Stuart Kettlewell has opened up for the first time on his Motherwell resignation and feels by doing so, he avoided confronting fans directly on matchdays.
Kettlewell shocked Scottish football at the end of January when he resigned from his post as Motherwell manager.
He cited abuse from a minority of Motherwell fans as his main reason and admitted the flak was affecting him and his family who attended Fir Park for games.
The majority of Motherwell fans were saddened by the nature of Kettlewell’s exit with many saying the situation has done the club no favours from a PR standpoint.
Around three weeks on, Motherwell have slipped down the Premiership table and out of the top six with Stephen Frail overseeing defeats to Celtic and Ross County.
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MotherwellMotherwell
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Ross CountyRoss County
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CelticCeltic
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Kettlewell has now broken his silence in an interview with The Scottish Sun as he explained in his own words why he felt he had to leave.
Stuart Kettlewell breaks Motherwell exit silence
The former Ross County boss admits it was one of his biggest ever decisions in life to chuck it at Motherwell – but feels he prevented a more serious altercation with fans by doing so.
He said: “It’s one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made in my life. There’s quite clearly been a build-up. My family have had to leave games of football.
“Now, my family’s not precious. My family go to support me, they go to support the team and they sit at times in among supporters. We don’t ask for preferential treatment.
“When you’re like the Waltons, and you’ve got so many kids, my wife will take them along. They love going to watch their dad’s team and supporting their dad.
“But when it gets to the stage my missus has to take the kids out because she can see the impact it’s having on them – we’re a tight knit family and that clearly has a major impact.
“I’m not asking for a medal for this, but when you spend 12-13 hours a day every day trying to get things right – spending time at a football club, dedicating your life to it, lots of sacrifices – sometimes you don’t see your kids in the morning or when you come back at night. You have to make a decision.
“Where does it get to? I can be a pretty aggressive guy. Is the next stage for me that I want to start jumping over advertising boards and have a confrontation with people directly? I’ve got a breaking point, in that sense.”
Michael Wimmer takes over as Kettlewell has no exit regret
Motherwell have since replaced Stuart Kettlewell with German boss Michael Wimmer, who beat Temur Ketsbaia to the Fir Park post.
Kettlewell will now watch on from afar as Wimmer tries to arrest Motherwell’s slide and give them the bets chance of finishing in the Premiership’s top half.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 6 |  St MirrenSt Mirren | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 39 | -9 | 31 |
| 7 |  KilmarnockKilmarnock | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 31 | 41 | -10 | 31 |
| 8 | MotherwellMotherwell | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 45 | -15 | 31 |
| 9 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 35 | 36 | -1 | 30 |
Kettlewell admits he has no regrets over leaving the Lanarkshire club and felt his decision is justified, despite others trying to talk him out of the massive call.
Asked if he has regrets, he replied: “I don’t, none at all. I believe I made the decision for the right reasons. I think where the regret would come from would be leaving the group of staff and the players.
“I don’t think there was any willingness from the staff, players, from the chief executive or executive board, for me to leave.
“In fact, numerous occasions on the Monday I made my decision, made it known, quite clearly they tried to talk me out of my decision.
“I am a stubborn person. If I feel something’s crossed the line, or something’s unjust, I make my call. It’s not in spite, it’s just something I felt was the right decision.”