Kmcalpin

Yes changing managers can be costly but so can inaction. If we don't change and lose say 2/3 league places that will be costly. If we're caught up in a relegation dogfight that could be extremely costly. Relegation? If we wait until injuries clear up when will that be? McGinn out for the season; Robinson out until next season; Ox out for 2- 3 months, Seddon out for another 2 months. All that assumes we don't pick up any more injuries. We will not be able to field our strongest team this season.

Why Motherwell fans are turning against Stuart Kettlewell By Craig Fowler Columnist I'm going to tell you about a Scottish football manager. This man has been in charge of his current club for almost two years. He has a 40 per cent winning percentage from 92 games despite not managing one of the bigger clubs in the division. He currently has his team in the top half despite their best player being a teenager with less than 50 career top-flight games. And in each of the last two seasons he has been forced into selling his top goalscorer, having significantly improved each of those players' form, making the club over £2 million in the process. I am, of course, referring to Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell. A man who, for all the successes I laid out above, is not a popular figure with a sizeable chunk of the Fir Park faithful. Tensions increased last week when Kettlewell took aim at his critics in a pre-match press conference ahead of his side's trip to St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership. "I’ll not be influenced by any noise or opinions from people that have never done the job and never dedicated their life to this game," he said. That line lacks context in isolation. Within the overall body of what he told reporters on Thursday, it appears more respectful and comes across as an honest assessment of what most managers think. Any coach who alters his team and tactics at the whim of supporter sentiment is not going to last in the job very long, as the team would soon become an incoherent mess with the gameplan ripped up on an almost weekly basis. However, Kettlewell has been in the game long enough to know that any direct shot at supporters is going to be isolated in the media and hungrily feasted on, which is what happened. Even by social media standards, Motherwell fans were outraged by the comment and it further strained a relationship which wasn't exactly harmonious beforehand. Other than Stephen Robinson, Kettlewell is Motherwell's most successful manager in over a decade. He inherited a mess of a squad heading for relegation when Stevie Hammell was sacked and quickly turned things around; he's kept their head above water despite being in charge of some average-looking squads; he rebounds from losing his best players and, as I'll reiterate again, they're in the top half of the league. This is despite a perplexing injury list that has had a Motherwell-supporting colleague of mine often wondering whether they host training on an active minefield. This injury list now includes Lennon Miller, a generational talent and the team's fulcrum. So why are some of the supporters so unhappy? It all goes back to an aspect of the game by which all managers are judged: the style of play. It is correct that the most important thing in football is winning matches. If you win games above expectation then you are going to be safe and secure in your job. However, the manner in which a team goes about trying to win those games still matters very much. That's because a manager who wins matches by playing a brand of football which supporters aren't happy with isn't going to accumulate much credit in the bank. So as soon as things start to go sour there is no grace period, the knives are immediately out, and that's what has happened at Motherwell recently following a sequence of just one victory in their last nine games. Motherwell are, statistically speaking, the most passive team in the league. No Scottish Premiership team presses the opposition with less intensity, which would be more forgivable in the eyes of fans if the team weren't also happy to concede possession to opponents. With just a 39.2 per cent share of the ball across this season so far, no side holds on to it for less time than Kettlewell's men. They also hold the third worst Expected Goals (xG) tally and second highest Expected Goals Against (xGA) mark, suggesting that the success of this season has been built on a foundation of sand. Putting that to the side, even if every single point accrued to this point has been deserved, for supporters it's been done without much joy. Even the one victory in the past nine, the 2-0 win over Aberdeen (*sarcastic slow clap*), fans went away from the stadium grumbling after a disheartening second-half performance against ten men. In the end, victory will always pacify, but there are rarely ever positives to take when it doesn't happen, which is why supporters were so furious with the exit to St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup. Motherwell went out with a whimper to an opponent who'd previously managed just two draws in nine games and have now beaten them in successive weekends. There are also questions with regards to squad building. Thirty-five players have been signed by Kettlewell but there aren't many undoubted success stories, and there are still gaps in the squad. The Fir Park corps is bursting with forward players but only Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is truly adept at holding the ball up and playing with his back to goal. Without him in recent games due to injury they've struggled to make it stick. Fans are also sick of seeing a three-at-the-back variation which gets played regardless of who is fit and in form. Ewan Wilson has made the breakthrough this season at left wing-back and impressed earlier in the campaign, but his form has struggled recently as he's been asked to carry too much in a system that only really functions at its best when the wing-backs are flying. So long as the Steelmen remain in the top half of the table then Kettlewell will remain in a job, regardless of what fans think of him. But you can basically throw a duvet sheet over the Premiership table from Motherwell in fifth to Kilmarnock in 11th. If the league position starts to reflect recent results then there aren't going to be many defenders left among the support when it comes time for the board to discuss the manager's position.

An article in the Herald this morning which is worth reading. https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/24886398.motherwell-fans-turning-stuart-kettlewell/ The best media summing up I've come across was by Craggs on the BBC on Saturday. Basically our league position & semi final appearance are at odds with our stats, fan unrest and current bad run. This is because we got a bit lucky earlier but now teams have worked us out and we have been found out.

Excellent, a well researched and compiled piece of work. Well done. Unsurprisingly our personnel changes have been greatly influenced by injuries and long term ones at that. I agree that SK's signing policy hasn't been chaotic or scattergun in that he has addressed areas of need that most of us would have identified anyway. There are one or possibly two exceptions. A defensive midfielder, although a deal is in the pipeline. However, it does seem a bit unbalanced with the number of strikers that we've signed despite only playing one for most of gametimes. My gripe would be that despite playing that system, which relies heavily on fielding a target man, we haven't signed one. Perhaps Armstrong will fit that bill, although I'm not so sure. Where I think SK has fallen down is that many individual signings were high risk. Ross Callachan is a case in point. No manager will have a 100% success rate with transfers, but I think we've fared a bit poorly. Koutroumbis, Davor, Jair, Ebiye, Robinson, Balmer. Maybe scope to add one or two more? I'm expecting some transfer actiivty before the deadline but mainly outwards. Jordan McGhee could be an exception. Lennon MIller is anyone's guess. Its not unlikely that one or more of Koutroumbis, Davor, Callachan, Ebiye or Stuparevic could leave either permanently or on loan.

I agree with Wellfan's comments about the detrimental effect on ticket sales and the bond between club and fans. However, I'd also pose the question what if we retain SK until the end of the season, despite continuing poor results, and we end up in 11th spot or even worse? I think we have a lot to lose through inaction. All that said, no-one knows the precise optimum time to call it a day. Its a judgement call.

Agree 100% with that. In SOD's defence yesterday, he had to act as minder to Tom Sparrow and bale him out a few times as St Johnstone targeted him. Sparrow looked really good going forward with his raw energy but was all over the place defensively. In the latter stages "old hands" Balmer and Casey should have been brought on to shore up our defence. As it was our rearguard was chopped and changed with the introduction of Thompson and Koutroumbis: not a good idea when you're under extreme pressure (granted Kaleta looked to be injured). SK has had plenty of more appropriate opportunities in the past to ease Koutroumbis into the set up and chose not to exercise them.

A very reasonable view to take Jim. Unfortunately, I've not been so reasonable these past 2 games, when I've let my frustration boil over a little at McDiarmid Park at the end of the games. Football is an emotional game and the day I couldn't care less about a result or performance is the day I'll give up attending games. I've not been as bad for many a year! That said, I never resort to swearing or abuse. Whatever I may think of SK's management of the team, he is a human being and deserves respect for his hard work and dedication. I fully accept he's trying his best. Thats not in any doubt. I really don't want the situation with the fans become toxic. That benefits no-one. Currently things are at tipping point.

I get that Ian, but of late my expectations have been very modest. I really thought that we'd see a positive reaction yesterday at Perth but it ended up much the same as our cup exit. Its not so much the line ups and tactics its more the attitude of the players, under instruction of course. A very passive, stand offish attitude and an unwillingness to get stuck in old fashioned parlance. I really hoped that SK would have fed them raw meat before yesterday's game but that wasn't on the menu.

Just keep the score respectable; no red cards and no injuries. That's all I ask.

There were several crosses that he could have come for but elected to stay rooted to his line. That caused uncertainty for those in front of him.

Pre match I thought our line up looked very risky in defence. Either a managerial masterstroke or an own goal. Anyway onto the game. We started reasonably positively an a slight improvement on last week. Sparrow looked fine going forward but totally lost defensively and St Johnstone soon picked up on this. That pattern persisted until Sparrow retired. We scored from the penalty after a blatant hand ball that everyone except the referee saw. After that things went downhill. We sat deeper and deeper and our forays upfield became rarer and more half hearted. Like last week St Johnstone were far better when off the ball they harried, chased and got in our faces. In contrast we sat off them, gave them space and looked passive. After the break things continued in the same vein but got worse. Our midfield simply disappeared and a raft of changes didn’t help, especially bringing on so many new boys. Paton’s energy was missed when he tired and went off. Watt ploughed a lone furrow up front and suffered from lack of support. I thought that at about the 55 minute mark we needed to bolster the defence, probably by taking off O’Donnell and bringing on Casey for his height and aerial ability. The final 35 minutes comprised a siege on our goal with countless corners and crosses and the huge surprise was that St Johnstone didn’t score more and sooner. A very slight improvement on last week for the opening spell but thereafter the same flat turgid and half hearted performance. Although the cast of actors was different the performance was just the same. All talk and no action. At full time the fans certainly let the players and management know what they thought in no uncertain terms. I can't speak for all fans but my impression is that SK has lost the support of over 50% of them.

He's 6-2, played in the Premiership before and at 25 is no spring chicken. So no excuses for looking very unsure in the air. That will only affect the confidence of an already poor central defence. St Mirren fans said exactly the same about him. A good shot stopper but poor in the air.

He also said that our league position is at odds with how we play and are now getting found out or words to that effect.

It's even harder when we don't have possession and can't win it back.

It looked like a 5-3-1-1 to me for the vast majority of the game.

A problem for the entire 95 minutes. Sparrow was OK going forward but he couldn't defend to save himself. Not the lads fault as he was played out of position and hung out to dry.

I didn't know about that but Balcombe gave me the fear. He doesn't like high balls and was glued to his line today.

Yes, spot on.

Having sat through another 95 minutes of a turgid, flat and passive performance today, I've come off the fence and now believe it's time to part company with SK. Wasn't impressed with his post match comments blaming the players. He really needs to take responsibility. It's time to go Stuart.

"It was the players' fault:.

If we wrest Jordan McGhee from Dundee this month, and land Dom Thompson then that's our problem positions addressed, at least on paper. However we will then have a huge squad albeit with a substantial injured component. Surely some need for trimming around the edges.

If his comments were simply clumsily phrased and he wasn't referring to the fans then all he has to do is to clarify what he meant. Hopefully someone at the club has had a tactful word in his ear. No manager can afford to alienate fans unnecessarily.

I don't know the details of these deals obviously, but that implies that we now have no control over the length of the loans. As such, serious questions need to be asked as to why we agreed to these deals in the first place.

I think we also need another LWB as Wilson seems burn out and Seddon is out of action for a good month or two.

Thats exactly it for me. We badly need someone up front to compete physically with the Jack Sanders of the world, hold the ball up and bring others like Vale, Stama or Manwhanise (if he's played close enough) into play. Thats what we've missed and a physical target man was a must last summer. I have no idea why one wasn't signed.