wellfan

I agree, but when does the bad spell become a terminal decline?

It's beginning to look a lot like it was actually KVV who did a great job of keeping us up last season.

If we lose this, I see no road back for Kettlewell.

I didn't go to the game yesterday because I had more important things to do, and it looks like my decision was correct. Going by the posts here, it seems like Kettlewell has lost the plot, and the players have downed tools. Very concerning.

If we go a goal down early in the first half, which is highly likely, we're toast.

There's no way that Kettlewell's job should be under threat already. This is the first bad run under him, and it's a bad one, but it's up to him (and many of the players) to sort it out. However, I don't think he has the personnel to do so, which is partly his fault and that of previous managers. But he should be given the chance to fix it because it's his job. And where have we heard this before?! He's inherited some crap, signed a lot of crap, and his usually reliable/good players have turned into ghosts of their former selves, and we should ask why the latter has happened? I would suggest it's a bit of mental fatigue coupled with frustration from being asked (by Kettlewell) to do the same things every week without reward due to the limitations of the players he continues to select, which is also the result of him having to cut the squad size down. The manager looks out of ideas already, other than being able to deploy Biereth to batter holes through teams every so often, which will see us continue to drop down the league. As many great thinkers have said, you can only pish with the cock you've got, and he's signed a lot of floppy cocks, which, as I said above, I think is having an impact on our generally decent other players' ability to continue to make things happen against the odds. Imagine being one of those midfielders busting your pan in every week only to discover that your out ball takes the form of our current crop of 'strikers'. It has to be having an impact. That doesn't excuse our leaky defence, however. And I don't have an answer to that, except maybe try a back four with a holding defensive midfielder sitting in front. In short, some of our players are sometimes lazy and blow hot and cold, but that is our level (e.g. Slattery & Spittal). Others are just not good enough (you know who). And the defence is currently a mess, although some players are generally decent (e.g. McGinn, Butcher, Casey). Kettlewell needs to find a way to get the best out of the busted flush he has in part created, which he's shown before that he can do, albeit with KVV being the main factor in our turnaround in form last time. Can he do it again? Whether I agree with this assessment, I think he'll be given until at least January to put things right. I include a January transfer window budget as I can only assume the Board will be reluctant to punt another manager again so soon.

The ref was a total donkey, but he was one of several donkeys on the pitch last night.

Yes, those deficiencies have also been very apparent recently. But our strikers are still a problem as well, right?!

The next three games: Killie away St J away Hearts home We need to take at least 6 points from this run to turn things around before Celtic pump us at the end of the month.

Given the stinking recruitment in the attacking department, with Biereth being the exception, perhaps we need to revisit this thread to take our minds off of the recent performances.

It's a good job we've forgotten how to play football, as that plastic pitch won't allow that anyway.

Much like Saturday, his answer was to throw the stagnant game plan out the window and bring on all the subs when it was too late. It has all the whiffs of panic and it cannot continue like this.

It almost beggars belief that we're so painted into a corner in terms of personnel that this now seems like the least worst option.

Careful now, the hyperbole and language police are about.

Can't we just sign 11 Biereth's, please?

Yep, Craggs hit the nail on the head with that comment. It may also be that Kettlewell doesn't have a good manager instinct either.

I don't disagree, but it really is clutching at straws.

Feed the Bair.

More donkey defending. This team has the look of having zero confidence about them and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Kettlewell needs a miracle now, which won't come because he signed a bunch of shite and sent everyone else out on loan.

He's got until January in my opinion. But then again, would you trust him with cash in the window to sign more potential duds and crocks?!

We do seem to be a bit of a mess at the decision-making level and that's been much discussed on this forum since before Burrows left. This isn't a problem unique to Motherwell. It's pervasive across football now and managers all know that they're one bad run away from a sacking.

That would only work if Kettlewell bothered to put Spencer on the right.

He entered panic mode on Saturday as well, and it worked, but he won't last beyond January if that's all he's got up his sleeves.

Biereth aside, we're so one-dimensional and that makes it easy for teams to suss us out and then rely on us making our routine mistakes to guarantee them a goal or two. Kettlewell is under a lot of pressure now and looks to have nothing up his sleeves now that KVV is gone.

Wilkinson is worse than a man down so far. Wasteful with every ball he recieves and too slow to make any effectice runs. And that was a terrible goal to lose. More leaks than Downing Street.