Stuart Kettlewell discussion thread

[bobbybingo]

9 minutes ago, wellfan said:

The same could be said about an enforced silence. And i don't think this Motherwell FC forum is the place for these discussions. 

You're right, as interesting a discussion as it is, it's not really one for on here and I should probably have left it alone.

Getting back to its origin, I don't see any circumstances where Neil Lennon becomes our manager. Leaving aside all the footballing and financial issues, this is an example of the baggage he'd tow behind him wherever he went - I doubt he'll ever manage in Scotland again.

[Kmcalpin]

9 hours ago, wellfan said:

i don't think this Motherwell FC forum is the place for these discussions. 

You're right. We'll leave it there.

[MJC]

11 hours ago, bobbybingo said:

You're right, as interesting a discussion as it is, it's not really one for on here and I should probably have left it alone.

Getting back to its origin, I don't see any circumstances where Neil Lennon becomes our manager. Leaving aside all the footballing and financial issues, this is an example of the baggage he'd tow behind him wherever he went - I doubt he'll ever manage in Scotland again.

You’re right, there are absolutely no circumstances where Neil Lennon would become our manager. Apart from what I said the other night about us never being able to appoint such a high profile individual he would bring too much off field baggage that in the long run would do us no favours. He would almost certainly have our support fighting amongst themselves even more than normal.

[David]

22 hours ago, bobbybingo said:

Given his recent record, Alexander will be looking back at his glory days along with us.

Possibly. The MK Dons situation was a bit of a farce. He got something like 15 or 16 games there, which is mental. His time at Bradford and over the next few years will be a better indicator of if he can get back on track. 

Although in saying that, I don't really think how many times a manager has been sacked can be used as a barometer of his abilities, as mental as that sounds.

What Alexander had that Kettlewell doesn't is a track record of some form of success. I think that's why I had more confidence in Alexander than I do Kettlewell.

[bobbybingo]

1 hour ago, David said:

Possibly. The MK Dons situation was a bit of a farce. He got something like 15 or 16 games there, which is mental. His time at Bradford and over the next few years will be a better indicator of if he can get back on track. 

Although in saying that, I don't really think how many times a manager has been sacked can be used as a barometer of his abilities, as mental as that sounds.

What Alexander had that Kettlewell doesn't is a track record of some form of success. I think that's why I had more confidence in Alexander than I do Kettlewell.

Form wise, Alexander was doing pretty well here until Boxing Day 2021. After that it went over a cliff. Same thing's happening with Kettlewell, obviously.

Assuming we lose to Celtic, he has the Dundee game to find a win and match Alexander's run of 5 points from 33. Probably something we'll see every season or two now, the inevitable end result when limited managers are given limited funds to bring in limited players. 

[GazzyB]

Kaiyne Woollery was inconsistent but my god I’d take him over Conor Wilkinson any day of the week.

[Kmcalpin]

1 hour ago, GazzyB said:

Kaiyne Woollery was inconsistent but my god I’d take him over Conor Wilkinson any day of the week.

An unfair comparison. Conor Wilkinson is not a winger despite what SK thinks. 

[GazzyB]

Not unfair at all, they are both attacking players. One was strong and quick and exciting to watch and the other spends half his time on the deck and the other half moaning at the ref to mask his inabilities.

[grizzlyg]

7 minutes ago, GazzyB said:

Not unfair at all, they are both attacking players. One was strong and quick and exciting to watch and the other spends half his time on the deck and the other half moaning at the ref to mask his inabilities.

Just my view but strong...quick and exciting are not the first 3 words I think of when I think of Woolery.  No....end....and product spring to mind

[SteelmaninOZ]

5 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Just my view but strong...quick and exciting are not the first 3 words I think of when I think of Woolery.  No....end....and product spring to mind

You not wrong 

[Kmcalpin]

9 hours ago, GazzyB said:

Not unfair at all, they are both attacking players. One was strong and quick and exciting to watch and the other spends half his time on the deck and the other half moaning at the ref to mask his inabilities.

Woolery, was mainly played on the wing, his correct position. He flattered to deceive and had no end product. 

Wilkinson looks limited but, has rarely, if ever, been played in his correct position of a central penalty box striker. Until he's been given a run of games in that position we can't make a fair comparison.

[wellfan]

10 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Woolery, was mainly played on the wing, his correct position. He flattered to deceive and had no end product. 

Wilkinson looks limited but, has rarely, if ever, been played in his correct position of a central penalty box striker. Until he's been given a run of games in that position we can't make a fair comparison.

And we have to trust that Kettlewell will begin to start players in their correct positions, but I don't, unfortunately. It feels like he's dug himself into a corner and is unwilling to admit he was wrong on a few things as he believes the 'togetherness' will see them through. Let's hope someone has a word with him this international break, or it'll be his last as Motherwell manager.  

[Kmcalpin]

When SK first took over, he took our set up and tactics back to basics and kept it simple. Just what was needed at that time. It took rivals a bit by surprise and worked a treat. However they then began to work out ways to negate us and our form took a nosedive. 

Because of the type of player SK built his own squad around in the summer we became a one trick pony and he effectively backed himself into a corner. He's struggled badly to come up with a Plan B. That's where we are now.

[mfc]

32 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

When SK first took over, he took our set up and tactics back to basics and kept it simple. Just what was needed at that time. It took rivals a bit by surprise and worked a treat. However they then began to work out ways to negate us and our form took a nosedive. 

Because of the type of player SK built his own squad around in the summer we became a one trick pony and he effectively backed himself into a corner. He's struggled badly to come up with a Plan B. That's where we are now.

That's it in a nutshell,doing the basics are more than enough to be picking up points in our league but for whatever reason we have stopped doing the basics this season,coupled with the terrible recruitment over the summer,kettlewell has backed himself into a corner and it looks like his only way of trying to resolve our problems is by the bizarre team selections that have cropped up over the last few games,I get that when things arent going well,it's part of the managers job to find solutions but surely between kettlewell and frail they can figure out that playing the likes of bair and wilkinson in wide areas and playing full backs on opposite sides is never going to work,it just smacks of desperation.the celtic game is a write off for me,if we can come out of it relatively unscathed and with no injuries or suspensions then great but what will be interesting is the team selection for that game.

[wellfan]

55 minutes ago, mfc said:

the celtic game is a write off for me

I disagree. It’s a chance for him to show that he has some mettle. 

[stv]

21 minutes ago, wellfan said:

I disagree. It’s a chance for him to show that he has some mettle. 

We done that last time we played Celtic and have never won a game after that great performance. 

[mfc]

28 minutes ago, wellfan said:

I disagree. It’s a chance for him to show that he has some mettle. 

When I say it's a write off for me,I just mean I expect us to get nothing from the game.kettlewell needs to start showing something different and this would be the ideal game to get back to a balanced and thought out approach,if we go with the same as we did against hearts then the scoreline could be scary.

[wellfan]

13 minutes ago, mfc said:

When I say it's a write off for me,I just mean I expect us to get nothing from the game.kettlewell needs to start showing something different and this would be the ideal game to get back to a balanced and thought out approach,if we go with the same as we did against hearts then the scoreline could be scary.

Fair enough. If he gets back to basics and stops putting square pegs in round holes, and we still don’t get points but at least show up, I won’t be livid. That’s what I mean about mettle. I do still think the clock is ticking, however. 

[mfc]

11 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Fair enough. If he gets back to basics and stops putting square pegs in round holes, and we still don’t get points but at least show up, I won’t be livid. That’s what I mean about mettle. I do still think the clock is ticking, however. 

I agree with that,at the first sign of trouble he has really started to overthink things.if we get back to basics,I think we will be fine but if not I think he will be unemployed fairly soon.

[wellfan]

25 minutes ago, mfc said:

I agree with that,at the first sign of trouble he has really started to overthink things.if we get back to basics,I think we will be fine but if not I think he will be unemployed fairly soon.

And that's why I think the celtic game counts. It's not a write-off. 

[GazzyB]

13 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

Woolery, was mainly played on the wing, his correct position. He flattered to deceive and had no end product. 

Wilkinson looks limited but, has rarely, if ever, been played in his correct position of a central penalty box striker. Until he's been given a run of games in that position we can't make a fair comparison.

We are debating something that really doesn’t matter (international break things) but it’s like saying you can’t compare Ronaldo with a Cowdenbeath left back because Ronaldo’s isn’t a left back. They are both footballers, one of which was half decent and someone paid money to us for. Wilkinson has been absolutely mince so far. If we actually had the option of choosing between Wilkinson and Woolery being in our team then it’s an easy choice.

 

Out of Wilkinson’s 15 appearances I think 2 of them have been on the wing. I don’t buy this “hasn’t had a chance in his right position” line. 

[yosemite sam]

21 hours ago, GazzyB said:

Out of Wilkinson’s 15 appearances I think 2 of them have been on the wing. I don’t buy this “hasn’t had a chance in his right position” line. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Will;kinson is a worse player than Bair!

[well_said]

4 hours ago, yosemite sam said:

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Will;kinson is a worse player than Bair!

I don't think you'll find too many disagreeing with you.

[pretzel]

I did have high hopes for Wilkinson, I remember reading on social media that Walsall fans were raving about him when he joined us, but it was mentioned that he had come back from a bad injury. I wonder if that has affected him in any way as he is sooooo slow, but in fairness to the guy the goals he has managed to score were all lovely finishes.

[wellsince75]

23 hours ago, pretzel said:

I did have high hopes for Wilkinson, I remember reading on social media that Walsall fans were raving about him when he joined us, but it was mentioned that he had come back from a bad injury. I wonder if that has affected him in any way as he is sooooo slow, but in fairness to the guy the goals he has managed to score were all lovely finishes.

If Wilkinson was in a team who played with wide men pinging balls into the box I suspect he’d score 10+ goals every season.

Overall lacks pace , strength and the ability to hold the ball.  Think the guy knows where the goal is but needs much better service .