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.

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.

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!

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.

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.