Stuart Kettlewell knows a lot about football, as he has shown during nearly two years in charge of Motherwell, but there is something he needs to learn about management: you can’t make enemies of the fans.
His relationship with supporters of the Lanarkshire club was already at breaking point after a Scottish Cup defeat at McDiarmid Park last Saturday, when the team’s pitiful display was booed by a furious travelling support.
Then he poured oil on the flames ahead of Motherwell’s return to Perth for a league game this afternoon, sarcastically calling out those who have dared to be critical of him and his tactical approach during a bleak winter period.
‘There’s a lot of experts out there and a lot of people that know better than the folk that have actually walked in the shoes and experienced the trials and tribulations,’ he said the other day.
‘It’s safe to say 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.’
That last comment has angered many Motherwell fans, some 1,700 of whom travelled to Perth for a match that they hoped would start a lengthy cup run. It’s safe to say most of them were dedicated to Motherwell long before Kettlewell was and will be for long after.
Stuart Kettlewell looks on as his team slump to a Scottish Cup defeat by St Johnstone
Around 1,700 passionate Motherwell supporters voiced their frustration at McDiarmid Park
Lennon Miller has been badly missed since picking up an injury against Rangers last month
The problem for their manager is this. The supporters might be right, in which case he is in real trouble. But even if they are wrong — and, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be the first time — there is another, more constructive way to interact with them.
Coaching apprenticeships and SFA courses are all very well, but they don’t necessarily prepare you for the more subtle challenges of management. They don’t teach you how to play the game — not the actual game, but the one that unfolds off the pitch, in the media and with the paying public.
Whatever you think of their views, supporters have to be respected. They might be too emotional, overly simplistic and, in some cases, plain stupid, but the trick is to understand and engage with — rather than alienate — a group of people who only want the best for their team.
That’s the least they deserve for paying their gate money every week. They fund your salary, provide the club with a steady source of income and therefore have the ear of the board. If they decide you are not the man for the job, the directors have little option but to agree.
Kettlewell has made a decent fist of it at Motherwell. He has kept their heads above water, developed players who will earn the club big money and taken them into the League Cup semi-finals.
Despite their recent slump, which hasn’t been helped by a catalogue of injuries, they are still fifth in the Premiership. They have nine points more than they did at the same stage last season.
What worries supporters is their recent form on the road. In their last five away games, they have secured just one point. Worse still, they have scored only once in that sequence and shown little ambition in attack.
Fans are fed up with Kettlewell’s back five and frustrated that his team cannot cope with injuries to the likes of Lennon Miller and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.
More pertinently, they are in danger of dropping into the bottom six, where the teams are so tightly packed that anything could happen.
Suddenly, they find themselves only two points ahead of former bottom dogs Hibs and just seven clear of the relegation play-off place.
Most of all, they are frustrated with the manager, who has seemed increasingly inflexible of late. As well as steadfastly sticking to his beliefs on the pitch, he has been so certain of his opinions off it that he has earned a series of yellow cards and been sent off against Rangers. His defence of Liam Gordon’s tackle on Adam Idah attracted little sympathy.
Kettlewell is passionate, single-minded and honest, maybe overly so at times. He is a bright, articulate guy, with a keen tactical brain, but you need a little more than that to succeed in management. You need to be calculating, you need to be cute and you need to take people with you, which means listening to supporters, or at least seem like you are listening to them.
There will not be 1,700 Motherwell fans at McDiarmid Park this afternoon, but there will be enough of them to make their feelings known if they don’t see a change of fortunes, or even approach.
If they have to sit through as meek and submissive a display as they witnessed at the same venue seven days earlier, it will be a long way back for the manager who insulted them.
