After Rangers’ Scottish Cup humiliation at the hands of Queen’s Park, Philippe Clement highlighted Stuart Kettlewell’s troubled end to his time as Motherwell manager.
But the former Steelmen boss didn’t interpret Clement’s words to mean one man was possessed of a stronger mentality than another in the same profession by virtue of standing his ground in defiance of the critics. Because Kettlewell would like it to be known that nothing that occurred in the lead up to him leaving Fir Park, or which has happened since he stepped aside, has had any effect whatsoever on his mental health.
The man who has now been replaced by Michael Wimmer at the Lanarkshire club – after he and his family suffered excessive abuse from a minority percentage of the Well support – actually believes he is a better manager, and a stronger person, because of what took place over the course of this season.
“I want to make it clear I’m okay,” Stuart told Record Sport when we sat down to pore over the move he made to voluntarily give up his job and the salary that provided for his family. “Mental health is a major issue in modern life and I sometimes wonder what would happen if a football manager walked into an office or stepped on to a building site to harangue people there over the kind of job they were doing.
“I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Philippe’s company since he arrived in Scotland. I know him to be a decent man who comes in for a level of criticism which is, in my opinion, over the top.
“Is it more noble to stay in your job under those circumstances? I did what I did because everyone has a different breaking point. If I had been a single man I might have been inclined to turn the other cheek where the abuse was concerned. But I am a husband and father and the final straw for me came on the day when my wife had to leave McDiarmid Park after Motherwell lost to St Johnstone in the league. She and my children were still distressed by the time I got home in the evening.
“That’s when I took the most difficult decision of my professional career. I didn’t show any emotion. I didn’t close the blinds and sit in a darkened room. I went to bed and slept on what I wanted to do. And the following day I tendered my resignation.
“My family are involved with me by association but they have never asked me to apologise for the unsavoury incidents that have affected them because of what I did for a living. My 20-year-old daughter having to leave a game against Hibs because she was upset. My brother changing seats to avoid getting involved with fans on another occasion at Fir Park. Football is not their way of life, it’s my job.
“But when I left Motherwell they made me aware of other things that had gone on, which I was unaware of at the time. They were keeping things from me to protect my feelings and that brought us to a point where we had to have a talk.
“Sons, daughters and brothers are, like my wife, Katie, entitled to go to matches without having to endure what they did. I would resent any suggestion I overplayed the personal abuse. There was no attempt to manipulate events to suit my own ends.
“I went in to see Motherwell chief executive Brian Caldwell the following morning, having slept on all those considerations, and told him the time had come for me to leave. He might have queried my actions on a professional level but Brian knew instinctively he couldn’t question my motives on a personal basis.”
You could easily develop a complex if you were Kettlewell. No sooner had Partick Thistle decided to remove Kris Doolan from the Firhill manager’s office on Tuesday afternoon than social media was full of Jags fans insisting they didn’t want Stuart to be considered his successor.
He was being lambasted without any contact having taken place between Kettlewell and the Championship club. Not then or now. Stuart says: “I was offered a new job six days after going from Fir Park.
“It wasn’t in Scotland but I was appreciative of the offer so soon after what had happened. I turned down the approach because I wasn’t 100 per certain we were right for each other at that time.
“That doesn’t mean I’ve lost any belief in the work that I do or that an abusive episode has got to me. I was an aggressive player in my day, flying into tackles and being animated on the park. Abuse from the crowd was always part and parcel of the game.
“But there came a day when I was playing for Ross County when I received verbal abuse of the kind you would not wish on your worst enemy. Then you move closer to the stand and find the person delivering this torrent of abuse actually has a small child sitting beside him. That’s the stage when you reach your breaking point.
“Other professionals will know what I’m talking about. That’s why I have had, without naming names, personal contact with so many high-profile managers since leaving Motherwell.”
Stuart has had over 200 competitive matches in management and it might be difficult to understand why elements within the fan base turned on him when their team was still in the top half of the Premiership. His sound dealings in the transfer market also earned Motherwell in excess of £3million.
But Kettlewell has his own suspicions. He said: “Management is about the balance between resources and expectation. Motherwell budget to be 10th in the league but the level of expectation some supporters have is in denial of that metric.
“Then comes the disrespect, disregard and personal spite. Some of the worst abuse I got at Fir Park came on a day when we were in the process of beating Aberdeen 2-0.
“I know, from having spoken to people previously employed by the club, that others before me left Fir Park because they refused to put up with personal stuff. I also know the majority of the fans are not like that and I would never tar everyone with the same brush.
“I will look out for the club’s results while wishing Michael all the very best. I don’t need or want sympathy.
“I am immensely proud of having the best win ratio of any Well gaffer since Stuart McCall while progressing players like Lennon Miller at the same time. And I’m scared of nothing in the future. I have no ego. When I was out of the game before I laboured for my father’s firm. I wasn’t afraid of hard graft.
“But, meantime, I’m actually being a proper father to my children and a better husband because I don’t leave for work at 7am and return at 7pm. I’d rather talk about football than personal stuff, but I like to treat people well and that’s why I can go from Motherwell with my head high.”
