Motherwell boss in clear style of play response as he references Ange's Tottenham cynics in 'experts' message

Stuart Kettlewell has issued a response to the cynics of his Motherwell tactics - with reference to the criticisms Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou is facing.

The Fir Park support booed the team off the park after Saturday’s 1-0 Scottish Cup loss vs St Johnstone, with debate breaking out amongst the fanbase over the style of play Kettlewell deploys. It has been a running theme within the support in recent weeks when performances or results have been disappointing, but Motherwell remain nine points better off than they were this time last season in the Premiership ahead of facing St Johnstone again in the league.

They sit in the top half and have also been to the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. Kettlewell was asked in his pre-match press conference about his style and provided a clear response that he won’t get emotional over decisions. He made reference to the fire ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou is under at Tottenham amid a poor run of form for Spurs.

He explained: “I always kind of laugh because I always talk about football being knee-jerk. I don't laugh to disrespect anybody, but we talk about style of play. Style of play in relation to what? Who are you playing against? What pitch are you playing on? What's the level of the opposition? Are we talking about playing St Johnstone away, St Johnstone at home, Celtic at Celtic Park? Rangers at Ibrox, who's it we're talking about? Because I think 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 it. Trials and tribulations.

“You get things right and you get things wrong. Whether that narrative wants to start to come about, have a wee bit of a look around Scotland in all games of football at this time of year and weather conditions, pitches. It often dramatically changes from what it looks like in the first day of the season in the summer when the pitches are perfect and the weather's calm and the sun's shining.

“That has a huge bearing on football. I refer you back to last season, again, with so many plaudits at times for how we were playing. The style of football, the brand of football, keeping possession of the ball, creating chances. We went 15 games and we never won a game of football.

“You're trying to find that balance between trying to entertain. You're trying to find that balance between winning games of football, which is always the most important thing. Again, I'll refer you back to a lot of times for the so-called experts in Scottish football. They think that you've played well when you win and you've played poorly when you lose. That's the summary of it, in my opinion.

“I always try to get a balance between trying to win results or gain points. You rightly say nine points better off than at this stage last season. Trying to entertain, and the bit that people keep forgetting about as well, is a huge remit at this football club is to try and develop your own players. To try and make sure that you bring players through from your academy, from loan deals, young players that come through. Sometimes with that, there's inconsistencies. Of course there is, and I'm the first one to hold my hands up to that.

“But what I'm not prepared to do is become ridiculously emotional. Because somebody says that they don't like the style of football or they're not happy with a particular game of football. You'll forgive me for saying that if I was in that mindset, then we'd be ripping things up every single week and we wouldn’t stick to the plan that we set out, not just this season, but the plan that we set out pretty much two years ago when I came in. It's actually been pretty fruitful for us if we're being honest in terms of those player sales, points gained, overall records and all the different things that come with it.

“That's where every manager, in my opinion, has to stand strong. I'm looking down south and one of the best managers that I've come across and pit my wits against in Ange Postecoglou. There seems to be a lot of people telling him how he should and shouldn't play football. I know it's a different league, a different level, but I can only give you my take on it.

“I've heard every opinion on what the guy does. Pretty much every person that's spoken about it hasn't a tenth or a hundredth experience in that walking in the shoes element that I talk about. I think you have to blank out a lot of that noise.

“There's a lot of people that I respect in the game that have that experience, a lot of people that I would listen to their opinion. Again, I'm not disregarding or disrespecting anybody. Everybody's got their opinion.

“We hear it a lot in Scottish football and throughout the world. It's safe to say I'll not be influenced by any noise or any opinions from people that have never done the job and never dedicated their life to this sport and to this game. I think that's the case for all managers. I don't just think that's the case for me at Motherwell.”

It was then mentioned to Kettlewell over the type of midfielders he’s been missing for spells or large stints this season including Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson, Ross Callachan, Harry Paton and Lennon Miller. He responded: “Some of the guys you mentioned are not bad on the ball. They can handle the ball pretty well. I've always said I won't make an excuse, but I'll let you draw your own conclusion.”