Saturday 27 July 2019

Interview: Angelo Alessio



After reading the xenophobic diatribe by Parks in one of the tabloids (online of course, I wouldn’t buy that rag) I thought it was time to look out the old micro recorder and have a chat with the new manager myself; instead of reading the ravings of a frustrated ex-player who clearly thinks his ill-informed opinion is far more important than anyone else does. The word went out and we collated many questions and chopped them down and amalgamated them into something more deliverable and wouldn’t take all day as the grass won’t cut itself, sadly. Angelo Alessio didn’t need much persuading as he is keen to talk to fans so a day later we sat down in the Champion's Lounge with Scott McClymont and after a few introductions we got straight to it…

What would you say were the key factors that attracted you to the job here at Kilmarnock?
"The chance to restart my career as a manager at a great club like Kilmarnock. I watched the game last season against Rangers on TV and was impressed with the passion of the fans and the mentality of the team."
 
Did you have an in-depth look at the Club and at Scottish football before taking the job?
"I know Scottish football and I believe it is improving year by year again."

Has anything surprised you since you have arrived?
"No, not really, I think in Scotland now there are a lot of good players and this is good for the league, the quality of the Premiership is good and getting better."

Can you tell us about your preferred style of play for the team or will you adapt the formation to the players we already have?
"I have a lot of players at Kilmarnock who were here last season, and my preferred style depends on the players I have in the squad. In this case we have a good base and for this reason I continue to do, not quite the same work as Steve Clarke, I will change some things, but I don’t want to change the style too much. You will have seen in the previous game that ten of the eleven players were from last season, only Makrini was new. In the defence we had three international team players and Broadfoot. In the midfield we had Dicker, Power, Burkey and Rory with Brophy up front, only Makrini was different. It would be stupid to completely change style when the main body of players have been playing the same style for the last few years."

What do you think were the main factors in the team’s defeat against Connah’s Quay in the Europa League? What have you learned as a coach from this result?

"I believe that if we had scored a goal in the first half this would have changed the game. We had four or five opportunities to score a goal in the first half, but at the end of the game lost 2-0 and that result was bad. This is football though and we have to accept the result, but over the two games I think we deserved something more. I watched the games back and analysed them…in the first game we conceded one opportunity and Connah’s Quay scored a goal, but we dominated the game. At home we again dominated but conceded three opportunities and two goals. We made mistakes, but overall I feel our team played better, if we’d scored a goal in the first half everything would have been different. At the same time we have to accept the result, but I would like to say that not everything is bad, there were positives to build on."

What do you generally look to focus on in your training sessions and would you consider an open training session for fans to come along and watch?

"I like to focus on players training together, not alone, that is important. My focus right now is to find the same compactness that we had last year. The players work hard every day but of course at this moment in time, after the bad result, we have to work on them having the right mentality, the right attitude and the right focus to prepare them for the next match. We hope to arrange a session for fans to come along and see our preparation work."

What is your target for the new season, have you set any bench marks for us?
"It is important to start the league in the right way and then to do as well as possible this year and be the best we can. Every player will have to give 100% to reach our best position in the table. We will work to stay in the top six, but it is a new year and a new challenge for all of us. The players are working hard every day to maintain the standards they set last year and won’t let them slip. Coming third means there are high expectations, it was a great achievement but we have lost eight players who came in on loan and currently only have two so we have to focus on bringing more quality players in."

Do you treat cup competitions with the same importance as the league or do you see them as a bonus?
"Going into a new season, every game is equally important. We want to do our best in every competition."

In terms of transfers, are there any players close to joining and can you tell us how many players you hope to add to the squad?
"At the moment we are talking to a few players and I hope to sign them soon. It has not been easy, for many reasons, but now, with a week to ten days until the start of the Premiership, we are nearly there. Hopefully we will have some good news at the start of next week."

Have you identified any areas which you think you need to strengthen?
"We definitely need strikers, midfielders and one centre back. We are casting the net wide and we are looking at any player that has the potential to improve the team, but they have to be the right fit for Kilmarnock."

What is most important to you when assessing potential signings, mental, physical or technical attributes?

"I’m looking for players who have the motivation to come to this club, and the right mentality to fit in with this team…players with skill and experience."

Have you had an opportunity to assess the youth players and do you feel there are any showing enough potential to be considered for the first team?
"A couple of the younger players are training with the first team already and they are performing very well. I hope that they can improve in the next few months or so enough to be given the chance like every other player. For me age is not a problem, they are good enough they will go into the line-up."

Have you taken any positives from the start to the season and going into the new league campaign?

"It has been good to see the way the players train every day. They have the right attitude and the right focus and they also show motivation and determination and that is very important for me. These players give me confidence that we can get good results in the future."

The manager then turns the tables on me…

Fan perception is very important to me. What do you think about the start of the season?
"There are a lot of Kilmarnock fans feeling pessimistic at the moment as they are still hurting after the Europa league exit. It was a long time to wait just to go out that soon and I think it’s a long way back to try and recover the situation at all. As it stands at the moment there is a lot of silence and not much happening because there are no friendly matches lined up, and that’s why we are doing this today, to get something out there. When there is a vacuum like this people tend to create their own stories and it is much better for the fans to hear directly from the Club and yourself rather than read the fiction they put out as news copied straight off social media. Hopefully when things start moving in terms of transfers and results we can gather some momentum and the whole place will get a lift…the sooner the better of course."

With that and the shake of a hand the new manager is ushered away to discuss a potential friendly match. He’s seems a nice enough guy and pretty relaxed and not out of his depth whatsoever. His English is probably not as good as I initially thought (mine is not that great either) but when it comes to talking football it is noticeably better and I don’t really see there being a problem getting instructions across to players. Despite all the rumours no one is demanding a transfer, but a few are signing extensions and hopefully we see the benefit of the quality over quantity approach that is being taken. There is a lot of panic in the ranks but the season is almost upon us and we just have to get behind the manager and do what fans do…support the team and hope for the best because, together we are still stronger.

Monday 20 May 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 43



It's a bittersweet symphony this life.

We finish third, we qualify for Europe, we get ditched at the altar by the best thing that’s happened to us in years!

Let’s start with the game.

A well-deserved hard fought win over the new team from Glasgow.

We’ve taken ten points off them this year so the SFA forced Steve Clarke to sit in the stand to give them a better chance.

Then they offered him the Scotland job so he can’t torment them next year.

Our directors decision to restore home advantage resulted in the biggest crowd at Rugby Park in years, hopefully many of them will return next season.

The atmosphere was fantastic, and the fans were outstanding, to which the players responded and delivered the three points we needed.

There are too many people who deserve praise for the season as a whole to name, but I am going to mention the foot soldiers of the blue and white army…this one was for you.

We loved Steve Clarke like a brother but we have to wish him all the best and move on, he was a massive part of our renaissance but we are Killie…and Killie are back!

Monday 13 May 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 42


Another game, another clean sheet, another three points in the bag and everything now hinges on the last fixture next Sunday.

It was a nervy afternoon for the fans but we did what we had to do and a penalty won by Alex Bruce and dispatched down the middle by Eamon ‘the wolf’ Brophy was enough to see us through.

It has been a wonderful season and we are just ninety minutes away from securing third place and a berth in European competition next season on our own merits.

There is always the back door route if Celtic win the Scottish Cup but we really don’t want to be in that situation and I am sure that the players will once again give their all against The Rangers and get us the result we need.

The home crowd increased yet again on Saturday and hopefully that trend will continue next week.

Let’s nail this myth that we need to have a full house to justify the Board’s stance on reducing future matches against the twisted sisters to one stand right now.

We don’t.

Any amount of Killie fans more than we normally get is justification in itself, and increased crowds over next season is the real goal here.

Be there!

Monday 6 May 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 41



There were absolute scenes at Tynecastle again as Stuart Findlay cracked home the winner in the final few minutes of Saturday’s match.

We sold out our allocation and they had to open pay gates as a vociferous blue and white army rolled into the capital.

It was a strange first half as there only seemed to be one team doing anything, we were making all the chances and also making a few mistakes, but there was no goals to be had at either end.

We lost momentum in the second half when Uche Ikpeazu went off injured and Hearts had to change their tactics and play the ball short.

The last twenty minutes were ours again though, and the winner was a real team effort; and how we celebrated it.

It is all in our own hands now, we sit in third place with better goal difference than Aberdeen with two home matches left and two cracks at a Europa Cup place.

Sounds good eh!

It’s far from job done yet though, let’s fill those stands at Rugby Park and do our bit.

Monday 29 April 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 40



Another week goes by and the big talking point is again a dodgy referee decision.

To be fair to Willie Column he was nowhere near as bad as the numpty last week; but he still missed a blatant push by Scott Brown on Steven O’Donnell in the box, which would have afforded us a chance to take the lead at Celtic Park.

Killie were the brighter of the two sides in the first half of the match and on another day could have scored three or four, but it wasn’t to be.

There was a smaller than normal support through to shout on Ayrshire’s finest, but what we lacked in numbers we made up for in other ways.

Respect was duly paid to Billy McNeil when appropriate but during the match, apart from a few instances, the small pocket of our fans made more noise than the home support.

A clear case of quality over quantity, but it was still disappointing to see our numbers drop.

Hopefully we will make up for that over the last three matches, buses for Tynecastle are being sold out already.

Tuesday 23 April 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 39



Straight away I am going to say that even with eleven players on the park I don’t think we would have won the match against Aberdeen, a draw would have been a fair result on the basis of a turgid first half.

That of course is before introducing the McLean factor into the equation…we should have let Shinnie just referee the game!

A lot of the media opinion is based on watching ‘highlights’ but only those there will understand just how badly the whole game was handled.

Cosgrove and possibly Devlin should have walked, game changers right there for starters.

It was a clumsy challenge from big Kirk but he’d get slaughtered if he never went for it; a brave save from Joe Lewis but then he goes down holding his face despite not being touched.

Next the Aberdeen players, despite what McInnes claims, surround the referee and make sure the card is a red one.

Broaders eyes were clearly on the ball, very harsh in my opinion but McLean didn’t need much persuading from the sheep.

Stuart Findlay’s wasn’t so clean cut, he definitely gets something on the ball, we have to accept the second yellow for that, but did he deserve the first one?

Kris Boyd comes on and gets booked for a 50/50 challenge before touching the ball, literally two minutes later a Dons player gets away with the exact same thing.

I would say McLean had lost control by then but truth be told he never had control in the first place.

The final insult was the sending off of Rory McKenzie; he retaliates after being elbowed and head butted on the leg, yet Ball gets away with it completely.

The stats tell us that Killie were guilty of 18 fouls, Aberdeen 22, you'd never have guessed that based on the card count!

Steve Clarke will be in trouble next after his post-match comments…despite speaking the truth the SFA will close ranks and protect their own.

It is the reputation of our game they are supposed to be protecting and yet they will say it is us that is making it look bad for indiscipline, the lunatics are still firmly in charge at the asylum.

Monday 15 April 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 38




The latest date added to the sesquicentennial calendar is Saturday 7th September which will see the #Killie150 Legends (working title!) night take place in the Grand Hall.

The Trust and SLO are currently working on the details but it made sense to get the date out there.

It’s an international weekend with no Killie fixture, and Scotland are at home on the Friday and Monday so nobody should miss out.

The event will be informal, it’s not a black tie event, more a blue scarf event…although we’re drawing the line at jeans or trackies!

There will be entertainment of various sorts, but in the main it will be a dance and the live band will cover music from several decades…with top chef Alasdair Hood doing a finger buffet for each table.

Jimmy McGuire will host and we are inviting dozens of Killie legends to come and enjoy the night as well.

Ticket details will be released soon, and we will be making an effort to ensure that as many fans as possible get the chance to attend.

The big news of the week appears to be the fact that we are only allocating Glasgow’s new boys the Chadwick Stand, the same stand we give to every other away team, for the last game of the season.

The inevitable reaction was calls for a boycott and only to take one stand again next season, which is a bit presumptuous as they better wait and see what is on offer.

Clearly they think this is all about them, when in truth of course it is not.

This is a brave decision by the Kilmarnock Board to put people before profit and giving the fans what we have been asking for…home advantage at Rugby Park.

We will probably not fill the three remaining stands, why would anyone think we would, but at least we are going to give it a go and hopefully a less intimidating atmosphere will bring more people to the match.

Our job now is to back the Club’s decision and get as many bums on seats as possible, and that goes for the other two home games as well, not just the final one!

Monday 8 April 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 37



Another great support through from the fans and a decent away point midweek at Easter Road, if anyone was going to win it in the end it was us.

The Saints game on Saturday was testament to just how far we’ve progressed, at no point did we look under pressure and we should have scored more goals.

Kris Boyd just missed with a header, won and scored a penalty and had a perfectly good goal disallowed.

That’s now 136 overall and 121 goals in the league, tying him with Eddie Morrison in second place…illustrious company indeed!

Rory McKenzie was again outstanding, and it is great to have someone who can take corners again!

Only one goal conceded in the last six matches says much about our defence, and even an absolute keeker to his right eye couldn’t keep big Findlay down.

Every match is now vital, and although there is much talk about the zombies game and giving them one stand, let's concentrate on getting as many as we can to the Aberdeen game first.

A well-deserved win for Alan Power at the KFCSA Player of the year awards, running away with the title with a record number of points.

Young Player of the Year went to Greg Taylor and Burkey and the Ginger Boyd picked up awards from the KFCDSA.

Monday 1 April 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 36


A five star performance with five unanswered goals from five different players…this is how it feels to be Killie!

While Hamilton were not the same side who recently beat Aberdeen and Hearts, the score line actually flattered them as we could have hit double figures on the day.

That said, the QTS Man of the Match sponsors must have over indulged in the hospitality to award their accolade to Youssef Mulumbu.

While the on-loan midfielder was back to his ‘ball-sticking-to-his-feet’ best, Rory Mackenzie totally bossed the whole game and it was a travesty he did not get on the score sheet.

The worrying thing for our opponents must be that two of our best players, Alan Power (3 more years...brilliant!) and Chris Burke, didn’t even start the game.

Rugby Park’s own Benjamin Button did get a cameo, and a goal, but there is no denying the Steve Clarke got his players and his tactics right on the day…at times it looked like Greg ‘goal-machine’ Taylor was on another planet!

Hibs are a different prospect though, and no doubt the boss will switch things up to suit.

All we can do is travel in numbers and get behind the team who, sitting in third place with only seven games to play, are well worthy of the support.

It’s great to see the crowds up 10% on last year but we have to keep trying to bring more people along to watch the magnificent football that is on offer at Rugby Park.

The Club is undergoing major reconstruction on and off the park and getting a few more bodies into the ground as a result would be a real vindication for the time and effort put in by everyone at the Club and would hopefully encourage more investment in Killie.

The Player of the Year Dance is at the Park Hotel next week, a bit early as always in my own opinion but I understand they want to have it while players are still here…check with SLO allenkyle@kilmarnockfc.co.uk for any remaining tickets.

Monday 25 March 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 35


Steven O’Donnell gained another cap against San Marino after both our players only made the bench for the Kazakhstan debacle.

Stuart Findlay inexplicably missed out altogether in the later match, where we had two goalies on the bench, I really hope he is not injured!

Another strange one was Jordan Jones putting in decent performances for Northern Ireland despite failing to show for us in recent weeks, maybe the break will do him good?

Off the field there are many changes happening.

The gym is being closed and sold off, which is a real shame for the employees but understandable as it has never made a profit for the Club.

In turn our offices have been moved to Portland Road as the Board start re-organising and getting our house in order now that the stench of our former chairman has finally left the building.

We owe much to the current Board and also John Kiltie and Bill White for where we find ourselves now, hopefully this is a new beginning and we will see more get involved soon.

Thursday 21 March 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 34



Due to circumstances I found myself having to seek out a bar in Manhattan to watch the game on Saturday, and that wasn’t easy as the St Patrick’s day parade had started.

There is a Sevco supporters club on the upper east side though, which was risky, but better than no game at all.

Ten of them, one of me, outnumbered as usual but I fancied our chances!

An early injury to Eamon Brophy was a setback, but his replacement Conor McAleny had the presence of mind to slip past their defence and put us ahead.

At half time they wanted $10 for watching the game so I gave them $20 and told them to invest the rest in a goalie.

They did equalise eventually, but we had our tactics right and possession football saw us leave with a well-deserved point.

There were a few meaty challenges by both teams but Slippy Gerrard’s knicker wetting is just sour grapes.

Well done to big Stuart Findlay on getting called up to join Steven O’Donnell in the Scotland squad.

Tuesday 12 March 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 33




It was a tough match at Paisley and massive credit to the players of both sides who tried their best in terrible conditions.

While I do not like singling out individual players for praise I think I can get around that by praising them all!

Daniel Bachmann is totally solid, he gives the defence such confidence and has been outstanding since replacing Jamie MacDonald who is no slouch himself.

Stuart Findlay should be getting serious consideration for a call up and was immense on the night backed up by Kirk Broadfoot, Stephen O’Donnell and Greg Taylor.

Gary Dicker and Alan Power are a combination that is difficult to beat, literally, and the sheer tenacity and determination of Chris Burke and Eamon Brophy gives me goose bumps.

That only leaves a couple of places to play for and fortunately the boss has a few options.

Most pleasing was another fantastic away support and the reaction by the players at the end of the game reassuringly tells me that they are as invested in Killie as we are.

Bring on the cheats.

Monday 4 March 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 32



There has been constant chat about the game which was abandoned last week, by most of whom if brains were dynamite they would not have enough to blow their nose.

Embarrassing rants about how the re-arranged match should have been free and how it was a disgrace to charge a fiver entry…I’m sorry but in my opinion it was the best deal for an SPFL match ever!

The fog was not down to the club, and they had to fork out for an unscheduled fixture on the Saturday…when we’d asked Motherwell to play it in the first place and they refused.

If you swap it around we actually paid £5 for half a match and then £22 for the whole thing…I’ve never heard of cheaper.

The game itself was a bit of a let-down but we were much improved second time around and were unlucky not to shade it.

Five games without a goal, Sevco and the Dons have certainly upset our balance with their transfer window shenanigans, as planned; our wee trip to Tenerife will hopefully give us a much needed boost.

Monday 25 February 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 31



It is all about the Killie in the media these days, sadly not much of it is anything we really want to hear about.

The cup replay never really went to plan, our plan that is.

Eamon Brophy gets denied a stonewaller, Sevco run up the park and score.

Daniel Bachmann gets sent off for brushing off a defender, later rescinded of course when it is no use to us, and then we lost Alex Bruce to injury and had to put a midfielder in defence.

Understandably we were then overrun and the joy of the home support manifested itself in sectarian chanting directed at Steve Clarke.

The big man was shaking with anger at the post match presser, quite rightly too, cheated, abused and knowing fine well it would get swept under the carpet as it always does.

The Rangers Football Club officially apologised via Dave King latterly, but their fans just laughed it off and kept it up for their next match.

Obsessed?

Come the Saturday we were all looking to get back to football at Livingston, but a decimated team never quite got going and despite hitting the woodwork three times we lost out to a single goal and the three points eluded us again.

Nice to see about twenty Kaiserslautern fans over for a visit and also the new "Now we have a leader" banner making its debut...fantastic support from the fans yet again.

It has been a tough spell and injuries and suspensions have hit really badly, but if this is as bad as it gets, and we are still sitting fourth in the table, then there is nothing to worry about, it has still been a great season and it is not over yet.

Monday 18 February 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 30



The focus on artificial pitches is getting beyond a joke.

The facts are that the majority of teams train on them, the majority of young players are fine with them and statistically it has been scientifically proven that you are no more likely to get injured on a synthetic surface than you are on grass.

100% of the people we polled agreed that synthetic pitches are absolutely fine (small print: we only polled players from Killie, Hamilton, Livi and employees of FieldTurf).

It would seem that Celtic have no problem with our pitch at all, certainly their fans didn’t when they invaded it after getting a lucky deflection in the last minute of the game on Sunday.

Not even mentioned on the telly or radio, unsurprisingly, as the thuggish behaviour of Scott Brown transferred seamlessly to the stands.

Coins thrown at Kris Boyd, fans running the length of the pitch for selfies, violence in the streets after the game…will the SFA or SPFL take any action?

Absolutely no chance.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

KFCSA Statement



The committee of KFCSA are concerned and disappointed that a pyrotechnic was activated by Killie supporters in the East Stand during the cup tie against Rangers. This has previously been an issue with only away fans at Rugby Park and it is worrying that the good name of Kilmarnock FC and its fans could be tarnished by a small number of individuals.

We understand that some Kilmarnock fans also tried to ignite a device at Dundee, but it failed to activate. These devices have no place at football matches and it is only a matter of time before a fan or steward gets injured by the release of such a device; as Kilmarnock supporters please help us to make sure it is not one of our fans who is responsible.

KFCSA urge supporters to refrain from setting these devices off either at home games or away grounds. Let us continue to support the team during this fantastic season but with due respect and regard for the safety of all Kilmarnock supporters.

Iain Sherry
Chairman
KFCSA

Monday 11 February 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 29



Talk about a game of two halves!

We got off to a terrible start midweek in Dundee and although Conor McAleny’s equaliser was a peach, we were guilty of some schoolboy defending.

The Broadfoot/Findlay partnership was a wee bit rusty with big Kirk being out recently, and to be fair they did not get much help from the midfield.

The second half saw us back to our best but a free kick into the top bin from Killie’s own Benjamin Button, Chris Burke, was as much as we could muster in goals terms, despite our dominance.

A decent point away from home and it was to be another deserved draw in the Scottish Cup on Saturday against The Rangers.

That will be seven times we get to play them this season, surely time for league restructure?

Steve Clarke has quite rightly been calling for some refereeing consistency in the press.

Sevco boss Slippy Gerrard assumed the comments were about his team and let fly with insults.

He could clearly learn a thing or two about class and decorum from a professional like Clarke.

Speaking of class, a quick mention for Daniel Bachmann for saving not one but two penalty kicks in back to back matches, the big man waited his turn and he oozes confidence and gives real steel to our back line.

Tuesday 5 February 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 28


I remember what it feels like to lose now, and it is not a nice feeling.

The big difference now though is that even when we conceded the second goal, at no point did I consider that we might not at least peg them back for a draw.

As it turns out we never, and our title aspirations took a large dent, but we have new fuel in the tank and the juggernaut will roll on.

Steve Clarke toyed with us as usual and stayed tight lipped about potential signings, then brings in a striker from Liverpool and paves the way for the prodigal Mulumbu to return.

Wednesday at Dundee might be too soon for our latest acquisitions to make a serious impact but hopefully they will feature at some point.

We missed the bite of the Wolf up front on Friday with a minor hamstring problem, fingers crossed that he will be back on the prowl sooner rather than later.

Monday 28 January 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 27



Two points would have been a good return from the last two matches so it was fantastic to come away with four.

All the talk was about Jordan Jones prior to the midweek match and our opposition started Jermaine Defoe who is paid more than our whole team put together!

He did get a goal, but the best team won on the night and fair play to Jones who got the winner and vindicated his selection by the manager.

I said on the radio at the time that the only man who could fix the problem was Steve Clarke, and he did, with some wry humour thrown in by the Killie faithful.

Now we know he’s still up for the job, time to move on.

Next up some resolute defending meant a clean sheet and a point from Pittodrie.

How Kris Boyd got sent off for his (yellow at most) challenge and yet the dirty Dons got away with the two footed tackle on Aaron Tshibola and the elbow in Scott Boyd’s face…only Nick Walsh will know.

Big game on Friday night against the Jambos, let’s show up in numbers!

Monday 21 January 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 26



The winter break was not good to us as our rivals seem to have adopted a “if you can’t beat them, sign them” tactic for the run in.

You’d think Rangers would at least be wary of trying to buy league places after their recent come back from the dead!

If the scrappy win over Forfar proved anything, it was that Greg Stewart will be a far bigger loss to the team than Jordan Jones, but no one is irreplaceable.

Jones himself was replaced in the 65th minute, and the Killie fans who had been warned not to boo him, ripped into his “boyhood heroes” instead, apologies to Middlesbrough.

Clever.

The only rocket really worth talking about is Stuart Findlay’s left foot one for the first goal!

We lined up with an almost unrecognisable defence and the big yin still has time to stroll up the park and bang one in.

There are tough times ahead but if we stick together and back the team we’ll keep ourselves in the running…and at least we never drew the all-conquering Talbot in the next round of the cup!

Monday 14 January 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 25



Greg Stewart’s recall this week has been another blow to our plans but the Club have been willing to push the boat out to keep him and Steve Clarke is waiting on Birmingham responding to our latest offer.

The Trust’s Tweet about how 3,000 Killie fans signing up for the Trust in Killie initiative entry level would have put another £360,000 into the coffers last year has caused a bit of a stir, with a veritable storm of new memberships and fans subscribing to TIK.

There has been 29 new memberships taken out and 100 new subscribers to TIK in the last couple of days! This begged the question for many, what is the difference between the “Killie Trust” and the “Trust In Killie” initiative?

The Killie Trust (Kilmarnock Supporters’ Society Ltd.) has 1,465 Shareholders and 609 active members and costs £10 a year to join. Your first £1 buys your share and the rest goes into the general fund to operate the Trust. Your membership should renew automatically every year as long as there is £10 in your account to cover it. If you keep your membership ‘active’ then you will receive mailshots, be allowed to vote and be eligible to put yourself forward for the Trust Board.  You can sign up HERE

Trust In Killie (TIK) is the main initiative being undertaken by the Killie Trust at the moment. There are currently 357 subscribers who pay between £10 and £25 a month into this and every penny goes to the Club to buy unallocated shares, creating a tax free revenue stream to boost our budget. The initiative has already delivered £100,000 to the Club and in return we now have a representative on the Club Board. Targets for Phase Two of the initiative will be discussed at the Trust’s AGM on  Wednesday 16th January but regardless of what is agreed upon, our contributions allow the Football Club to reallocate funds to whatever they deem necessary so in effect it is all really just going into the same pot. You can sign up HERE

More details including a Frequently Asked Questions page can be found HERE

Tuesday 8 January 2019

2018-19 Diary Week 24



This week’s offering should really be all about Scotland’s oldest professional football club’s 150th anniversary launch dinner on Saturday, organised by the KFCSA and Killie’s Gregg McEwan, but sadly that is not the hottest topic this week.

We already knew that Jordan Jones would probably be leaving the club at the end of the season, we also knew it was highly likely that he would go up the road to Rangers (boyhood heroes my arse), we didn’t like it but it happens, you lose players and move on.

The immature and classless way it transpired though was unacceptable and insulting to the fans and club who gave the player the platform to shine which facilitated his move.

Such a shame as Jones has been an excellent player for us and up until now, really good with the fans.

Why any of these guys would choose to align themselves with lowlife factions via the medium of social media is beyond me!

Seems like The Rangers are up to their old tricks of buying out their nearest rivals again, surely the SFA must have something to say about such a recently bankrupt organisation already back in massive debt and losing money hand over fist?

Don’t hold your breath.