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.

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!

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!

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.

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!