MJC

I said as much on Saturday it will almost certainly be Kettlewell until the end of the season and if he gets any sort of positive result in the next two games then it’ll be announced early next week. Its an awkward time to appoint a new manager and with our lack of money (and imagination) then the simple option for now us to hand it to Kettlewell just now and if he keeps us up the job is his in the summer.

He’s been dreadful recently though so have the entire team and perhaps that’s a factor in his dip in form. He won’t be dropped though, only injury will see him lose his place any time soon.

I wouldn’t take anything reported by The Sun seriously, but I wouldn’t be totally against Tommy Wright getting the job just now, but only on a short term basis to try and keep us up. Long term I don’t see him as the answer for us but short term we need to try and safeguard our top flight status so an experienced head like Wright might be what we need.

Terry Butcher was the last Motherwell manager to oversee a league victory over Rangers and I never heard him, Stuart McCall or Tommy McLean use anything like the type of language used by Kyle Lafferty recently either when they were with us or before and/or after. Obviously when we have ex old firm players at our club the media are going to ask them questions relating to it and it is their choice on whether and how to answer it or not. I don’t remember Tommy McLean constantly gushing over Rangers when he was here, Butcher like to offer his opinion on just about everything as did Mark McGhee and Stuart McCall was quite a humble guy who was very media friendly, but he never ‘sooked up’ to Rangers. What he was guilty though of, and the same could be said of McGhee and Butcher at times, was constantly talking us down whenever discussing games with either of them. Yes his record against Rangers was dismal and that 2012 League Cup game remains one of the worst results in our history in my view, but he didn’t fare much better against Celtic in that same time and the least said about his efforts in Europe the better. Terry Butcher was the architect of “we’re punching way above our weight” an attitude that has hampered us as a club for over two decades and many other players, managers and supporters have subscribed to that theory in that same time too. It is therefore no coincidence that we have seen our worst run of results in games against the old firm in that same period. Finally, TB’s celebrations on Skippy Sunday is something you would rather not see again? Perhaps I’ve forgotten or missed something but what exactly did he do? Should a manager not celebrate a win in a match which stops another team winning the league at their own ground? Were the Motherwell fans wild celebrations inside Fir Park that day also something you’d rather not see again? Or what about Celtic fan McDonald’s celebrations? That kind of attitude is one of insecurity about a perceived link between us and Rangers, which is nonsense especially in the context of Skippy Sunday. It’s also something you would read on a Celtic forum and indeed from the likes of John Hartson, Alan Thompson etc who have been dribbling on about how disrespectful we were to celebrate that day.

My thoughts exactly but sadly we have people in our fanbase who’s dislike of Rangers is greater than their love of Motherwell, or so it appears anyway. We’re not unique in that regard as I think that could apply to just about every club in Scotland and it is I believe a tiny proportion of our support who fall into that category but it exists nonetheless. The most important thing for us as a club is to get the best man we can possibly attract and who he previously played for or supports is completely irrelevant. I think the majority of Motherwell fans would feel the same.

He’s certainly not going to come here just now, perhaps if we avoided relegation and he then left his current club but even then I think it would be a big gamble. Apart from anything else he would be on a hiding to nothing straight away with some of our support due to him being a self confessed Rangers fan and ex Rangers player. He’d have some job winning them over. Though as I said last night, some of our most successful managers have been ex Rangers players.

Kampman is the only one I can think of that we paid a fee to another club for. Since then it’s been; Billy Davies - at the club as a player Eric Black - out of work Terry Butcher - promoted from Assistant Maurice Malpas - promoted from Assistant Mark McGhee 1st time - out of work Jim Gannon - out of work Craig Brown - out of work Stuart McCall - out of work Ian Baraclough - out of work Mark McGhee 2nd time - out of work Stephen Robinson - promoted from coaching staff Graham Alexander - out of work Steven Hammell - promoted from Academy director I think it’s safe to say that our next manager will either be out of work or promoted from within.

He really is a ‘Rangers man’ …in every sense of the word by all accounts. I reckon some of the usual suspects in our supports heads would more or less explode if we appointed him. 🤣 He doesn’t appeal to me though and I doubt we could afford to tempt him away from his current club.

Absolutely and if that means pushing the boat out and spending a bit more money to get an experienced manager with a bit of pedigree at this level then we should do it. Relegation will cost us more in the long run so this is last throw of the dice territory now.

I would drop Kelly and give Oxborough the gloves for this one. Won’t happen though. McKinstry, Crankshaw and Johnston, Saturdays HT subs must start on Wednesday night. I expect the pseudo 80s kit to make a comeback and for us to lose 1-3.

Of course. Him being in charge of Rangers in that playoff made pumping them even more sweeter. I was never a fan of Stuart McCall, but unlike some of the wahoos in our support who disliked him simply because he was an ex-Rangers player, I just think he blew our best chance of winning a trophy again with his inability to get his teams to perform when it really mattered. I certainly wouldn’t want Stuart McCall back in charge just now, for the reason I just mentioned.

Yeah because having a manager who ‘loves’ Rangers is the worst thing we could have right now eh? It’s not as if we’ve ever done okay with ex Rangers players as managers in the past or anything. You know like an ex-Rangers player overseeing a Scottish Cup win or another ex-Rangers player taking us from the brink of extinction to top six and a League Cup Final? Or yet another one guiding us to 3rd, 2nd and 2nd again? Nah, lets not get anyone in who has a previous connection with Rangers. ”Announce Lennon!”

He would be a good fit for us right now imo. He knows the game and knows how to set teams up to be difficult to beat, plus he would (surely) be affordable for us unlike Lennon, Lambert or Levein?

Ian McCall has surprisingly just been sacked by Partick Thistle. We could do alot worse.

The tone was set for this season when we released that ‘Classic throwback’ kit.

Are you serious? FHW! Have you forgotten how dirty a team they were with him in it and how John Robertson used to score against us and John Colquhoun used to dive and how their fans used to bounce us off the pavements on Gorgie Rd back in the day? Not to mention 4-6-0 with Scotland!* * he would be my choice too in all seriousness, even if just til the end of the season to try and keep us up.

Neil Lennon can't work again in the UK until April due to a tax issue, his pal Hugh Keevins mentioned it on Clyde 1 last week so talk of him is a non starter. He wouldn't come to us anyway, we'd never be able to afford his salary.

We all know it's going to be Kettlewell until the end of the season. It's the Motherwell way.

“We exist to improve people’s lives”.

Only 64 as well. RIP

The management of the club has been absolutely shambolic for at least a year now. Allowing the previous manager to oversee such a dismal return in the second half of last season, extending his contract and then to start this season in charge only for him to oversee a European embarrassment and then chuck it on the eve of the season. And then we appoint the academy coach who has no senior management experience experience, allow him to bring in two ex players who had barely been on a football pitch in the last two years and six months down the line we are staring relegation in the race for the first time in nearly forty years. It has been an absolute clusterfuck of a year for us as a club.

Rangers and Hearts now both winning which helps keep a glimmer of hope alive for us.

Sorry Hammell, but it’s time to go. And Ross County now level at Ibrox thanks to Jordan White.

Slightly better so far 2nd half but still no threat on goal. KvV, McKinstry and Crankshaw on now.

A minor blessing, but as things stand we are officially bottom of the league tonight.