In a Sunday Mail interview today, Craig Bryson puts himself in the shop window by saying he would look favourably on a move to an English club to test himself at a higher level. He added that he would be happy if such a move resulted in Killie getting compensation.

With open speculationthat  Kyle will be leaving for various Scottish suitors, including Hearts and Aberdeen, there is an indication that the best players are getting itchy feet, ready to head for the gangplank -which does not bode well for the continuing floatability of this particular ship of fools.

It seems the contract negotiations for our players now get underway in the newspapers. A mark of disrespect which attends a club in peril, deals being discussed hyothetically with eager journalists until they are all but inevitable. And all before an official notification of interest or request to talk is received.

where was the offside here?

An eight goal thriller! Best game since I can’t remember when, with two teams playing what they used to call “open attacking football”. Maybe our injury troubles have forced effective changes, or maybe the Calderwood team influence is starting to be felt, but today we played with confidence and vigour. Shame about the defensive lapses that led to DU’s goals because Killie were exciting and effective. Who could believe this was the same team? It feels strange to look back on and think of the differences in our play…

We actually came back from losing the first goal (Ford dispossessed in his own box). We actually scored goals! We crossed the ball! We took good corner kicks! We played the ball to feet and passed quickly! We didn’t give up or let the heads sink. The players didn’t hide from the ball (even Danny). The boo-boys tried to get it going when we lost the first goal, but the team buckled down and didn’t let them get a chorus going, purely because of the never-say-die performance. This was the Killie of legend that dads tell their boys of wistfully and boys disbelieve.

Keep it up Killie! It was entrancing stuff and worth the entrance fee. And if you continue to play like this then we will stay up!

There was controvery too. Football fans despise an over-fussy, over-egotistic referree. Dougie McDonald angered both sets of supporters with inconsistency. There were two or three instances when Killie could have had a softish penalty awarded – the major one being when Kyle seemed to have been hauled to the ground. However the only penalty came when Ford was adjudged to have fouled Kilmarnock-kid, Craig Conway and Utd clawed it back to 4-4 from the spot. It looked technically correct, but Conway went down a few times very easily and the Killie fans chanted “cheat, cheat”.

Another time the referee pulled back a perfectly good quickly-taken free kick, but then went on to allow Utd to take a quick free kick about 15 yards in advance of the incident. In another instance Pascali received his customary booking (which he picks up everygame he plays) for celebrations after his fantastic headed goal, but Conway escaped similar punishment. I know Pascali brought himself to the attention of Scottish referees in his early days, but surely they should have forgiven him and moved onto some other character who is too big for his boots by now. After all, no-one could suggest our officials are churlish, childish or that they show any favouritism or vindictivness.

But even the invigilator could not quieten this test! The home fans sang for a change!

Other points to note include the emergence of Liam Kelly who will surely have cemented a first-team starting place with a performance that will make many a Killie fan wonder why we’ve had such a problem back-filling injury positions. This boy looks the part. It was a pity for Skelton that he was sub’d so early in the game, but it felt the right decision with Sammon being brought on for the cross-balls. The team must have been practising their crossing because it was much improved.

Similarly the overlap play and movement off the ball was better. And the 100% effort right to the end. A susprising sight greeted us when the final whistle blew. Even though Utd had started dominating the possession and they had brought on fresh legs with Casalinuovo replacing Goodwillie, still the Killie players battled and pressed, looking for the winner. When the whistle blew, the Killie players showed their frustration. They wanted more chances. They wanted to win. Who could be so churlish as to suggest that they were wrong to feel they deserved it?

Well done Killie. We ask for no more than this – well, maybe a bit of concentration and immediacy in defence!

High-flying United come to RP today and the weather is fine. It’s a great day for a game of footie and even ol’ moanalot is beaming from “ear to there “. The “there” in question is Tynecastle, where Jim Jeffries has been given a 3 year contract. What a difference a fortnight makes.

Our striking crisis is compunded by injuries – with Burchill and Russell being out for 6 and 4 weeks respectively. Burchill’s problem is said to be serious, but Russell is just acting it! (Boom-boom). O’Leary is also crocked and we are deserate for points and looking fearfully at the drop. You picked a fine time to leave us Jim Jeffries.

Isn’t it a bit lucky for JJ that he’s landed another contract so soon? When he left RP, a view was expressed that at least Killie didn’t have to compensate him for handing him his cards, but another way to look at it with hindsight is that Killie have lost out in the compensation that Hearts would have paid to take him away from us. So – a good deal for us or not?

Cynical souls might speculate that there was some shenanigans going on and we were fleeced, but I wouldn’t say so. It is a scurrilous and wrong allegation to make. And we’re better off with paying Calderwood et al whatever it is we’re paying them.

Come on Killie! Let’s go against the odds and scorea goal and maybe even an unexpected v…  NO! I’m not going to say it!!!

A morose post this one – read on if you dare, but be warned, the recent blockbuster The Road is cheerier than this!

A post from killiefc forums by “Snoddy” makes a point well:

Off topic but didnt want to start a whole new thread…..stood in the queue to get in tonight and watched the guy in front of us going in. Had a wee kid with him who couldnt have been more than 3 or 4 and was charged £11 to take him in to watch that. Even the policeman at the gate shook his head and made a comment. If that doesnt show why gates are falling and Scottish Football is dying a death I dont know what does. For 2 of us tonight it cost £44 to watch one of the worst displays of football I have had the misfortune to see. As an irregular attendee I wondered if the abuse directed at some of these players was misguided and at times over the top. However I fail to see what 8 out of the 12 on the park at any time did, that an 17 year old kid with a bit of enthusiasm couldnt have matched and at a fraction of the cost.

Also, and I say this as someone who was delighted to see him sign for us and obviously with his contribution last season…but Kevin Kyle should be thanked for his efforts and his incredible feat of keeping us up last season, and allowed to move on. He clearly isnt interested and unfortunately if you are going to punt a ball up to his head all night you surely need to have people running past him to latch onto them! Shame as I hoped for more this season but I think it would be for the best before the memory of his contribution last season is tainted.

The way I feel at the moment I wont be returning to any away games in the near future either. Home from work and travelled to Aberdeen to see that game and a shorter distance tonight to see a poor junior game in effect. If I am going to pay out that kind of money to watch p*sh I would like to see it go into Rugby Park at the very least. Massively disappointed after tonight and fear for the future (not only for my team, but Scottish Football in general) if that is what is on offer.

- Snoddy on killiefc.com forums

Add to these comments the fact we play our football season in the most inclement times of year so that when you take your kids they shiver miserably, moaning (understandably) the whole time – and you begin to wonder how the game has survived as long as it has!

Of course, those of us who are subjecting our kids to this mental disease grew up in times when,, if you were cold, you could stamp around or jump around or sing for a bit; and little kids could wander safely across the terraces or play chasing during the more boring spells.

The guy on the foum is right. And those in charge will not listen to the problems.

There are two clubs in charge of Scottish football and for the others, it is only the scraps that fall from this exalted “table of two” that feeds us whipping dogs. What is the point of going along to this nonsense anymore? Why suffer with scant chance of reward? And even when we rarely do getsome small achievement, like a cup win, the main prize is forever beyond the possibilities of such as Killie!

It is madness. Our kids will grow up with other things to do. It is a shame, but I can’t see how it’s going to go on, even if finances somehow turnaround. Unless by some miracle they restructure the whole kaboodle – the Association, the League, the seasons, the facilities, the structures, the wages, the food and drink – the very rules of the game even!

Ideally there should at least be wage caps and spending limits and even maybe a handicap system to even things out. It will never happen. We live in a world of realists and financiers and elitisits. It’s tough.

A 0-0 draw with Hamilton earns us a vital away point, but it is worrying that we cannot score goals, especially away.

Boring game. Awful scoreline. Fernandez was captain!!!???  Kyle started on the bench and came on and should have scored, but didnae.

Killie have scored only 2 away goals so far this season, picking up 5 points. This is not the record of a team that would normally pull themselves away from the abyss.

Come on Jimmys! And Sandy Clark now that he has also been added to the mix! Surely three good managers can coax the best out of these boys? But there hasn’t been any indication of a turnaround so far.

Making Ferdy captain is a strange decision. Reading between the lines from his interview in today’s Scotland on Sunday, where he bemoans how few of his countrymen are still around in Scottish football, it doesn’t seem like he is that much motivated to keep KFC in the SPL. His contract is up at the end of the season and he will take a “family decision”. When he was subbed the captaincy went to Pascali and arguably that would make more sense – he’s done it before, he’s vocal enough (!) and he plays in a captain’s position. Oh dear, Killie. Oh, dear.

Still, Falkirk lost 4-1 to Utd, so they remain 1 point behind with a game in hand. It’s Hamilton next, another away game, on Tuesday.

The ennui of the past season and a bit has been lifted with the change of management and more folk are talking aboout Killie in the town again, in a slightly more hopeful tone. It’s up to the team now.

An expression of joy comes from Craig Bryson, who admits in the Record that the two Jimmy’s have brought an improved atmosphere and humour to the Killie dressing room.

It’s not the first time this has been inferred since the management change. Although Craig doesn’t criticise the old management team, it is clear from his comments and from others, that the time had run out on the old regime.

It is a cliche often repeated on MoTD etc, that the manager presiding over a team that is relaxed, confident and “has a good dressing room” will achieve success.

Here’s hoping.

pic: killiefc.com

Was the result as shocking as the poor football? Was it a shock that Pascali scored, or that he was booked again? Or was the big shock that Kevin Kyle was substituted? Whatever the most shocking thing at this game, at least our frazzled nerves found blessed relief.

JC let Nicholl take the basics of the warmup while he strutted around like a Caesar surveying his troops. He sidled close to several of them for one-on-one chats, describing in detail and with gusto and gesture what he expected of each. They listened. These directions seemed to make some difference to the play, at least in the opening minutes.

In what seemed like a repeat of JC’s first game in charge, we started brightly but faded. For the first 11 mins we played quite well, going forward and showing endeavour and even dare I say, pace! We made the ball move, we ran off it, we used “the channels” and passed it along the ground with confidence.

I know that this uncharacteristic passage of play lasted 11 minutes because at that point, feeling enthused, I commented that for once Killie were playing normal football – the kind that other teams do – and that we were playing it well. The voice of reason next to me pointed out that only 11 mins had elapsed. And that jinxed it.

Thereafter, there is nothing much to report of our standard of play that you haven’t seen before. The same old struggle ensued, with Falkirk about as bad as us. Pascali scored, poking in a loose ball after substitute Skelton battered it off the underside of the crossbar in 81 mins. Before that, Taouil had replaced the ineffectual Kyle. Now that is something we never thought we’d hear a few weeks ago.

We still go forward too slow. We need ages to build up, passing the ball back and forth, prodding and hoping for a break. Other teams collect the ball in their defensive positions and in one or two simple passes, get it straight to their forwards while our defence are charging back to catch up. We’re quite the opposite – we  give defences all the time in the world to re-group and consequently we don’t get enough shots away. The match stats at half time however belied this summation, to bewildered amusement in the Killie stands. The scoreboard stated that Killie had 5 shots to Falkirk’s 4; and 2 on target to the Bairn’s 1. Nonsense!

But there is no cause to moan and criticise when we got an unexpected win! An old fashioned nail-biter at the end, with Cammy Bell making a smashing stop from a piledriver right at the death. Great feeling when the whistle blew! A win!! Some wags in the Killie choir acclaimed Jimmy Calderwood with good-natured irony. Let’s hope the new cheer continues.

The tannoy man often likes to play Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire on match days. That title might be an accurate description of how the two “Jimmy-Jimmy‘s” might be feeling just now.

Against a pedestrian Motherwell team operating under Craig Brown, we somehow managed to continue our bizarre trend of self-destruction and throw away all three points. We started brightly and there seemed to be some a new energy being applied in the opening twenty minutes. We pressed them back, charging up the wings and even passing the ball to each other. The signs of the old habits however were apparent whenever ‘Well caught possession. Gradually you could sense the lack of confidence seep into the heart of our defence, see the hesitation before closing down an attacker or chasing a loose ball. Is it abdication of responsibility, or confusion, or just plain laziness? Or maybe it is a combination of these born out of the previous manager’s constant swapping of positions? Or a fear of making a mistake?

Whatever was going on in their heads, it was a familiar raggedness that crept into their play as the first half progressed. We lost the drive and lost our confidence, and ultimately lost the game. It’s been said that teams get into a habit of winning or losing. We are in the habit of simply shrugging our shoulders and thinking “I’ve done my bit, it’s someone else’s turn to try”.

Despite these harsh words, the first half was about even. This remained the case until 54 mins when O’Brien scored their first. Then we found some motivation to push forward, but left a gaping hole through the midfield and O’Brien managed to evade the desperate charge-back of substitute Pascali to gather the long through-ball and place his shot beyond Cammy Bell on 69 mins. And that was it.

Their third, ten minutes later, scored by [unpronounceable] was no surprise.  They even looked likely to score again, more so than us. Late on, KK had a clear shot at goal and blasted the ball wide. It was that kind of day. The players we have don’t look individually too bad, but collectively they are at odds.

I sit at the footie with a mate, let’s call him Dave, for that is his name. He pointed out – in an uncharacteristically positive fashion – that perhaps this defeat was exactly what the new manager needed. Rather than win and be assured that all was well, he needed to see the problems we’ve been suffering from so he can take stock and fix them. It’s a nice way to look at it.

We need to dig in. We need to defend. We need to distribute the ball better. We need to move off the ball. We need every player to step up and take responsibility. We need the manager to organise the team so players know exactly what to do. We need to get back to basics. Too often we’re outclassed by teams with less-skilled players, but who play simple old-fashioned football.

We can all see problems, we can analyse various aspects that need to be addressed. How to go about fixing things is the trick that eluded the old Jim. Let’s hope our new Jimmys look at this game and see what needs to be done. And fast!