Stuart Kettlewell open to permanent Motherwell job as interim boss inherits 'same problem' Steven Hammell had

Stuart Kettlewell is open to becoming Motherwell’s next permanent manager, but only if the board genuinely view him as the “right fit” for the role in the longer term.

The 38-year-old Fir Park youth coach has been handed the reins on a caretaker basis for Wednesday’s cinch Premiership match at home to St Mirren following the sacking of Steven Hammell.

Kettlewell feels his CV stands up to scrutiny after he kicked off his managerial career with a spell in charge of Ross County, but he feels the key thing is that Well’s hierarchy make an appointment that fits with the “culture” the club want to develop.

“I’ve heard all kinds of answers in this situation, with people trying to bat it away,” Kettlewell said when asked if he would be interested in the job. “I’ll give you the brutally honest answer: if the football club thought I was the right fit for this job, I would certainly take it into consideration. But if they don’t, I had a role here developing young players – that’s the job I came in to take and was fully intent on doing for a period of time and getting success.

Motherwell interim manager Stuart Kettlewell takes training ahead of Wednesday's hosting of St Mirren. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

“I like to think my CV shows that development (of players) side has been a big part of my make-up as a coach and manager. Even at first-team level, I felt I was pretty successful in developing players, and with that came a degree of success. But if the board and chairman don’t feel I’m the right fit for it, that’s fine. I’m not pitching myself for this job. I’m not about being a salesman and trying to audition for anything.

“They’ll know me as a guy and how I work. If that’s something that connects with the board… You have to be specific with this. It’s not just a case of throwing somebody in to do a job. It has to be what the club want for their culture and how they want to try and move the club forward. If I fit with that, it might be something I would consider. If I don’t, there will be no ill feeling in any way, shape or form.”

Motherwell are joint bottom of the Premiership having failed to win a league game since October. And Saturday’s Scottish Cup defeat by Championship side Raith Rovers led to Hammell’s sacking. Kettlewell has sympathy for Hammell but is confident he can spark a short-term upturn.

“I am hurting about the manager losing his job, because he was someone who put trust in me when I was out the game for a long period of time, so that’s sore for me,” he said. “But what we all owe this football club is to pick ourselves up, and I know that Steven would want that. He would want us to try and move in the right direction, even if that’s just for a couple of days until we can get some stability. If I didn’t think I could get some sort of reaction then I would have told the football club ‘no’.”

Kettlewell will have the same squad to pick from that Hammell had in his final game at Raith. “A big problem we have here is injuries,” he said. “I’m not trying to make any excuses for the previous manager, but if you look at the amount of quality players we have in the treatment room and the different dimension they can bring to the starting XI, I’m sitting here with the same problem as Stevie had. We’re missing a number who could help us.”