This is an excerpt from this week's Claret and Amber Alert, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.

You know what? If I was Stuart Kettlewell (and luckily for Motherwell Football Club, I am not), then I might be taking the stick I’ve received recently a little to heart myself.

The murmurings of discontent that have been growing over the last few weeks following a series of abject away performances exploded into a cacophony of boos after the dismal Scottish Cup exit at St Johnstone, as the 1700-odd strong travelling support expressed their anger in no uncertain terms over what they had just been forced to endure.

Because make no mistake, it was a diabolical performance. I’ve watched Motherwell now for close to 40 years, and have been through all the ups and downs. I have sat through some of the most turgid performances imaginable over that time.

And there is no escaping it, when placed in the context of the importance of the game, the fragile confidence of the opposition and the fact that Motherwell managed just the one (sclaffed) shot on target, what I witnessed at McDiarmid Park was right down there with the worst of them.

Neither was it a one-off, or just a bad day at the office. Over the punishing festive period, despite some good results at home, the team have been stinking out stadiums from Dundee to Dingwall and all points in between.

It is little wonder then that having paid good money to travel to Rugby Park and Easter Road in the previous two matches for very little by way of return, even in the form of a little attacking intent, never mind some points on the board, that the frustrations of the Motherwell support boiled over after more of the same in Perth. The team went down in arguably the biggest game of the season with a whimper.

The manager can’t escape criticism for this. His steadfast refusal to budge from his favoured back five set up, even late on at McDiarmid Park when his team desperately needed to throw caution to the wind to stay in the Scottish Cup, is an easy – and justifiable - stick with which to beat him.

(Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group)

When you talk about context though, in fairness to Kettlewell, you have to apply the full picture.

Motherwell have a deep squad this year, but any team would be affected when they are missing their best players. It isn’t so much the sheer volume of injuries that are killing the team, but the quality it has taken out of the side in the case of Lennon Miller, and the goal threat in Apostolos Stamatelopoulos just as the striker was coming to the boil.

When the team isn’t playing well and is struggling to carve out chances, for instance, delivery from set plays becomes crucial, and the drop off in the quality of those on Saturday from what Miller would routinely produce was stark.

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So, pick fault in the set up all you like, but you also have to concede that Kettlewell is currently operating with one hand tied behind his back, and even then, the other hand has been severely weakened.

Furthermore, the manager is right to mention the facts on paper when it comes to this season.  The team are indeed currently sitting in fifth place in the table, which is way above what many fans would have predicted in the summer.

They have been to the League Cup semi-final. So, while frets over the recent form are entirely valid, and so too even are criticisms of how they approached that game at Hampden against Rangers, to dismiss his achievements would be grossly unfair.

It is precisely these achievements that have people outside of the Motherwell bubble rather scratching their heads when they dip in and see the sort of reaction the Scottish Cup exit provoked. One colleague on social media even labelled the fanbase as ‘entitled’.

I have a lot of time for Stuart Kettlewell. From where the team were when he came in to where they are now, there can be no argument that he has done a good job over the piece.

He is committed and hard-working. He has bled youngsters into the side, and sold players on for huge profits. He will bring in millions to the club soon too having handled the development of Miller well.

(Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group)

On paper, he will have hit all of the targets set out for him by the Fir Park board and then some. He is therefore, I believe, in absolutely no danger of being sacked.

With all that taken into consideration, I can understand why his back is up to be on the receiving end of the sort of abuse that was directed his way on Saturday. Though having sat through the game, I could also understand why it arrived.

So, I did cringe a little then when I saw his comments this morning regarding the stick he has received over his style of play.

Perhaps it was simply that he could have worded it better, but if I could dare to offer a little friendly advice his way having witnessed this scenario elsewhere countless times; publicly dismissing the opinions of fans because they haven’t played the game or coached a team rarely ends well for a manager.

Though, with my own football career having only reached the dizzying heights of the Carluke and District Amateur League, he may not welcome my tuppence worth.

In some ways, the Motherwell fans are indeed entitled. Entitled to expect more from their team than they got on Saturday, and absolutely entitled to their point of view.

However it was intended, a simmering fanbase will likely widely interpret Kettlewell's comments as showing stubbornness at best, or arrogance at worst.

Hopefully an improved performance as the team travel back to Perth this weekend will start to bring everyone off the boil a little.

As crazy as it may sound, even a positive tweak to the formation would, at this stage, probably go down better than a scrappy win from a set-piece goal with little football on display.