Kettlewell leaves Motherwell managerless for Celtic visit on Sunday

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·30 de janeiro de 2025

Kettlewell leaves Motherwell managerless for Celtic visit on Sunday

Motherwell look set to be without a manager for the Scottish Premiership encounter with Celtic on Sunday afternoon at Fir Park…

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell on August 10, 2024 (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Stuart Kettlewell shockingly resigned on Monday evening after citing abuse from the Fir Park support as the reason for his departure. Kettlewell, who despite leading Motherwell to fifth place in the Scottish Premiership league table and only six points off Dundee United in third claimed that personal slurs directed towards him at games reduced his family to tears and forced them away from matches.

Vídeos OneFootball

Interim manager Stephen Frail is expected to take charge

Kettlewell’s assistant and now interim manager Stephen Frail is expected to take charge for when Brendan Rodgers’ league leaders travel to Lanarkshire this weekend.

Brendan Rodgers with Scott Brown holding the League Cup in November 2016, Brendan’s first trophy as Celtic manager. Photo Vagelis Georgariou.

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown has been linked with the Steelmen

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown has been linked with the Steelmen following the notable work he has overseen at Ayr United this season. Ayr currently sit two points off league leaders Falkirk in the Scottish Championship, and after knocking back the St Johnstone job in September, the chance of becoming Motherwell manager may be too tough to turn down for the Hoops icon.

Neil Lennon is another name that has been touted

Meanwhile, Neil Lennon is another name that has been touted for the Fir Park hotseat. Lennon’s last three managerial gigs at Celtic, Omonia Nicosia in Cyrpus and then most recently during his short-spell in Romania with Rapid Bucharest have all ended badly, and so a return to Scottish football may come of interest to the 53 year-old.

Neil Lennon the manager of Celtic with Peter Lawwell, Chief Executive of Celtic brfore the Scottish Cup semi-final between Aberdeen and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 14, 2019. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Scottish Champions have already faced Motherwell twice in the league this season. A 3-0 victory in November at Fir Park courtesy of strikes from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston and Adam Idah coupled with a comprehensive 4-0 win on Boxing Day at Paradise means Celtic are aiming for a hat-trick of three points over the Steelmen.

Celtic’s Champions League exploits

Last night Celtic played Aston Villa at Villa Park in the final outing in the elongated 36-team Champions League Phase. Falling behind to two early goals from the Premier League side Celtic fought back brilliantly to level the score at the internal with Adam Idah scoring twice.

Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa celebrates after the team’s victory with the match ball after his hat trick during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

However Villa ended up winning 4-2 to secure their place in the top eight, thus avoiding the play-offs. That’s where Celtic find themselves and the Hoops will know their opponents for the knockout playoffs in Friday’s draw. It’s between Bayern Munich or Real Madrid but for Brendan Rodgers the full focus will be on Motherwell.

Conor Spence

Celtic in the Thirties

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books. CLICK HERE TO ORDER HARDBACK BOOKS

By popular demand, both volumes of Celtic in the Thirties are now available on Amazon Kindle, with the links to order below. Signed copies of both volumes are available on hardback from Celtic Star Books and if you would like author Matt Corr to add a special dedication to your copies please let us know. Order hardback copies HERE or for Amazon Kindle click on the links below…

Click to order Volume One on Kindle

Click to order Volume Two on Kindle