Due to the fact that I seem to be seeing lots of fans over on Pie and Bovril (mainly started by this Fin bloke) starting to question whether Kel is right to lead us into next season, I'm trying to guage opinions on what fans on this site seem to think 🤔.

Funnily enough, the Fin bloke in question is actually also a poster on here if I'm not mistaken. He's also not as lambasted as much on here as he is on p and b where he's accused of being AI 🙄. I don't know the bloke and certainly don't think it's fair to accuse him of being AI but that's a different topic and not worth even discussing so I'm going to keep on topic and give my opinion on what I asked (got to keep mods etc onside😛).

My opinion on Kel is, he deserves to be given credit for our transformation in only a year so I am certainly nowhere near wanting him out yet, however, I do believe that pressure will mount if we don't get promoted as champions or via the play offs. As for next season, again, if we gain promotion then it would be totally unfair to even discuss his position though it's very hard to guage how well he's adapt to the step up in league despite the fact we've beaten Ayr and Partick this season.

So in summary, I still back Scott and will continue to as I've promised Charlie Bannerman on Facebook in the past 😁.

Did you not say he was our best ever manager?

Does the Fin bloke you mention have an Shaun the sheep avatar?

100% yay. He deserves a shot at it at the very least. Plus I'm sure the club can't afford anybody else.

Yay if we promote, Nay if we don’t. He would do better if he had a more experienced assistant. Where did Ross Jack go? Billy will offer a lot, but that other guy (Nicholson I think), seems a good guy but has only coached at Highland league and kids football. Maybe they are all at their maximum level.

16 hours ago, CaleyTennis85 said:

As for next season, again, if we gain promotion then it would be totally unfair to even discuss his position

Well here I disagree CT85.

I would have thought (hoped) the club is well past the days where we blindly retained a employee because of sympathetic reasons, ie long time at the club, was a buddy of the CEO, came through some tough times; to the hard headed business of providing a successful product on the park ( which is always winning football matches).

The argument whether SK is a good enough manager needs to be separated into what he has achieved to date in that role, and is his potential good enough to be a success in a higher division.

Let’s assess SK’s performance first the past two seasons. He was appointed manager by the new owner during the administration period, who I would expect on recommendation from C Christie (later to the club’s CEO). The driving credentials I envisage being - available, cheap & already integrated with the players and systems.

A fairly large turnover in players (under CC /AS direction) brought in higher skilled individuals that strengthened significantly the player pool. The brave decision was taken to retain full time status providing valuable training advantage. Kells managed to steer (despite the penalties) the club from avoiding relegation that season. Full credit should be afforded to Kells for achieving this goal. - I put aside the performances (as more than a few were average), as it was his first stint at a manager and learning the ‘trade’ and mistakes are to be expected (and allowed for ).

This season again we carried a 5 point penalty to overcome. Again a fair few (experienced and skilful) players were brought in to compliment the player pool. Kells would have have input of course but I suggest any deciding decision was CC + AS.

Has the manager progressed and developed into the post. Two categories allow us (the fans) to gauge this:-

1) Results (most important) - most games won albeit Stenny (part time) have done well also on victories.

2) Performances - Up to every fan to provide their own view. For me there has been two or three exceptional performances. Quite a few average ones and a good number of quite awful performances.

Criticism of Kells this season IMO has mainly been :-

• Changing the players far too often and not playing his strongest team. - I personally question whether Kells is fully in control of this due to any contract arrangements made by CC.

• Unable to determine when a substitution is required and what type of player is needed to affect the game.

• Too loyal to the players. Or in other words not hard or demanding enough of them. Can he separate friendship from what the match needs?

In the event we achieve promotion (either as champs or the play-offs) to the championship has Kells demonstrated he has the potential and ability to deal with the pressures and stress of a higher standard of opposition with the objective of not being immediately relegated.

Thought it worth putting more content to allow the discussion to be developed on making an opinion.

Over to the others.

bc

Edited March 30Mar 30 by big cherly

9 hours ago, roarer said:

Does the Fin bloke you mention have an Shaun the sheep avatar?

What has that too do with the question I asked 🙄, did you not read the part where I said it's not worth discussing as it's off topic!!

And in reply to @ICTPaisley above this post, I think I said he was on the same level as Terry Butcher in terms of how I view his tenure to date, though I can't remember now as my memory isn't as good as it once was 😂.

Thank you to @Gringo @CaleyCiuin and @big cherly for actually giving their opinion on the question I asked and not veering off topic like some are 👍.

11 hours ago, Gringo said:

Plus I'm sure the club can't afford anybody else.

If they do get promoted, they'll have to strengthen the playing squad.

If they don't get promoted, they'll have to strengthen the playing squad.

2 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

If they don't get promoted, they'll…….

Cut the cloth dramatically! Six or more players (+ Kells) will be thanked and shown the door IMO.

bc

No much sentiment in football these days.

Ultimately it's up to Alan Savage and his is the only opinion that matters, but a good discussion point anyway.

The lifespan of a manager is short these days (for us aged 50+ and what we remember from a bygone era) and clubs/fans require instant gratification. In a short space of time that usually isn't posssible, especially when you don't have money just to throw at it. Those that stick with their man can often reap the benefits, but admittedly not always.

If we cast our minds back to October 2024 and that first game at Dumbarton the general feeling (if my memory remains intact) was that despite the 3-1 defeat the manner of the play was a breath of fresh air. By May relegation had been avoided (indeed without the points deduction we'd have been 2nd). This season is still in the balance but another top 2 position seems likely.

As a new manager he will have plenty to learn still, and we all learn from our mistakes (or should do). Perhaps he'll decide with hindsight that the constant changes have hindered performance, perhaps he'll think that it's kept the squad as a whole fit and healthy and was the right thing. I'm sure he's continued to learn about individual players and the team.

In my book, for what he's done to date, he absolutely deserves a shot at the Championship (if that's where we are). If we don't go up then perhaps it's more of an open question, but would you rather start from scratch with an unknown quantity and whether they'll fit or stick with someone who has led the club to being one of the best two clubs in the division two years running.

I have a friend who is a Leeds fan and is quite prepared to admit that Daniel Farke struggles in the Premier League. But, he says if Leeds get relegated he'd definitely want him leading them next season as he has constantly been at the top of the Championship with both Leeds and Norwich. My view (at the moment) is the same with Kells - keep him in charge next season come what may.

17 hours ago, big cherly said:

Well here I disagree CT85.

I would have thought (hoped) the club is well past the days where we blindly retained a employee because of sympathetic reasons, ie long time at the club, was a buddy of the CEO, came through some tough times; to the hard headed business of providing a successful product on the park ( which is always winning football matches).

The argument whether SK is a good enough manager needs to be separated into what he has achieved to date in that role, and is his potential good enough to be a success in a higher division.

Let’s assess SK’s performance first the past two seasons. He was appointed manager by the new owner during the administration period, who I would expect on recommendation from C Christie (later to the club’s CEO). The driving credentials I envisage being - available, cheap & already integrated with the players and systems.

A fairly large turnover in players (under CC /AS direction) brought in higher skilled individuals that strengthened significantly the player pool. The brave decision was taken to retain full time status providing valuable training advantage. Kells managed to steer (despite the penalties) the club from avoiding relegation that season. Full credit should be afforded to Kells for achieving this goal. - I put aside the performances (as more than a few were average), as it was his first stint at a manager and learning the ‘trade’ and mistakes are to be expected (and allowed for ).

This season again we carried a 5 point penalty to overcome. Again a fair few (experienced and skilful) players were brought in to compliment the player pool. Kells would have have input of course but I suggest any deciding decision was CC + AS.

Has the manager progressed and developed into the post. Two categories allow us (the fans) to gauge this:-

1) Results (most important) - most games won albeit Stenny (part time) have done well also on victories.

2) Performances - Up to every fan to provide their own view. For me there has been two or three exceptional performances. Quite a few average ones and a good number of quite awful performances.

Criticism of Kells this season IMO has mainly been :-

• Changing the players far too often and not playing his strongest team. - I personally question whether Kells is fully in control of this due to any contract arrangements made by CC.

• Unable to determine when a substitution is required and what type of player is needed to affect the game.

• Too loyal to the players. Or in other words not hard or demanding enough of them. Can he separate friendship from what the match needs?

In the event we achieve promotion (either as champs or the play-offs) to the championship has Kells demonstrated he has the potential and ability to deal with the pressures and stress of a higher standard of opposition with the objective of not being immediately relegated.

Thought it worth putting more content to allow the discussion to be developed on making an opinion.

Over to the others.

bc

Excellent post BC.

There has to be a reason why the team is chopped and changed too much. I too have heard rumours that certain players had to be played who were on loan as, otherwise the loan would be withdrawn.

Personally, I don't think Kellagher would survive in the Championship but if the club insist on keeping him, he needs an experienced number 2. Had Malpas been brought in earlier to assist Foran, would we have avoided relegation?.

The other issue I have with Kellagher is a lack of tactically awareness. Teams now know how we will play and he seems unable to adapt. Playing players out of position, when everyone can see it's not working doesn't help.

In my opinion he definitely should be leading us next season, regardless of whether we are in the Championship or League 1.

One thing none of us are privy to is what players may have been on the bench due to carrying knocks so rightly not being risked from the start.

When Liam Sole missed the games prior to his suspension we didn’t know at the time it was due to injury.

There was a thread at the start of the season where we all said where we expected to finish the season. I don’t recall many saying we’d win the league, which shows how our expectations have grown over the course of the season.

However, as noted above it’s what the owner thinks that will count.

Edited March 31Mar 31 by Robert

1 hour ago, Robert said:

However, as noted above it’s what the owner thinks that will count.

Yes, I agree. I only hope age hasn’t blunted his cold business clear thinking when it comes to what is in the best interests of his asset. We have suffered to much of such unstructured and unsustainable leadership in the recent past. Time will tell.

Post script- He also has as an employer the responsibility to ensure any employee is not unduly placed into a post that could potentially have a detrimental effect on that individuals health. Wee Robbo comes to mind.

bc

Edited March 31Mar 31 by big cherly

Why oh why is this thread being discussed when we have a league to win? All it serves to do is to introduce negative comments at a time we don’t need them. It would be better to close it and reopen once the season is by with.

Some folk just can’t see the bigger picture.

Well if we don't get promoted this season we may well have a bolstered Ross County to contend with in place of Stenhousemuir!

I'd be inclined to stick with Kells regardless of whether or not we gain promotion, but I think if we're in the Championship in January 2027 and staring relegation in the face, then we've got to be looking at alternatives.

And as Big Cherly alluded to, he is perhaps too loyal to the players, too much of a nice guy, and needs to develop a mean streak!

We're top of the league despite a 5 point penalty, we're unbeaten in the league in 2026, we play in the Challenge Cup final at the weekend and yet folk are questioning whether the manager should be sacked at the end of the season!

It is true that we have drawn a few more games than we might have, but the fact that Stenhousemuir have closed us down is more due to Stenhousemuir's improved form than a drop in ours. Whilst we are on a 13 game unbeaten run, Stenny are on a 14 game unbeaten run and during that period have drawn one fewer than we have. We are 11 points clear of Alloa in 3rd. Given the situation the club was in when Kells took over from Disaster Dunc, what he has achieved is quite remarkable.

I accept that football is a results game and you can't afford to dwell on past success when standards slip. Next season the goals for the team will either be to stay comfortably in the Championship, or to win promotion back to the Championship. If, by the middle of the season, it looks as though we are unlikely to achieve that goal, then the Board may have a decision to make, but certainly not now. If Kells deserves anything just now, it is a statue rather than the sack.

Just to add we are not long out of administration and as a club we can't afford to go down the route of employing a big name manager like we did before that didn't even work! We have to live within our means.

7 hours ago, IBM said:

as a club we can't afford to go down the route of employing a big name manager ——- We have to live within our means.

Completely agree - we should strive to avoid the mistakes of the past. Without being narrow minded I would look to managers in the Highland league. A few of the current managers would do an excellent job in IMO.

gc

Edited April 1Apr 1 by big cherly

On 3/30/2026 at 9:41 PM, big cherly said:

Quite a few average ones and a good number of quite awful performances.

A new addition to the latter category. Nothing to do with the manager’s selected players, tactics or game plan however!

bc

Edited April 6Apr 6 by big cherly

Pie and bovril is getting more crazier by the day with them now moaning about English posters and Canadian ones taking over this site 🙄. At least this site doesn't have idiots on it unlike there where fans of other clubs hijack forums and start arguing with one another 🙄.

Anyway, they now say we need Ian McCall, STUART KETTLEWELL or Paul Hartley in as manager 🤦🤦!!

On 4/1/2026 at 11:27 AM, DoofersDad said:

If Kells deserves anything just now, it is a statue rather than the sack.

DD, if you decide to build a statue can you make sure it’s on a solid base and not on a spring like the kiddies attractions at Whin park that would allow it to sway from side to side.

Ps….. just joking couldn’t resist it. Sorry.

I will 'stick' please

Remember we were docked 5 points at the start of the season.

Yes, one could argue that we have decent squad, and few injuries, but we have also played a lot of gams this season, and having watched many a successful promotion campaign at Palace, I know it's a grind, and many matches are 'won' but not 'enjoyed'. We have see many players be both superb and ***** in a passage of a game or two (can anyone say what our best team is for Plan A, and if we need a Plan B ?). And teams will set up to frustrate us. Fair play to Stenny, they have kept going, we need to keep going, we have scored more and conceded less.

It is easy to back a manager when results are good, given where we are, surely we still back them

For context... What if Arsenal don't win the title, given their abject failure in two cup exits??... (it's tough as a manager isn't it)

13 hours ago, CaleyTennis85 said:

Pie and bovril is getting more crazier by the day with them now moaning about English posters and Canadian ones taking over this site

Shame my work network blocks the P&B forum subdomain as being 'malware'. Would have had a quick look and a laugh.

Think I am the only active Canadian poster on here at the moment ... and while I may have my citizenship, my Toronto FC season tickets, and my role as a volunteer at this year's World Cup games in Toronto, I am still 100% Scottish. The only international top I possess is dark blue, and its worn with pride ... oh and my computer desktop background is a certain overhead kick from late last year :) . I am comfortable in who I am, where I am, and where I came from. Not that facts ever got in the way of Internet reality, but we are in year 33 of this site, and the owner of it has been a dual nationality Canadian citizen for less than half of that.

I can likely guess the names of those posters ... always the same ones. I used to care but then realised they all had magic keyboards that turned their thoughts into nonsense. Trolls do live under bridges so being so near to the Kessock Bridge it is no wonder we get our fair share that congregate there ... We must be doing something right if we are still relevant to them.

Anyhoo, back to the Canadian perspective on all this once I get my maple syrup and pancakes and have the lumberjack chop down a tree to make into a pencil for me ....

I am with Kells currently. He did well last year to keep us up after the -15 penalty. We are in touching distance of the title despite starting this season with -5 points, and when playing well we are doing good. The only doubts in my mind are the same as others have noted - too much rotation, and an apparent reluctance to change things when the plan is not working, or when the opposition have figured out our game plan. I have no idea if some of the loanees have clauses about playing time, I have no idea if he is playing favourites or trying to be (too) fair to everyone, but whatever he does he absolutely must get the game plan, the tactics and plans B and C locked in for this weekend. This is the definition of the proverbial six pointer. If we lose (or draw) this weekend, then the rest of this thread may get more negative opinions on his tenure. Win, take us up, and all is good. We really can be fickle !

On 4/6/2026 at 8:46 AM, big cherly said:

A new addition to the latter category. Nothing to do with the manager’s selected players, tactics or game plan however!

bc

Probably more something to do with playing a side sitting in the top half of the division above us, having spent many years there and not having just been very nearly liquidated.

ICT were never favourites to win the cup! We should get promotion with our squad, but will then be favourites for the drop next season. But let's see if we can get promotion first before being critical of being runners up in a cup where most first division clubs, including St Johnstone and Patrick Thistle, dropped out!

11 minutes ago, Starscape said:

Probably more something to do with playing a side sitting in the top half of the division above us, having spent many years there and not having just been very nearly liquidated.

ICT were never favourites to win the cup! We should get promotion with our squad, but will then be favourites for the drop next season. But let's see if we can get promotion first before being critical of being runners up in a cup where most first division clubs, including St Johnstone and Patrick Thistle, dropped out!

I’m just stating my view that the performance of the team (has to include the manager by implication that he picks the team and sets up the tactics and when the subs are introduced) against Raith Rovers was below the standard what I expected they can perform too.

I have praised the team on CTO when it has won and also when it has played well (but failed to win). I refuse however to only see one side of the narrative. As such in my opinion the performance against RR was simply awful.

Of course if CTO is a forum where only endorsement of the club is permitted then I can understand that mindset! (Don’t agree with it!).

bc

Edited April 9Apr 9 by big cherly