2017-18 Diary Week 13

There were no sub-standard performances in week 13 of the season, which was unlucky for some but certainly not Ayrshire's finest.

We asked for grit and graft in Glasgow last week and that’s what the players delivered, in spades.

The subway loyal were probably half way home on Wednesday when the referee started making up his own rules and gave the home side a penalty.

No problem for the mighty; save the penalty, sweep up the park and score.

Cue scenes in the away end, the likes of which we have not witnessed since DVT at Hampden.

Next up was pure gold from Jordan Jones at shell suit city on the Saturday.

He started the move, he finished the move...he’s apparently indestructible! In the last three matches, we have kept our shape, looked organised and exuded a confidence that saw us exit Glasgow undefeated.

Fingers crossed the home form hoodoo is put to rest soon.

There will still be a few bumps in the road ahead but if we stand with Steve Clarke I’m sure we will see real progress.

2017-18 Diary Week 12

No game this week due to Glasgow's newest team getting papped out the League Cup by Motherwell, but we do take a trip to the big house on Wednesday.

There has already been some outrageous talk about Steve Clarke being the best Killie manager ever, on paper, and I would like to ask that we give the guy some breathing space and a chance to do his thing.

It is a long time until the transfer window so Steve will have to work with the same players that McCulloch had at his disposal, and by their own admission they let him down badly.

Lee’s a really nice guy and I’m sure he’ll do well in the future but I think the Killie job came to him too early, brought about by the sharp exit by his predecessor.

The results of the next two matches are not hugely important and as long as we show improvement and a willingness to compete I will be happy.

It's going to take some real determination and hard work to get any kind of result in Glasgow but I'm sure the new management team will have instilled some fire in the player's bellies.

2017-18 Diary Week 11

Ask and ye shall receive eh!

Target identified, pursued and persuaded to sign on the dotted line for Ayrshire’s finest.

Big Marvin is not the only bloke in Kilmarnock who was happy as Larry this weekend!

What a coup this is for Killie, Steve Clarke must surely be the most qualified manager we’ve ever appointed, certainly in my lifetime.

Kudos to Messrs Bowie and Kiltie for pulling this off, and still within our budget they said at the press conference on Monday.

The highlight for me though was the sea of smiling faces in the pub in Glasgow on Saturday, and that was before we gave Thistle a football lesson and eased off the bottom of the table.

There were no disappointments on the park but Jones and Frizzell were exceptional, what about that goal!

Clearly the wee man is revelling in being sponsored by Hippo and myself this year.

Yes, I am trying to be funny, but there is no emoji available.

See KFCSA Chairman David Sneddon's interview with Steve Clarke HERE

2017-18 Diary Week 10

It is crunch time at Rugby Park with more potential managers getting interviewed than turn up on a Saturday these days.

The board are quite right to be going through a formal vetting process because internal promotion only tends to work when the outgoing manager was successful and we've not had that for a wee while.

The usual suspects have all thrown their hats in the ring and credit to board for being proactive and approaching some top names who they thought might be a good fit.

The bookies are quoting all and sundry so we ran a poll on Killie Kickback and social media to see who the fans fancy among the front runners.

Nearly 900 fans voted and poor old Gus only got one vote so I don’t see him being a popular appointment he's still in a job anyway.

Next up was Jim McIntyre with 6.89% of the vote, Gary Holt on 8.36% and big Mixu trailed in second favourite with 13.67%.

Currits seems more popular as an assistant boss, but we don't pick them, the new manager will; I don't think fans want to see Holt get the job just now as we are in such a precarious position.

The most popular by a country mile was surprise contender Steve Clarke on 70.9%, I’m happy with the fact we’re even talking to someone of his calibre!

Of course by the time you read this we may know already. One thing is for sure, whoever gets the nod we will have to back them 100%.

2017-18 Diary Week 09

 
It has been an eventful week in Kilmarnock with sad events dominating the news.

The untimely passing of club photographer and all-round nice guy Sandy Ferguson was a huge blow to our community and my condolences go to his family and many friends, of whom I was honoured to be one; he will be a huge loss to everyone.

Saturday’s match compounded the misery with a pedestrian performance and a deserved loss which prompted the departure of Lee McCulloch and Peter Leven by “mutual consent”.

Both were decent blokes, but more amiable than effective, and their fate was ultimately decided by poor results.

There can be no doubt that the appointment of a new boss and putting some sort of management structure in place will be crucial to our club and its top-level survival…we need leadership, fast.

There have been a raft of applicants already but some of the names being mentioned are way off base, Billy Bowie has confirmed that we want someone with both experience and tactical knowledge and if we have to pay compensation then we will.

One glimmer of light came from FC Kilmarnock Ladies who won their league and promotion with four matches to go, well done to everyone involved!

2017-18 Diary Week 08

Killie Hippo Writes: This weekend saw another home game for Killie but sadly still no sign of our first league win.

We got away to the worst possible start against Dundee and although we salvaged a point, it failed to put a smile on the faces of our beleaguered fans.

The pressure is mounting on manager Lee McCulloch and if we fail to beat Ross County this week the board have a decision to make.

The fixture scheduling sees us with five away games in a row after County and it really is difficult to see where the points are going to come from.

It's never a healthy situation when a club has to continually change managers in a desperate attempt to find some long-term stability but that has been the "Killie way" in recent years.

I genuinely hope McCulloch turns things around but the clock is ticking.

2017-18 Diary Week 07

Irony is a cruel mistress as we win what can probably deemed our best point of the season and yet still slipped to the bottom of the league.

No one, including me at my most optimistic (doesn't happen often), honestly thought that we had any chance of taking points from the lamb lovers who are by far and away the second-best team in the league at the moment.

Fortunately, the team didn't get that memo and battled hard to bring a point back to Ayrshire.

This is the kind of grit and determination that we will have to show more often to keep up with the pick and get us back off the bottom of the table.

Kudos of course to each and every Killie fan who made the trip north out of hope and faith rather than anything else, dropping a place was a bitter pill to swallow but form is only temporary and our class will eventually shine through.

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