Stuart Kettlewell admitted he would love to stay at Motherwell beyond 2025 after it emerged this week that the manager’s contract had longer to run than fans thought.
Motherwell announced Kettlewell’s deal initially ran until May 2024 when he was appointed 12 months ago, but neglected to inform supporters that cinch Premiership survival last season would trigger an automatic extension.
The issue came to light for Kettlewell in recent days when talking to the club’s media assistant and the club clarified the situation at their annual general meeting on Wednesday and in a subsequent statement.
Motherwell missed the chance to announce the news when Kettlewell was riding high at the end of last season after losing only two of his first 14 games in charge, and the clarification comes at a time when they have only won twice in 22 cinch Premiership games.
But the stability of having the manager secured is in contrast to other key roles at the club with chairman Jim McMahon and chief executive Derek Weir both set to depart in the coming months.
Kettlewell said: “Contrary to what people might think, if I sign a contract, I know what I sign.
“There has been a miscommunication. Sitting at the AGM beside the chairman, he put his hands up to it.
“It may have been something I should have spoken to the media guys about. It’s certainly not the fault of the media team.
“Again, there is an apology from my side of it to the supporters and I can assure you we will be that little bit sharper moving forward.”
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Despite their recent struggle for wins, Motherwell sit only a point behind Aberdeen and Hibernian and Kettlewell is hoping for the opportunity to build a long-term project at Fir Park.
“I understand sometimes in football people believe the grass is always greener on the other side and I think we know it’s not,” the former Ross County manager said.
“Very simply, I believe this club has been a fantastic fit for me. There have been some trials and tribulations but I have absolutely loved it from start to finish and I would love to continue that beyond 2025, because that suggests we are moving in the correct direction.”
There remains much uncertainty about Motherwell’s short-term future though both on and off the park.
Only eight first-team players are contracted beyond this season and the board and majority shareholders, the Well Society, are considering two serious approaches to invest in the club, one from an American individual and another from a multi-national company.
The latter option is based around major changes in the club’s recruitment policy, adding uncertainty to the squad rebuilding job.
Kettlewell said: “The first port of call has to be plan A and that’s something I have been working exceptionally hard on and have been for quite some time along with many other people at the club.
“But if it does change then it’s a good position to have a rough idea of what that can mean for the club.”
Motherwell host Celtic on Sunday and have further fitness doubts on top of Andy Halliday, Blair Spittal and Calum Butcher, who missed last weekend’s defeat by Hearts.
Kettlewell said: “Without going into the real specifics, we think probably two or three have a chance of making it but we are probably going to be last minute ensuring they are fit and ready because if you start a player against Celtic, you have to make sure they are as close to 100 per cent as they possibly can be.”
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