Stuart Kettlewell slams ‘naive’ Kilmarnock after defeat by Falkirk

Manager Stuart Kettlewell apologised to the Kilmarnock supporters after his side’s awful first-half showing in the 3-1 defeat to Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium.

Kettlewell said he experienced his worst 45 minutes in football as they were blown away by the rampant Bairns.

Goals from Ethan Williams, Ross MacIver and Calvin Miller put the hosts in control and despite a second-half consolation from Tyreece John-Jules, the Rugby Park side slumped to a fourth successive defeat.

Kettlewell said: “That was probably the worst 45 minutes from any team I’ve played with, coached or managed — as naive as it could ever be.

“What typified the whole thing was probably the third goal, as amateurish a goal as you are ever going to see conceded.

“Make no mistake about it, myself, the players and all the staff for having to watch and endure that first 45 minutes.

“There’s no talk of officials, injuries or anything else. I believe that sometimes in football you have to hold you hands up, be a man about it and accept responsibility.

“I give them no credit or take credit myself for a better reaction in the second half.”

Kettlewell admits he is at a loss as to the reasons behind his team’s struggles.

Following a good start to the campaign, Killie now find themselves 10th in the table, a point ahead of Dundee in the play-off spot and three better off than Livingston at the foot.

He added: “What I’ve learned about the team in the last four games, and I don’t just pin this on them, I include myself and the staff, is that something has happened in there from being really confident, competitive and hard to play against.

“We now find ourselves in a position where something has changed in our heads.

“We have to take responsibility for that. It’s my job to try and find out why that is.”

Buoyant Bairns boss John McGlynn hailed his side’s brilliant first-half display.

Falkirk have risen to fifth in the Premiership table following their third win from their last four matches.

McGlynn rotated his squad for their 4-0 midweek loss to Celtic but they looked reenergised right from the start against Killie.

“It’s as good a 45 minutes that I’ve witnessed from one of my teams in a hell of a long time,” McGlynn said.

“Our teams have played well in League One and in the Championship but that was an outstanding first half and the players never made a bad decision.

“They were on fire and everything they did was on the money, we wanted to put new energy into the team after the game against Celtic on Wednesday night so they brought their peak performance.

“The pace, drive and ability of the attacking players just blew Kilmarnock away.”