A first - a husband and wife management team! Cue the jokes. So, for the first team this season, we welcome Partick Thistle to the Theatre of Pies. Can we still call it that? The Jags fans seem to have an unhealthy obsession with Killie - we are mentioned in one of their songs and they claim to hate us more than the unwashed from down the A77 - so that will bring an additional edge to the usual banter between the two sets of fans. They usually bring a reasonably sized support, so hopefully we'll get a decent atmosphere in the ground which will certainly help.
So, why us? Aside from the combined 70+ years of supporting Killie and both being on the board of the Killie Trust, we have an additional interest as the in-laws of Thistle's No 9. We thought we had an understanding by letting him marry Claire (who lived, breathed and worked for Killie) that he would never score against the mighty Killie. Well, that didn’t work! As we always do before a Killie/Thistle game, we've had a word, threatened to put his windaes in, taught his daughter (our granddaughter) some Killie songs, etc, but it's made no difference in the last few games and he seems to have the knack of scoring against us for fun.
Although he's been played out of position recently, we suspect he'll be back in as the main striker on Saturday, so we need to rely on the team to do their bit to stop him scoring. We've done some scouting recently and our game plan is pretty simply. Keep it high tempo, use our wingers, provide decent service up front, keep their Numbers nine and ten quiet, and we should secure a victory. Easy! But we are Killie and we don't do simple. Thistle tend to play a 4-5-1 set up, but we're going for a 4-4-2 set up to keep us on the front foot.
GOALKEEPER: Jamie MacDonald - His heroics in the 2nd half against Rangers and the double save on Saturday confirm him as one of the best in the league
DEFENCE:
Unchanged from Saturday.
Luke Hendrie – Looked good in last couple of games with solid performances.
Johnny Burn - Looks good in the air and again solid in last two outings.
Scott Boyd - Chosen over Will Boyle just for his experience
Stevie Smith - Been solid at left back. We'd just like to see him encouraging the team more.
MIDFIELD:
Gary Dicker - Good in the air and can pick out a pass. He and Dean Hawkshaw are beginning to work well together and Gary always puts in a shift.
Dean Hawkshaw - Good to see Dean, who is one of our own, growing in confidence as he gets more games under his belt. Key area of the pitch which we believe they can win and provide the platform to go forward.
Jordan Jones - Giving JJ a start this week over wee Adam who has done really well, but we see Thistle right side as a weakness which JJ can exploit.
Rory McKenzie - Again, we think Rory can cause problems down Thistle's left when attacking and will give him the role of shutting down Thistle no 4 when defending.
FORWARDS:
Souleymane Coulibaly – His pace and movement will cause Thistle problems and with the ability to score the type of goal he did on Saturday, his selection was a no-brainer.
Kris Boyd – Courageously wanted to play against Dundee despite his tragic news. We’d understand if he didn’t play this week, and if so we’d replace him with our new signing, Nathan Tyson – but we both think Boydy will play and, if he does, he’ll score on Saturday.
SUBS:
Devlin McKay, Adam Frizzell, George Green, Will Boyle, Martin Smith, Flo Bojaj, Nathan Tyson
KTWD
No comments:
Post a Comment