Stephen Frail says Motherwell need to re-establish the connection between club and fans in the wake of Stuart Kettlewell’s decision to quit as boss.
And he hopes a solid performance against Celtic at Fir Park on Sunday can be the catalyst.
Kettlewell resigned on Monday, citing abuse from certain elements of the support had got too much for his family to bear.
Frail says some fans need to take a step back and evaluate their response to a poor run of results.
And he hopes the club’s support will get right behind the team.
Frail has been tasked with taking the team for the showdown against Brendan Rodgers’ men, and hopes to have supporters smiling again.
He said: “This week has been tougher than normal. It was a bit of a shock when the decision was communicated to everyone.
“But coaches, players and stafff have to get on with it, and that’s what we’ve done.
“It has been a really good training week, and I’m looking forward to what will be a really tough, challenging game against Celtic on Sunday – but one we hope we’re prepared for.
“The players were all right behind the manager, as everyone knows, so they were disappointed, but they need to get that out of their system and be ready for the game.
“A lot has been said and written about it, and the decision that Stuart came to. We all know why he came to it.
“We’re just concentrating now on trying to get that positivity back into the team and performances.
“I think, when you look at it, it was a small minority. We’ve got, in my opinion, a really strong fan base, this community-led club.
“We’ve got a really good fan-base. it was one or two of the elements that have taken that a little bit too far.
“We need to try and get this connectivity back with, not just the good fans, but everyone to try and connect the club and make sure that we’re ready, going forward, for the game on Sunday and for the rest of the season.”
When asked what sparked the abuse that led to Kettlewell stepping down, Frail said: “I don’t know what drives people to get to that level, that’s a question you would need to ask them.
“We’re hopeful just to get everybody back onside this weekend.
“We’ve got fans, you’ve seen the banners, I’ve seen emails that have been sent to the club in support of Stuart.
“We’ve got thousands of fans who don’t do that [shout abuse] on a Saturday, who come and watch the game. That’s who we’re hoping for, along with the other guys who might look and think, you know what, I did go too far there, let’s get behind the team.
“We don’t go out to lose games. We don’t go out to play poorly. We don’t sit as a staff after a game and say, that was okay.
“We go over it, we analyse it to strive to be better for the football club. And it helps we’ve got everyone behind us. As I say, nine times out of ten, they usually are.”
Frail admits Motherwell owe their fans a performance on Sunday.
“Performances help,” he said. “I’ve been asked ‘do we owe the fans a performance’ and the players owe themselves a performance, first and foremost.
“When you look at the St Johnstone game two weeks ago in the cup, over 2000 fans went up – of course we owe them a performance.
“Fans are the most important part of the club, the lifebeat of the club, the most constant thing, and we want to go out and enjoy winning games for ourselves, the club, but also for the fans.
“We need to get that connectivity back by putting on a performance.
“If we lose the game, as long as the fans see that the players are trying everything that they possibly can, I’m sure that connectivity will be there, because we’ve got a fan base who want the players to do well every week.”