Be The Boss - Brian Tivendale

The boss this week is the one and only Brian Tivendale... the man who put the 'Tiv' in positive! Tivvy has been a Killie fan as long as we can remember and now that he has (cough) retired (cough) from playing he likes nothing better than following Ayrshire's finest with his fellow Boozehounds from the Howard Arms SC.

Tiv has gone for a 4-1-3-2 formation and has been lucky enough to be given a couple of new players to feature by Lee Clark this week...

This Saturday 2nd April brings the first of seven cup finals for my beloved Killie in our quest to beat relegation to the Championship. As Boss for the week I have tried to select a team that will go for the jugular against a Partick Thistle team almost safe and I don't want a nervy 90 minutes as my auld 61 year old heart wouldn't stand it.

My selection was hindered by the possibility of new players being brought in before the weekend and thankfully this has now been resolved and we welcome Messrs Addison and Henshall to reinforce the battle lines. My job was really hard after a determined second half performance at Pittodrie and an overall inspiring yet gut wrenching show against Celtic.

Goalkeeper:
In goal we have the safe hands of our new saviour Jamie MacDonald.

Defence:
At right back I would have Lee Hodson after his sterling performance against the League leaders and hope he continues his form to get that Northern Ireland ticket to Euro 16. At left back I'd welcome Steve Smith back (Out for season, announced after we got copy - Ed.). Although he's had a terrible run of injuries, I thought he was more like his old self in his last appearance. In central defence Conrad Balatoni picks himself. He has played with various partners but he has performed consistently well with them all and that is why I'll pair him up with new signing Miles Addison for if he's good enough for our new boss then he's good enough for me.

Defensive Midfield:
In front of the back four I'd play the excellent Julien Faubert who stamped his class all over the Celtic game and didn't deserve to be on the losing side.

Midfield:
Playing three across the middle I'd have Greg Kiltie, Gary Dicker and Kallum Higginbotham. Wee Greg endeared himself to the Killie faithful by pledging his future to the club and should play every week regardless of performance level to allow him to develop. Gary Dicker has proved solid in the heart of midfield but I'd like to see him get a goal or two please? Higgy has had a topsy turvy season but showed how good he is against Celtic.

Forwards:
Up front I'd throw Josh Magennis AND Kris Boyd as dual strikers at Thistle because we'll not win games if we don't score goals.

Finally our twelfth man would be YOU the fans! Let's get behind the team EVERY game. I know some performances have been sore on the eyes but telling young guys they're crap helps no-one. Let's turn up in droves on Saturday and keep us where we belong. KTID.

Wear It Out

March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month, and we, as a club, are proud to support this worthy cause:- The Brain Tumour Charity

Earlier in the month, our u17's took part in 'Wear It Out ' day, and this week, our U15's took to wearing their bands to show their backing for our own Frankie Rock, who has followed the girls without exception under difficult circumstances.....one day, we'll beat all cancers...together!!

Season Diary - Week 35

This week off for international fixtures is just a pain in the back side, especially when no one at the club appears to have the sense to have arranged something else to engage the fans when they have time off and are looking for something to do.

Let’s be honest, its not like many of the players have earned a break, or that they don’t need match practice under the new gaffer. Would it not have made sense to have a bounce game on Saturday morning or afternoon involving the youth and first team players who were not away on international duty?

A few quid into the bank and a chance to see some of the fringe players while keeping the first teamers ticking over, as they say, its not rocket science!

Meanwhile the new look KillieFC.com goes from strength to strength with new forums and FC Kilmarnock Ladies joining the fold. It’s a top level website, we just need a top level team to match it, next stop Firhill…be there.

Welcome Aboard!

The #1 Killie site on the internet just got bigger and better…and we are not talking about the brand new Kickback forums! We are delighted to announce that FC Kilmarnock Ladies have now joined the fold and have taken up residence here at KillieFC.com alongside the Killie Trust, the KFC Supporters’ Association and Young Kilmarnock.

The former Scottish champions are enjoying a bit of resurgence of late and wanted to be part of a growing community that would give them some of the support that they need going forward…and that is exactly what they will get from all the other members of the Kilmarnock FC fans family.

You can check out their area of the site by clicking their logo at the top of the page or alternatively just CLICK HERE

Weekend Results

Kilmarnock 6 v 0 Aberdeen Reserves 

Killie cruised into the quarter finals of the league cup with an emphatic win over a young Dons team.

Kilmarnock started brightly with Captain, Lauren Sloan calmly slotting the ball home in the 3rd minute. This kick started Aberdeen into action as they took the upper hand but they struggled to make their dominance count.

But it was Killie who got the next goals to double their advantage. Sloan burst forward with and scored a carbon copy of her first goal - putting Killie two goals to the good.

HT Kilmarnock 2-0 Aberdeen Res

A change of personnel in midfield for the second half with Alana Black and Sara Patterson coming on for Law and Telford - bringing a calming influence to the Kilmarnock side. This seemed to do the trick and Killie started to dominate the match. 

It wasn't long before they increased their lead through Black as she made it 3-0. Now on easy street Kilmarnock further increased their lead when Munro got clear of the defender and fired high into the net from a very tight angle to make it 4-0.

Ashleigh Cattrell got in on the act on her debut. The ball dropped at her feet in the middle of the box following a corner which she despatched home to make it 5-0. 

The penultimate goal of the game came after a cracking pass from Patterson right into the path of Munro who grabbed her 2nd of the game.

A convincing win for Kilmarnock ensured a safe passage into the next round - blowing away the disappointment of last weekends defeat at the hands of Celtic.

Season Diary - Week 34

We asked for fight last week and we got it, although sadly we still didn’t get any points. I have no problem admitting when we deserve to lose, but the best team didn’t win on Saturday and I’m sure that even Celtic fans will concede that.

A fitter looking Faubert was everywhere and linked up well with Dicker. Boyd was unlucky on a few occasions but will struggle due to lack of matches and absence of punch up front was part of the reason we lost the game, the other of course was the worldie in the last minute that no one could have stopped.

It looked like our tea was out when Hamilton went ahead later that afternoon, but they eventually lost and Dundee United could only scrape a draw in their derby game on Sunday so we got off lightly.
 
My humble opinion is that we changed managers too late and other results will conspire against us, we can but hope that Clark’s bravado will stand us in good stead in the play offs, I’m starting to think we can do it.

Weekend Preview

This weekend is an unusual one as only three of our five teams are in action - with all three games being on Sunday.

First off, our youngest team, Killie u13 White's will face Kilbirnie at home. The youngster are buoyed off the back of an inspiring performance against Hamilton. They will be hoping to build on that when they face Kilbirnie.

There is no game for our u13 Blues or our 15s this weekend.

Our u17s are on their travels as they face Hamilton away in the League Cup. Following a 2-2 draw last weekend against Morton, the 17s will be hoping to put in a performance similar to that of last weeks second half - which saw them claw back a two goal disadvantage after the break. The game will be played at Bent Park with a 1:45pm kick off.

Rugby Park is the venue for the senior team as they welcome Aberdeen Reserves in the League Cup. This will be the first time the sides have met.

The teams have suffered the same fate in their opening two league games with one win and one defeat to their name. Both sides will be looking to bounce back to winning ways if they want to have any chance of progressing in the League Cup competition.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the visitors, in what we expect to be an enthralling game at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock will be looking to improve on last weekend's encounter with Celtic after a goal either side of half time compounded Killie to a 2-0 defeat.

Hopefully this young Killie side can find the cutting edge that had been missing from last Sunday's match and put in a clinical performance, on Sunday.