Calum Butcher on his Motherwell exit and why Stuart Kettlewell deserves more praise after season of hurdles
He won’t be there for the Motherwell long haul – but Calum Butcher insists manager Stuart Kettlewell deserves more credit that he deserves after a tough season in ML1.
The former Dundee United man has left Fir Park at the end of his contract. He joined Motherwell in 2022 after time at Burton Albion and was an impressive figure in defence during the early stages of Kettlewell’s tenure, but a foot injury suffered away at Livingston had him miss last summer’s pre-season.
Butcher was brought back into the Motherwell fold amid a lengthy winless run spanning 15 league games between September and December last term. Comfortable survival was welcomed but the 33-year-old admits his season never really got going as he came into the fold too early.
“Me and the gaffer had a great relationship. I think we had discussions at the end of March to see what I was thinking. It was one of them where I wanted to look at my options and see what else I could do, something different maybe. It got to the point as it kept on going that it was never going to be an option to stay and it was going to be something else.
“Our relationship stays the same. I think he is fantastic and I wish him all the best. Last season was difficult. Obviously not having the pre-season and coming back, looking at it in hindsight, I pushed myself too much. I probably should have given myself more time to get match fit. I’d probably only had two weeks training before I played three games in a week.
“It was the situation the club was in. You were called upon and I am not a player that shies away from that. In hindsight I probably wasn’t ready at all and I think that crept through my season as we went on. I could never really get myself going like I did when I came in. But the last six weeks of training has helped me massively going into a pre-season.”
On a small budget, the likes of Mika Biereth, Georgie Gent, Brodie Spencer and PFA Scotland Team of the Year striker Theo Bair all developed their game under Kettlewell’s guidance. Butcher watched the Motherwell boss first-hand and believes his work has gone without much praise, or backing in squad building at the time.
He also has warm words for his now former teammates, who he says refused to buckle under the scrutiny of a lengthy losing run. Butcher explained: “You look at the teams who have been relegated from the Premiership in the last four or five years, they have all gone through those spells. They buckled.
“Everybody stuck together and it’s something I have not seen a lot of in my career, a group of boys standing up and saying ‘we’re not having this’ and turning it around.
The way we came out the other end and were comfortably safe is pretty incredible. The way the gaffer dealt with everything last season is a credit to him. You go back to the start of pre-season and look at the season as a whole. You lose your main striker, lose three or four players and you go through a difficult period trying to replace them and trying to build. From a senior player, I don’t feel the gaffer had that backing at that time.
“It was a difficult period for the club, we didn’t have a CEO, didn’t have somebody going after… from what I saw as a player it was all the gaffer. Everything he did and tried to build, on a shoestring budget as well. To do what he did and bring players through like Georgie Gent, who was unknown, Theo Bair, the turnaround in him.
“These types of boys the gaffer has given an opportunity to, and the boys would all say it. Jack Vale coming from Blackburn, Brodie Spencer, Mika Biereth, and we lose some of these players through the season. To do what he did to improve players is incredible and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. You lose your main striker at Christmas and then Theo turns up, then he’s the next best thing. We did well with everything we had going on.”
There is talk of investment on the horizon at Fir Park. The Barmack family from the USA have put forward a proposal to invest in the club, but the board of majority shareholder The Well Society are against the plans, with a vote to follow. Speaking before that news was released, Butcher says it’s key for the club to get some additional cash through the door.
He explained: “I was there for 18 months and you went through ups and downs. You’d like to see the club kick on but it can go either way. It’s got to be done quickly. You’ve got to get the investment into the club, because the club need it.
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