Hippo156

KILLIE HIPPO

AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE

ISSUE NO. 156

KIL-LEE AT RUGBY CLARK • • •

WELCOME TO KILLIE LEE A WISE SHEEP? DO WE HAVE THE BOTTLE? £2.00

THE KILLIE HIPPO IS ON SALE AT HOWARD ARMS, GLENCAIRN SQUARE, KILMARNOCK FOG’S SNACK BAR, ANNANDALE IND. ESTATE, KILMARNOCK KA1 2RS KILLIE TRUST DESK (PARK HOTEL FOR HOME GAMES) MATCH DAYS AT RP + AT ALL AWAY GAMES

HUGE THANKS TO ALL ADVERTISERS, SUBSCRIBERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND KILLIE FANS FOR THEIR SUPPORT. All views expressed are those of the contributors.

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SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO Hello again all you lovely folk and accept my apologies for this issue being a bit late. It should have been out for the Dundee game but due due to circumstances (dodgy laptop and a dodgy editor) we didn't make it in time. I'm just getting some breaking news as I write this editorial, apparently Mark Warburton is living the carpet in his living room and putting down grass......some divots for a divot then!!

Firstly we must welcome Lee Clark to Scotland's oldest professional club and his first task is simply to rally the troops and grab a few wins that will keep us in the top flight for another year. As I write this there is one point separating four teams albeit Thistle have four games in hand with us. It really is going to the wire for the relegation battle and the arabs still fancy their chances of catching up the teams above.

The departure was a surprise to nobody although the timing was awful especially for the new man coming in. The transfer window was closed so there was no capacity for wheeling and dealing unless LC knows some handy out of contract players. GL had rode his luck a few times already and if our board had any balls they would have made the change at least a couple of months ago....if not earlier.

Some credit has to go Lee McCulloch and Peter Leven who steadied the ship when GL left and got a draw at Ibrox and a fine win at Motherwell before losing out in the replay to the zombies. Ibrox was their first game in charge and the most obvious changes were a better shape, players in their natural position and a better team spirit. Sadly our ability to keep the ball was no better than normal, hopefully that will improve if we get a few wins and gain some confidence.

Clark's first game was at home to Dundee and our first half showing was excellent other than the problem that we couldn't put the ball in the net. We looked well up for it from the first whistle and there was an energy and positivity that bodes well for the tricky few months ahead. We could well have lost the game in the second half but we have been defending better in recent weeks and McDonald had his usual fine contribution.

The proximity of the teams in the bottom six means that the post split games are going to be more vital than ever. It really does look like it will go down to the last game even at this relatively early stage. You will see an article looking at all our bottom six rivals and at this stage Hamilton and Motherwell look like the ones we could maybe overtake but things can change very quickly.

Massive thanks everyone and please send me your thoughts on both the new manager and our chances of avoiding the drop.

Sandy

WISE WORDS FROM A SHEEP As you know we like trawling t'internet to find out the views of football fans all around the place, We came across this well written article by a mutton molester, a good article that makes several points that will be relevant to Killie and many others: As Aberdeen FC launch their consultation with fans to relocate the family section to the Richard Donald Stand Lower and the singing section to the Merkland, DST member Lewis Walker examines the fans' relationship with club, and whether the 'product' on the park is enough to sustain it.: "This time last year, in the hope of maintaining some sanity, I decided to combine my degree of International Business with my interest in football and write my dissertation on ticket prices in Scotland. The primary objective of my study was to discover whether fans in Scotland perceived ticket prices here to be ‘fair and reasonable’. On top of this I aimed to learn what other aspects drove attendances in Scotland and, to add an international facet, how our game compared to other countries across Europe from a fans perspective.

Through an online survey, results were initially to be obtained through AFC supporters clubs but having little luck down that route, I opted for posting the link up on the ever-polarising Aberdeen Mad- thank you to those who filled it in. Having supported Aberdeen all my life but also experienced life in a few different countries throughout Europe, the results were of little surprise to me.

Views on season ticket prices at Pittodrie were conflicting but most stated they were content with them. Match-day tickets are regarded as too expensive, the food’s rubbish, the pre-match entertainment is rubbish, not being able to have a lager with your pals is rubbish and not being able to safely stand is also rubbish!

You’ll not be surprised to hear that the majority of respondents who’d attended a match abroad paid far less for their ticket, while also enjoying a far better match-day experience.

The results that triggered my interest most though were those obtained from asking supporters whether price was an afterthought and if they would attend Aberdeen matches regardless of price. Although many emphasised 'within reason', 70% and 55% agreed with those statements, respectively. While that may come as no surprise to most, when you actually think about it, it’s really quite bizarre.

Week in, week out, thousands of us will pay our hard-earned cash and make our way to a crumbling stadium (God love her though) which is ideally located for those who love sub-zero temperatures and shitting seagulls. On the way to our seat we’ll most likely decline the not-so-tempting advances of an overpriced, stuck-to-the-foil pie before sitting on a creaky plastic chair and preparing to call the referee an arsehole for 90 minutes.Then we’ll head out and do it all over again as soon as we can.

In what other spectacle do people pay over-the-top prices to witness something they don’t even enjoy that much? And why do we do it? Providing an answer, one survey respondent simply stated: 'mug loyal customers we are'......they’re very much correct.How long can this be sustained though? We’re lucky in that we have an older generation who became hooked when not only we as a club were very good, but the sport in general was a lot better too. Rewind thirty years and provincial clubs like ourselves and soon to-go-down United could not only compete in Scotland, but compete on the continent too against genuine European heavyweights. Not only that, supporters were supporters, not customers, and could enjoy attending matches. Like proper bona fide enjoyment.

Standing and swaying with fellow fans in full voice knowing you’re not being watched and criminalised by stewards, officials and the media. Knowing you didn’t have to go home and risk seeing Jim White on the TV talking about the net-spend of football clubs funded by dirty money. When these fans who have experienced the idealistic days become our oldest supporting generation, it’ll be solely down to the youngsters who have grown up on the present day match-day experience to fill our ground.

They’re the lifeblood and the future of the football club. Can the club, and the Scottish game as a whole, honestly say they’re doing enough to encourage new supporters to the sport? You’ll always get fans who attend the big games; Celtic at home, United away for example. But we need to do more to enhance the match-day experience for every game at every ground so fan attendance can grow in the future, rather than slowly peter out.

Monday night was a prime example of what’s often so wrong in football. Who, in their right mind, believes it to be acceptable for Aberdeen fans to travel to Inverness on a Monday night in Wintery conditions? The easy answer is of course the following in any order: TV deal, BT, money, dictated. But people, including myself, booked time off work, paid petrol, paid the price of a ticket and more than likely had to pay for food and drink too. We’re also out in the freezing cold in a stadium which facilities’ include portaloo’s as toilets, with the match officiated by the most incompetent man ever known in Scottish football.Then, incredibly, we’re asked to do the same just 4 days later.

There’s an apathy amongst supporters, a resignation that this is just how it is and will continue to be. Maybe it’s an Aberdonian thing, one respondent joked that other than winning trophies, the only thing that could improve Pittodrie attendances is 'free lap dancers'. Another stated that 'only delivering the goods on the park' will rise crowds. And this is partly proven. Even when our season ticket prices grew at the rate Mark McGhee’s ego continues to, our average attendance grew with it… thank you Derek McInnes. I say only partly proven because we haven’t done enough in attempt to raise attendances in other ways.

If this lethargic attitude resonates amongst supporters in Scotland, you can be sure nothing will be done by those with the power to change. Yes, the euphoria of a last minute winner is unrivalled no matter what environment it’s in. No supporter could care less whether their pie’s burnt or their seat’s cracked if your idol cracks one in to the top corner against your rivals, but unfortunately this is a rare occurrence! Supporters should want to attend football matches no matter what their league position and form is. They should want to attend because, no matter what dross you can see on the park, it’s still an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

How long will it be before the aforementioned amount of fans who attend regardless of price, drops? When younger people who don’t have the disposable income to fork out hundreds per month find alternative ways to enjoy their weekends? In my eyes, it can’t be long. Positive steps need to be taken to enhance the match-day experience so an environment is created where more supporters can enjoy themselves again.

One can only wonder how long supporters in Scotland will continue to actively support their clubs through blind loyalty alone."

WELCOME TO KILLIE LEE CLARK It would be fair to say that the departure of Gary Locke was not the biggest surprise ever but I have to say that the timing was deplorable. We are not talking in hindsight as we have been tipping his departure for most of this season. He should never have lasted after the horrific defeat at home to Thistle in early December. A decision should have been taken then which would have allowed a few weeks before the transfer window to find a replacement and give the new guy a chance to do some business in the January window.

Sadly the parasites in charge of our famous old club show their total incompetence on a regular basis so it was almost predictable that they would part company with GL at a ridiculous time. I also don;t believe the story that he simply resigned. I was told before the Hamilton game that he would be away if we lost that game, I'm sure a mutual agreement was reached although please don't expect that to be confirmed officially.

I like Gary Locke as a person, he is a decent guy but football is a results driven business and our results were well below an acceptable standard. If you include the "basic" tactics, the constant changing line ups and a disappointing record in the transfer market it was a surprise to nobody when he departed the hallowed grounds. From his first day in the job his obvious problem was trying to put a team on the pitch that didn't concede numerous goals....mainly of the soft variety. Inconsistency was our biggest trait, managing a goalless draw at Parkhead one week followed by shipping five at home to an average Thistle side.

Our home record was appalling, not just the number of defeats but the manner of them. We have had three 4 - 0 losses so far at RP as well as the Thistle fiasco, that is hardly likely to get the missing fans flooding back.GL was in charge for 40 league games with Killie, winning 9, drawing 10 and losing 21. That equates to a win ratio of less than 25% so I suppose it is something of a minor miracle that he lasted as long as he did.

The search for a new boss was fairly entertaining as the media were firing in aname as favourite on a daily basis. There were at least 6 names touted by the media as our next manager - Billy Davies, Ally McCoist, Simo Valakari, Lee Clark, Mark Cooper and Graham Alexander.........here is the list of our recent managers?

FROM

TO

Lee McCulloch

01 Feb, 2016

14/02/16

Gary Locke

07 Feb, 2015

30 Jan, 2016

Allan Johnston

24 Jun, 2013

07 Feb, 2015

Kenny Shiels

02 Apr, 2011

09 Jun, 2013

Mixu Paatelainen

01 Jun, 2010

31 Mar, 2011

Jimmy Calderwood

12 Jan, 2010

31 May, 2010

Jim Jefferies

28 Feb, 2002

11 Jan, 2010

Bobby Williamson

07 Dec, 1996

25 Feb, 2002

Alex Totten

13 Aug, 1994

30 Nov, 1996

Tommy Burns

01 Aug, 1990

12 Jul, 1994

Jim Fleeting

01 Aug, 1989

31 May, 1990

Eddie Morrison

01 Aug, 1985

31 May, 1989

Jim Clunie

01 Jan, 1981

31 May, 1985

Dave Sneddon

15 Oct, 1977

31 Dec, 1981

Willie Fernie

15 Oct, 1973

15 Oct, 1977

Walter McCrae

01 Aug, 1969

15 Oct, 1973

When i was told that GL would be away after the Hamilton game I was also informed that someone was lined up so that part of it was a bit off. Billy Davies was the bookies favourite for much of the time and I do believe he was top of our shopping list but I was told he priced himself out of the job....he is still being paid by Forest as well.

Billy Davies would have been a good appointment in my opinion ashe has a decent record of managing at a decent level, he wouldn't suffer fools gladly and would have injected some much needed discipline and professionalism into the dressing room. He is a bit of a loose cannon all the same and it would have been interesting to see how he got on with the tabloid media and also with our hapless board.

McCulloch did fairly well in charge for the Sevco games and at Fir Park although he had stated that he wasn't ready for the hot seat at present due to his inexperience. He did ok with the team at Ibrox where we had a better shape and the spirit was good. on the down side our ability to keep the ball was much the same and we spent the full second half launching long hopeful punts to big Josh. Our win at Motherwell was excellent and a win in the replay over the orcs may have got the board thinking however it wasn't to be as Sevco overcame our unplayabke surface!!

Ultimately it appeared to come down to a two horse race, Lee Clark and Graham Alexander. Clark was slightly more experienced having had spells in charge at Huddersfield, Birmingham and Blackpool whilst Alexander had his only taste of management at Fleetwood. Clark was given the nod on the day before the cup replay although McCulloch was still reportedly in charge for that match.

So what can we expect of Lee who has never had the pleasure of playing or managing in Scottish football? He cut his teeth at Huddersfield and received a lot of praise for taking them on a famous 43 game unbeaten run. They did have a big budget at the time and he was tasked with getting them up but he missed out in the play offs. Interestingly he signed Callum Higginbotham during his time there.It's difficult to accurately assess his time at the other two as both clubs were cash strapped, run by dictators with no consideration for the fans........right there is probably why he got the job at Killie!! Folk seem a wee bit split on the appointment but in all fairness there are no guarantees whether you appoint an experienced man or a rookie. Quite simply you have to give him a bit of time to turn things around and just like Gary Locke discovered you will be judged on your results....welcome to Killie Lee.

SOUTH BEACH SESSION,

TROON PRESENTS SUNDAY 21ST APRIL 2016 TICKETS £21

southbeachsessions.co.uk

IS TV KILLING FOOTBALL? (writes a concerned fan) When did being a football fan start to feel like such hard work? It’s not that there’s more football in the world than there used to be. What’s changed is the availability and exposure of it all. Anybody with the right sort of television package, mobile phone contract or internet connection should never go more than 24 hours without a game to watch.

Live football dominates the sports channels’ schedules throughout the weekend, from Friday evening to Sunday night and into Monday. Then the Champions League and Europa League pick up the slack between Tuesday and Thursday along with cup ties, replays, and seemingly endless midweek rounds in the Championship.

All of it is televised. Watching football is a seven-day-a-week commitment if you want it to be. And, if you’re handing over a not insignificant amount of money to Sky and BT, or both, you feel compelled to make the effort.

Even if you like football – and why pay for the channels otherwise? – that Mitchell and Webb sketch from almost ten years ago feels closer to the truth than ever. “It is impossible to keep track of all the football,” it warns, “but your best chance is here.”

The point is, you really can’t keep track of it all. One evening you’ll be invited out somewhere, or have to work late, or maybe your housemates will just want to watch an old episode of Columbo instead (“Negative Reaction” featuring Dick Van Dyke comes recommended). Whatever it is, there’ll be a game on somewhere that you’re going to miss. Except, maybe you won’t.

You could follow what people are saying about it on Twitter or watch the highlights later on. Wait until the morning and you can read about it in the paper, or it’ll be discussed on a podcast later in the week. If you want to find out what happened, and why, you can certainly make the effort.

But why? That game’s over; there’s another one on tonight. You know you really should see that goal you missed, though, and judge for yourself whether the defending was as bad as people were saying.

If you haven’t seen it, how can you have an opinion on it? And everybody needs to have an opinion, right?

So you read a match report, google a highlights video, and make up your mind. You’re not really sure why you should care but you feel like you should try, so you do.

It didn’t used to be this way. The start of the Premier League in 1992 was the big bang moment for television coverage of football in Britain but initially a modest two matches per week were shown live. Sky had a highlights package on Sunday mornings, as they still do, but Match of the Day remained how most people kept on top of things.

Unless you could fathom how to use the timer on the VHS player, though, the only way to see that Saturday’s goals was to be at home when the programme started. Although ITV had the rights to the Champions League, with just a single channel and no red button option they could only show one game on a Wednesday night, inevitably involving Manchester United, and always to the chagrin of Coronation Street fans who had to wait until a quarter to ten to catch their show.

Football still had a prominent presence on television 20 years ago but if you missed a game when it was on you did so comfortable in the knowledge you could never see it again. There was no anxiety about catching up and less fear of missing out.

What’s more, you were only expected to be aware of what was happening in the top four divisions in England and, if pushed, how many points Celtic/Rangers were ahead by in Scotland. Channel 4’s coverage of Italian football was a wonderful addition to the weekend’s viewing, especially for those without access to Sky, and it left a generation in awe of players like Roberto Baggio, Gabriel Batistuta and Faustino Asprilla, but the live game on Sunday felt more like a fun backdrop to lunch than an instruction to become an expert on a foreign league.

Although Serie A became harder to watch after it left terrestrial screens in 2002, ending up tucked away on the Bravo channel in between repeats of Knight Rider at one stage, it’s since found a home on BT Sport along with the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the Portuguese league. Sky has been broadcasting La Liga games for two decades and, in response to BT’s

encroachment into Premier League coverage and huge investment in European football, now routinely makes all matches in Spain available to watch live.

Given how the kick-off times are spread out one after the other, you could feasibly devote the equivalent of two days’ waking hours to watching Spanish football.

The MLS and Australian A-League both receive regular coverage on Sky and BT, respectively, their late night and early morning scheduling topping and tailing the weekend’s viewing for the most dedicated of all.

The choice is brilliant but terrifying. Having that many games thrust at you every week, the words that taunt Homer Simpson when he’s condemned to hell’s Ironic Punishment Division spring to mind: “So you like football, eh? Well, have all the football in the world!”

With all that football out there, it’s only natural for it to be the subject of not just newspapers and magazines but blogs, podcasts and dedicated YouTube channels. On Twitter, football in all its incarnations is there being discussed in perpetuity for you to dip in and out of whenever you choose. It’s now perfectly possible to have a conversation with somebody online about the Austrian top flight, if that’s your thing, that goes into much greater depth than the average chat about the Premier League at work.

Simply following your own team and whatever division they’re in no longer seems enough. The pressure to recall who won the Eredivisie last season or to name the top scorer in Germany remains, lest you feel inferior. The knowledge is available if you want to seek it out, and people do.

But would you be any less of a fan if you didn’t bother?

Hippo says – Another fine article and the influence of the TV companies is there for all to see. We had a strange situation for the sevco cup replay whereby the game was not shown on any TV channel simply because it was a Champions League night and no other games can be broadcast on the night. I believe the English FA were fined millions for breaching this rule a few years back.

I think it was Brian Clough who stated many years ago that TV would kill football. He may well be proved right especially down south where the money is obscene and it simply is not sustainable in the long term. Once TV decides to channel their money elsewhere a few clubs will be in serious financial trouble.

Up here in Scotland the money has gone from the game, we ignored the fans when Sky first appeared on the scene and we are suffering for that now......too many clowns running football clubs in my opinion!

DO WE HAVE THE BOTTLE? For a long time now we appear to have diced with relegation in the nether regions in the Self Preservation League but the nerves are jangling bit time as many fans fear for us this time around. There is no doubt the new manager has a huge responsibility on his shoulders to preserve our longstanding stay in the top league.

I'm writing this on the eve of our game at Motherwell and a win there would be a fantastic psychological boost as we would leapfrog them into 10th.

Defeat would be more than bleak and would see a bigger gap developing between us and safety. I could churn out some pathetic cliches (nothing new I hear you say) about this being a massive 6 pointer but every game is the same when you are sitting 11th....they are all HUGE. I was driving down the road after the recent Hamilton defeat and they went to report on the St Mirren v Alloa game. The reporter was saying the buddies fans would be delighted that their team had just got their first home win of the season. That is a remarkable stat that a team who spent years in the SPL got to the end of January before managing a win in a league with Alloa, Dumbarton, Cowdenbeath and Raith. That is a start reminder of what can happen when you go down and with our financial worries I have no doubt a drop would have a catastrophic effect on us.

It's not like back in the day when a relegation meant a few years out the league, some memorable trips around the country before we returned to our place in the top tier. the times have changed and I really fear what would happen if we went down. Here is a look at how things stand before the Motherwell game: 7th - Inverness - Pl 23......29pts 8th - Partick Th - Pl 23.....28 pts 9th - Hamilton - Pl 25.....28 pts 10th Motherwell - Pl 24....26 pts 11th Killie - Pl 25.......24 pts 12th Dundee Utd Pl 23.....13 pts

Our recent result at Tannadice was a real horror story as a win there would effectively have sent the arabs down. All of a sudden they have a belief that they can get back into it and although it seems unlikely I wouldn't be at all surprised if they catch up with the pack and avoid the automatic relegation spot. Here is a wee run through the other bottom 6 contenders.......Dundee are only just above ICT and could still get dragged into it but we will concentrate on the six teams above: Inverness They have had a few seasons to remember including silverware and European trips but it looks like they are on the slide....any team who have been beaten twice by Killie needs to take a look at themselves!!

Yogi has done a good job but it is hard to maintain their great run on small crowds and little cash. I dont think they will go down this year but stranger things have happened....just look at Hibs when Butcher took over and dragged them to oblivion.

Partick Th. The Harry Wraggs are much like most of the teams around us......hugely inconsistent. At one stage earlier in the season they looked gubbed but they went on a great wee run that took them a few places up the table. they are capable of going on another downer all the same and I find it impossible to predict where they will end up.

I would say the bottom five teams in the wee table above are all relegation contenders and that includes the paranoid Maryhill Killie haters. I fancy the post split games this season are going to be tension fraught, way more so than normal.

Hamilton Accies A few weeks ago I reckoned we would be able to get above this lot and I'm still hopeful that is the case. They have been on a truly awful run though of course they did manage a win against us at RP. Their home record is appalling and if they dont go down this year I fancy they will in the next campaign.

Yet again a win over them the other week would have been huge however that defeat did have the benefit of getting us a new manager to look forward to. i'm hopeful the introduction of a new boss will give us a wee boost and I'm not sure accies have a lot of fight left in them.

Motherwell They took action earlier in the season as Barraclough, a strange appointment in the first place, proved not to be up to the task. They got the initial new boss boost when Mcghee came in but things have gone a bit flat and they are still bang there in the middle of the scrap.They dropped rapidly last year and only a memorable victory over Sevco in the play offs saw them remain in the top league. It will be interesting to see how they look tomorrow as they havent impressed me in the previous two games....even though they beat us 1 - 0 both times. There was also another administraion rumour doing the rounds recently......maybe that is our best chance of staying up!!

Killie Well where do we start.....it goes without saying that Locke should have been away yonks ago and if we go down I will whole the board fully responsible due to their inaction when it was obvious that GL was never going to be a long term solution.

Not for one minute do I think our squad is the worst in the league however the table doesn't lie and we need to bring a boss who will get us playing to our full potetntial....and he needs to do that in double quick time. I have no idea how it will all end but our gradual decline shows no sign of stopping and the only way to reverse that is get rid of the hotel thieves....if they are left in charge they will take us down eventually.

Dundee Utd The arabs have had a spectacular fall from grace and it can mainly be attributed to selling all their best players to the giro worshippers. Mixu has been brought in but the big Finn and his team have a mountain to climb. All is not lost yet but they need to go on a run of wins, something they do in the weeks ahead as they have some winnable looking fixtures.

When Mixu arrived at Killie he took a while to get his thoughts across but once things clicked into place we went on a great run. There is a worry he may do the same at Tannadice and if that happens there are 5 teams who will be stocking up on Andrex.

I'm famously hopeless at predictions but for what its worth I predict both Hamilton and Dundee utd will go down, one in a play off with hibs who may eventually find some bottle. As to whether Killie have the bottle or not, that will mainly come down to the new manager and if he can turn things around in a short space of time. Strap yourselves in folks, we are in for another end of season Killie rollercoaster.

KILLIE BITS AND PIECES The transfer window was reasonably uneventful probably due to our complete lack of cash. The only player heading out was young Adam Hodge who was very highly rated but suffered a bad injury a year or two back which may have affected him. He has decided to give up football altogether and has signed for the scum.

Seriously good luck to Adam who comes from a good Killie family and I'm sure would have loved to have pulled on the stripes for the team he supports. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The flip side was we brought in a couple of players, one who fills the problematic right back position. I have to say I have been well impressed with Lee Hodson although he is only on loan from MK Dons at present. He lacks a bit of height but seems to have a good attitude and seems a natural full back.

Our other signing is Gary Dicker who we signed on a deal from Carlisle. He seems to play in the holding midfield role and has featured in every game since he arrived. Good luck to both and lets hope they play their part in securing another our safety. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> You will be aware the Killie Trust have been in a prolonged discussion with the club to invest money and get a seat on the board. You can probably guess what has been holding up things however it seems the trust are closer than they have ever been.

If I was being cynical I would say that's because the club desperately need cash but the important thing is the Trust are successful....good luck lads and lassies.

THE WISDOM OF GARY It's quite amusing, or maybe it's just pretty sad, when a recently departed manager speaks to the press to give his words of wisdom.......here is what GL had to say after he left the Theatre of Pies: Former manager Gary Locke is sure Kilmarnock can move away from the bottom end of the Scottish Premiership.

Locke resigned on 30 January following a 1-0 home defeat to Hamilton, with the Ayrshire club occupying the relegation play-off place.

But Locke is proud of the work he did developing young players and believes the team can salvage their season.

"I'm more than confident that the squad of players they have is good enough to get them out of trouble," he said.

"Looking at the league table, it's very tight. If the club get a couple of wins then they can get themselves up the league.

"I'm hopeful that they can kick on and finish well."

'The right thing to do' Following a spell as assistant to Allan Johnston, Locke, 40, was put in temporary charge in February 2015 and signed a three-year contract in April.

He won 11 of his 43 games in charge.

"It was a big decision," he said of his resignation on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "I just felt that, for me, it was the right thing to do.

"It was frustrating. You'd go and get a great result at Parkhead and then the following week you'd lose four or five goals.

"It went from one extreme to another and, as the manager, you've got to take responsibility for that.

"Looking back, you'd maybe do one or two things differently.

"Certainly, off the pitch, a lot of things people don't see, needed to be improved.

"They didn't have any sport scientist or a gym at the stadium and I thought that was important, certainly for the younger players.

"One positive I can take from my time there is that I put a lot of young players into the team and a lot of them have done well.

"I could have maybe brought in a couple more players rather than helping the club off the pitch.

"But I thought it was only right to address those issues and those young players are fitter and stronger than they were this time last year."

Expectation levels Locke spent the last seven years of his playing career at Kilmarnock, leaving in 2009, and notices a big difference in the financial climate.

"When I played, Kilmarnock spent a lot of money and we regularly finished in the top six," he said.

"The board were great to me and they want what's best for the club but they simply don't have the money that they used to have.

"I think maybe expectation levels need to be looked at.

"But, with the players they've got, they should be in a position to challenge for the top six and if you look at the table they can still do that."

So there you have it, GL makes his way back through to the East with a win ratio of less than 25%.....that is all you need to look at in terms of why it wasn't good enough. I would like to highlight a couple of things he said.

Firstly I don't think for one minute that it was a simple resignation, I'm sure a mutually beneficial deal was agreed although we will never know the real story.

Regarding bringing through young players I always got the impression he only played then when he had to rather than through having a great desire to introduce youngsters. Maybe that is a bit harsh but I always felt he opted for experience over youth, probably a trait he learned from JJ and we all know how that ended.

Finally he does make some reference to off field matters and I have no doubt that it must be very difficult operating under a clueless and self serving board.......I wonder how the new boss will cope with them.

I'm not quite sure where GL will go from here as his spell at Killie will not enhance his CV. Alan johnston had to go back down the leagues to get a job and I fancy GL will do the same or for his own good he may look at being an assistant rather than a number 1. it didn't work out at Killie but no hard feelings Gary and good luck for the future.

GET WELL SOON MARTIN

IT WAS INTERESTING TO HEAR WORLD CHAMPION BOXER TYSON FURY SAY HE WOULD FIGHT ANYONE ON EARTH BUT NO MONEY WOULD TEMPT HIM TO PLAY FOOTBALL ON THE KILLER RUGBY PARK SURFACE. OUR SINCERE BEST WISHES GO TO THE WAGHORN FAMILY SEEN HERE AT CROSSHOUSE HOSPITAL SOON AFTER MARTIN TRIPPED OVER A MARS BAR WRAPPER...GET WELL SOON YA HALFWIT

CHARITY NIGHT Huge thanks to everyone who supported our recent charity night and helped to make it such a great success. Killie fans had the pleasure of seeing many top guests including Peter Canero, Jimmy McGuire, John Bourke, Mark Reilly plus Anne and Jimmy Clark.

A superb nights entertainment was provided by Graham Mackie, Jimmy McGuire and Matt Scott and on the night we raised ÂŁ2050 which will be doubled by the mighty generous Santander.

The money will be split between the Ayrshire Samaritans and Reverse Retts charity....both hugely worthwhile causes.

All the hard work from everyone was well worth the time and effort so we'll probably do it again next year....Cheers

SPFL 16/1/16 KILLIE 2 V 1 ICT KILLIE GOALS – KILTIE 9, SLATER 51 ICT GOALS – DRAPER 41 REF – D ROBERTSON

CROWD - 2937

DICK OF THE DAY – LOTTO DUDE

Two wins at home to Inverness this year so we must be a bogey team to them or they are just rank rotten.

We could have given the award to big Yogi as any boss who loses to us twice this season must have issues. Perhps they suffered frostbite coming down the A9 or maybe the players simply couldnt understand Yogi's ridiculous accent but either way he just missed the gong. I could have given it to Slater for providing a moment that almost gave me a heart attack as I sat with my fat butt frozen to the plastic seat.

However the award goes to the lotto dude who failed to pull my numbers the night before. Had he done so I would have been on the first plane to Tenerife rather than sitting in sub zero temperatures for two hours......I'm still thawing out.

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SPL 23/1/16 ARABS 5 V 1 KILLIE ARAB GOALS – SPITTAL 8, 39 DUMAN 32, RANKIN 44 DILLON 78 KILLIE GOALS - MAGENNIS REF – E ANDERSON

CROWD - 7729

DICK OF THE DAY – GARY LOCKE The old saying goes that if a team desperately needs a result then just play Killie.....however this takes it to another level. A win today would effectively have relegated the Arabs but in time served Killie fashion we were absolutely honking and we added another embarrassing defeat to our list. GL has to shoulder the blame and in all fairness should have been away a while ago.

SPFL 30/1/16 KILLIE 0 V 1 ACCIES HAMILTON GOALS – MORRIS 71 REF – S FINNIE

CROWD - 7729

DICK OF THE DAY – PARASITES If we go down this season the blame will lie firmly at the feet of the board who kept faith with GL for way too long. The new manager is being brought in after the window is closed and will be asked to keep us up somehow.

I got told from a couple of good sources before kick off that GL would be away if we got beaten and also that we had someone lined up to replace him. Only time will tell but the damage may already be done and pathetic performances like today provide evidence that we simply may not be good enough.

Strap yourself in tight folks, it's going to be another nerve wracking run in. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CUP 6/2/16 ORCS 0 V 0 KILLIE GOALS – TO GUB THEM IN THE REPLAY REF – A MUIR

CROWD - 5388

DICK OF THE DAY – GOVAN WHITE SOCKS You know you have made it in life when you get locked in after the game at Scotland's newest team. As if it isn't bad enough listening to their bigoted vile for nearly two hours we are locked in to absorb the smell for an extra 15 minutes.

Big McCulloch was in charge and there can be no complaints about the effort, the organisation and the great support from the Killie fans. My criticisim is we gave them way too much respect and sat far too deep in the second half. Itwas a lack of belief that we have seen under almost every manager apart from Kenny Shiels.

A draw was a decent outcome all the same but lets hope we can show a wee bit more ambition back at our place. The award goes to the subway loyal, I had almost forgotten how paranoid they really are!

SPFL 13/2/16 WELL 0 V 2 KILLIE KILLIE GOALS – KILTIE 56, SLATER 61 REF – A DALLAS

CROWD – 3764

DICK OF THE DAY – STEWARDS We are always harping on about the clubs and authorities doing all they can too make the matchday experience as crap as possible. You would expect a game between these two clubs would want as many fans as possible but they are all a bit weird up there.

As me and wee Kaz arrived well before kick off we were greeted by a line of hi vis rottweilers who were carrying out a search before getting into the game. I've seen it all now, a body search in Motherwell......irony overload. Sadly I didnt have any knives on me but the kind stewards ensured I was issued with a nachete before going into the game. Finally well played to Mcculloch and the players for a fine display and a well deserved win.

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CUP 16/2/16 KILLIE 1 V 2 SEVCO KILLIE GOALS – MCKENZIE 7 ORC GOALS – WAGHORN (PEN) 3 CLARK 90 REF – B MADDEN

CROWD - 13179

DICK OF THE DAY – WARBURTON When you play this lot you epext soft refs, a penalty to them and a late goal.....we got all three. Sadly it was a re-run of the first game, we did well first half then retreated to defend in the second giving them way too much possession and way too much respect.

I havent seen the highlights but it seems the penalty was soft although it did look like gone at the game. Waghorn got up, scored the kick then got injured in the celebrations and along with his manager blamed the pitch!! I'm no fan of the plastic pitch but the lack of class and respect from this horrible lot is disgusting....lets pray for another administration for them.

SPFL 20/2/5 KILLIE 0 V 0 DEES KILLIE – MCDONALD, HODSON, FINDLAY, BALATONI, MCHATTIE, DICKER, SLATER, OBADEYI (BOYD 61), KILTIE (HIGGINBOTHAM 61), MCKENZIE, MAGENNIS SUBS NOT USED – BRENNAN, O'HARA, CARRICK, FRIZZELL + ASHCROFT BOOKED – MCHATTIE GOALS – NAH >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> DUNDEE UTD – BAIN, MCGINN, KONRAD, O'DEA, HOLT, MCGOWAN, ROSS, STEWART, HARKINS (WIGHTON 84), LOY, HEMMINGS SUBS NOT USED – MITCHELL, ETXABEGUREN, RODRIGUEZ, BLACK, KERR + GADZHALOV BOOKED – LOY GOALS – SFA REF – E ANDERSON

CROWD - 3688

DICK OF THE DAY – LEE CLARK Another day where I was literally frozen to the seat, it was beyond chanking as we took our place to see if the new boss could bring a new dawn. He has been fairly well received and personally I just look at LC like any other new manager that arrives......give him a chance.

However he does need to acclimatise to the harsh reality of life at RP. Anyone worth their salt plus a huge number of dicks have collected the award so lets not beat about the bush and give the new boss the award simply for being the new boss. He can stick it on his manterlpiece, it will look good beside next season's Scottish Cup.

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We all turned up hoping to see a new Killie who could continue our recent improvement and get us climbing a few places. Early signs were good as we set about Dundee with a purpose. We should have been a couple in front at half time but we couldn't take a chance. They were much likelier in the second half and as the game wore on a draw always looked about right. We need to get our arse in gear as we have a hard run of games coming up.

WHO WANTS THE ARMBAND? From what Lee Clark has said in his early interviews there are a 101 things he wants to change around the place........what about the board Lee?? Seriously, the Newcastle loving boss has a massive task to keep us up and I'm hopeful that he will improve us next season....if only we can survive this one.

He has already made comments regarding our fitness and the training regime is something he is changing straight away it seems. He is talking about them training at 3pm in the day, that will play havoc with their visits to bookies and coffee shops. I've no doubt we should be fitter all the same and anything that makes it happen is good in my book.

I'm sure every manager likes to get to know his squad as quickly as possible to assess strengths and weaknesses and maybe try to pick out some natural leaders who are captain material....and that is something we seem to lack. You have to feel sorry for Mark Connelly as he has had a nightmare time with injury....he has just had a hip operation and is out for the season.

I reckon it must be some sort of record but sofar this season we have been captained by McDonald, Connelly, Hammill, Boyd, Smith and McKenzie. There may even have been one or two more but the point is we do not have one outstanding candidate. Maybe Clark will bring in his own man during the summer or maybe someone like Balatoni could fill the void......he is about the only one who hasn't had a bash!!

SCOTTISH CUP QUARTER FINAL DRAW

The draw for the Scottish Cup quarter finals was held last week and to give it some credibility it was made by the Chuckle brothers.

The stick out game of the round is Ross County v Partizan Belgrade with the game to be played at Disneyland. The losers of the tie will go through to the semi finals while the winners will be