Season Diary - Week 31

Tynecastle, which has been a happy hunting ground in recent years, proved a step too far this week as Lee Clark’s side failed to keep with tradition and came away with nothing.

By all accounts we should have opened the scoring in the first minute of the match, but it never came to pass and only six minutes later we fell behind to a rebounded shot from a saved penalty.

How sick must MacDonald feel having saved not one but two spot kicks and still ending up on the losing side?

Individually our best players didn’t shine on the day but collectively we could have merited a draw.

New signing Faubert made a steady enough debut but it remains to be seen what he can offer as we enter the real dog fight now.

While some Hearts fans failed to show big Josh any respect, at least they gave a fitting tribute to Jim McFadzean, league winner with both clubs and general all round good guy who passed away last week, condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.

Be The Boss - Michael Higgins

It's time once again for Be The Boss, the feature where we throw someone in at the deep end and ask them who they'd pick in their first XI for that weekend's game. This week we asked Michael Higgins to pick his XI for Saturday's game against Hearts and give his reasons...

GK: Jamie MacDonald
Easily Gary Locke’s best signing and in my opinion our best and most consistent goalkeeper since Gordon Marshall. We’ve had some absolute hidings this season but could have been a whole lot worse had it not been for Jamie. His treble save at Perth had the away end celebrate more than our goal. A true match winner.

RB: Lee Hodson
Lee has fitted straight into the team and doesn’t look out of place one bit. We’ve been crying out for a natural full back and it’s no surprise that upturn in defensive performances has followed his introduction. He’s sold defensively but also decent going forward and links up well with the wide men in front of him.

CB: Conrad Balatoni
Conrad has been another solid signing, a bit of a no nonsense defender who also pops up with a goal or two. Scored up at Tynecastle earlier in the season and in the absence of Mark Connolly is our most experienced centre half.

CB: Stuart Findlay
The big man has had a couple of shaky performances this season, albeit mostly when played out of position. He’s a bit more a of ball player than Conrad but they link up well together and have started to look more solid.

LB: Kevin McHattie
He’s been in and out of the side this season for whatever reason but he’s a natural left back and I’m not a fan of playing players out of position in this area so gets the nod for this one in the absence of Stevie Smith who himself was starting to come onto a game before his injury.

DM: Gary Dicker
I like the look of Gary as a ball winning centre mid, something we’ve badly been missing of late. He adds a bit of dig into midfield and hopefully this will allow the youngsters either side of him a bit more freedom to attack.

LM: Rory McKenzie
One of my favourite players in our squad and prior to his wee injury set back was starting to find a great level of consistency which saw him gain the captaincy. Scored a great goal against Rangers and that was typical of the kind of goal he scored coming through the ranks. Once saw him score 4 at Murray Park in a 5-1 win in the Youth Cup and he was unplayable. Need to get him tied up as his deal expires in the summer.

CM: Craig Slater
I’m a big fan of Craig and he’s starting to add some more goals to his game. Another one out of contract in the summer that we need to get tied up. Could be argued that he’s sometimes a bit too casual in possession in dangerous areas and it’s one area he needs to work on as it’s cost us a few times. Great technique though and one of the first names of the team sheet for me.

RM: Tope Obadeyi
Against my better judgement I’m going to give Tope one last chance. Having listened to Lee Clark on Monday it’s clear that he’s had a word with Tope and made it clear to him what he expects from him. He has pace to burn and should be a real asset, however too often his decision making/final is very poor. Probably one of the most frustrating players I’ve seen play for us but something is telling me to give him another chance under a new manager. Time will tell!

CF: Greg Kiltie
In my opinion one of the best youngsters in Scotland just now and certainly the best to come through our ranks since Naisy. Was delighted to see him sign a new deal and can see him becoming a full international in the coming years. Has everything you need, energy, pace, work ethic, skill and has an eye for goal too.

CF: Josh Magennis
Together with MacDonald, Josh has been our best player this season. I’ve often been a critic of him and whilst he still has his faults, he’s improved his game dramatically over the last 12 months. Another to be guaranteed to be in my starting XI each week.

I’m going with a 4-4-1-1 formation with Greg playing just behind Josh as a number 10.

Let us know what you think of Michael's suggestions on Twitter @KillieFC and if you'd like to pick the team, email us: michael@killiefc.com

YK Annual Dance

The Young Kilmarnock (Killie's Junior Supporters Club) annual fund raising dinner dance takes place once again at the fabulous Fenwick Hotel on 26th March 2016, and is always a night to remember...for those that don’t drink in too much of the party atmosphere that is!

It is a very important revenue generator for our organisation, with every penny raised being fully utilised for the benefit of all our young members throughout the season.

Prices have been frozen at just £30 a ticket which includes a drink on arrival, a delicious starter, main course and dessert. There is also a raffle and auction followed by a fabulous night singing and dancing the night away to our favourite local live band, Dreamchaser.

There are still tickets available so please, avoid disappointment and get booked up quickly before they are all gone by seeing Luise or Tracey at Powerleague training on Saturdays or by emailing us on youngkilmarnock2013@gmail.com or leaving a message on the YK mobile phone (07969 083672).

Any donations for our raffle or auction would also be gratefully received.

YOUR SUPPORT IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

You can find the Facebook event page HERE for more information.

Fans Meet Lee Clark

Here is some pertinent information regarding this evening's fan group meeting with Lee Clark, along with a list of attendees.

Meeting opens 7pm at Park Hotel.

1. Introductions


2. KFC Board discussion about the interview process and the appointment of Lee


3. Introduction questions for Lee. These questions are prepared to help relax and give a good understanding of Lee the man and his playing and managerial experiences to date. To allow flow, it would be appreciated of no additional questions were asked during this time from the room.


4. Open Q&A. Lee has stated that he wants to ask questions of the supporters to understand their hopes. It would be useful if each supporters club could ask one initial question each.


Meeting close - approx 8:30/9pm.

Attendees:

Travel Club
Martin Hanlon
Jim Wilson
John Dearie
John Sharpe

Young Kilmarnock
Tom Scott
Bobby Russell
Louise Ross

Irvine Valley
Robert Gordon
Irene Brown
Eric Brown

Ardrossan and District
Liz Milligan
Jim Crawford

Dreghorn
Jim McCrindle
John Morris

Burns Inn
Stuart Little
Michael Higgins
Alistair Ross

Disabled Supporters Club
Peter Orr
Mae Orr
Anne Broomhall

Howard Arms
Sandy Armour
Karen Steel

Season Diary - Week 30

It would appear that inevitably called the cup game wrong and we were edged out by the new boys in injury time. I’m surprised there was not more injury time considering how “unforgiving” our pitch is.

Dozens of seven-foot-tall rugby players bounced around on it with carefree abandon the previous night, but Princess Waghorn encountered his proverbial pea at some point amidst throwing himself to ground for a penalty, getting up to score it, running around celebrating and getting jumped all over by his team mates.

Must have been the artificial turf then.



Despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary, Warbuton has decreed that forthwith all pitches must adhere to his strict guidelines, this is what we have to look forward to next year, possibly.

On to Saturday and Lee’s first game in charge, all I can say is that we were four goals and one point better off than when Dundee last visited the Theatre of Pies, and that’s after just three training sessions…so far so good then!

Like the previous couple of games we have faded in last twenty minutes or so and Clark has quite rightly identified this as a problem which he will try and address.

Season Diary - Week 29

We kept it simple at Fir Park and weathered the expected storm in our stride in the first half. Come the second half we stepped up a gear and gave a truer reflection of the potential we have in the squad to take control and emerge as winners. Credit to McCulloch and Leven for steadying the ship and is good to know they will still be there to advise new gaffer Lee Clark when he takes the reigns properly next week.

I have deliberately not read any press about Lee's previous endeavours so that my judgement is not clouded by his past. He starts with a clean slate and as always, I am sure that the majority of Killie fans will be right behind him and fingers crossed that the new “Killie Way” will be a winning one.

This copy is submitted prior to Tuesday’s cup tie so if you are reading this in the Scotsman on Wednesday we will know the result by now. My prediction is a tight game, a dodgy referee, thousands of teddy bears in the wrong end and no giant killing act with Ayrshire’s finest easing through 1-0. How wrong can I be?

Welcome Lee Clark

The KFC Supporters' Association, the Killie Trust and Young Kilmarnock organisations are delighted to officially welcome new Kilmarnock FC manager Lee Clark to the club.

It has been a real roller-coaster ride in the past few seasons with a lot more downs than ups and we hope that Lee can help bring some stability to the club and eventually steer us back into the top half of the league where our proud club belongs.

We urge all Killie fans to get along to the cup match on Tuesday night and show our new manager that we are ready to back him and the players in the battles that lie ahead - good luck Lee, you are now one of us.