next manager or at least part of the next regime.

Sadly though that’s where we are at as a club. Toiling along hoping to survive without showing any ambition whatsoever. Sooner or later we are going to be relegated and perhaps that’s what we need as a club, perhaps. We need a reboot, a kick up the arse and a change of direction and “perhaps” and i cannot emphasise that word enough, that would be the catalyst for it. By the same token we could end up going part time and never return to the top flight but…only time would tell.