Hippo - March 21

KILLIE HIPPO AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE MARCH 2021

THAT’S MORE LIKE IT

 BOBBY WILLIAMSON REFLECTIONS  THE HISTORY OF THE 20/20  R.I.P. RYAN

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SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO Let’s rewind to 1996 - 1997 and run through a few things that happened that season. One manager bagged and a new manager brought in – CHECK. An early round of the cup sees us get a “soft” penalty – CHECK. Our glorious cup run sees a Killie player grab a hat trick – CHECK. All the above happened while we were in the middle of a relegation battle – CHECK. Yes all that seems in order so they’d be as well just sending the trophy down the M77 next week. We’re doing them all a favour as it’s a compressed season so this would free up some Saturdays for the beaks.

Hello again Killie chums and once again I’m running a bit late with this edition. I have no excuse other than my brain is frozen and there ain’t enough hours in the day. I promise it won’t happen again……if you believe that then you’ll believe the scum are going to end their trophyless history this season!!!

It’s been a roller coaster few weeks for the stressed out Killie die hards as we hit a low after a sickening defeat in Dingwall was followed by a fantastic win v Motherwell and a very satisfactory Scottish Cup weekend. Let’s not get carried away here, at present all we have done is drag ourselves off bottom place and results in the post split games are traditionally erratic.

The fixtures have been pretty fair as we have 3 home fixtures to look forward to with the first game at home to Ross County falling into the “ultimate 6 pointer” category. They are a funny lot, Yogi has had a few tremendous results but they lost meekly at home to Inverness in the cup and they can’t be in the most positive frame of mind as they head down to Killieshire. Momentum is a great thing in football and another win for Killie would see us climb into 10th place and give us something truly meaningful to cling onto.

I’m not sure if the cup games are going to be an unwanted distraction or a fantastic chance to create some more history but we’ll plump for the latter as we are in a wee run of form. Probably the key to our season will be keeping Lafferty fit for the remaining fixtures as he is streets ahead of our other strikers. The big man seems to be enjoying his time at Killie and it’s vital he steers clear of injury or suspension.

Elsewhere in the team we are looking a bit threadbare at centre half with big Stuart away to the States whilst Dikamona and Medley are on the treatment table. That would be my only other main worry at present though I’d much prefer that TW stuck to McGowan rather than Millen at right back. I’m also hoping Greg Kiltie is nearly fit again as he gives us some creativity we lack at times.

Thanks again for all the articles although sadly we have another obituary in this issue. I’d ask you all to raise a glass for Ryan on the 19th….KTID Sandy

LOOKING BACK WITH BOBBY WILLIAMSON (Taken from cfbfootball.com) TA man who is so well known within Scottish football is Bobby Williamson, having played at Clydebank, Rangers, West Brom, Rotherham and Kilmarnock as a striker scoring over 140 goals in his professional career. He then turned his hand rather unexpectedly to management where he went on to have a 20-year career. He took the helm at Scottish sides Kilmarnock and Hibernian, English sides Plymouth and Chester City and then went on a fascinating adventure across Africa.

This is the first in a series of pieces taken from an interview with Bobby where we talk about his playing career, managerial career and of course the truly unique experience of international and club management across the African continent. First off Bobby’s managerial career. How he got into it and winning the Scottish Cup in his first year of management with Kilmarnock.

Coaching was something that Bobby had never really considered as a player but when faced with the options after retirement he couldn’t see himself doing anything outside of football, so considering this, was Bobby surprised by how long he did end up managing in the game?

‘It does still, it does still surprise me to this day but when I was offered a place at Kilmarnock a team that I knew so well. They were a good bunch of players, I knew the club upside-down, I knew the players and the ones who were ready to make the step up from the youth academy so for me it was a no brainer.

But then I remember the disappointment of losing my first game in charge against Dundee United, but I remember on the Monday after saying to the players “Look you’re disappointed and you’re grieving but that is what it’s all about”

I essentially told them that unless they wanted to feel like this every week then they have to be able to make that step up, the level that is required to play in the first division because I was going to be bringing young lads through that I know can challenge for their spots. And I think they took note of that, which I am very happy about, because obviously we went on to have a fantastic season.’

Bobby’s quick transition into an unexpected coaching career couldn’t have really started any better, a high placed finished in the league, European football and best of all winning the prestigious Scottish Cup! A feat that had only been achieved by the club twice before and over half a century ago! What was that cup run like as an experience to Bobby?

‘Well they were all really tough games in the lead up to that final, the players had worked hard and really enjoyed it. But then for the final itself we had a fortnight to prepare, so the week before the final we had a big get together, a few drinks were consumed, I was still close friends with a lot of the players in that squad, but in the end we won because of the work we put in on the pitch and on the training fields beforehand. But it was absolutely tremendous and the day itself was fantastic’ But a whole other layer to this final was that not only was this a massive occasion for the club, who had finished runners up in five of their previous final appearances, but also for Bobby as the manager who faced off against Falkirk who were now managed by Alex Totten, the man that Bobby had just replaced at Kilmarnock! Had this caused any tension or piled more pressure onto Bobby beforehand?

‘To me there was no extra pressure, a cup final is a cup final, there is enough pressure as it is. But if anything, maybe it was felt more by Alex than it was by me. He was the one who had developed that team who I was coaching, I had only really brought through a few kids. I never really brought any new players in. But the young players I had brought through were showing fantastic enthusiasm and they helped some of the players who had become slightly disillusioned earlier in the season and had their heads down.

And it was those lads that I brought in who helped push on the rest of the team to the season we had. But no from my perspective there was no added pressure because of Alex being in the other dugout’ But what then is it really like to win a major trophy as a manager?

Having gone through the training and preparation for weeks, the pressure and fan anticipation on your back, to then have it all work in a cup final where it matters most, you might never get to experience those emotions ever again.

‘To be honest it’s relief more than anything else, and the enjoyment comes a bit later. But obviously I know Alex very well so it was very disappointing for him in his career, so I went over and shook his hands straight away because you know that both of you as managers may never get that opportunity again, so for as relived as I was, I was also aware that it was an upsetting time for Alex.

But then after that I go over to our guys, I praise everyone, started celebrating and I’m more than aware that this was going to carry on for a while anyway. But I never took a step back from any of the celebrations, you have to remember I had just finished playing, so a lot of the players who had just won that trophy were also players that I had actually played with! You know a lot of the core of that team were still there from my playing days so you can’t help but feel a part of that, even as the manager’ Bobby ended up staying at Kilmarnock for 6 years. He led Killie to four top four finishes, a league cup Semi-final and Final. But then in 2002 Bobby after 12 years at the club as a player and a manger he left and went onto manage Hibernian. His story there and many more all still to come.

Hippo says – there was lots of talk recently about whether we should go “novice” or “experience” when it came to appointing a new manager. It’s a gamble either way but Killie got lucky going down the novice route with both Tommy Burns and Bobby Williamson. BW has a record that stands scrutiny against the best and he had us in Europe on a regular basis. It was good to hear recently that he is doing well health wise out in Africa.

REMEMBER THOSE MAD AWAY DAYS? (writes Jamie Hume) League Cup Semi Final v Falkirk at Fir Park. As everyone will remember, traffic was chaos, don’t think many made it on time for kick off. So here we are, stuck on a motorway, no sign of the bus moving. And what's that we see? Football Stadium lights, right screw it, 6 of us jump out, and make our way up a steeeeeep embankment, and make our way towards these glorious light's. We approach and nobody to be seen, Killie or Falkrik fans, 2 bottles of MD 20/20 can sway a man's judgement.

We ask a passer by what side are Killie in mate?.....eh sorry son but thats Hamilton's grun, your wanting Motherwell.....ah shit. 3 of the group offer this guy £30 to drop them off, sure no problem. We flag a Taxi.....£12.70.

Make it into ground just as Naisy scores his 2nd. Place was packed, and ended up having to stand on the stairway.

Oh for a Killie away day. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hippo says – As much as I preach that RP is the home of football I must confess that I absolutely love a good away day with the boozehounds. The Killie away support, in terms of percentage to the home crowd has always been up there with the best in the country and the fans who travel always create a cracking atmosphere…..who said alcohol has no part to play in modern day football!!

I yearn for the next away day and I have great memories of that night in Motherwell even if the journey was a nightmare. Ironically we have been given a great Scottish Cup draw that gives us a great opportunity to progress to Hampden but there will (probably) be no fans allowed….just our luck!!

PREMIERSHIP OR CHAMPIONSHIP? PART 2 We wrote a wee article in the next issue about our “squeaky bum” run in as we find ourselves in the midst of another relegation battle. Our parting shot in that article was that we had faith in Tommy to keep us up and that is still the case however another hugely important figure has emerged.

It would be fair to say that Kyle Lafferty wouldn’t have been everyone’s cup of tea prior to signing for Killie as he was touted as being a bit of a loose cannon whilst it’s no secret that he’s a follower of the club who avoid face painter bills. In all fairness we have to accept that we won’t get a team of Killie die hards and I’m very much of the view that everyone deserves a chance and if they do the biz for Killie I’m not too fussed where their loyalties lie.

As stated before the club left it way to late to fire Alex Dyer and bring in the new boss……the timing at the end of January was horrendous. This left TW with very limited options in bringing in new faces and we were beyond lucky that someone of Lafferty’s calibre was available and willing to give it a bash at the Theatre of Pies.

We also had the added issue of getting him fit so it’s fair to say that time was not on our side. Our defeat at Dingwall was a proverbial boot in the Grand Halls and even though big Kyle was starting to find the net we continued to chuck them in at the other end. The following weekend was a possible turning point for us as both Hamilton and Ross County lost their games in hand which gave us something to play for.

KL was hugely influential the following week as we stuck 4 past Motherwell and another 4 goal haul in the cup has given us renewed optimism. It may well be that KL is our saviour…there’s a line I never dreamt I’d ever write!!

WILL HAMPDEN HOST THE EUROS? (taken from Scottishfsa.org) The wonderful news this week is the scheduled return of football in SPFL1 and 2, the SWPL1 and the Scottish cup.

But first the Euros and the pressure of time counting down on our old pal, ex soldier, karate black belt and well known petrol head, Sandy fae Slovenia.

For weeks we have been following the tortuous decision that Mr Aleksander Ceferin (to use his Sunday name), the head of Uefa has to make.

He is well aware that he is running out of time to ensure he makes the right financial decisions about his Euro’s.

Every day he can be seen staring at the final, final, final red mark on the Colin Baxter wall calendar we sent him in December.

His big red circle is around the 7th of April, coincidentally the day his martial arts hero Jackie Chan was born.

It is also the day he has to either hold the faith and keep his already postponed Euro’s Tournament as is, across 12 cities and nations or make changes.

In a growing state of agitation none of his 3 options are easy for him or us to call right now.

1 Stay as it is and maximise the art of the possible on a city per city basis when more is known.

2 Tweak it so it stays mostly as it is but making some changes and plans to minimise any last minute crises.

3 Move it all to one venue. Indeed first Israel and now London have made it known they could host the complete tournament.

The reality in a week where tonight’s Raith v Dunfermline game was called off because of an unforeseen Covid outbreak is that there will almost certainly be Covid appearances somewhere during the tournament.

Sandy deep down knows that.

He has to have a Plan B that factors in the very real risks.

GIVE JIM A CALL AND QUOTE “KILLIE HIPPO” TO RECEIVE THE BEST PRICE AVAILABLE

Sandy Ceferin the Fans Advocate?

In the press you will have read that Sandy has pledged that fans must be allowed into games.

The reasons we are told and read are things like “fans create the atmosphere, enhance the games, make it a better tournament” and other platitudinal PR’d stuff like that.

The reality is simpler and baser.

UEFA want the tournament to make a profit and need bums on seats at grounds to make their numbers work.

I’ve seen different figures but they require between 30% and 40% capacity at all games.

They are rightly worried.

The Pre April 7th Game Has Kicked Off 12 stadia, 12 governments, 12 different and wildly fluctuating Covid situations, 12 different football associations and no certainty with an ever mutating virus.

So ahead of April 7th Sandy has come out stirring and using the giant spurtle we sent him for his birthday for maximum effect.

Stirring away to see what it brings.

Looking for financial guarantees.

He and his team have identified (picked on) three venues and leaked they may be dropped altogether, having done nothing wrong.

Hampden, Dublin and Bilbao are reportedly in his firing line for not guaranteeing crowds at each of their 4 allocated games.

Sandy is desperate enough to believe political leaders like Boris who says with verve that he can even hold more games, with crowds guaranteed and is overtly positive.

We can see through that but it makes Scotland look distinctly unwelcoming and uncooperative compared to our near neighbour even though our virus metrics are lower.

Boris’s populist style is a stark contrast to our pragmatic style but it’s all bluster.

The fact is that nobody actually knows.

Not Sandy, Not Boris, Not Nicola.

Ceferin’s pressure though is working and Nicola and her team, ahead of elections, seem to have blinked first.

“Nobody wants Scotland to lose the Euros and I don’t think that we should be thinking that is the case.

All countries are grappling with giving indications to Uefa of what will be possible with fan attendance and fan zones.

Let’s stick with the (Covid) rules just now so that the Euros and much more besides becomes possible”.

In response to Ms Sturgeon well known assistant referee and Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross said, “The UK’s leading vaccine roll out has made the possible return of fans possible”.

An interesting statement.

Speaking as a Scottish based, under 65, unvaccinated and so far un-contacted member of the public I can confirm the current vaccination logistics will preclude most fans under 65 in Scotland from attending Hampden games.

I say this because our 50s to 65s age group will only get their first jag by late March/ mid April. The required second, 12 weeks later, will be well towards the end of the Euros.

Younger adults will be even later.

Mr Ross’s is right to praise our programme of vaccinations but it will be too late to be of any use for most of our potential fan base.

So who will be fully vaccinated by 14 June when the first game is scheduled and therefore who could be at Hampden?

Most of our senior citizens (the over 65s) will have been jagged twice and potentially vaccination passport-ed up too by then and all the better for it.

And there is a growing cohort of those currently getting the jag early from carers to health workers to others.

Can we find 25,000 or even more for 4 games as Douglas sees possible?

Of course.

So Hampden can be roaring again, just not with certain age groups, simples.

THE HISTORY OF THE 20/20 EST. 1994 How and when did the 20/20 come about: A large group of us had been travelling on the infamous Auld Hoose bus since its inception in our second division season 1989/90. The stories from there could fill a book. When the bus stopped at the end of 93/94, our group of mates formed the 20/20,named after our favourite tipple at the time.

We teamed up with The Clansman but in all honesty, we were all still young and wild and The Clansman lads didn't like people smoking "exotic cigarettes " on the bus so we parted ways pretty quickly. And started going from Route 66 (now Oceans). Don't ask me why, it was never a regular haunt of ours!

One day on the bus back from work, I got talking to Hughie the driver of the Shuttle Bus and he offered me a cheap deal for bus hire. We agreed to it within days and this became our mode of transport for most matches. Poor Hughie regretted making the offer on many an away day!

Did the bus continue to go from the same venue?

I think we left after one season. We had a player of the year dance in Burlington Berties where everyone got drunk and several members insisted on making rambling speeches on the microphone. Mark Reilly got awarded POTY. He got a lovely trophy and a bottle of MD! We teamed up with The Burns SC the following season to travel with their regulars such as the Parker brothers. We've had a few spells leaving from there and also The Garage, Papa B's , Wheatsheaf etc. As time went on , our numbers basically took over the bus. A reoccurring theme which I've noticed is as older members go less a younger crowd pick up the baton. Pre Covid we were leaving from The Portmann.

Why was the bus different?

Basically, because it was organised by "the youth." The first couple of years so a few hair raising incidents but that was how football was if you were young then. Things gradually changed over a couple of years and the bus got a reputation for legendary days out . We were well organised in the respect that we knew the best pubs to go to in Edinburgh , Aberdeen etc and we'd leave early to ensure maximum fun was had. The house music tapes and cds would be blaring by Glasgow and half the time it looked more like a bus to a rave!

One trip to Aberdeen was a final away day of the season. We left on a Sunday morning and most were still drunk from the night before. You can imagine what we were like by the evening kick off. Nevertheless, you don't survive 26 years without knowing what you are doing and we are lucky that over the years the likes of Stuart Little, Michael Caldow, Richard Allison, Michael Higgins and more have kept the bus running superbly.

Do you run a bus to every match?

We tend not to run a bus to games in the Glasgow area much as it's not always financially viable. Also, a large chunk of our regulars aren't from Killie so for games like that they make their own arrangements. We run buses to most games apart from that though. We decided that for the "Stuart Findlay" game at Tynecastle we'd go by train. It was still one of the most memorable days in 20/20 history.

Has there been many other memorable 20/20 days?

I'd be here all day , but all the European trips stand out. Raving in Prague and Frankfurt, climbing the stadium fences in Nice etc etc.....however , up there with any of this was the trip to the "game that never was" in Belgrade and Budapest.

We'd organized a boat party and Gary Staffords pal from Belgrade played at it. Dusan is a great guy but I wondered how a techno set on a boat would go down with the Killie faithful. I needn't have worried, the boat basically became like a rave. If you haven't seen the videos you should, an unforgettable experience.

The other game that stands out is when about 30 of us got a National Express bus to Aberdeen on a Saturday morning even though the game was live on Sky on the Sunday night! We ended up at a rave in the woods after the club's shut on the Saturday night, turns out one of the guys involved had been in my class at school! We got a couple hours sleep then drank in Union Street until kick off.

One nil victory secured, we scadged our way onto various supporters buses and were home for The Garage. 😊 YouTube footage of that game appears to show about 1000 Killie fans up at the game, unreal for a Sunday night match.

Plans for the future?

Well, everything is obviously up in the air at present but as we have a passionate young support base involved in our bus I'm very confident of us continuing way into the future. We have members who have enthusiastically been involved in the running of the club such as Ally Ross, Gaz and Ryan Kirkland plus many more.

Like I said, you don't survive unless people are organized when running the club. I'd also like to say that although we are known as Bon Viveurs, women, children and couples have all travelled with us and enjoyed the experience. Come to think of it mind you, they never come back............I'm joking of course, and all are welcome to travel with us.

ALAN B CRAIG

Hippo says – Brilliant stuff from Ding and huge thanks for taking the time to give a brief history of one of the few well established travel clubs. It doesn’t do justice to how difficult it is to have lasted this long given the amount of cash bus companies take these days. There is a bit of a theme in this issue with fans writing about their “away day” experiences and the 20/20 lads create as much atmosphere at away grounds as any. I still need to find out why they all have “Platinum loyalty cards” for the Edinburgh Grassmarket boozers!!

R.I.P. RYAN Ryan Craig Hoy Born Ayrshire 1974 on the 5th of April. Died 7th March 2021 Lewisham London.

My wee brother was a force of nature! From the 50cc motorbike he rode like Steve McQueen over the farm fields of Onthank to the running with kids a lot older. My wee brother was as they said then “been here before”. He grew up with the other three brothers Lee, Mark and myself Roady. We grew up in chaotic times! At ten it was 1984, a dog year for Britain and Scotland’s manufacturing decline and Trainspotting years just starting. Like myself Ryan was no angel and we both saw a time making reviews of various HMP in England and Scotland. Though we were dissidents forced out of Scotland for sins of parents, so young Ryan had a full plate to deal with. Still he was so loved that afyer 30 years here, he left Killie at 15 the many people who have showed that love is humbling.

Killie memories are many! Getting nearly killed at Hibs, the last day at Partick when we had to ein, as did they or one of us was relegated. Motherwell, Aberdeen! At gate of old firm climbing over fence at 8 when should not have been there. He always wanted to be with the elder brothers. And loved going Killie with good mates he had many of them gone too.

Started a riot singing Flower of Scotland outside Bier Keller, stealing a tram all at 16. So many stories Killie related. We were here all this time but still have accents and the more we’re away the bigger the patriots.

We are Killie boys proud to the end. Thank you man my brother would have loved this.

Please on 19th April at 1.45pm raise a glass or light a smoke and look to the sky for “ma wee brothers coming”. Have that table ready in Valhalla and bang it well. For he was a warrior poet son of Wallace. KTID signed with a tear. Ryan shone so bright in life that even in death his star still shines on us all. Respect and thanks to Sandy.

Roady KTID MTID - Derek Hoy Hippo says – Thanks for that heartfelt tribute Roady and our genuine condolences go to you and all family and friends. I’ll never forget those early days heading to Killie away on the “Bickering Bush special”, it showed us what Killie meant to so many folk and it’s so sad that so many are no longer with us……KTID

HOME ADVANTAGE..OR NOT? We’ve written in the past about how the pandemic has changed football in so many ways. Of course the biggest thing for us is how fans have been denied watching their heroes in the flesh. We’ve had to settle for watching some dodgy club TV productions (Killie TV excluded) with ridiculously bias cocommentators who may have been club heroes but add nothing as a so called “expert”.

There is a split among fans as to whether the lack of fans has actually impacted results……here is an interesting wee article we found on the Colossus Blog:

In football, many believe the home team have a significant advantage over the visiting team, more commonly known as the home advantage.

However, since stadiums were closed to the general public in the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, we have seen home advantage gradually ebb away. We decided to take a look at home advantage and how it has been impacted by recent events.

The causes of home superiority

Home advantage in football is well documented as researchers have studied human performance during competitive sports for a long time.

Though statistics show that the importance of playing at home in both individual sports and unbalanced competitions is negligent, home advantage has still been reported in a variety of different team sports, including football. Several studies support the existence and magnitude of playing at home being beneficial, and it is certainly not a myth.

Many causes have been attributed, such as crowd involvement and the impact on the referee, travel considerations, circumstantial factors such as the different climate and the stadium’s architecture.

Even testosterone levels have an influence, as research shows that male players have a higher testosterone level when playing at home. Just like with animals, men seem to experience a higher level of testosterone when defending their territory.

Is home advantage on the decline?

When looking at how home advantage is changing, the results are intriguing. Home advantage in competitive team sports used to be a more prominent factor decades ago, when compared to the modern day and is on a downturn overall. In fact it has statistically been steadily declining since the English Football League kicked off 129 years ago.

A variety of factors appear to be contributing to a steady shift away from home advantage. Luxury travel arrangements for professional athletes are a vital determinant, differences in football pitch conditions have narrowed and technologies, like VAR, have made it so that the referee can make a more deliberated decision. In the 70s, professional clubs used to earn 75% of their points at home. This has since dropped to 60%.

Home advantage after Covid-19

Home advantage is partly due to the amplification of crowd noise and perceived proximity of the audience as the reverberation of sounds coming from the fans (potentially) affects the decision of the referee and the performance of the players. Studies show that referees unknowingly rely on cues from the crowd when making their decisions and potentially fear the response from the audience if they lean towards an unfavourable decision.

According to the International Centre for Sports Studies, home advantage has declined since the outbreak of the pandemic and the closure of stadiums to the public. Statistics show that the percentage of home wins decreased in 41 of the 63 leagues studied. The average goal difference per match diminished from +0.32 to +0.24.

Data gathered by the Financial Times shows home teams in the Premier League received 15 per cent fewer red and yellow cards for foul play than their opponents. But when fans were not allowed anymore, home teams were getting 7 percent fewer bookings than the away team.

Before the COVID-19 lockdown, the home win percentage in the German top division had fallen from 43% to just 21% in the 56 games after.

As reported by the CIES, the most significant decrease in the percentage of home wins was recorded in the Greek top division (-15.1%), followed by the Austrian (-15.0%) and German leagues (-14.1%).

The lack of fans in the stadiums does not mean that the benefits of playing at home advantage do not exist anymore, though. The University of Reading found that the advantage still applies to empty stadiums to a certain extent, even during the pandemic.

They examined results for 6,481 professional football games in 17 countries before and after COVID-19 restrictions were put in place and, according to their research, it still exists to a degree even without fans in the stadium. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As we always say football is nothing without the fans and I think that has been highlighted to the extreme this season. When you sit and watch the endless live games on TV the atmosphere created by the fans is sorely missed and it makes for a far less enjoyable spectacle. The desperate attempt by the TV companies to insert crowd noise is cringeworthy although lack of the crowd noise is now replaced by angry players and management who can be heard throwing expletives at the largely incompetent officials…..that is often the best entertainment on show!

I’m a bit torn as to the impact of no fans however it has been very interesting to compare the previous campaign to the current one specifically the Premiership north and south of the border. In 2019 – 2020 the top leagues were won by Liverpool and Celtic, both teams who have large crowds who influence referees in many cases. Both teams would argue that their fans can act as the “12th man” in many games.

Fast forward to 2020 – 2021 and both teams have had a massive dip in form and some will say that is at least in part due to playing in an empty stadium.

That may or may not be the case although a stronger argument is that both defences have been absolute sh*t!! Only time will tell but personally I think we should be making plans for getting us all back to the Theatre of Pies and I’ll take over referee abuse duties from Tommy Wright.

Whit Dae Ye Think Yersel Johnny ?

First season back up, and me and the Koob were miles weary and parched as usual. Nae big blood brother, Paper Rosies pact.........now we didnae need one.

We were gaun anyway. The Aberdeen story , nightmare, comes later, and to this day, from what I remember, my thanks; our thanks, go to some kind , caring Dons supporters for getting us from the Pittodrie Bar, to the Dons end. Only codicil...........” shut the f**k up if yer team score”....Comes later......it will.

Usual pre cursor......No.10. Singing, swearing and promises ,when we win, that mibee be honoured, or forgotten. Tannadice we are on our way. The snow made little difference to our mood; probably a Nagasaki experience would have made no difference either. Titanic sadness, jist a boat for f**k sake.

We were back at Tannadice after all those years. Cannae remember right, but it might have been the Terrace Bar. Disnae matter the name of the bar.....it wis filled with like minded explorers, and searchers for the truth. KTID. Two or three haufs and hauf pints later the road to Tannadice beckoned.

A slippy road that could, if nothing changed see us back on the long road to far away places with strange sounding names. Been, mair than the wanst, and if its the famous Ayrshire Killie we'd go again.

Freezing cauld and the Koob had already told me, a hauf a hunner times.....“Johnny ahm f***in' freezin”. Ah jist said that this wiz Dundee, in the winter, not a balmy moderate Killie., and ah've no goat a guid feelin'.

Think he told me to f**k off, and suggested that I calm doon.

A bleak, snowy Saturday, two millions miles away from the famous No. 10; hearts filled with doubt and we took the field. A to and fro, nothing.

Midfield, ma ba boredom and nothing each at half time. No trauma about Dundee pies or one of the best Bovrils ever. Just the loop convincing me that I was f***ing freezing too. That's the Koob loop. Again, and again...no tape recorder in sight.

Eighty five minutes, me and him praying for the whistle at nothing each, when the wisdom of Solomon, via the Koob found its self invading my thoughts.

“Johnny, whit dae ye think yersel?”

Ah kidded oan ah never heard, and you know the minute you make that decision all your bad dreams, insecurities and nightmares come back. “ Johnny whit dae ye think yersel?”

I said that I thought that the cold war was over, children were still starving and lawyers were still making it up as they went along ….me lud. “ Naw, not that, ah mean aboot the things ah've telt ye oan the way ower here” Told him that ah couldnae remember anything other than the wallpaper sticks to the wall. He shook his head and exclaimed loudly, “Whit can ye dae?”

Heard that one in the depths of defeat. The exclusive heights of unexpected victories, and to day, the bottomless freezing pit of a shit game..

Final whistle …......no score draw and a happy, cauld Hughie. “ Its aw in yer Heid Johnny.....We really beat them”. Me nae comment other than the winsome........whit can ye dae. Koob said “Ah Ken”.

The journey home was long, but we were kept going with No. 10 thoughts and plans for the next game. He admitted that it was his round but a hauf and a half pint wiznae one drink.

He knew it was , and did not respond to the echo.........whit dae ye think yersel Koob. ?

Next game......Rugby Park, cannae remember against who, or should it be whom? We were gaun anyway , and we did. We managed them all that season, and ended up at Easter Road, last of the first season back up. Needed to at least draw.

Hearts in mouth, swally made no difference, cause the rawness of the emotion was in control. Norman the postman was just recovering from a stroke and couldnae make it, Jacky, and Johnstone could.

Sometimes getting pished takes ages......the No.10 didnae mind. “ Next wans at hame Koob”. “ Johnny ah know...........whit dae ye think yersel?”

Sometime , a longtime away. Honest.

JK >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hippo say – thanks again to Johnny K for his memories of following the famous Killie all over the country and with some of his good Killie mates who are sadly no longer with us. Many of you will remember “Norman the Postman”, a legend among the Killie fans of his generation and one who was taken far too early after suffering a very severe stroke.

I’ve got some great memories of travelling to away games and being hypnotised by how fanatical some of these “older” guys were. Some of the away trips with the Bickering Bush were legendary then about 20 of us would carry on the party at Norman’s flat in North Hamilton street before wakening up on the Sunday morning with the heid thumping and a can of warm lager sitting next to me……so we just waited on opening time and started the celebration/wake again.

There have been a few articles in this issue looking back at some of the great away days so if you fancy telling us some of your memorable tales please put your story on an email and send it to killiehippo@aol.com. We have our lawyers on red alert as we know some stories may result in court cases!!!

YOU’LL NEVER TAKE THE KILLIE…….SQUIRREL

You’ll have heard us say on many occasions there are only three certainties in life….indeed it’s generally my parting shot on a Saturday night whether we win lose or draw. After sinking the 16th pint of chemical gut rot I’ll proudly proclaim YOU’LL LIVE, YOU’LL DIE AND NOT ONE PERSON ON THIS PLANET WILL EVER TAKE THE KILLIE……..it’s nice to see the nut munching pride of our badge lives life the same way!!

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