Quatermass

Thought Bair had blown that. That’ll do.

Another game for the new gaffer. Result!

What happened to “walk a hundred miles for one of your goals*”? Get oot the car and start hoofing it. *Not guaranteed. Shots on target need to apply. Nae refunds.

Kettlewell’s demeanour is certainly unchanged in post match interviews. Most unlike previous managers who were nearing the end. He had credit in the bank from last season but that’s been burned through via a worse run of results than the man he replaced. Martindale is also having a stinker at Livingston……..but the job he has done there for years will have many fans willing to stick with him. It’s a different position and one that is understandable from their point of view. Apart from the Lennon rumour (probably started on here) after the County game, there is not a lot of talk in the press about Kettlewell being under great pressure. He knows he is in a good position due to what is happening at board level, the press have also sussed it out and it’ll only be a matter of time before the vast majority of fans twig to what is going on. If the dam doesn’t burst post Livi if we fail to win in our next two games then I’m not sure whats happening. Regardless of ‘players not chucking it’, that would be no wins in 17. Genuinely embarrassing stuff. If Kettlewell doesn’t resign with a total riddie after that he is taking the Club and everyone associated with it as total mugs.

He should be. No question. I would have binned him after the Ross County game. I just felt that night it was never going to be turned around and Kettlewell was finished as not only Motherwell manager but probably one at this level. Another three games without a win have passed and it’s just increasingly obvious what needs to be done. Best we can hope for is 5 points from the next 9. Beating Livi is an absolute must and I don’t think anyone thinks otherwise. However…… The problem is no longer just the results. That announcement last week has 100% taken the pressure off McMahon and Weir and absolved them of pretty much all responsibility in Kettlewell’s future. Citing that it is a decision for the new Chairman/CEO is an easy and tempting move to make and I’ll be surprised if it isn’t played. I don’t think we will be bottom on the night of the 2nd January but it could well be tighter than 5 points. The idea of Kettlewell getting the January transfer window is nonsense imo……..but I’m buckling in for it.

I don’t think he can be sacked now. Why would McMahon and Weir want to do that when they will both be gone soon? It’ll be a decision and task for the ‘new’ team. Given that they likely won’t be in place until Feb/March at the earliest, I think Kettlewell is here for the season regardless of results. It’s a mental situation to be in and just highlights how badly the Club has been run for quite a few years now.

Game over. Just about how many we concede now.

Had to laugh at Faddy pre match. For a few reasons he had to say he thought we had a chance today. Aye. Not beaten Rangers in the top flight for near on 21 years and currently on our worst run of form since the mid 90s apparently. Today’s the day though 0-1 after three mins and the spectre of a penalty looming over us any minute. Shooty in!

Far too easy. Game’s not done but it could be over as a contest very quickly.

I mean we were all wondering whether sacking the manager on the 30th and getting a new gaffer in during the transfer window with enough time for him to pad out the squad with half decent loanees to save us from the trap door was workable. Seems like absolute child’s play now. So now it’s Chairman, CEO, sack gaffer, appoint gaffer and sign players all in 5 weeks. Or alternatively just the first two and start 2023/24 in the Championship with a fresh slate. Again, I’m just a wee bit perplexed why this Weir/McMahon stuff couldn’t have been dealt with in November. The financial stuff spoken of? Must be. Surely though there has to be some consideration given to the shit show of results and an effort to remedy that as soon as possible. Confirming that the manager is going nowhere any time soon when you are 0 in 14 is maybe not the news we were all expecting.

Brilliant. You’re the new CEO. Congrats.

I can now see Kettlewell here for the rest of the season. Cannae be sacked if you don’t have a boss. Genius. Although, I fully expect a Well Society member to tell him he is sacked at the Main Stand front door on the 30th. Worth a shot to be fair.

Again, I’ve been caught out with the fixtures list. Hibs away on the 2nd. Just, incorrectly, assumed Livi was the last game before the break. No idea why it has never happened like that before. Still……the game on the 30th is the big one. If we don’t win any of the next three and he is in charge at Easter Road then it’s just some laugh.

It should be. Rangers at home and Aberdeen away are different challenges. It’s a natural end in the way that it is the last game of the year, the last before the window opens and the last before the winter break. As it’s bottom vs second bottom and the last team Livi beat was us………if we get to the end of that game with the winless run still intact at 17 and counting, anyone still in favour of Kettlewell being in charge needs their nut checked. In my opinion anyway.

When I say perplexed, I mean with the support. Despite all you have stated and I can’t argue with lots of it, I still thought there would have been a section/minority quite vocally calling for his head. When it eventually does come it will be unrepairable. A proper towelling from Rangers could do it but it’s much more likely to come on the 30th. This game vs Livi has seemed almost monumental for months. Many, myself included and for quite a while, have seen this run stretching to that game and circa 5pm on this date being the breaking point for his reign. Even if he wins a week on Sat, and I really hope he does, he is on a hiding to nothing going forward. 1/17, 1/18 and so on. It would take a decent unbeaten run in the league after the NY, peppered with wins to reset the narrative imo. Sadly, I can’t see it.

Better to walk than be pushed in some ways. I wonder whether the board feels like they will seriously damage Kettlewell’s career with a sacking? He’s clearly well liked and got a second dig with us from absolutely nowhere. Very much right place at the right time. This is his last top flight job imo. I’m just utterly perplexed and frustrated by the lot of it. I think there will be a massive amount of regret, even amongst the support, come May. I hope I’m wrong but the time to wish him all the best in his future endeavours was after County. Plenty time before the window. If we don’t win any of the next three games (extending the run to 17 which is two games short of HALF THE SEASON) then surely there is a big enough stink caused at the main door he is told to do one on Hogmanay. Then we are scrambling to get a new guy in who has to then scramble to get some loans in. Again, a fatal car crash in slow motion.

9 games. Wouldn’t even be noticed these days.

Had no idea we were playing Aberdeen on the 27th. Thought it was Livi straight after Rangers. I think Aberdeen will kick on now. With Europe and the Final out of the way they can fully focus on the league so I expect them so be out of sight soon. A run of 16 without a win going up against Livi? I can’t see anything else. I’m slightly impressed many are remaining calm in respect to Kettlewell and the ‘run’. I’d say I’m equally as calm…….but I’d still make the change. Is there any evidence of a modern manager being on such a run and turning it around? The Club comes before any individual. Relegation could be catastrophic and coming straight back up holds no guarantees. It is not working under Kettlewell. Simple as that. I know we have had to cut playing numbers. Does anyone know where we would sit in the budget league table. Do we have the 11th biggest budget in the league For example? If so then relegation will happen. If not this season then over the course of the next two. If we have the 10th biggest budget in the league there is an argument (a crude one admittedly) that Kettlewell is failing in that respect already.

I think the calls for his head have actually died down. I get the fact that the team aren’t chucking it but no wins in 14 league games is beyond woeful. I always felt he was getting until the Livi game. I would have made the change after County. We aren’t beating the teams above us, around about us or even the one below us. No way we are winning our next game. Even a draw wouldn’t change my mind over Kettlewell’s future. Going into Livi with a streak of 15 without a win? Should never happen. The board are 100% accepting of our relegation.

Just seen the Raith Rovers/Dun Utd score as well. Should be all the warning bells required for us right there.

I’ve long made peace with the fact that the best this team can achieve this season is winning the playoff. Imagine going 14 games without a win and the manager being nowhere near getting his jotters. Astounding stuff.

As bad a penalty and reaction to the rebound you’ll ever likely see. Beyond woeful. Delighted.

More fans than there probably has any right to be. Fair play to them for that. Still not keen on the pyro from any away crowd though.

I’d imagine pulling some fitba stickers oot of a Chasni pie would feel like winning a couple of games in a row these days.

Maybe if that County result had been at home things would have went differently at full time. I can’t see any fan protest, if at all, until Livi at home.