Kilmarnock

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Stuart Kettlewell had shown few signs of being able to halt Kilmarnock's slump and his sacking was no surprise, says former Rugby Park striker Cillian Sheridan.

Kettlewell was axed on Monday after 23 games in charge, with the final straw the 2-1 loss at Pittodrie that extended second-bottom Killie's winless run to 10 games, including eight defeats.

"No, I don't think was a surprise," Sheridan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"It was a game where it was probably against him.

"I've got a feeling the board probably had their mind made up beforehand that they were just kind of waiting for that result to happen for them to pull the trigger.

"It didn't look like things were going to turn.

"Any time I watched them it didn't look like anything had changed. Kilmarnock went under the radar a bit because Livingston have had a poor start and there's a lot of noise at Dundee with the fans over Steven Pressley.

"Their position in the table, they're actually doing pretty bad. Ultimately he's ended up paying for it now, so I don't think there was a massive shock.

"Possibly the only surprise is they've acted very quickly and swiftly, they haven't waited for things to get worse."

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

Killie's defeat against Aberdeen was the final straw for the board, who promptly bagged Stuart Kettlewell.

He wasn't the choice of the fans in the first place and given our precarious league position we need to ensure we get the right man to steer us clear of trouble.

I could moan again about ridiculous VAR decisions again but it's been a different excuse every week and Kettlewell can have no complaints - two points from a possible 30 has sent us plummeting down the table.

For the time being Kris Doolan is in interim charge, a well-liked local guy who did a decent job at Partick Thistle.

His first task is to lift morale, get us properly organised and give Falkirk a pre-Christmas stuffing.

The Bairns have done well in their first season back but they have dipped in recent weeks and hopefully a rejuvenated Killie will take advantage.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

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Aberdeen coach Peter Leven is under consideration for the vacant Kilmarnock manager's job following Stuart Kettlewell's dismissal. (Daily Record), external

Stuart Kettlewell has been sacked by Kilmarnock with the club 11th in the Premiership and without a win in 10 matches.

What do you make of the decision and who would you like to see appointed as his replacement?

Have your say.

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Stuart Kettlewell has been dismissed as Kilmarnock manager after just two wins in the league all season and going without one in their past 10 outings.

Here is his Premiership record in full.

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 2-1 Premiership defeat by Aberdeen, which makes it 10 games without a win.

Here's what some of you said:

Iain: Unfortunately, it appears that the manager cannot get the results Kilmarnock now need to avoid a relegation battle. Therefore, while there is still time for a new manager to make a difference the Killie board needs to act.

Dan: Yet again bad decisions by all officials cost Killie the game. These decisions are costing teams and managers are going to lose jobs because of them!

Gazza: We showed in the first half that the players have the capacity to play some very decent football, an expected lack of confidence and two tier refereeing meant we only went in one up. The second half showed how much damage our manager can cause when tinkering, it was obvious Graeme Shinnie would enter and Aberdeen would come at us. Why oh why did we sit back, Stuart Kettlewell? Care to enlighten us? Oh well Killie board, you have a massive decision to make. Don't get it wrong again.

John: Rubbish. Marcus Dackers is way off the pace so is George Stanger and Robbie Deas, in fact most of the team is. Fifteen minutes to go you knew defeat was coming.

Peter: Started well, got ahead and tried to hold on despite the fact that we never keep clean sheets. Then our manager complains we played too deep in the second half, isn't he in charge? All that said a ludicrous decision for their penalty!

Frank: I have been a Kilmarnock fan for over 65 years and never felt so distant from the club. It is time Kettlewell was no longer at Rugby Park. He is dragging the club down, no excuses it's his group of players, he decides the tactics and picks the team. If he has one ounce of dignity he would resign.

Watch all the highlights as Aberdeen come from behind to defeat Kilmarnock and pile further pressure on Stuart Kettlewell.

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A superb second-half fightback earned Aberdeen all three Scottish Premiership points at Pittodrie and consigned Kilmarnock to a 10th straight game without a win.

Read the match report

Have your say

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Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "We're obviously disappointed. It was a game of two halves. We carved out some decent opportunities first half - the players performed really well in the first half. We were trying to play the game higher up the pitch.

"We rode our luck a bit at the start of the second half and then we start to settle a little bit. Once you concede two goals in the last 10 minutes, it's a bitter pill to swallow."

On the penalty decisions: "Who knows at this point? We're awarded a penalty. There's no protest from the Aberdeen player. We check it and check it and then the referee chalks it off.

"I've just looked at the Brad Lyons one there. I'm completely lost with the whole thing. That's my honest version - I don't understand it.

"Everyone will point to the bad run, but people have no idea how much these huge decisions have a bearing on people's careers, their jobs.

"We need to be stronger as the game goes on. By stronger I mean, be braver to go higher up the pitch. Sometimes you start to panic when you've got that bad run and you find yourself with something to cling onto.

"We have a group of players giving everything. We might not always get it right.

"It's about outcomes, winning games and getting points on the road."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock defender Lewis Mayo insists the squad believe they can emerge from a nine-game winless run in the Scottish Premiership and avoid relegation trouble.

The 3-0 home defeat to Rangers last weekend leaves the Ayrshire 10th in the table with just two points from the last 27 available.

Stuart Kettlewell's side travel to face Aberdeen on Sunday looking for their first victory since the start of October.

"Our dressing room is not short of any fight or effort," Mayo said.

"You can see that from the games. I think it is a case of keeping our composure at times and sticking to what we believe in and pulling together that we are going to change this.

"I think game management can help us a lot. You look at the run of results we've been on, the amount of games we've either been in the game or been close and a five or 10-minute spell has killed us.

"Or we've been on the front foot and then a goal has killed us and then we've got a mountain to climb."

Kilmarnock failed to build on successive draws, including a positive point gained against league leaders Hearts at Tynecastle, against Rangers and are now looking to avoid a 10th game in a row without a win.

"It is hard but I think no one else is going to feel sorry for us and we are the ones that are going to need to fix it," Mayo added.

I think even the Hearts game as a reference, we didn't get the points we wanted but the feeling coming away from that, everyone feels better and everyone feels more positive going forward.

"I think it's an honest bunch. We feel like we can see what's going wrong and I think everyone just wants to fix it as soon as possible. Going into a busy schedule, hopefully that can be a positive for us that we can go on a run."

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Aberdeen remain without Gavin Molloy and Kristers Tobers because of knee injuries.

Kilmarnock midfielder David Watson is suspended but Brad Lyons returns from a ban.

Jack Thomson and Marley Watkins will be assessed after missing the defeat by Rangers while Max Stryjek (heart), Kyle Magennis (knee), Jamie Brandon (ankle/groin), Djenairo Daniels (knee) and Matty Kennedy (hip) remain out.

Scotland's key match incident panel has backed two controversial on-field decisions during Rangers' 3-0 win at Kilmarnock last Saturday, when Killie believed they should have had a penalty and also that Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland should have been sent off. (Sun), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell insists he is seeking consistency and correct outcomes in refereeing decisions after admitting "pure frustration" got the better of him during the 3-0 defeat to Rangers last weekend.

Kettlwell will serve a one-match touchline suspension in the Premiership match at Aberdeen on Sunday after being ordered to the stand for his reaction to a decision, having felt a number of key calls wrongly went against his side.

"We all speak about players ensuring that they show discipline, so you obviously get annoyed at yourself with losing the head basically," he said.

"I think everybody will probably understand that this means a lot to me, winning games of football,

"You're not asking for favouritism in decisions, you're just asking for what you believe is the right outcome. I'm a human being at the end of the day. I work hard the same as everybody else here at the football club to try and see if you can get an outcome in a game of football.

"I acknowledge that human beings make mistakes, we all do. It's the consistency."

Kettlewell confirmed he has not sought clarity from SFA head of referee operations Willie Collum having had conversations in the past.

But he revealed the club have sent their own video analysis assessing comparable decisions in games, ahead of a scheduled meeting between managers and officials next week.

"I think there's going to be a lot of people sitting in the same position that I am [at that gathering]," he said.

"I've had really good communication with Willie to date, and I think he's doing a lot to try and improve things, but I think we'll all acknowledge that we're not seeing the fruits of that work at times at the weekends.

"These are massive moments in games of football. I'm not looking for any favours. I just want consistency. I'm trying not to sit here and make excuses."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell has been talking to the media before the trip to face Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership this weekend.

Here are the key points:

• On his red card during the 3-0 defeat at home to Rangers, Kettlewell says he's "annoyed with losing the head" but it shows just how much "winning games of football means".

• Kettlewell is "frustrated" after feeling Kilmarnock were on the wrong end of a number of decisions during the Rangers match, including Jack Butland avoiding a red card for a challenge on Bruce Anderson and Mohamed Diamonde's pull on David Watson that did not result in a penalty.

• The Rugby Park boss adds: "You're not asking for favouritism in decisions, you're just asking for what you believe is the right outcome, so not to vindicate myself or give myself a pass, but pure frustration."

• Kettlewell reveals he has not sought clarity from SFA head of referee operations Willie Collum following the Rangers game but says the club have sent their own video analysis of several incidents, with a meeting scheduled between managers and officials next week.

• He also concedes Killie will try to use a feeling of grievance to help galvanise the squad and get results on track - "I think you always try and use that mentality when there's a lot of noise, when there's a lot of criticism, when there's things you feel have went against you."

• Kilmarnock are now winless in nine Premiership games, lying 10th in the table and facing fan frustration, but Kettlewell insists he sees signs they can start winning - "I've seen them achieve really good standards in games, my job is to try and see if we can rekindle that."

• The Killie boss adds: "We had plenty of plaudits for the first chunk of the season. The second part of the season to date obviously hasn't been good enough."

• On Aberdeen having watched their Conference League defeat to Strasbourg, Kettlewell says the Dons did "pretty well against a really good side".

• Team news: David Watson is suspended and there is one undisclosed illness. Jack Thompson and Marley Watkins are being assessed after missing out lately.

At £3.3m, Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho is the most valuable of the top 30 players based in Scotland who are due to be free agents this summer, with Rangers centre-half John Souttar second at £3.1m and Kilmarnock midfielder David Watson third at £1.6m. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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• Aberdeen have won their past two league meetings with Kilmarnock (both 1-0), after having lost five of their previous seven beforehand (W2).

• Kilmarnock have lost seven of their past eight league visits to Aberdeen, winning the other 1-0 in December 2023.

• Aberdeen have won six of their latest nine league games (D2 L1), more than their previous 33 beforehand (W5 D8 L20).

• Kilmarnock are winless in nine Premiership games (D2 L7), their longest run in the competition since March 2021, when they went 10 without victory.

• Stuart Armstrong, who has assisted a goal in both of Aberdeen's past two league games, has been directly involved in five goals in his latest seven Premiership starts against Kilmarnock (4 goals, 1 assist).

• He could become the first player to assist a goal in three successive league appearances for Aberdeen since Jamie McGrath in August 2024 – the third of which was against Killie.

Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell will serve a one-match touchline ban following his red card against Rangers. (Scotsman - subscription required), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

Killie's encouraging midweek draw at Tynecastle was quickly forgotten come Saturday night as we folded meekly against Rangers.

We are in a full-blown relegation scrap and if we continue to leak cheap goals in every game we will quickly become favourites for the drop.

I was hoping this week's column would be discussing candidates for the manager's job but Stuart Kettlewell is still there even though we are now winless in nine games.

That is a sacking offence in its own right and there's a growing concern that the longer he stays the more serious damage he will do.

This Sunday we travel to Pittodrie, which is not a happy hunting ground. I'm hoping we stumble across an effective formation, cut out the defensive shambles and steal an unlikely win, although that all sounds like desperation on my part.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

Sportscene pundit Richard Foster believes key decisions went against Kilmarnock in their 3-0 defeat by Rangers on Saturday.

Speaking on the challenge made by Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland on forward Bruce Anderson - which went unpunished - Foster said: "This is absolutely a red card, every day of the week.

"Imagine that is [Emmanuel] Fernandez or [Nasser] Djiga making the same tackle, it's a straight red.

"Anderson gets there first, the speed he comes in and [Butland] cleans him out."