Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell sees parallels between Theo Bair and Ross Stewart, with both player exhibiting a willingness to learn and make the most of their talents.
Bair levelled the game against Kilmarnock at the weekend with Kettlewell, who tried to get Kevin van Veen back to the club in the late stages of the transfer window, applauding the mentality of the forward whose performances in recent weeks have been in stark contrast to what they were at the start of the campaign.
“You use Theo Bair as an example,” said Kettlewell. “He is that kind of ball of plasticine, when you look at his physical traits and you see what kind of person he is. He wants to learn; he wants to pick up and understand how to play the position.
“He wants to learn what his role is within the team. He hasn’t come here with any ego whatsoever. I think if you have an ego sometimes it becomes really hard to teach you and help you.
“From that ball of plasticine, you get to shape him into what you think he can become. Between myself and the staff at the football club, that’s the most exciting bit. I’ve spoken about so many players that I’ve worked with through time and one that always jumps off the page when you look at us playing Ross Country tomorrow is Ross Stewart.
“He wasn’t a £10m striker when he walked through the door for £20,000 at Ross Country, he became that through time and he became that because he had a lot of the same traits as Theo. Being that humble person and being that guy who wanted to get the best out of his career. He had the physical traits to get to where he was.”
And Kettlewell has also revealed that it is getting his hands dirty on the training ground that gives him the most managerial satisfaction. Motherwell play Ross County tomorrow night with the Fir Park boss looking to pull away from the Highlanders who are three points behind them.
“ I think most people felt we’d be sitting here with the lowest goals scorers in the top flight but we’re anything but that,” said Kettlewell.
“I want to work with players, I want to go through that coaching process, I want to work with them individually through their analysis. I want to work with them on the pitch. I want to try get inside their heads at times, push buttons and see if we can help them with their confidence.
“I think a lot of people sit Infront of cameras and sit in press conferences and tell you that we coach, and we make players better and we do x,y and z. I believe that’s my bag, I believe that’s the coaching staff and this footballs clubs bag.
“To take the rough diamond and polish them up and help facilitate them into something better. I need to stress the point as well I’ve never made anybody a better player in my life, all I’ve done is help facilitate them and point them in the right direction .
“I think there’s so many ego-maniacs out there that will tell you they’ve created all kinds of players. That’s not my thing that’s not how I put it.”
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