Motherwell

Former striker James McFadden on the "big job" that awaits the next Motherwell manager after the Steelmen lost 3-0 at home to Ross County in a fifth consecutive defeat.

Ross County inflict managerless Motherwell's fifth successive defeat to move out of the Premiership relegation play-off spot. (UK users only)

Motherwell fans, we asked for your views on Saturday's Scottish Premiership defeat to Ross County.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Allan: Another game where Motherwell's set-up was baffling. No width as usual. What do we have to do to see a winger at Fir Park? Three shots on target at home is nowhere near good enough. Did Ross County totally outplay Motherwell? No, but they had more game intelligence to take the points.

Eric: Why are we surprised? Stephen Frail was Stuart Kettlewell's assistant so you'd assume he agreed with previous tactics and line-ups so we can't expect anything else. To change something you either need to be brave or be someone different. Unfortunately Frail is neither. What Tony Watt contributed is a mystery.

Norrie: Another disappointing performance. The whole team looked dejected. Never seen so many players lacking in self-belief. Whatever is going on I don't fancy any manager could pick them up. You can clear out the majority of the players Kettlewell has brought in. Start again, just hoping it is not in the Championship.

JJ: Absolute disgrace. I've said it all year, it's the worst team in a lot of years. A team of imposters not fit to wear our colours. Frail is just a glove puppet of Kettlewell. Radical change needed to get rid of the deadwood. Farm our youngsters out on loan and bring in so-called better youngsters from England but are they really?

Alan: There was a total lack of energy, drive and commitment. The defence were porous, the midfield lacked cohesion and the attack never really penetrated. Why Tawanda Maswanhise doesn't play from the start is baffling! Where is the team that accumulated 31 points?

Edward: What have you all been doing for the last two weeks? The team has now lost to every other team in the division and doesn't seem to have any heart. How dare you serve up that performance! Europe? Yeah right. Relegation on the cards!

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• Motherwell have failed to win any of their past nine matches when conceding first in the Premiership, since a victory over St Mirren on 28 September 2024.

• Motherwell have a record of W0, D0, L9 when trailing at half-time in the Premiership this season.

• Motherwell have lost their last four games in the Premiership, their last joint longest losing streak was from 16 September 2023 to 7 October 2023.

• Ronan Hale has now scored three goals in three appearances in the Premiership against Motherwell, and his eight Premiership goals this season are more than any other Ross County player.

• Noah Chilvers has assisted his fifth goal at the Premiership this season, more than any other Ross County player.

• Connor Randall scored his first goal in the Premiership this season, netting for the first time since 12 August 2023 against St Johnstone.

• Ross County have scored 10 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, only Celtic (19) and Dundee United (15) have scored more in the Premiership this season.

Ross County moved out of the relegation zone as they eased past managerless Motherwell at Fir Park to record a first Scottish Premiership win in four attempts.

Ronan Hale netted either side of the interval with composed finishes before Connor Randall's low shot crept past the outstretched Ellery Balcombe late on to put the game beyond the struggling hosts.

Stephen Frail remained in interim charge of Motherwell and confirmed pre-match that a new boss is expected to be appointed at "the start of next week".

Have your say on the game here., external

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Motherwell interim manager Stephen Frail: "Extremely disappointed, angry is an emotion as well.

"It was just a poor performance, I've not really seen from what we've worked on the last couple of weeks.

"The sessions have been good, the players have been alive, they've been bright, they've been desperate to get back on the pitch.

"We start the game reasonably well, we concede a cheap goal and you can just see the confidence getting drained from them.

"I'm stressing at half-time, we're fifth in the league for a reason for the start of the season that we've made, collectively as a group of players and a coaching team.

"But to lose that goal and then, I'm not using the word capitulate but we don't show enough urgency to get back in the game.

"Second half, again, we're probably more on the front foot but we concede a second goal and as I say the whole energy from the players, in the stadium, it's just like somebody just popped a balloon and it just goes so flat and as I say it's an incredibly disappointing result.

"Hopefully the new manager, who we're hoping is in place some time next week, can maybe get something from the players in terms of just a lift, that new manager bounce hopefully comes in.

"They are a talented bunch of players but for whatever reason the last few weeks they've come off the things that we work on daily, the things that we work on every week in the analysis room and they just seem devoid of any confidence to go and try and get a result.

"It's as though we're sitting waiting for someone to score against us.

"It'll be a fight now, but hopefully, as I say, the manager, when he comes in, can try and get the players going straight away when they go to Tannadice next Saturday.

"For whatever reason, the confidence seems to have drained from them."

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

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A new era is set to begin next week at Fir Park with the arrival of the yet-to-be-revealed manager but there is little to build on after today's performance.

From 18 shots and 69% possession, they seldom troubled Amissah in the County goal, only registering three on target.

They have now lost their last four top-flight games, making it their joint longest losing streak since 16th September 2023 to 7th October 2023.

Lennon Miller returned to the starting line-up, a welcome sliver of good news amidst the ongoing troubles facing the club, and he showed in glimpses how important he is to this side.

They enjoyed periods of sustained possession and were often in the final third but were toothless for most of it.

If the new manager brings the cliched new manager bounce with them then this crisis may well be averted, if not though, the play-off spot is a mere four points away now.

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He tells BBC Scotland: "I think there will be more concrete news for first of all the players because the players need that clarity, they've had me in their ear for two weeks saying that there'll be a new manager coming in, so the clarity for that will be for them at the start of next week and for you guys.

"Until then obviously I'm not privy to say who's coming in.

"I know who's coming in and hopefully everything gets signed and dotted properly and this football club gets a manager who's going to build on the good work that's gone before him and hopefully continue to get us up the table and finish in a healthy position.

"I won't be giving you a name at quarter to five either, not unless something drastic happens. I would love to, even family and friends have been asking me. It's not as if we're going to unveil Pep Guardiola tomorrow and everything's been kept quiet for that.

"It'll be a manager of really good standing, good pedigree and one that the club believes, and having looked at who we're bringing in, I believe, to go and, as I said, enhance and take the club forward and finish the season really, really strongly."

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Lennon Miller and Jair Tavares are back in training for Motherwell, and Callum Slattery will return from illness. However, Jack Vale faces a lengthy spell out after Achilles surgery.

The Steelmen remain without goalkeepers Archie Mair and Aston Oxborough following fractures in their hands.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (calf), Steve Seddon (ankle), Ross Callachan (hamstring), Paul McGinn (thigh) and Zach Robinson (Achilles) remain out.

County have been without Jack Grieves (head), Michee Efete, Ryan Leak (Achilles), Alex Samuel (thigh) and Will Nightingale (knee) in recent weeks.

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Andy Halliday insists he and his team-mates are not listening to the "noise" surrounding Motherwell as the search for a new manager continues.

It has been three weeks since Stuart Kettlewell resigned at Fir Park, with assistant Stevie Frail stepping up as interim manager.

"Obviously there's a lot of noise," Halliday said. "Of course you're going to talk about it within yourselves, but it's part of the uncontrollables. It's something that we can't control as football players.

"All we can control is coming in every day, applying ourselves, gearing towards the next game, which is obviously Ross County on Saturday."

Plenty of names have been linked to the Lanarkshire club, including former Newcastle cult hero and current Cyrpus boss Temur Ketsbaia.

"I think everything else is up to Brian [Caldwell], the chairman [Kyrk McMilan] and the people behind the scenes to get along with, to appoint the next man," Halliday added. "For us as a group of players, it's just the next game.

"What I will say is the players and the backroom staff have done everything they can to prepare properly and then everything else will take care of itself.

"We've had a couple of weeks' training, which is really important. We've been on the grass nearly every single day."

Despite the managerial upheaval, Halliday says there has been no drastic change since Frail took the reins.

"There's obviously not wholesale changes, because Stevie was part of the management team before and he's obviously somebody that the players really respect as well," he said.

"He's been part of any success that we've had this season and towards the tail end of last season as well.

"The boys have responded to it well. You can't dwell on any sort of negatives or uncertainty around the football club, that we obviously had for a short period when the manager left but we've had a good couple of weeks training under our belt."

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• Motherwell are unbeaten in five home league meetings with Ross County (W2 D3) since a 1-0 defeat in March 2022 under Graham Alexander.

• After their 2-1 win in November, Ross County could win successive league meetings with Motherwell for the first time since March 2022 under Malky Mackay.

• Motherwell have lost their past three league games, last losing four in succession in October 2023.

• Only Kilmarnock have won fewer away games (two) and conceded more away goals (29) in the Premiership this season than Ross County (three wins, 26 goals conceded), while the Staggies are the lowest away scorers in the division (eight goals).

• Against Celtic, Luke Armstrong was the first player to score on his first league start for Motherwell since Sam Nicholson v Livingston in February 2024. The last player to score in both of their first two league starts for the club was Stuart McKinstry in October 2022.

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Lennon Miller's return to training is "a huge boost" for Motherwell, says interim manager Stevie Frail.

The 18-year-old is back in full training following a hairline fracture of his ankle back at the end of December, and was expected to miss up to two months of action.

But Frail, who will once again lead the Steelmen on Saturday against Ross County, revealed the Scotland youth international is close to a return, though stressed the Fir Park club "don't want to heap too much pressure on him".

"It's a huge boost," Frail said of Miller's return.

"I think it's been evident how good Lennon has been and how good a player he is, but we don't want to heap too much pressure on him. He's still a young lad.

"He's coming back from an injury that's kept him out for several weeks, but we do miss his quality, I think that's plain to see.

"We've still got other players in there who have the quality and maybe he can hopefully come in and add to that."

Frail also confirmed Callum Slattery will return from illness.

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Motherwell caretaker manager Stephen Frail says it was always the plan for him to take charge of Saturday's visit of Ross County.

The Motherwell board are in the middle of a recruitment process following Stuart Kettlewell's resignation at the end of January after a league defeat to St Johnstone.

But Frail and the players - who have been "first class" - have known since the beginning of last week that Frail would lead preparations for the return to Fir Park.

"The search is obviously still continuing for the new manager, but I've always been tasked with this game," Frail said. "That's always been the case since the start of last week.

"Hopefully things will be more clearer sometime at the start of next week, but all the preparations have been from myself and the rest of the staff to make sure we're ready for Ross County on Saturday.

"We've been able to see right from the start of the week this is how we're doing things, this is the way we'll be looking to prepare and organise and to make sure we're ready.

"They have been first class in everything that they've done, everything that I've asked them to do. They've attacked it.

"Their attention in training, their detail in training, the way they've worked in training has been excellent.

"They wish they'd had a game last week. They obviously didn't, but the whole focus after the Celtic game was two weeks later for the Ross County game."

Newcastle United cult hero Temuri Ketsbaia, who had a brief spell at Dundee, is on the shortlist to become the new Motherwell manager. (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

Motherwell dismissed a deadline-day bid by Belgian side Union St-Gilloise for midfielder Lennon Miller, with the Fir Park club seeking in excess of £4.5m for the 18-year-old. (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

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We asked for your thoughts on Motherwell's January transfer window business.

Here's what some of you said:

Steven: I think big Ellory Ballcombe as our new first-choice goalkeeper is a very decent signing. The boy did well at St Mirren and even though he was replaced there, we have to accept they are a bigger club than us these days so fair do's. He'll get the job done between the sticks.

Stuart: Considering we have no manager I actually think we have signed in the right areas - up front, a midfielder, defender and two goalkeepers. Certainly, Dominic Thompson and Luke Armstrong looked useful, hopefully the others will start to shine too.

Eddie: I think we have a squad of 32, probably one of the biggest ever. Hopefully the new manager can somehow use them effectively unlike our previous management team.

Kevin: Disappointed we didn't manage to bring Allan Campbell back on loan, along with a creative midfielder to play on the right-hand side. Campbell would have provided some much-needed steel to the centre of the midfield, allowing Andy Halliday to play left midfield and a new addition to right midfield, with Lennon Miller coming back to play behind or in front of them.

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Ayr United manager Scott Brown is not interested in the vacancy at Motherwell. (Sun), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

With the transfer window now closed, how do you feel about managerless Motherwell's January business?

The Steelmen were among the most active Premiership clubs, bringing in Calum Ward on deadline day to make it six new arrivals, all on loan.

Wardy joins fellow goalkeepers Ellery Balcombe and Archie Mair plus forwards Will Dickson, Luke Plange and Luke Armstrong.

The only exit was goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi, whose loan from West Ham was cut short by injury.

Are Motherwell well equipped for the remaining months of the Premiership campaign? Or did they need strengthening elsewhere?

Have your say on Motherwell's transfer business., external

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

This has been an impossible week for Motherwell.

With fans painted in a bad light following Stuart Kettlewell's resignation, the job is a poisoned chalice.

Being Motherwell manager, at best you're chasing top-six finishes and cup runs while working with a tight budget. Combine these factors with a fanbase that is now known to flip on managers and it ain't an attractive gig.

I'm just relieved we didn't suffer a hammering against Celtic. Stephen Frail, when he has been the leading man in the dugout, has controlled the team well, but I don't know if he is the man to turn things around.

With the club receiving over 100 applications for the role, I would love to see someone come in from overseas and bring a fresh approach to shake things up.

The same names are constantly linked to Scottish managerial roles and I'd much rather a new face than the likes of Jack Ross or Neil Lennon.

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Motherwell have signed goalkeeper Calum Ward on a deal until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old came through at Bournemouth and has had a number of loan spells with clubs including Totton & Eling, Bashley, Thatcham Town, Weymouth and Finish side HIFK.

Ward has played over 150 games in his career to date and told the Motherwell website: "I feel I can add serious competition, which I think is a good thing for everyone here.

"I've already met the players and they have all been very welcoming and friendly, I feel integrated already."

Ward becomes the third option between the sticks for the Fir Park club alongside Ellery Balcombe and Aston Oxborough after loanee Archie Mair returned to parent club Norwich City.