Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell says teenage midfielder Lennon Miller's broken foot may force him into a change of plans during the January transfer window. (Daily Record), external
Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.
Image source, SNSStuart Kettlewell has urged his Motherwell team to step up in the absence of "standout" Lennon Miller after accusing players of going through the motions in Thursday's defeat at Hearts.
Midfielder Miller, previously an ever-present this season, is out for up to eight weeks with a hairline fracture in his ankle and his absence was keenly felt in the 1-0 loss at Tynecastle.
Kettlewell's pllans for the likes of Callum Slattery to get much-needed game time following injury were hit on Friday by the postponement of a planned training-ground friendly with Rangers because of the freezing weather.
The Fir Park boss, whose side host Aberdeen on Sunday, said: "What I'm going to be looking for is many people to put their hand up and step forward to be able to start the game.
"Not just to be there, not just to be a part of a group, but to be able to be in a position where you're fresh to play.
"Lennon has been a pillar of our team, he's been a mainstay, he's been a standout for us. I would pitch him in that standout category in the division as a whole.
"There's absolutely no doubt that he's going to be a huge loss for us. But we're going to have to have players that step forward and show that kind of level of responsibility. We're going to have players that come and take part in a game of football.
"For that first half, first 20 minutes (on Thursday), it was completely unacceptable. It didn't get much better in the second half, but it was completely unacceptable from the point of view of how we handle a ball, how we try and pass the ball, how we try and get the ball back, our energy, our intensity.
"You can have your worst day in possession of a football, you can mis-control it, you can misplace passes, but the one thing you have to do is you have to be flat out.
"My demand now goes to the players and everybody here at the football club that we show a reaction on Sunday."
We asked for your views on Motherwell's 1-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Here's what some of you said:
Grant: Really poor, no shots on target or corners in the first half. Important players out injured, but the players coming in really have to step up to the plate. We always give teams in need the win and I'm now dreading our next game against Aberdeen.
Ryan: Lennon Miller was a big miss. We were not in the game at all until the final five minutes. Our performances have been very Jekyll and Hyde all season which I don't know why.
Eddie: When is the manager going to take responsibility? He signed the players and set up the system. The football is dire to watch and we barely reach 40% possession even at home.
James: Pathetic display. Just not good enough. Poor passing, no energy, easy to play against. Some deadwood needing rid of, and some new faces required to spark things up.
Kevin: We could have 11 Brazilians playing for us and Stuart Kettlewell would still have them all behind the ball and passing back the way. He keeps going on about this tenure. The longer his tenure continues the more he's making Craig Levein look attack minded. Brutal.
David: One shot on target after 80 minutes, fourth bottom in the Premiership for goalscoring and the fifth leakiest defence, says it all about Motherwell under Kettlewell.
Sportscene pundits Peter Grant and Steven Naismith analyse what went wrong for Motherwell in the meek defeat at Hearts.
Watch the best of the action from Tynecastle as Hearts beat Motherwell 1-0 in the Scottish Premiership.
(Available to UK users only)
Image source, SNSMotherwell have failed to win in their last four games in the Premiership, their last joint longest winless streak was from 15 May 2024 to 10 August 2024.
Hearts attempted 29 crosses in this match, higher than their season average of 28.0 in the Premiership.
Motherwell have failed to score in six of their 20 games, only Ross County (nine) and Kilmarnock (seven) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.
Hearts have scored in their last four games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of seven games from 21 September 2024 to 2 November 2024.
Hearts have stopped the opposition from scoring a first-half goal in 12 of their 21 games, only Dundee United (13) and Celtic (17) have done this more often in the Premiership this season.
Much-improved Hearts enjoyed the fresh start of a new year as they claimed an important and deserved Scottish Premiership victory against Motherwell.
Musa Drammeh profited from loose goalkeeping from Aston Oxborough to open the scoring after seven minutes and give Hearts the lead.
The close-range strike was initially ruled out for a foul on the Motherwell goalkeeper by James Wilson, but referee Calum Scott was sent to the monitor for a review and he overturned the original call after seeing minimal contact from the Hearts striker.
That goal turned out to be the winner but that should not have been the case for Hearts, who were totally dominant but could not find a second goal despite 17 shots.
Image source, SNSMotherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "For me, 1-0 flattered us. I've just asked [the players] why that was the case. We come to another fantastic venue with a great atmosphere you're sitting in a decent spot in the league and our form has been relatively good.
"I'll always take ownership for team selection and style of play. But what the players give me every week is good energy and a basic application to the cause, which we need at Motherwell to bridge the gap we have financially to the vast majority of other teams.
"We do that time and again but for some reason we didn't today. We've asked the group to take responsibility for it because we go again in a couple of days. There's no time to rest and settle, we need to take ownership for a really poor performance today."
Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, SNSMotherwell were hit with the pre-match blow of losing 18-year-old Miller for up to two months with an ankle injury.
His composure and passing ability was badly missed in midfield as Motherwell struggled to keep the ball, resulting in failure to register a single shot before the break, and one touch in Hearts' box.
Kettlewell's side also looked fatigued having played Celtic and Rangers in the space of three days before this one as Hearts overwhelmed them.
The Motherwell boss made three half-time changes to demonstrate his disgust, but they made little difference until late on when finally they threatened.
Dan Casey should have scored from six yards but headed over, and Jack Vale was certain he had equalised from point-blank range in stoppage time - but Gordon's heroics left the substitute stunned.
Motherwell will put this down as a bad day at the office, but the scale of the drop off Miller's absence is a concern.
Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, SNSWill Dan Casey stay at Motherwell?
Dan Casey has become Mr Consistency in the Motherwell defence since arriving in February 2023 after exiting Sacremento Republic.
But the 27-year-old Irishman's future is just one of a number facing manager Stuart Kettlewell.
The Fir Park club also have an option to extend forward Callum Slattery's stay by a year and there are also options for veteran captain Paul McGinn and midfielder Ross Callachan.
Other contracts expiring: Andy Halliday, midfielder; Shane Blaney, defender; Steve Seddon, defender; Davor Zdravkovski, midfielder; Harry Paton, midfielder; Moses Ebiye, forward.
Read more: Premiership summer free agents facing uncertain January
Image source, SNSMotherwell forward Tony Watt says his side "aren't going to start crying" about their disallowed goal against Rangers.
Stuart Kettlewell's men were 2-1 up against Rangers when Jack Butland bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from Watt.
But the goal was disallowed after referee Kevin Clancy deemed the Motherwell striker had impeded the Rangers goalkeeper and was not called to review the footage.
Since then, the Scottish Football Association's key match incident panel decided the goal should have stood.
"I think the most frustrating part is, we've probably been on the wrong side of a few now," Watt said.
"I think we've got a system in place, we've had that, it's "fool-proof". I think 99 per cent of the time you should get the right results and I think there's probably too many every week now that are wrong.
"I said to Kevin Clancy during the game, I felt that he should have been sent to the screen because of how long the check took.
"I knew there was no contact. I had my arm up at Butland's ear. When he's ready to punch it, it looks as if there's a touch, but you can see that now that there's not.
"The wind obviously plays a big part in it. And it was a great ball too from Andy [Halliday].
"For me, he's one of the best referees in the country and he didn't get a chance to correct it.
"But that's life, obviously. We're not going to start crying about it, we've got a game on Thursday.
"You've asked me the question, that's why I'm speaking about it, but I don't really want to speak about it because it happens.
"The best time I had with everyone was in the Championship last year because there was no VAR. You maybe have two mistakes for you and two mistakes against you, it evens itself out."
Image source, SNSMotherwell midfielder Lennon Miller will see a specialist after suffering a foot injury against Rangers.
The 18-year-old is set to miss Thursday's Premiership match with Hearts at Tynecastle as a result.
Miller was forced off in their 2-2 draw with Rangers after making a challenge on Oscar Cortes that earned the Motherwell man a yellow card.
"Lennon is, unfortunately, probably a little bit more than just being assessed," assistant manager Stephen Frail said.
"He will see a specialist.
"He left here on Sunday in one of those protective boots, so he will be assessed by a specialist over the next couple of days.
"In the tackle that he gets booked for, it's the way he's landed and banged his foot. So he'll see a specialist in the next couple of days to assess the full extent of his injury.
"It's a blow for us because he's such a talent and he's been a terrific player for us. Hopefully, he'll be back with us very, very soon."
Image source, SNSHeart of Midlothian have won four of their last five home league meetings with Motherwell, losing the other 1-0 in September 2023.
None of Hearts and Motherwell's last 11 league meetings have been drawn, with the Steelmen winning five and losing six since a 1-1 stalemate in March 2020.
Hearts won their opening Scottish Premiership match in 2022 (2-0 v St. Johnstone), 2023 (3-0 v Hibernian), and 2024 (2-1 v Livingston).
Motherwell haven't won their opening league game of a calendar year since 2020 (1-0 v Aberdeen), failing in four years since (D2 L2).
Heart of Midlothian's Lawrence Shankland has been directly involved in eight goals in his last eight league appearances against Motherwell, scoring six and assisting two.
Watch Sportscene analysis of Motherwell's 2-2 draw against Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
(Available to UK users only).
Image source, SNSMotherwell's third goal against Rangers should not have been disallowed, according to the Scottish FA's key match incident panel.
Stuart Kettlewell's side were 2-1 up when Jack Butland pushed the ball into his own net but referee Kevin Clancy adjudged Tony Watt to have fouled the Rangers keeper and disallowed the goal.
The majority of the KMI panel deemed the onfield decision to be incorrect and believed VAR should have intervened and recommended an onfield review.
Motherwell went on to draw the game at Fir Park 2-2.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, where does your club need to strengthen?
Who do you want brought in and who - if anyone - is it time to ship out?
We asked for your views on Motherwell's 2-2 draw against Rangers.
Here's what some of you said:
Edward: On Tony Watt's disallowed goal, please watch the Crystal Palace goal against Southampton and tell us what is different. Same scenario with the goalkeeper timing his jump wrong. Goal for Palace. Fully understand the frustration Stuart Kettlewell felt and shows what a farce VAR has become!
Fraser: I was getting tired of the manager's referee comments in previous games but I totally concur on the disallowed goal. Jack Butland slapped it in. The 'Well were good for a point and if that had been adjudged to be in for a 3-1 lead, different outcome and we would have been leaving Fir Park three points for the good.
Derek: Excellent performance first half. Great that we had a go. Shafted by another referee and a shocker in the second half. This will be brushed over because the small teams lose out against the Old Firm all the time.
James: Seems churlish to moan about the officials, but, for the second time against the big two, decisions go against us. A tremendous effort from the players, and Kettlewell was only voicing what the fans felt. Apologies at a later stage from the SFA won't change the result.
Alan: Let's celebrate an impressive team performance from all! It's never easy playing against Rangers but our tenacity, verve and commitment did us proud. And to lose two goals to VAR suggests we were far superior than our opponents. Keep up the good work 'Well.
Former referee Bobby Madden suggests Motherwell captain Lennon Miller was fortunate not to be sent off for a tackle on Rangers winger Oscar Cortes during Sunday's 2-2 draw at Fir Park. (Record), external
Meanwhile, former Motherwell forward James McFadden believes Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland was lucky to be awarded a foul after punching the ball into his own net. (Sun), external
Motherwell head of coaching Richard Foster says the 2-2 draw felt like a defeat after being two goals up on Rangers. (Herald - subscription), external
Hearts supporters plan to stage a protest against the club's hierarchy before Thursday's home fixture against Motherwell. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external
Image source, SNSRangers have scored in each of their last 10 games in the Premiership, scoring 19 goals in that run.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has scored five goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), more than any other Motherwell player.
Rangers have attempted 35 crosses in this match, higher than their season average of 23.7 in the Premiership.
Lennon Lee Miller has assisted six goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), no player has more.
Highlights: Motherwell 2-2 Rangers
Watch all the highlights from Motherwell's 2-2 draw with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
(Available to UK users only).
