'I won't change': Stuart Kettlewell shrugs off latest touchline ban

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says his latest touchline ban won’t stop him giving his honest assessment of refereeing decisions in the future.

Kettlewell will be in the stand on Wednesday when his side take on Kilmarnock as he serves a second suspension of the season after being sent off against Rangers on December 29.

The manager was shown two yellow cards in the space of a few minutes after arguing with match officials following a challenge by Lennon Miller on Oscar Cortes that earned the Motherwell player a booking.

Kettlewell has repeatedly voiced his frustrations about decisions that have gone against his team this season but he insists that being disciplined by the Scottish FA won’t alter his approach.

“I won’t change,” he said. “I always believe in being true to yourself.

“Whenever I sit down with you guys [in the media] I always try to be as honest as I can. Some people don’t like a bit of honesty but that’s how my world works and how it will always work.

“So irrespective of whether people like it or don’t like it, I’m not sitting here pitching myself above anybody else, it’s just how I’ve always dealt with things.

“It’s not to try and be offensive or pick holes in things. I just believe in justice and in speaking your mind.

“I always believe in accountability. I’m like that with players and how I look at myself and it’s just how I operate.

“If you ask me a question then I’ll give you a straight answer. If something happens at the side of a pitch and I see it a different way then I’m going to say it.”

The manager has welcomed the increased transparency about decisions under Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum, where key incidents are reviewed and the results made public.

However, Kettlewell thinks that where an official’s decision is later found to have been incorrect, then any punishment for a manager criticising the call should be rescinded.

“One of the wee frustrations for me is that people just look at it as ‘You’ve been red carded or yellow carded’,” he said. “I would urge people to look at why that happens.

“You get that emotion if you get a goal chopped off or the game’s not stopped for a head knock or you get a player sent off and it’s rescinded a matter of days later. These types of big decisions and incidents mean you can end up with a punishment for being correct and proven correct.

“But at the end of it nobody turns around and says ‘We’ll take that yellow card away because you were right in what you were saying’.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Kilmarnock, Kettlewell is also having to contend with injuries in his squad, with Miller’s absence compounded by the fact that Ross Callachan is still out and Callum Slattery and Sam Nicholson are still not match fit.

He is hoping to conclude a loan deal for Coventry’s teenage midfielder Kai Andrews to help his side in the second half of the season.

Kettlewell said: “He’s a player I really like. I’ll always be respectful in this, that until something is actually done, he’s not our player.

“Kai is someone that I really like, I’ve followed for a while now, someone that’s very highly regarded, a really, really good talent. I’ve been fortunate enough to watch him live, which is always good.

“So that is something that we’re working towards but I’d be respectful until that’s actually signed, sealed and delivered – I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes at that point.

“But again, it’s another scenario where a young player, very young player at 18, we want to try and show ourselves to be a football club that gives that opportunity.

“I think we’ve done that time and again now and there’s been a lot of success in it.”