Hippo130

KILLIE HIPPO AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE

ISSUE NO. 130

REMOVE THE IMPOSTER WE’LL SUPPORT YOU EVER MORE ....

BOOKIE BASHING (MAYBE) !!

KILLIE YOUTH MOVEMENT

£2.00

THE KILLIE HIPPO IS ON SALE AT HOWARD ARMS, GLENCAIRN SQUARE, KILMARNOCK FOG’S SNACK BAR, KILMARNOCK RUGBY CLUB CAR PARK KILLIE TRUST DESK (PARK HOTEL FOR HOME GAMES) MATCH DAYS AT RP + AT ALL AWAY GAMES

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SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO

At the end of last season I was chilled out ready for a wee break in Benidorm with the Howard crew then a few months relaxing away from the madhouse that is Killie and Scottish football. Well that plan was soon binned as it soon became clear that all was not well at the theatre of pies.

In fairness we knew things were dodgy around February as bills were not being paid and rumours were rife from our mole network. The clearest indication was when we heard MJ had been on to QTS begging for this coming seasons shirt sponsorship money. It was obvious Johnston had been banking on top six money in March and when that didn’t arrive the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear.

We had also heard via our sources at Supporters Direct that Killie were the next club that were in the spotlight….just behind Hearts and Dunfermline!! We also had the announcement from Klin at the KFCSA AGM confirming what we always knew, that they had bid for the club last yeat. The pressure was beginning to tell on MJ as he started bad mouth myself, Baz and Killie fans in general.

Following the AGM the next thing to come to the fore was the Ayrshire Business Group which included big names like Klin, Costley, QTS and many others. They all pledged not to give any more money to the club until MJ was removed and at the same time many fans were promising to do the same. It breaks my heart to miss home games but it is simply a case of short term pain for long term gain.

Johnston is simply using the club as a cash cow for him and his family and the only language he understands is money….or lack of it as the case may be.

ABG tried to see what he was willing to sell for but when it emerged he wanted in excess of £2m it quickly became clear that a deal was almost impossible. There has been lots of hard work going on in the background but the simple situation is we don’t have a willing seller unless someone lacking a brain wants to chuck silly money at him. Unfortunately that is where we stand at present so as stated at the outset I’m here for the long haul although I’m not sure how long he can last.

On the field AJ has an extremely difficult task and I think we will be relying on a high return of goals from Boydie and Heff to save our season. We have brought in three new keepers however other than that the only new faces are Barr and Jacobs. Clingan’s pre season injury was awful timing and he will be very badly missed in the early games, as was highlighted at Pittodrie.

We all love to see the youngsters getting their chance but it’s equally important to have some old codgers beside them to keep them right. Lets hope AJ can find the right characters before the end of August. Best wishes to all fellow Killie fans and remember to respect each other regardless of your views. Please send me your thoughts on the current mess we find ourselves in.

Sandy

WE’LL SUPPORT YOU EVER MORE Supporting a football club is an inherently irrational decision which is more about emotional attachment than solid logic. Many of us follow our sides across the country week after week, regardless of how the team is performing on the pitch.

Against all logic, we make long journeys to watch run-of-the-mill league games, even if form suggests a victory is unlikely. Supporters of most clubs will endure far more bad days than they will good ones, but it’s the great ones that make it worth it.

For most, that support is unconditional – they’ll support the team regardless of what happens on or off the pitch. But many clubs take advantage of this blind loyalty, taking their supporters for granted when making decisions and hoping that people will keep coming back regardless of how they are treated. Clubs do occasionally listen to their supporters – the Rangers newco vote in the summer of 2012 would be the most obvious example of that – but more often than not, decisions are taken from a business perspective without consideration of the impact on fans.

But surely there still has to be a breaking point? What if your star centre-forward is outed as a racist? Can you still support him? What if your club sign a convicted rapist or murderer? Would you still back them? What if your club was bought by an exiled despot who had allegedly ordered the murder of thousands of people?

Could you continue to support that team? The logical answer is “No, of course not”, yet each of these things has happened at British clubs in the last few years and there seemed to be little appreciable difference in the level of support.

Presumably supporters were concerned by these incidents, but decided that it wasn’t enough to stop them going along to see their team. You often hear comments along the lines of “players/managers/chairmen come and go, but I’ll still be here supporting the club after they’re long gone”.

At some point, though, constant unpopular decisions will affect a club’s level of support. Crowds may not instantly be affected, but slowly year on year people will drift away, and the club may be less likely to attract new fans.

At that stage, the remaining supporters may have to re-evaluate their position and ask themselves if their continued support is actually doing damage to the club in the long-term?

This very question has tortured me over the summer. I’m a Killie fan, and over the last few years the club’s chairman Michael Johnston has made a number of unpopular decisions which have alienated supporters. It’s also becoming increasingly apparent that he has alienated local businesses, to the extent that a group of them are involved in a bid to oust him from the club.

His reign hasn’t been all bad – the club’s debt has decreased by around £3m since he took over in 2005, although it should be noted that this has primarily been via the sale of assets. Over the last couple of years I’ve tolerated his unpopular decisions and have continued to buy my season ticket at Rugby Park, but recent incidents have brought it all into focus a bit more for me.

While there have been numerous minor irritations during Johnston’s tenure, the first major issue for me came on the final day of the 2010/11 season. Killie had enjoyed a very successful season with the management team of Mixu Paatelainen and Kenny Shiels and made it into the top 6 of the SPL. The final game of the season saw Killie hosting a Rangers side who required a win to secure a third consecutive league title. With Rugby Park holding over 18,000 people, and with Killie’s average home support that season being in the region of 5,000, it was clear that there was a huge risk of Rangers fans getting a hold of tickets for the home end. Rather than introducing security measures to discourage away fans from buying home end tickets, Johnston appeared to tacitly encourage it.

The outcome, as you can imagine, was chaos in the Killie end. Thousands of Rangers fans gained access to the home sections of the stadium, and openly celebrated goals as their side won 5-1 against a Killie side who had run out of steam. I personally had a Rangers fan sitting next to me, and he challenged me to a fight for having the audacity to tell him to sit down when he jumped up to celebrate his side’s opening goal. Johnston endangered the safety of every Killie fan inside the stadium that day, and if Killie had taken a point or more from that game, things could have ended up a lot worse than they did.

Many supporters contacted the club expressing their disappointment at how things had been handled, but to the best of my knowledge not one of them received a response. I certainly didn’t. Johnston didn’t even apologise for what had happened, and even had the brass neck to blame the situation on season ticket holders selling their vouchers to Rangers fans. Unless the club suddenly acquired extra thousands of season ticket holders, that blatantly wasn’t the case.

But in spite of the chairman endangering our support then attempting to absolve himself of all blame, I still purchased a season ticket for the next year.

A year later, there was yet more controversy, this time surrounding the club’s position on the Rangers newco vote. Johnston had clearly positioned himself as being in favour of allowing the newco into the SPL assuming a number of compromises were made, which again was unpopular with the Killie support.

Again, he ignored correspondence from supporters, though he did turn up to an open meeting of the supporters’ association open meeting where he attempted to justify his position in terms of his “fiduciary duty” to look after the club’s employees.

Over the summer, it became clear that the majority of SPL clubs would be voting against the newco proposals, and at this point Johnston decided to consult the supporters, sending out a survey to the club’s “stakeholders”, which included season ticket holders and shareholders. When the vote was held, 10 SPL clubs voted against the newco entering, but Johnston abstained. He would later attempt to justify this decision by claiming that just 36% of supporters consulted voted “No”. The wording of this statement suggested to me that the 36% referred to all surveys sent out (whether returned or not), rather than that 36% of those who responded to the survey. For the second consecutive season, he was happy to absolve himself of “blame” by pointing the finger at the club’s support. And yet, for the second season in a row, I decided to buy a season ticket against my better judgement.

The 2012/13 season more or less passed without incident, but at the end of the season, Johnston made the decision to sack Kenny Shiels. Shiels had been in charge of the club for just over two years, and had guided his side to League Cup success in 2011/12. Last season was a disappointing one – we threw away a top six spot by picking up just one point from two games at home to the bottom sides in the league, coupled by a last minute goal Dundee Utd goal, and we selfdestructed in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at home to Hibs. After being consigned to the bottom six, Shiels decided to introduce a number of young players to the side, and results suffered as Killie slumped to 9th. Nonetheless, he had the vast majority of the support behind him, and fans were excited about the young talent he was bringing into the side.

Johnston’s decision to dismiss Shiels was met with widespread shock, and was made worse by the undigified way he carried out the sacking. The whole thing was carried out via the newspapers, with Shiels being made to wait a week before learning his fate. Johnston attempted to justify his decision by citing the club’s poor league performance, Shiels’ disciplinary record, and, ludicrously, the fact that he had introduced too many young players to the team. Needless to say, this did not go down well with supporters.

Meanwhile, Johnston has been rebuffing approaches from a group of local businesses to buy the club. This group includes the club’s shirt sponsors QTS and the Brownings Bakers who produce the famous Killie pie. For years, Johnston has claimed that he would sell the club if he received a “credible offer”, yet it has transpired that he has placed a valuation of £2.5m on the club which he bought for £1 in 2005, and which still carries a £9.8m debt. To me, this made it absolutely clear that he is more interested in personal gain than he is in the future of the football club.

At that point, I decided to consider my own position. Last season, I spent a great deal of money travelling through from Edinburgh to Rugby Park for SPL matches, as well as travelling to the majority of away games. I enjoyed the away games a lot more, and most of them were quicker to get to. Nonetheless, I felt it was my “duty” as a supporter to attend home matches. But why should I feel like that when the club clearly don’t really do anything to make me want to go? As I pointed out earlier, the club has treated its fans abominably in the last few seasons. It seems unlikely any Killie fans would feel valued as a “customer”.

So, with a very heavy heart, I made the decision that I would not renew my season ticket, and that I would instead spend my money travelling to away games next season. And when the club was at home, I would either spend some time with my long-suffering fiancee or attend some nearby games as a neutral. I came to this decision independently, as a result of my own personal circumstances, and it turned out I was not alone, as many Killie fans have taken a “Not a Penny More” approach, deciding not to pay money into the club while Johnston remains in charge.

This approach has, unsurprisingly, led to some disagreements amongst supporters. Some have argued that starving the club of funds will only hurt the club. While I have sympathy with this viewpoint, it seems to me that the club is already being hurt by the stewardship of Johnston, and that the long-term repercussions of him staying in charge may be worse than the short-term issues caused by a reduction in income. I would never tell someone else not to support their football club, and it goes without saying that I respect the decisions of people who have decided to continue to go to Rugby Park last season. After all, I was in their position last year.

Rather than attempting to attract these lapsed supporters back, Johnston has chosen to attack them via the media. He claimed that they were a small minority of supporters hiding behind computer screens, and that he would be happy to have a discussion if someone came forward. However, I approached him for an interview three weeks ago, and he has completely ignored my request so far. It is somewhat ironic that he accuses others of “hiding behind computer screens” whilst himself being happy to make comments in the press without following them up with action.

I have no doubt that over the next few weeks, Johnston will attempt to guilt trip supporters such as myself into buying tickets by claiming that the future of the club is being put in danger. However, any actions taken by fans are as a direct consequence of his stewardship of the club, and as such, he is the one who would have put the club in danger. When Woolworths went bust, nobody blamed the customers who started shopping elsewhere because it was becoming outdated and no longer met the needs of your average shopper.

If a football club is losing customers, it should be looking at why people are no longer attending and taking steps to address it.

If Killie do end up in perilous waters or even administration, and potential new owners are looking to help rescue us, then they can count on my support to keep the club I love afloat. But at the moment, I’m not willing to prop up a regime which has shown scant respect for me as a customer over the last few years. If Johnston is going to lead the club to the precipice of oblivion, then I’d rather make a clean break now than have my heart gradually broken.

CRAIG Hippo says – An excellent blog from Craig which sums up the feelings of many killie fans at present. We could probably fill a full issue with MJ’s cock-ups and his contempt for his own fans is unforgivable.

We can only hope this whole horrible mess is resolved quickly and we can all get back to doing to simply supporting the team on the park >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

NOT A PENNY MORE There seems to be much confusion around regarding the NAPM route that some fans seem to favour. At the KFCSA AGM in June there was much discussion about what action should be taken to help to remove Johnston. Almost everyone agreed we need change but there was a variety of ways suggested to achieve this. NAPM is no more than an individual choice that many fans have chosen as the best way to help get rid of Johnston.The idea of blue/yellow scarves was suggested and has been very popular so far. These scarves signify one thing and one thing only….a desire for change at our great club. We bought an initial batch of 500 which has sold out so another 250 have been ordered and will be available on match days but we expect these to sell fast as well. The blue/yellow should be worn whether you choose to attend home games or not. If attending please let the chairman know how you feel about him.

Most importantly in all this, please respect all fellow Killie fans, whether you agree with them or not.

KILLIE YOUTH MOVEMENT Much has been written over recent months about the shocking treatment of former boss Kenny Shiels. The sacking of KS was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many fans and the atmosphere around the club has changed since MJ’s awful handling of the situation. KS has maintained a dignified silence throughout it all though that may be due to ;legal agreements….I’m sure he has the same opinion of MJ as the rest of us.

If we look back to last season’s squad it’s incredible to think the cup winning team was pretty much gone with only Fowler now still here. There may have been a variety of reasons for different players leaving but from a manager’s viewpoint it couldn’t have been easy trying to maintain form with a constantly changing squad………the term “settled team” is a foreign concept around the Theatre of Pies.

The loss of experienced guys like Kelly and Nelson in the transfer window must have been another hammer blow for the manager so perhaps our late season collapse should not have come as too much of a shock. I’ve said it before but the catalyst for our downturn was the humiliating cup defeat at home to Hibs. We defended like the howard fatties after a three day lager + kebab binge and in all honesty we never lifted a leg for the rest of the campaign.

Our inability to beat either of the two bottom teams to reach the top six was embarrassing even though it took a goal deep in injury time from the arabs to seal our fate. The reaction of KS at the POTY dance after the Dundee game was telling and many said at the time there was more to it than simply missing out on the top six.

The popular Irishman probably knew his fate there and then although the clause in his contract about needing to finish in the top 8 was ridiculous. If AJ signed the same clause in his contract then he urgently needs to sack his advisors. It was clear our impostor chairman was just trying to impress his fellow blazers at Hampden by trying to blame Kenny’s outspoken views.

That brings us neatly to this season and just what can we expect from our new manager given that his hands are tied from the outset. Since the end of the season we have lost our three keepers (Bell, Letheren + Jaakkola) and replaced them with Reguerro and Samson. Personally I’m ok with that and it will be interesting to see who is first choice. My money would be on local lad Samson but the competition will be healthy and hopefully that will produce good performances from both when required.

Defensively we have lost O’Leary, Sissoko, Hay and thus far we have only brought in Darren Barr who was no longer required at Tynecastle. Our current options to partner Barr are Pasca (when fit), Tesselaar (not his best position) and maybe O’Hara so it would be fair to say we could be vulnerable in central defence. AJ did have Murphy and Webster in training so I’m sure he knows this could be a problem. Right back has arguably been a problem position for a good few years now with Fowler filling in regularly, maybe young Barbour can make the place his own this time around.

The middle of the park is yet another area of concern especially now with Clingan out until September if reports can be believed. I was sorry to see the end of James Dayton who has joined up with Lee Johnson at Oldham. Dayts wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I liked him and on his game he was a real handful……plus he was always good for a spectacular goal or two. We also lost Racchi but in all honesty that is probably more of a loss to Glasgow night clubs than to Killie. We have re-signed Gros and I can see the big man feature in a wide role for much of the season.

We can also expect to see Ross Fisher who has returned after being loaned out for an extended period to Hamilton. The wee man doesn’t mind sticking a foot in and with Clingan missing we may see plenty of him in the early weeks. Perez has been missing in the pre season games, the only time I spotted him was on the bench at Glentoran. It may just be a wee injury and hopefully the Spaniard can add a bit of consistency to his game as he can be influential when he is in the mood.

One player we can all look forward to seeing is chris Johnston who got plenty of game time under KS latterly. The wee man is a bag of tricks and can play either wide or central. He can expect some rough treatment as he gets the better of some SPFL hammer throwers.

That just leaves our forwards with Hefferna and McKenzie joined again by Boydy who has eventually sigbed up for another year. I’m surprised that Heff is still here after his vocal support of KS, if a bid is made he may still be offski however we don’t have a lot of cover up front either so lets hope the Heff stays. The crucial signing may prove to be that of boyd as his goals can make a massive difference and can paper over some cracks elsewhere in the team. AJ appears to favour a 4-4-2 attacking set up so if we can keep boyd + Heff fit their goals will be absolutely crucial.

I like young McKenzie and fully expect he will see plenty of action. He can play as a striker but I would expect to see him more in wide positions in the opening games. The Troon lad made his breakthrough last season and given the paper thin look about the squad I suspect AJ will have no option but to follow his predecessor and rely heavily on the Killie Youth movement. Guys like Johnston, O’Hara and Barbour all did an excellent job at times, although there will always be dips in form for the youngsters.

I took in the Kilwinning pre season friendly where many youngsters were on show and it was great to see some top talent on show. I should point out that three of the younger guys, Hodge, Pooler and Kiltie were away on Scotland duty but you may see all these guys at some stage. Young Kiltie is a galston lad who is highly thought of as long as he can physically strengthen.

We beat the Buffs 2 – 0 with a pair of outstanding goals from Shortlees lad Robbie Muirhead. The big striker has a great record of scoring when away on international duty and he also has a brief run out under KS. With a lack of bodies in the striker department it won’t take much for the big man to jump into the senior squad. He still has plenty to learn but he has a similar trait to Boydie…….he loves scoring goals. The biggest danger he has is his chairman who will sell him for any offer that comes along.

There were also good shows from Winchester, Ashcroft and Davidson who will all be seen in the first team squad at some time during the season…..maybe on a regular basis if injuries kick in. One final name to look out for is former QOS youngster Aaron Splaine who played as a trialist.

He was excellent on the night and had the look of Matthew Kennedy with his strong running and impressive skill. I hope we can get him signed up as he looked like a kid who could go places with the right guidance from AJ.

BASHING THE BOOKIES……MAYBE! If you remember when we first did the fanzine all those years ago the football coupons were fairly straight forward. There was match betting, first goalscorer betting and not too much else to be honest. Nowadays if you go in a bookies it will resemble the Dick Institute in terms of choice with 101 things to bet on and god knows how many different coupons to choose from. Talking of the Dick Institute I hear that is also the name of Craig Burley’s house although the only literature to hand is postman Pat colouring-in books.

As I say each year I don’t actually bet on the tips that I dish out for all divisions in Scotland and England. If you have followed the tips over the years it has been wise to give them a miss although we do have the odd decent bit of success…….Queen of the South was one of our fancies last year. Overall it is just a bit of fun so as all the wise folk will tell you, remortgage your house and stick the lot on my nap!!

One thing that I never really considered in previous years was the financial state of clubs as any club near the bring could lose 15 points. We are all well aware of the problems up here but down south there are several clubs in dire straits as well. Coventry are the latest team to suffer at the hands of an owner who looks after himself before looking after the club. The sky blues are in an awful mess and they may be worth a punt for relegation to League Two in all honesty.

Anyway good luck with your punting….here’s my thoughts:

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP With Sevco down the divisions and getting punted out the league cup by Forfar the betting market is a one horse race rather than two. Celtic can be bet at a tasty 1/66, anyone betting on that wont get rich unless you were rich in the first place.

You can get about 40/1 if you fancy Aberdeen or Motherwell and if you reckon a billionaire will fund Killie for several million then you can back the world’s best at 500/1………remarkably generous!!

Some fans will look elsewhere for a punt and the top League scorer may be of interest for the Boydie fans out there. The big man is available at 14/1 and if we can give him decent service there is nobody better at hitting the pokey.

However for the sake of a bet we will look at the betting without Celtic. Aberdeen have invested more than most and with Motherwell looking weaker this year it could well be the Dons who take the runners up spot Bet – Aberdeen @ 3/1 (betting without Celtic) CHAMPIONSHIP It was a brilliant piece of marketing by Neil Dungcaster to rename the leagues as he did, he must have spent millions in research to come up with the names. They can change the name as often as they want but it doesn’t make it any easier to pick a winner. It doesn’t look as wide open as previous years all the same with newly relegated Dundee leading the way at 7/4. I don’t like going for teams who have just came down but I’m finding it hard to see an alternative. Manager Brown is a self abuser of the highest order but I need to go for them BET – Dundee to win league at 7/4

LEAGUE ONE This is interesting with Sevco at around 1/16 to win, not a working mans price. Last year we actually tipped against them at ridiculously small odds as there was a chance of another financial collapse that meant they wouldn’t finish the season. I dare say that is a small risk again but with a wage budget a zillion times higher than their rivals it really should be a walk over.

Dunfermline are an interesting addition however they need time to readjust and are available around 33/1 along with Airdrie, the scum and Brechin. Agent Roberts is doing a fine job with the losers and it’s a pleasant surprise that he has been allowed to continue his destruction for another year.

This is probably a division where we simply shouldn’t have a bet but I think we will go for Brechin who will pick up the pieces if Chuck Green gets some influence at Ibrox and ruins the club again.

BET – Brechin to win at 33/1 LEAGUE TWO I’m not go into any great detail about his league as I know SFA about most of the teams . it would be good to see some success for community minded clubs like Clyde and Stirling Albion but they are not fancied. Peterhead lead the betting followed by the likes of Albion and Queens Park. However I’m going to chase a bit of value with Berwick.

Bet – Berwick to win at 9/1 SCOTTISH NAP – DUNDEE TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP @ 7/4

ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP This is a right hard one to call this year simply because the big three all have new managers and it will be a case of which one settles quickest and gets the team playing. I know we should be talking about players more than managers but it will be fascinating to see how each of them perform.

Pellegrini is the unknown in England but he has great experience and is obviously highly rated by the mega rich city owners.

There’s no doubt they have the cash to give him but they will need to gel quickly and hit the ground running. It would be no surprise to see them win but I just have a niggling doubt.

United are always capable of winning it but Moyes arguably has the hardest task of all…..to follow in Fergie’s footsteps. They have the players, the experience and the winning mentality but Moyes hasn’t had to handle such pressure before and it will be interesting to see how he goes.

I’m opting for the experience of Mourhinho and Chelsea who has been here before. Arsenal will under achieve as usual and Liverpool and Spurs will be in Europe at best.

Bet – Chelsea to win at 5/2 CHAMPIONSHIP The hardest league of them all to predict with a huge gap in turnover and income due to parachute payments etc. Can you imagine the difference in wage bills between QPR and Yeovil???

Ol’ Harry is always worth the watching and they are faves but I have a strong fancy for Owen Coyle’s Wigan.

Bet – Wigan e/way at 10/1

LEAGUE ONE As we said earlier Coventry have huge issues and it’s incredible that a team of their size is the outsider to win the third tier league. Another sleeping giant namely Wolves head the betting at 4/1 and really should be there or thereabouts. Leigh Griffiths could have a fruitful year as long as he avoids shoplifting in which case he may follow the same route as Riordan and O’Connor.

David Weir may prove to be a shrewd appointment at Sheff Utd but I don’t think they will have enough to win it. The other relegated teams, Bristol city and Peterboro are of interest and I’m going to plump for Darren Ferguson’s lot. They have a good record in this division, they score a lot of goals and I think they may just be the bet.

Bet – Peterboro to win at 6/1 League Two Fleetwood have a bit money about them and lead the market at around 5/1. I wouldn’t be surprised if they won it but Portsmouth will find it hard. They are the team everyone wants to beat but they have had a few rocky years and may just need to stabilize for a year or two.

My tip here at 20/1 is my own fave English team, Rochdale. Keith Hill has returned as boss and did a great job first time around and I can see him repeat the dose having brought in several new faces during the summer.

Bet – Rochdale e/way at 20/1 ENGLISH NAP – WIGAN E/W IN CHAMPIONSHIP

A CHANGING LANDSCAPE Strange things are happening in Scottish football and the fans are very much part of what can be described as a changing landscape.

In the summer the clubs and the football authorities were told not to treat supporters with contempt and suddenly integrity and consultation became key words in the world of football politics.

With the weight of public opinion behind them and their season ticket money in their pockets supporters managed to drive home the message that they needed to be listened to. It really was the start of something different never before seen in the Boardrooms of Scottish Clubs.

With five senior clubs in Scotland now "fan owned" and operating on the cooperative basis (one member/one vote), those who matter most - fans, supporters, loyal customers - will have a growing say in what will happen in Scottish Football in the future.

This change has been recognised at Hampden Park where both the SFA and the league bodies have really started to engage with fans in a far more meaningful way. In my work with Supporters Direct Scotland it has been encouraging that we really have started to make an impact with our Fans Parliament initiative that provides fans with a voice. If we’d had that voice a few years back then maybe the debate over the new League Reconstruction package might have been more fans’ focused.

As it stands we hope that the growing importance of supporters is extended beyond the current debate. Most observers recognise that the fans may not get everything they want this time around - bigger leagues or the desire not to have to play each other 4 times a season - but there is much in there for the fans to take heart from such as having one league body, fairer financial distributions, more play-offs, a stronger pyramid structure and hopefully better governance too.

With the potential shift of power towards these super loyal customers it means that the existing dynamic of dependency on a wealthy owner /benefactor (if you have one of them) could be coming to an end.

This creates a unique opportunity in Scotland - with little chance of a profit and a market where very few want to buy a football club, it means that fans' being more involved in owning and running of clubs is here to stay.

More than that, it is the future. Who else has a fan’s lifelong commitment to their club and an interest in ensuring it is safeguarded for the long term?

Fans are the lifeblood of football – not just socially and culturally but economically and there are now real chances to turn that commitment into meaningful involvement in the way clubs are governed.

Clubs such as Motherwell and St.Mirren are already seeing this as a positive step as a long term community strategy and fans of clubs such as Hearts, Dunfermline and Kilmarnock are all desperate to have a say in how these clubs can be run as sustainable community assets. The goalposts are moving fast.

Of course with potential power there comes responsibility and how many times have we heard in the past that the Board of a club should be held to account when they have not taken fans’ views into consideration. At the five community owned clubs in Scotland there is already democracy in action.

There’s no need to be standing outside shouting to sack the Board or to be throwing stones. Instead you just need to turn up at the AGM with your fellow members and vote off for change.

There is no doubt that there is a cultural change under way and that change isn’t going to happen overnight. Everyone involved in fan and community ownership is learning about how this new model will work best and how their own club adapts to the change. Like everything else, change takes time to settle and, with every day that passes, new challenges will face everyone involved in a club, including those difficult moments that, ideally, no-one ever wants to see happen.

Today, the Fans Representatives on the Board at Dundee FC, a club that is owned 52% by the community, are coming to terms with a managerial appointment that hasn’t been received well by its supporters.

There isn’t a Board of Directors at any club in the country that will have received universal backing for a new managerial appointment but what is different at Dundee, and those other clubs that have embraced the fan ownership model, is that rather than being on the outside venting their spleen they have the ability to change, through voting, those representing them in the boardroom. This simply wouldn’t be an option with traditional ownership models and it is this level of transparency and accountability which provides the basis for the long term success of the model.

If you still need convincing, then you need only look to Germany and the Bundesliga where they have embraced supporter ownership for the last 40 years backed up by robust regulation. Not only has that led to unrivalled levels of financial sustainability but it has also been achieved whilst protecting the interest of fans and attracting the biggest crowds in European football – and they’re not doing too badly on the pitch either!

In Germany this structure has been part of the fabric of the game for generations, but here a transition will not be immediate and will not be easy.

However, whilst the ownership structure that fans now have may not be the perfect model , at least fans can no longer be ignored and, whether you like it or not, that has got to be good news for the game and for the green shoots of football democracy.

Paul Goodwin Hippo says – The article was written a few months back by Paul Goodwin who is the main man for Supporters Direct in Scotland. He is a busy man at present as he is sent by the government to help out at clubs who are in financial difficulty……..Killie are his latest assignment.

The article highlights the changing face of Scottish football and is something we all need to embrace and……the sooner the better. The German model is the best model for community ownership and is the preferred option of the Killie Trust.

It is essential that there is a close working relationship between the fans, the community, local business and local government and if all these parties pull together then much can be achieved. That is basically what we are pushing for and will continue to do so regardless of who is in charge at the Theatre of Pies.

CAN WE PLAY IN N.IRELAND EVERY YEAR? One of the highlights of the season is before the season starts….if you get my drift. Around April or May we start to think of the following season and “have we arranged any friendlies, preferably away from home?”. It would be fair to say that our financial mess played a part this time around and the pre season games must have been an all time low.

In fact there were only two road trips for the boozehounds to attend, a midweek trip to the kingdom of fife and a weekend hoolie in Portrush, our base for the weekend of the Glentoran game. It would be fair to say the jaunt to Methil was a mere rehearsal for a big turn out of Killiefans in portrush.

In fairness the Fife road trip was very enjoyable and it whet the appetite for the long journeys that lie ahead this season. It was my first visit to New Bayview, its been a while since we last played them but my enduring memories of the old ground were its wee social club and All y Mitchell!!

The new ground is very much the same as Dumbarton’s in as much as its one stand and nothing else. Our stuttering journey meant we arrived just on time. In fact I walked into the ground and within five seconds saw Killie take the lead…..the only goal of the game as it turned out. It was very difficult to name the killie team as we had Barr, Haining, Jacobs and Harper all in the starting line up. It was Harper who scored the goal and he looked a decent player however the following day saw him return to Spain as we couldn’t agree a deal.

Many of the Killie troops had stayed in portrush before so when the Glentoran game was confirmed there was a scramble for cheap Ryanair flights. Around 30 fans were based in the picturesque town and a fantastic time was had by all.

It all started on the Friday morning with a short jaunt to prestick airport. Of course we needed a few breakfast beers just to calm the pre flight nerves. If anyone has been on the flight you’ll know there;s barely time to nail a beer but we still managed a horrible warm can of Carlsberg (subbuteo size) at over £4 a pop. I never thought I’d ever be on a plane where a round of drinks was dearer than the flight ticket.

A bus was booked to take the hounds to Portrush and the wise cracking driver kept us amused as we headed for a Guinness-fest.

I don’t think we even made it into our rooms, bags were launched from 100 yards as we headed for the harbourside pubs in the scalding hot weather.

We secured a wee rooftop terrace at the Yacht club and it was fantastic, sipping a great pint of the black velvet whilst staring out over the sea…. recommended if you are ever in Portrush.

Saturday was match day and the trip into Belfast was painful for the hungover troops. We hit the Welders Club for some curers before walking round to soal up the sunshine at the Oval, home of Glentoran. There was no sign of Boydy but the Heff was on fire and his brace saw us run out 2 – 0 winners. The hospitality was great and we headed back to Portrush in good spirits.

A few more pints were consumed on Sunday although most of the talk revolved round the best way to poach an egg…..drink can spark many a fine discussion. If anyone has a sure fire poached egg recipe e-mail details killiehippo@aol.com

KFC - THE NEED FOR CHANGE Kilmarnock fans from near, distant & afar joined in their numbers next to the Sportsbar A call to arms following protests over current regime to protect the status of Scotland's prestige football team Interrupting the fans Chairman, Big Kev rose & he spoke with poems and plans, his voice boomed "I'll save the club folks" a man, a supporter with enthusiasm and vision a genuine belief in the dream for a unison Killie division Some people may laugh or even have mocked But we live for today, we cant turn back the clock they must understand his misguided yet good intention his purposeful aim to remove the clubs evil intervention With any assembly brings varied ideas & opinions of them and of us yet take these on board and then lead based on concensus for to oust the REAL monster of scottish fitba' Kilmarnock needs us all to stand together - loud, proud & tall Now in this time of hardship, the fans ultimate aim is simple yet clear to restore a community justice lost over MJ's many years here players and fans, King Kenny et al, have all suffered without even a fair kick at the ball But change we can make happen, it's no longer a pipedream allow true supporters an involvement over the control of Ayrshire's premier team A collective unit containing passion, skills and financial clout Keep up the pressure one and all - Killie NEEDS Johnston out!!

SUMMER SNIPPETS There have been so many monumental cock ups by Tragic during the summer we could have filled an issue with all his crap. One of the later messes was strip-gate where we must be the only professional team on the planet who don’t have their new strip ready for the opening game. This is all on the back of nearly getting taken to court by the shirt suppler for non payment of approximately £25k at the end of last season. That was eventually paid but it seems to have knocked back the release of the strips……look out for the Open Day launch around Easter!! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> We like to keep a track of some old players and where they are now plying their trade, here are a few snippets that you may already know. Hooky looks like joining Airdrie, The admiral Nelson has returned to Scotland and joined Hibs, Rory Loy has been snapped up by Killie legend Gary Holt for Falkirk, Cammy Bell has retired from football and Billy Berntsson has walked out of McDonalds for a constant night shift job at Burger King. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The saddest news of the summer was the tragic news that Lilian Adams, mum of killie legend Tommy, had passed away in Crosshouse Hospital. Lilian had not been in great health since falling at st Mirren a couple of years back. There was a huge turn out at Masonhill with the Killie family turning out to pay their respects to a great Killie fan.

Tommy is good friends with some Wolves fans who made the journey up and there were a few Ayr colours mixed in with the blue + white at the service. The numbers in attendance reflected the popularity of both Tommy and Lilian and there wasn’t a dry eye as Paper Roses filled the air as everyone left the service. RIP Lilian, it was a pleasure to know you.

SPL 3/8/13 DONS 2 V 1 KILLIE ABERDEEN – LANGFIELD, ROBERTSON, ANDERSON,REYNOLDS, JACK, FLOOD, SHAUGHNESSY, MCGINN, HAYES, ZOLA, ROBSON SUBS NOT USED – WEAVER, VERNON, PAWLETT, WYLDE, MAGENNIS, HECTOR, MURRAY BOOKED - HAYES GOALS – HAYES 21 + FLOOD 54 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> KILLIE – SAMSON, FOWLER, TESSELAAR, MCKEOWN, BARR, JACOBS, FISHER, GROS, MCKENZIE, HEFFERNAN, JOHNSTON SUBS NOT – REGUERRO, BARBOUR, SLATER, DAVIDSON, IBRAHIM, BOYD + O’HARA BOOKED – FOWLER, JOHNSTON + BOYD GOALS – BOYD 64 REF - C ALLAN

CROWD - 13000

DICK OF THE DAY – CRAIG BURLEY I dislike hayes that plays with the sheep, a niggly wee turd who displays the classic wee man syndrome. Their annoying fans are always an easy target for the DOTD award but I’ve probably given them enough gongs in the past.

I’m afraid this is a personal choice and the winner is paranoid scum lad Craig Burley who had a ridiculous rant at myself and at all Killie fans in a recent tabloid column. It’s the eighth wonder of the world that this walloper has managed to get a job on TV when you actually have to string sentences together. It looks like BT Sport have done everyone a favour by not offering this clown a contract…. He can sit at home now on a Saturday afternoon and polish his DOTD award. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Firstly, well done to the large Killie travelling support who headed north to support the team and give Johnston plenty. We cant complain about the result as the home team were easily better than us. AJ must realize we have a paper thin squad and the lack of experience in midfield was there for all to see. Clingan is an important player for us and the sooner he gets back from injury the better.

Boydy showed he still knows the way to goal, he could be our saving grace this season.

MJ’S SUMMER CRIMES Our much maligned chairman has gone above and beyond the call of duty to piss off the killie fans this summer. I’d need to keep a diary to help me remember all his cock ups. So for all you who wonder why we are on his case here is some evidence, all of which has happened over the last few months: • After a few statements were put out the impostor replied with some illchosen comments about Killie fans. Apart from having a personal dig at me he accused our travelling fans of poor behavior. Of course that was nonsense, I don’t think I remember one fan being arrested last year. I’m guessing the reason for his comments were because the lads/lassies away from home sing some anti Johnston songs.

• Arguably the worst own goal of the summer was his treatment of Young Killie. The organization looks after around 500 kids and a huge number of volunteer coaches ensure they are one of the best organisations in the country, the envy of clubs everywhere. Sadly they have been treated like dogs dirt by Johnston and have cut all ties with the club. They will continue to operate as an independent organization and I’d advise the eventual new owners to het YK back under the club umbrella.

• The latest nonsense from MJ follows a complaint from a member of the KFCDSA regarding his treatment and how the club were trying to take his ticket from him. This is all under review at present however it is yet another shocking headline that should never happen at Scotland’s oldest professional club.

• We have told fans never to believe a word that Johnston says and he was proven to be a liar again during the ABG talks. Johnston denied he was looking for a seven figure sum for the club only for a text to be found that showed he wanted in excess of £2m…….an absolute disgrace.

• The straw that broke the camels back for many fans was the treatment of both Kenny Shiels and legend Gary Hay. Regardless of what you thought of both, they both deserved to be treated with respect…….not a word that’s in MJ’s vocabulary.

I’m sure there are others that I have missed but when you realize all the above have happened since the end of last season you quickly realize we are not dealing with someone who has any feeling for the club or its fans. Everyone wants to simply get back to supporting the team however the most important thing is that we have a team to support in the long term. That will only happen once we remove Johnston and get the club properly structured.

A VIEW FROM THE MOFFAT STAND

One young fan vents his thoughts to the directors box as MJ sits on his golden cushion and counts his cash‌..or perhaps he has just spotted Craig Burley in the TV gantry!!