Stuart Kettlewell’s comments on Liam Gordon’s red card were embarrassing and do not reflect well on the Motherwell manager…
An absolute shocker
I feel obliged to start this piece by saying I actually admire Kettlewell as a manager and find him refreshing in pre and post-match interviews. Often, his analysis of matches is intriguing and insightful. However, on this occasion, he was miles off it.
Firstly, Stuart, take your claret and amber specs off for just a minute. Liam Gordon’s tackle on Adam Idah was an absolute shocker and was well worthy of a red card for serious foul play.
Thankfully, as Neil Lennon mentioned after the game, VAR is there to highlight these types of dreadful challenges that can be understandably missed by the referee on field in real time.
Adam Idah looked in distress
We await to see if Adam Idah, who looked in distress whilst carrying on playing after the tackle occurred has suffered any significant damage to his ankle.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Motherwell manager in defence of the red card said, “I think we can all see that Liam Gordon is at the very end of his stretch, and I think Adam Idah is coming in at pace as well. The referee spoke about the hinge in his ankle when the contact was made. I personally think it’s really, really harsh. I do think it’s really harsh.”
🟥 “I think it’s unbelievably harsh”
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell gives his thoughts on the defeat to Celtic & Liam Gordon’s red card ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/g5pg8BSwIc
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 27, 2024
He added, “I understand how it can look in a still image; there wasn’t an awful lot of force in the tackle. He’s trying to get the toe ender just to steal the ball, and he slightly mistimes it.”
The Motherwell boss thought this was okay🙈🙈🙈 pic.twitter.com/JmpIb1gPkU
— Uphall Shamrock CSC (@UphallCsc) October 27, 2024
This truly is a terrible take
This truly is a terrible take. Had this been Adam Idah on Lennon Miller, would Kettlewell be rushing to say that a studs above the ankle tackle is a ‘harsh’ decision? I don’t think so. Had David Dickinson taken the view of Kettlewell and only booked Liam Gordon it would have given carte blanche for allowing those types of injury-threatening challenges to happen without going unpunished.
🍀 McCowan’s solo strike
❌ Goal disallowed
🤝 Full-backs combine
💪 Idah scores again at Fir Park
🟥 Red card for crunching challengeRelive the action from Celtic’s convincing victory at Motherwell ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/AHS2ajl8Gs
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 27, 2024
Managers are raw after games
Managers are raw after games, likewise he may only be defending his player in public view. But, to try and insult people by saying he does not think Liam Gordon’s tackle on Adam Idah is only an actionable offence is farcical analysis.
Kettlewell is better than that.
Conor Spence
His comments however allow the media to spin the narrative that it was harsh.
They will do so all the way until Wednesday, insinuating that Celtic in some way got the benefit of an iffy decision.
They also neglect to point out that the score was already three nil, and in the eighty-eighth minute which makes people think that the decision had a material impact on the outcome of the game.
It conveniently also allows the media to ignore the two big decisions that occurred at Ibrox at the same time, and if they do mention them, then it will be in the context that the big two always get the decisions.