Motherwell fans' "toxicity levels" played role in Graham Alexander exit, says Liam Kelly

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Liam Kelly has revealed the "toxicity levels" towards Motherwell from their own fans played a major part in Graham Alexander's exit from Fir Park.Alexander left the club by mutual consent yesterday less than 24 hours after the Steelmen crashed to an embarrassing Europa Conference League exit to League of Ireland outfit Sligo Rovers, losing 3-0 on aggregate.Furious fans directed abuse towards Alexander at the final whistle and the former Scotland international was even heckled live on radio when he received a foul-mouthed earful from one fan during a BBC Scotland interview.But supporters have been calling for change for months with the Steelmen on a rotten run of just five wins in 23 competitive games in 2022.And speaking ahead of Sunday's Premiership opener at St Mirren, Kelly explained the vitriol surrounding Alexander - who signed a new deal in January that was set to keep him at the club until 2025 - played a role in his departure.The goalkeeper said: "I think that [the fan anger] is part of the reason the manager decided to move on."The manager felt the toxicity levels towards him weren't fair on us as players and him and his family."It wasn't beneficial to anyone."Having spoken to him last night, I don't think he will mind me sharing that."But when they [Sligo] score so early and the mood is so negative, we need the supporters to pull us, to guide us through the game."In return, we need to give them something to shout about and be happy about."The timing of the goals in the games, that was the most hurtful and impactful thing in the games."The time they scored brought the negative noise and then gave us such an uphill task."It wasn't a nice time, but nothing can be down about the past and we need to move forward."He