5 next Motherwell manager candidates as Jim Goodwin quickfire dugout return chance appears alongside EFL wildcard

Some players in the Fir Park dressing room are going on to their fourth manager - and the stakes are as a high as they ever have been in recent Motherwell memory.

The Steelmen are embroiled in a relegation dogfight at the bottom of the Premiership and the axe has now fallen on Steven Hammell after a miserable 3-1 Scottish Cup fifth round loss to Raith Rovers on Saturday. A club legend, the former left-back didn't appear for press duties in Kirkcaldy and soon it was announced he was on the way out of his beloved club, but there's no time for tales of woe.

There's much uncertainty around ML1 amid no wins in the league since Halloween, Alan Burrows moving on from his chief executive role this month, and now a managerial hunt. But who will be tasked with saving Motherwell's Premiership status? Record Sport looks at some candidates.

We'll start with the interim boss, Stuart Kettlewell. He's only new to the club himself after being appointed to work within the youth ranks last year and will be in charge when St Mirren come to Fir Park on Wednesday. It's a route fans might not be too keen on, given this is the path tread with Hammell and ultimately he couldn't get a tune out of a squad that had been underperforming under previous boss Graham Alexander, despite securing European football last term. But this caretaker comes with a twist. Kettlewell had been a manager at Ross County alongside Steven Ferguson, winning the Championship in their first season and keeping them up the next. However, he lasted half a season when taking the reins himself in June 2020, sacked by Roy MacGregor with the club four points adrift at the bottom of the league. Some 'Well fans called for him to assist Hammell in the dugout but whether they want