Former Wolves star famed for angry celebration makes shock application for Scottish Premiership manager's job

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This former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United cult hero is in line to be the new Motherwell boss.

Temuri Ketsbaia has reportedly applied to be the new head coach of Motherwell in a potential left-field turn in his impressive journeyman footballing career.

The Georgian, formerly of West Midlands club Wolves having made 24 appearances for the Old Gold on the turn of the millennium, has put himself forward for the role in the Scottish Premiership.

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You remember him, right? That winger who once lashed out at the advertising hoarding at St’ James’ Park after scoring a goal for Newcastle United against Bolton Wanderers in 1998? Yes, that’s Ketsbaia.

Our sister publication, Glasgow World, has exclusively revealed the passionate ex-Premier League footballer is among several coaches to have applied for the Motherwell job. The 56-year-old has been unemployed since losing the Cyprus national team post last September following a crushing 4-0 defeat to Kosovo in the UEFA Nations League.

Motherwell is renowned for being a family-oriented and friendly community club while Ketsbaia has earned a reputation as quite the loose cannon - to say the least - so it’s a bit of a bizarre prospect. It’s one that’s very much within the realm of possibility, though, with the 52-time ex-Georgia international thrusting himself into contention.

Currently sixth in the Scottish top flight, Motherwell are eager to move back up the standings with European football possibility up for grabs. The team in fourth at the end of the season earns a spot in the Europa Conference League preliminary qualifying spots, while the club in third grabs the same reward but in the more prestigious Europa League.

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The Steelmen are just four points Aberdeen in fourth and six adrift from the third-placed Dundee United. Stuart Kettlewell was in charge until January 28 but resigned - a decision the club reluctantly accepted - after being the subject of abuse from a minority of supporters.

Ketsbaia wants to take the baton left by Kettlewell but the interest in the job is high. It awaits to be seen if Motherwell are keen on appointing the Georgian.

What was Ketsbaia like at Wolves?

Albeit only with Wanderers for one year, Ketsbaia made an impact at Molineux. The Wolves manager at the time, Colin Lee, was delighted to be able to sign the versatile midfielder after he fell out of favour with the then-Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson.

Former Wolves and Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia has applied for the vacant Motherwell manager's job.Former Wolves and Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia has applied for the vacant Motherwell manager's job.
Former Wolves and Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia has applied for the vacant Motherwell manager's job. | Getty Images

Lee, reacting at the time of Ketsbaia’s capture, said: “Temuri is a great player who will add something different to the squad. He can score goals from anywhere.”

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And he couldn’t have had a better start to life in Old Gold. On his debut outing at Molineux, on the opening day of the 2000/01 season, Ketsbaia opened the scoring inside the first minute of the match. From a well-worked free-kick, the midfielder was laid up directed a 25-yard bullet effort into the top left corner – almost taking the net off in the process.

It didn’t quite go to plan from that point on, however, as Ketsbaia became the victim of not quite fitting in under a change of head coach at Molineux. Dave Jones’ tactics didn’t quite suite his play style, leading to a long spell on the bench and an unsavoury departure.

As an article of Wolves’ official website says, Ketsbaia never quite became the hero he could’ve done in WV1. An excerpt from the piece reads: “Although fans were desperate for the Ketsbaia signing to come off, having seen glimpses of the quality which could have led to him becoming a cult icon at another English club, it wasn’t to be.”

After just 12 sorry months, Ketsbaia left Wolves for Scottish club Dundee. Now, almost a quarter of a century on, the notorious former wolf could make a return to Scotland.

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