CHUCKLE BROS GET SERIOUS
Kettlewell and Ferguson are more like the Chuckle Brothers than Jack and Victor but insist they’re deadly serious about taking County back to the top flight
CHEWIN’ THE FAT with the only co-managers in Scottish football and it’s inevitable the conversation turns to Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan.
Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson like to laugh – loudly and often – and don’t pause for breath when asked which duo from popular culture they best resemble.
Kettlewell puts down his fork on his haggis lasagne and says: “We’re trying to get away from that cliche of the two managers in Chewin’ The Fat copying each other’s moves on the touchline and we’re not like Jack and Victor either. Actually, we’re probably most like the Chuckle Brothers.”
To me, to you. To you, to me. Nine months into the job at Ross County and the banter flies across the table so easily they’re even finishing each other’s sentences.
Ferguson chips in: “Remember the time you booked us that dodgy hotel in Perth and the room was so small my feet were hanging out the bed?”
Kettlewell playfully rolls his eyes and explains: “If we come down the road on scouting trips we stay in basic hotels and we don’t eat in fancy restaurants. We’re not decked out in fancy designer gear either – this shirt cost me a tenner in the sale at Next.”
Their clobber may be inexpensive but the strength of their relationship is priceless. Staggies chairman Roy MacGregor didn’t build a personal fortune so far north of £100million it’s more Wick than Dingwall by ignoring hungry young talent across all his business interests.
Kettlewell is 34, Ferguson is 41 and while they may lack the frontline managerial experience of championship rivals Dundee United and Ayr, their desire and enthusiasm, along with their in-depth knowledge of the league and their club, is working to their advantage. MacGregor knew it when he appointed them in April, citing Ferguson’s UEFA Pro Licence and Kettlewell’s growing reputation as a young coach of substance as main factors in their appointment after the ill-fated reign of Owen Coyle.
They had shared an office for four years at County, when Ferguson was academy director and Kettlewell development squad manager, and although they’ve moved along the corridor at the Global Energy Stadium their philosophies and beliefs have never changed.
Ferguson said: “This job is really an extension of all we’ve been doing in recent years. I always knew Stuart was going to go down this route because he was a leader on the pitch and committed to coaching off it.
“He lives, breathes, walks and talks football. Stuart always thought ahead and was always questioning what we were doing in coaching sessions. It wasn’t because he wanted to take
issue with anything. Quite the opposite. He was hungry for knowledge and always looking to put his own slant on sessions.”
Kettlewell added: “I’ve never felt so positive about myself coming in at half-time or after a match on the back of discussions with Steven.
“He made me feel 10 feet tall by telling how I’d influenced the game and what I specifically needed to do in the second half to continue my form. His man-management is different class.”
We’re in the Victoria Restaurant on the High Street at lunchtime and it says everything about the duo, never mind the club, they both recognise the waiter as a kid keeper who was on their books half a dozen years earlier.
Their phones buzz as they field calls from their chairman and agents, looking to add a couple of pieces to the jigsaw in the January transfer window that will see them consolidate their position at the pinnacle of the Championship in the second half of the campaign.
They spend so much time in each other’s company it’s now a source of humour for their wives, Fiona and Katie, but you only get one chance to make a first impression and they’re determined to deliver on the opportunity offered.
Kettlewell said: “A strong work ethic gives you a chance of achieving something if you’re offered an opportunity. Lots of people say they want to be a manager and coach but believe it’s a God-given right.
“We could have had our old jobs at the club forever and wouldn’t have had to fall out with folk or tell people what they didn’t want to hear. We always wanted to keep moving forward.
“We come from working-class backgrounds and we’re not going to stand in ivory towers and claim we’re better than anyone else. We’re just two normal guys who love the game.”
They insist they’ve never had a fallout and a smile is never far away. Their relationship is built on trust, respect and humour – lots of humour.
Ferguson said: “We played at Falkirk this season and were a goal down late on. Iain Vigurs was on a yellow and not running as freely as the first half and I wanted to take him off.
“Stuart said, ‘No. One bit of quality will give us something from this game. Let’s wait and see.’ Flipping hell, minutes later the ball fell out the sky, Vigurs took one touch and put it into the top corner. The goal of the season.
“I just turned to Stuart and said, ‘I told you so!’”