Stuart Kettlewell discussion thread

[Throughthelaces]

39 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

The Well Society wouldn't have been the ones guiding the club's reaction to anything this week, so not sure what cancelling that direct debit achieves.

The well society own the club but when these things happen amd the club is off course in how they're acting they side in. Either they're a responsible owner of a football club or a supporter Trust. I don't feel the well society represent me here so if the messaging from the club is deemed acceptable by the well society then I no longer wish for me or my money to be associated with the well society until a full and public apology and acknowledgement from both the well society as owner and the club as the club is made. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

19 minutes ago, MJC said:

All in all this has been a rotten week for us and no one comes out of it looking good.

Not the club, not the support, not the WS and despite his army of chums in the media neither does Stuart Kettlewell in my opinion. He has ‘played politics’ and manipulated the situation to try and maintain his personal reputation and unfortunately the club and WS have played right into his hands.
 

That is not excusing any personal abuse that was directed his way, or that towards any of his family and I think that there probably was some uncalled for and unacceptable stuff said. But I do not believe for one minute that that is the main reason that he left

Correct.

[Jonesy]

1 hour ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

Supporters this week have been told this week that they're not allowed to vent their feelings at games...this fella has decided the next best option is to remove his funding.

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Throughthelaces said:

The well society own the club but when these things happen amd the club is off course in how they're acting they side in. Either they're a responsible owner of a football club or a supporter Trust. I don't feel the well society represent me here so if the messaging from the club is deemed acceptable by the well society then I no longer wish for me or my money to be associated with the well society until a full and public apology and acknowledgement from both the well society as owner and the club as the club is made. 

That's fair enough but they don't run the club day-to-day. The best way to make the point and pulling any funding would be to stop buying any tickets/tell them you won't be renewing your season ticket?

[Throughthelaces]

18 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

That's fair enough but they don't run the club day-to-day. The best way to make the point and pulling any funding would be to stop buying any tickets/tell them you won't be renewing your season ticket?

Well it's more difficult than that If I didn't have friends who I've made coming to watch motherwell every week and it wasn't such a big part of my social life I would stop spending but I'll put this way I may or may not renew my season card

 I will be unlikely to spend on kits and training gear as most of my gym outfits come from the club shop. 

At the end of the day well society are owners and need to start acting as such. This situation this week with the club in the media the chairman spending 10 minutes on the clubs youtube channel addressing the fans as though we're ill behaved children and that Stevie Frail clip has happened on their watch. They weren't slow at complaining about the 3rd kit to Caldwell which if were as cash strapped as always claiming maybe a 3rd kit for profit isn't a bad thing.but that's another argument. 

[dennyc]

Been mulling the interview over for a wee while to give me time to clear my head. Mainly because I found myself with more questions than answers. And a few things that I struggled to make sense of.

Firstly, for me, there is no doubt that Brian Caldwell was at a low ebb and was shocked by the whole turn of events. He clearly feels empathy for his employee and is supporting him as best he can. It was a difficult and disturbing watch. I also get his unease at how quickly folk were applying to fill Stuart Kettlewell's shoes.

But I find it strange that given the close working relationship we are told the two had........meeting or talking nearly every day and almost certainly more so in January given our downturn in form, injury situation and the need for action in the transfer window.....that our CEO had no inkling whatsoever of the mental anguish Stuart Kettlewell and his family were going through. To a lesser extent that also applies to other Board Members.

Also we are told that the abuse situation heightened during the home victory against Aberdeen. Initially I thought it must have been during the cup loss to St Johnstone. I sit directly behind the home dugout and have witnessed fans screaming at SK to sort things out. At the Aberdeen game and at others throughout this season and last. So it does happen but not to any greater a degree than Alexander, Hammell and others before them had to endure. Not excusing or justifying it but just trying to get things into perspective in my own head. Given that I and others were aware of it, I find hard to accept that those sitting in the Directors' Box a few rows behind me did not see or hear what was a fairly regular occurrence. Or did they see it and disregard it as something that happens at matches the length and breadth of the country? Either way it makes no sense.

It also struck me that there appears to have been no serious attempt to persuade SK to hang on a bit longer. possibly following a Club Statement asking for calm and informing fans that such abuse would not be tolerated. If I was to take a cynical view I might think that Caldwell was in part relieved at Stuart's decision as it might have avoided him having to take action if the performance on the pitch continued to spiral downwards. 

I don't do Facebook or Twitter so apologies if more details of the abuse Kettlewell suffered was revealed on those platforms. But I have witnessed nothing first hand that merits the all out assault on what feels like ALL Motherwell fans by the media,. And which sadly seemed to be supported by the statements initially released by MFC and the Well Society.

I am not in any way playing down the abuse that most definitely takes in football be it aimed at players, Managers, Officials or even fans. But this whole situation makes less and less sense to me the more I try to understand it. For me, there are far too many contradictions.

Hopefully Stuart Kettlewell and his family are now in a much better place. Time for everybody to move on.

[Jonesy]

13 minutes ago, Throughthelaces said:

Well it's more difficult than that If I didn't have friends who I've made coming to watch motherwell every week and it wasn't such a big part of my social life I would stop spending but I'll put this way I may or may not renew my season card

 I will be unlikely to spend on kits and training gear as most of my gym outfits come from the club shop. 

At the end of the day well society are owners and need to start acting as such. This situation this week with the club in the media the chairman spending 10 minutes on the clubs youtube channel addressing the fans as though we're ill behaved children and that Stevie Frail clip has happened on their watch. They weren't slow at complaining about the 3rd kit to Caldwell which if were as cash strapped as always claiming maybe a 3rd kit for profit isn't a bad thing.but that's another argument. 

That's the exact reason the club know they can come out with the sort of shit they have this week and keep treating fans like shit in general - they know we'll keep piling our money in through the turnstiles regardless. The club won't give a fuck about your Well Society payment so long as you still turn up on a Saturday and hand over your cash. There's only 1 way to break that cycle.

 

I completely missed them making an argument about the 3rd kit.

[Throughthelaces]

7 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

That's the exact reason the club know they can come out with the sort of shit they have this week and keep treating fans like shit in general - they know we'll keep piling our money in through the turnstiles regardless. The club won't give a fuck about your Well Society payment so long as you still turn up on a Saturday and hand over your cash. There's only 1 way to break that cycle.

 

I completely missed them making an argument about the 3rd kit.

Heard from someone who's in the know. But they decided they weren't happy because not consulted and it wasn't a profit share for a charity. 

[Clackscat]

1 hour ago, dennyc said:

Been mulling the interview over for a wee while to give me time to clear my head. Mainly because I found myself with more questions than answers. And a few things that I struggled to make sense of.

Firstly, for me, there is no doubt that Brian Caldwell was at a low ebb and was shocked by the whole turn of events. He clearly feels empathy for his employee and is supporting him as best he can. It was a difficult and disturbing watch. I also get his unease at how quickly folk were applying to fill Stuart Kettlewell's shoes.

But I find it strange that given the close working relationship we are told the two had........meeting or talking nearly every day and almost certainly more so in January given our downturn in form, injury situation and the need for action in the transfer window.....that our CEO had no inkling whatsoever of the mental anguish Stuart Kettlewell and his family were going through. To a lesser extent that also applies to other Board Members.

Also we are told that the abuse situation heightened during the home victory against Aberdeen. Initially I thought it must have been during the cup loss to St Johnstone. I sit directly behind the home dugout and have witnessed fans screaming at SK to sort things out. At the Aberdeen game and at others throughout this season and last. So it does happen but not to any greater a degree than Alexander, Hammell and others before them had to endure. Not excusing or justifying it but just trying to get things into perspective in my own head. Given that I and others were aware of it, I find hard to accept that those sitting in the Directors' Box a few rows behind me did not see or hear what was a fairly regular occurrence. Or did they see it and disregard it as something that happens at matches the length and breadth of the country? Either way it makes no sense.

It also struck me that there appears to have been no serious attempt to persuade SK to hang on a bit longer. possibly following a Club Statement asking for calm and informing fans that such abuse would not be tolerated. If I was to take a cynical view I might think that Caldwell was in part relieved at Stuart's decision as it might have avoided him having to take action if the performance on the pitch continued to spiral downwards. 

I don't do Facebook or Twitter so apologies if more details of the abuse Kettlewell suffered was revealed on those platforms. But I have witnessed nothing first hand that merits the all out assault on what feels like ALL Motherwell by the media,. And which sadly seemed to be supported by the statements initially released by MFC and the Well Society.

I am not in any way playing down the abuse that most definitely takes in football be it aimed at players, Managers, Officials or even fans. But this whole situation makes less and less sense to me the more I try to understand it. For me, there are far too many contradictions.

Hopefully Stuart Kettlewell and his family are now in a much better place. Time for everybody to move on.

Spot on, exactly my thoughts, it produced more questions than answers.

I actually started typing out a post last night so similar to yours it's scary, then tiredness took over and the fact I'm getting scunnered with the whole thing.

Thankfully todays interviews with Frail and SODs finally moved things in the right direction, and Graeme McGarry's piece in the Herald has reassured me that there is still proper journalism out there.

I find myself wondering though if Brian Caldwell's heart is in it going forward, not bourne out of any knowledge, just the impression I was left with. 

 

 

 

[cambo97]

15 hours ago, MJC said:

All in all this has been a rotten week for us and no one comes out of it looking good.

Not the club, not the support, not the WS and despite his army of chums in the media neither does Stuart Kettlewell in my opinion. He has ‘played politics’ and manipulated the situation to try and maintain his personal reputation and unfortunately the club and WS have played right into his hands.
 

That is not excusing any personal abuse that was directed his way, or that towards any of his family and I think that there probably was some uncalled for and unacceptable stuff said. But I do not believe for one minute that that is the main reason that he left

That's the only bit I don't agree with; SK hasn't come out well with the MFC support but I suspect outside our "bubble" he's not lost anything.

[0Neils40yarder]

On 1/30/2025 at 11:03 PM, 0Neils40yarder said:

In a world where, no amount, level or type, of verbal abuse is allowed...just how are the modern fitba fans meant to show their unhappiness at whatever drivel it is that's been served up?

 

This is a semi-serious question...yes, we are there to support but at what stage are we allowed to be unhappy and what form should that unhappiness be shown?

I asked this a couple of days ago now and had no response...how does the modern-day football fan get his/her point across when they're not enjoying what they're watching? 

Shout abuse and boo?

Stop going altogether?

Sit on their hands and act like they don't care?

Take to social media and criticise?

 

I've read loads of folk saying that verbal abuse isn't on...and I get that, but to me there is a huge difference between a shout like 'this is fucking rotten Kettlewell' to something like 'I hope you die in your sleep Brendan Rodgers'

 

Genuinely, is the support just meant to wring their hands and mutter under their breath when the 'entertainment' is unbelievably honking?

[MJC]

23 minutes ago, cambo97 said:

That's the only bit I don't agree with; SK hasn't come out well with the MFC support but I suspect outside our "bubble" he's not lost anything.

Completely agree but I was meaning from a Motherwell perspective he doesn’t come out well. Obviously on a wider scale he’s played his part well and has his pals in the press dancing to his tune and he will no doubt get a seat on the Sportscene couch for a bit until his next manager/coaching gig. 

[smiddy]

Tam cowan just came out on the side of the fans on bbc radio scotland saying maybe SK is the one to come out n clarify the situation so as NOT to include ALL fans 

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 minute ago, smiddy said:

Tam cowan just came out on the side of the fans on bbc radio scotland saying maybe SK is the one to come out n clarify the situation so as NOT to include ALL fans 

I thought his resume /analysis was spot on and long overdue. 

[smiddy]

5 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I thought his resume /analysis was spot on and long overdue. 

Deffo. Hees kind of left the ball in SKs court to say his bit 

[smiddy]

And now calling him out again 👍👍

[SteelmaninOZ]

19 hours ago, wellgirl said:

I've been called far worse online - as for my schooling - I'm not doing too bad for a working class lassie who is on degree number 4. 

Ah soon be Dr wellgirl phd well done you 👍

[mio]

5 minutes ago, smiddy said:

Deffo. Hees kind of left the ball in SKs court to say his bit 

I’m not the biggest Tam Cowan fan but he’s said everything correctly here, I agree with him completely. 
I like SK and supported the guy but he’s went down in my estimations, it seems like he’s went in a big huff and compares working really hard to being an incredible manager.
I think he’s left the club in a really disrespectful way. Say what you want about Alexander but he slipped off without chastising our whole support….. when he got 100 times the stick SK ever got.

[smiddy]

1 minute ago, mio said:

I’m not the biggest Tam Cowan fan but he’s said everything correctly here, I agree with him completely. 
I like SK and supported the guy but he’s went down in my estimations, it seems like he’s went in a big huff and compares working really hard to being an incredible manager.
I think he’s left the club in a really disrespectful way. Say what you want about Alexander but he slipped off without chastising our whole support….. when he got 100 times the stick SK ever got.

2.30 will be good they are askin the pundits what they think,

craggs will be good , he had all the stats on SK Last week 

[wellfan]

9 minutes ago, mio said:

I’m not the biggest Tam Cowan fan but he’s said everything correctly here, I agree with him completely. 
I like SK and supported the guy but he’s went down in my estimations, it seems like he’s went in a big huff and compares working really hard to being an incredible manager.
I think he’s left the club in a really disrespectful way. Say what you want about Alexander but he slipped off without chastising our whole support….. when he got 100 times the stick SK ever got.

Even as Kettlewell’s biggest critic, I don’t think that’s fair to say about him at the moment. The resignation narrative has been led by Caldwell, albeit echoing what Kettlewell told him, but I don’t think Kettlewell has had a fair chance to publicly say his piece as yet. 

[mio]

3 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Even as Kettlewell’s biggest critic, I don’t think that’s fair to say about him at the moment. The resignation narrative has been led by Caldwell, albeit echoing what Kettlewell told him, but I don’t think Kettlewell has had a fair chance to publicly say his piece as yet. 

He’s had almost a week to say something while the Motherwell support has been chastised by the media. That to me is someone who is enjoying us taking a kicking.

[stv]

7 minutes ago, wellfan said:

Even as Kettlewell’s biggest critic, I don’t think that’s fair to say about him at the moment. The resignation narrative has been led by Caldwell, albeit echoing what Kettlewell told him, but I don’t think Kettlewell has had a fair chance to publicly say his piece as yet. 

Why should he say anything, hes painted by the media as the victim here. Anything he says will not improve on that position. I thought he would have a thicker skin than that but it was an easy way out for him.
He obviously knew he was going up a deadend ,same as his shit run last year was comming with no idea how to get out of it on the park. Can’t wait to hear what Crags has to say about him n his shite tactics now hes away Crags can tell it like it is.

[Stuwell2]

Weekly SK has held interviews with the club media and the press where he’s talked about many things but this week he’s been very quiet. I do think it would be helpful to hear from him but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment.
Possibly he’s just getting his head around what’s happened, needs time to process things, has a bout of depression or is just sitting back watching it all with a smile on his face.

We don’t know and hopefully it’s not depression that he’s suffering from. 

[wellsince75]

He’s likely to be working out a settlement and keeping quiet .

my view is his ego was taking a bit of a beating. The stats are clear , he did a very decent job point wise over his tenure but despite his best efforts and being 5th fans were vocal . 

he probably thought crikey if the fans aren’t with me now , what will it get like if we slump back to 9th . 

There’s not many jobs or sports where fans behave and can say what they do in the terraces . Can you imagine if he was a tennis player and being called out for being a f’ing clown  
 

it’s not getting worse per say but society is changing and what was previously acceptable no longer is.

 

hes made his exit and will be back before long . Suspect his old club will snap him up 

 

[wellsince75]

4 minutes ago, wellgirl said:

Do you think theres a vacancy for him there just now? 

No , pure hypothesis on my part . I don’t think that’s why he left . 
 

but 

they are second bottom of the league and if this was to continue I could see them reaching out and trying to snap him up .

Given he turned our fortunes around season 1 they must be at least thinking about it . 

[smiddy]

57 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

He’s likely to be working out a settlement and keeping quiet .

my view is his ego was taking a bit of a beating. The stats are clear , he did a very decent job point wise over his tenure but despite his best efforts and being 5th fans were vocal . 

he probably thought crikey if the fans aren’t with me now , what will it get like if we slump back to 9th . 

There’s not many jobs or sports where fans behave and can say what they do in the terraces . Can you imagine if he was a tennis player and being called out for being a f’ing clown  
 

it’s not getting worse per say but society is changing and what was previously acceptable no longer is.

 

hes made his exit and will be back before long . Suspect his old club will snap him up 

 

Working out a settlement ?

he chucked it !  No settlement dur he walked away, thats my take on it