Stuart Kettlewell discussion thread

[Spiderpig]

40 minutes ago, ppower said:

Start with the Board. That's where the problems stem from. Their management of the club and decisions will finish us as a top flight club. As soon as we became fan owned that was the end. Haven't replaced Burrows yet, probably because they don't have the money and if they did who the fuck would touch it. They have stewarded over a revolving door of managers. As for most of the signings they wouldn't get a game in my five a side team. There is nothing concerning the club that is professional in any shape or form.

Yep my thoughts as well, as to the root of our problems well meaning amateurs at best.

[prideoflanarkshire]

The same board that we’re going to sack Alexander but because of a scrappy lambie goal at livi to put us into the top six then one victory in the top six against Ross county to put us into Europe then all pre season signing some amount of rubbish to all end after two games against Sligo

total clueless 

[SteelmaninOZ]

6 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

Not a popular post, I’m sure, but I’m with you. The board need to take him aside and have a word with him. Calm him down, redirect his focus onto the things that worked, re institute a firm grounding in the basics and tweak from there. Do not make radical wholesale changes from week to week.  At four games or so into this bad run we were still playing very well and had we continued to play that way we would not be in this mess. However, we now have confidence/mental side of things causing us issues as well. The players and manager need to get the last 11 or so results out of their head. The focus is going forward. Consider the next 17 games as a mini season starting from scratch and focus on that league table. I’m done with sacking managers. We have already have the advantage of hindsight on that, it doesn’t work, it just leads us back to where we were. We are all in it together so the board, the players especially, and the fans need to support and encourage the manager and team. As mentioned, I think it’s very cruciaL that the board Support and guide him to keep his head straight and steer him away from panic actions. 

Well said sir 

[Great Balls of Shire]

14 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/stuart-kettlewell-receives-meaningful-motherwell-31614271

 

[Great Balls of Shire]

Just now, Great Balls of Shire said:

1 minute ago, Great Balls of Shire said:

Let's see some sort of reaction please guys in sat....watched a bit of st j game last night, they weren't great but got lucky with pen....Carey out wide is decent,so whoever is full back will need to be on it

 

 

[David]

11 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

chairman needs his backside kicked , can’t be that hard to get a ceo , not hard to spot recruitment issues and that’s 2 rookie managers that he’s hired .

100%.

I know my recent posts in the transfer thread were lengthy, to say the least, but what really does my head in is that it wouldn't take a fortune to put such plans into place. 

It certainly wouldn't take the amount of money we've shelled out to send two managers home while looking to employ yet another. We're spending far more on rectifying mistakes made on an almost yearly basis.

What we're working with right now is a scattergun approach. There doesn't seem to be any kind of planning or philosophy behind what we're doing. I mean, I could be wrong, I don't have access to the inner workings of the club, but I'd love to ask those who made the decisions what the thought process was behind moving from Graham Alexander to Stevie Hammell, then from Hammell to Kettlewell.

What are the criteria for these hires? Is it simply a case of Hammell being chosen because he's a "Motherwell man" and was already at the club? Did Kettlewell get the job because he is articulate and sounds like he knows what he's doing?

There has to be more to it than that, and for such a decision we need someone who is experienced in this department and has the final say on who gets the job. They can be supported by others who provide insight, data and opinions, but the final decision has to rest with someone who has done this before.

11 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

it’s clear that recruitment is brutal , clear that if smaller squad we should pay higher salary for better talent .

One thing that any new Motherwell manager has to deal with is the fact that when he comes into a job in football it's unlike any other industry. He can't just evaluate the team he has and then cut loose those who don't fit with his way of working. If players are under contract it's not always easy to move them on, and they take up a wage that would otherwise be spent elsewhere.

It works in cycles, which is why I tend to believe a manager needs three transfer windows, which is 18 months or so to get a handle on the team. 

But, we could negate the above issues by having an overriding club philosophy and way of playing, and then recruit coaches, managers and players to fit within that. I don't think we're doing that though. From what I've seen, we speak to managerial candidates, recruit them based on some other criteria, and then they come in with their own differing philosophy and try to implement that on a squad that often isn't fit for purpose.

And that is a recipe for disaster because it means we're constantly in a state of flux. Of course, we'll hit a run of form or stumble upon a player or two who does really well, but most of the time that's the exception rather than part of the plan.

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, wellgirl said:

I don't think anyone from the club should be intervening and telling SK how to do his job - perhaps the board would be best placed looking at their own part in the mess our club is in. 

Sorry, but if the board dont intervene and SK cant see the wood for the trees, what happens then? Relegation? Sack SK?

I agree that the board should be reviewing matters so we dont make the same mistakes again, but we are a club. All the working parts need to be in communication with each other. That probably includes the fans given we are a fan owned club.

[steelman1991]

Can't see why we can't appoint a CEO - all the candidates are on this thread. 

[grizzlyg]

1 hour ago, Great Balls of Shire said:

 

I didn't put that link to the Daily Record up, strange 

[steelboy]

2 hours ago, wellgirl said:

The same as players didn't want to play for Hammell and Alexander? 

Exactly. Getting the players to play for you is the job these days. 

[santheman]

For me the real rot started after the Livi game and we qualified for Europe.

That was the time for the board to grasp the nettle and offload Alexander as IMO by then he had lost the fans backing with his brand of football but the board in their infinite wisdom couldn't look beyond short term success and look at the long game.

That would have given us the carrot of European football to dangle in front of any potential  new manager and a summer to recruit new players which might have appealed to a better quality of applicant.

Instead they opted for the cheapest, easy, and (in their eyes) safe option and Sligo was the result of that.

To be fair though there may have been financial implications at the time that we don't know about but when you look at the money we must have splashed out since on severance pay and the January player sale then would we have been any worse off financially and possibly in a better position than we currently are.

 

[El Grew]

Stuart Kettlewell comments from the BBC:

“There's certainly not been any conversations about my future at the club. We are so knee jerk in this country. We don't strip layers back and look at factors like budget, size of squad and injuries.”

Sounds awfully like a pre-emptive strike at the board.

And he didn’t know about any of that before he took the job? Who the f*ck did he think he was joining? Real Madrid!?

Well that’s it for me. Time to get rid asap!

[numpty]

1 hour ago, El Grew said:

Stuart Kettlewell comments from the BBC:

“There's certainly not been any conversations about my future at the club. We are so knee jerk in this country. We don't strip layers back and look at factors like budget, size of squad and injuries.”

Sounds awfully like a pre-emptive strike at the board.

And he didn’t know about any of that before he took the job? Who the f*ck did he think he was joining? Real Madrid!?

Well that’s it for me. Time to get rid asap!

Sounds to me more like he's saying he's always been well aware of those things, and that they're the mitigating factors that should give him more time.

[Kmcalpin]

13 hours ago, El Grew said:

Stuart Kettlewell comments from the BBC:

“There's certainly not been any conversations about my future at the club. We are so knee jerk in this country. We don't strip layers back and look at factors like budget, size of squad and injuries.”

Sounds awfully like a pre-emptive strike at the board.

And he didn’t know about any of that before he took the job? Who the f*ck did he think he was joining? Real Madrid!?

Well that’s it for me. Time to get rid asap!

Fair comment in principle, but the fans have a right to complain if their team can't register a single win in 12 games.  I do find it odd though that the Board hasn't had a wee informal chat him though. That doesn't sound good.

[El Grew]

7 hours ago, numpty said:

Sounds to me more like he's saying he's always been well aware of those things, and that they're the mitigating factors that should give him more time.

If that’s your take on it fair enough. Mine is different. It all depends how you view his remarks in relation to the present context.

[GazzyB]

1 hour ago, El Grew said:

If that’s your take on it fair enough. Mine is different. It all depends how you view his remarks in relation to the present context.

I'm in agreement with you. Any SPFL team to go 12 games with no win is unacceptable, regardless of budget size and injuries. Quite condescending of him to be honest.

[wellsince75]

I think SK has lost the plot.  As well spoken as he is infant of camera the narrative has changed a lot recently. 

He always did mention low budget but he's gone from talking about shape and dong the simple things well as group to pointing out individual errors. 

The shift from we're all in it together to it's not my fault it's the players is unacceptable. 

He's the guy who put a 2 man midfield on the park when we needed to shore up midfield. I don't see him really taking responsibility , more positioning himself for it not being his fault when the hammer comes. 

[wellfan]

He's positioning himself for a job on Sportscene as, unfortunately, that's probably his level. 

[Great Balls of Shire]

12 hours ago, El Grew said:

Stuart Kettlewell comments from the BBC:

“There's certainly not been any conversations about my future at the club. We are so knee jerk in this country. We don't strip layers back and look at factors like budget, size of squad and injuries.”

Sounds awfully like a pre-emptive strike at the board.

And he didn’t know about any of that before he took the job? Who the f*ck did he think he was joining? Real Madrid!?

Well that’s it for me. Time to get rid asap!

If you watched the interview and put what he said in context , that's not how he meant it...I hope the players turn up tomorrow and do him a favour...this changing mgrs every year isn't a good look.

[Great Balls of Shire]

9 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

Fair comment in principle, but the fans have a right to complain if their team can't register a single win in 12 games. 

Think he said that in interview too

[joewarkfanclub]

14 minutes ago, Great Balls of Shire said:

Think he said that in interview too

He did. He would just prefer if the fans left it until the end of the game.

I think thats also fair comment.

Ive never understood fans berating players in the middle of a game.

I dint know anyone who goes to work and gets better at their job by being shouted at whilst their doing it.

By all means shout encouragement. But screaming at someone how shite they are only ever has a negative effect. 

Saturday is huge.

Lets get behind the team for 90 minutes.

If they lose and the performance is another gutless one, then SK, the players and the board become fair game.

[Great Balls of Shire]

1 hour ago, wellfan said:

He's positioning himself for a job on Sportscene as, unfortunately, that's probably his level. 

He also said he's never done social media which doesn't seem a bad idea ...based on everyone making up their own narrative

Let's support the team in Saturday and see what gives

[Mintymac]

Have to agree with his comments yesterday re fans . 
We absolutely need to get behind him and the team during game time tomorrow  . 
Yeah it’s the players job to enthuse the fans I get that and that’s kinda what happened when we scored first against Dundee before allowing them to control the ball thereafter but we’re at a point where the players have heard the noise from the terracing . 
Let’s see what they  come up with tomorrow, get behind them and see where we are when the game finishes …. That’s the time to show your feelings . 
Under current circumstances that seems fair . 
If we win tomorrow it’s a small step but something to hold onto .

Sadly a defeat tomorrow and players ,staff and board are going to have to take there medicine at end of the game and it won’t be pretty .

No wins in 12 is brutal . 13 nah game over .

[El Grew]

33 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Ive never understood fans berating players in the middle of a game.

Are you being serious?? Ever since football became a mass spectator sport and fans had to pay to watch it they’ve been praising and berating (your word) players. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s all part and parcel of the football spectacle.

The old adage still applies: if you can’t take the heat then stay out of the kitchen.

What do think the current crop at FP deserve with the utter dross they’ve served up since September? Laurel leaves?

[David]

10 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

Fair comment in principle, but the fans have a right to complain if their team can't register a single win in 12 games.

Of course the fans have a right to complain. And the board and the people who are actually paid money to work in the game have the right to ignore the unqualified opinions of said fans. 

There's a reason why we're posting on a forum and paying money to get into games, while managers and players are being paid to actually take part.