Stuart Kettlewell’s comments on Liam Gordon’s red card have left fans cringing – a moment that may haunt the Motherwell manager’s reputation…
An absolute shocker.I have to start by saying I genuinely admire Stuart Kettlewell as a manager. His honesty and fresh perspective in pre and post-match interviews often offer a level of insight that’s rare in the game. But this time, he missed the mark.Stuart, let’s be real for a moment. Take off those claret-and-amber specs. Liam Gordon’s tackle on Adam Idah wasn’t just mistimed; it was reckless and dangerous—a clear red card for serious foul play.
Thankfully, as Neil Lennon rightly pointed out after the game, this is exactly where VAR steps in—to catch those dreadful challenges that, in real-time, can understandably slip past the referee’s view.
Adam Idah looked visibly distressed after the tackle, pushing through the remainder of the game despite apparent discomfort. We now wait anxiously to see if any significant damage has been done to his ankle.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell defended Liam Gordon, stating, “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.”
Kettlewell further 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.”
This truly is a terrible take.If the roles were reversed—Adam Idah going in studs-up on Lennon Miller—would Kettlewell be so quick to call a red card “harsh”? I doubt it. Had referee David Dickinson sided with Kettlewell and merely issued a yellow, it would have set a dangerous precedent, giving free rein to injury-threatening tackles like these to go unpunished.
Managers are raw after games, and perhaps Kettlewell was just trying to defend his player in the public eye. But to dismiss Liam Gordon’s tackle on Adam Idah as barely an offence is farcical analysis that insults viewers’ intelligence.Kettlewell is better than that.Conor Spence