The new year starts with an important mid-table six-pointer against St Mirren. We’re all well up for it, but the bad news is that talented midfielder / striker Gary Harkins is out for two months with a broken ankle. This is very bad news for Gary and for all of us. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Go to this website and enter your name and they will send a postcard to the SPL on your behalf..  http://changingscottishfootball.wordpress.com/postcard/

It was a much improved performance from the game against the green side of the OF two weeks ago when we lost by four. The first half especially was evenly matched and we were unlucky to go in a goal down for failing to clear the lines right at the whistle. Both teams fought hard in the first half, but Eremenko and Dayton scorned chances to put us ahead. No doubt Alexei wanted to say goodbye to us with a goal in his last home game for the club.
The second half was pretty much sleepy hollow from a Killie point of view, although we did seem to pick up for about 30 secs just before they scored their second.
Kenny Shiels brought on two young boys, Pursehouse at right back who had a very impressive performance and midfielder Fisher who also looked to have bags of confidence.

Eremenko’s final game for the club will be at Fir Park on Wednesday night. Farewell Alexei, it’s been great having you here.

Killie squandered chances to take all 3 points and lift us further beyond Motherwell, who lost 5-0 to Rangers in the early game. As the table stands we are 3 points ahead of ‘Well who we play away midweek on 11th May. Before then we have Celtic at home next Sunday at the ridiculous ko time of 12:45.
It was an entertaining game that Killie should have won on our possession, but Hearts seemed to get breaks in front of goal that we did not. Killie went ahead in 54 mins through MoM, Fowler whose 20 yard screamer took a slim deflection on the way to goal. Hearts replied 10 mins later with a somewhat lucky goal, another deflection that dropped off the cross bar after eluding Cammy Bell who was perhaps blinded by the sun and allowing poacher Skacel to slide it home. It was a rotten goal to lose just when we were pushing for our second.
Hearts took the lead from a corner when, in typical fashion, our defence pretty much stayed rooted to the ground to allow a free header. Their support started singing now, bare-chested in the sunshine, assuming they had won. But the Killie fight back showed real determination in Kenny Shiels side. Attack after attack broke down but it didn’t dampen the fighting spirit and when Agard scored with a fine back-to-the-goal turning shot from a loose ball on the penalty spot it was deserved. The celebration was as acrobatic, graceful and entertaining as the goal!
Dayton and Agard had chances to score right at the death and the last 5 mins were end to end excitement. Shame we didn’t win, but it was a good show.

the next two home games are against the OF so this was the final real game of the season. We have a chance to deliver body-blows to both Celtic then Rangers in their title hopes. Lets hope we take 3 points from each of them.

The official club statement said it was rare for a manager to achieve legendary status in eight months. They quoted the fans slogan: “In Mixu we trust,” as evidence of the esteem in which he was held by Killie fans. It’s all true. Having inherited a dispirited team and fans who were grateful to avoid relegation, he and Kenny Shiels turned the ugly, brutal, punt and scrap game that we were used to, into a thoroughly entertaining brand of passing football that had us compared to the likes of Barcelona!
We loved it! We’ve now established ourselves in the top half of the SPL and far from fearing relegation, we’re hoping for a top-six finish and it isn’t too bizarre to hope for maybe even a chance of European football. For so long we suffered pain, frustration and utter boredom as fans, then Mixu changed all that.

His appointment was a surprise and at the time verged on the embarrassing, as the club chased him rather than the other way round. Quickly it turned out to have been an extremely astute appointment by Michael Johnston, spurning the applications from seemingly adept candidates to get the right man.

We will miss the Finnish manager. He gave us a lot of fun. He gave us attractive football to watch. He let players live up to their true potential – most notably Conor Sammon who was turned from an iffy bench-warmer to a premiership striker.

THANKS MIXU, AND ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE (unless Scotland come up against Finland that is!)

Now we are looking for a new boss. Hopefully the same, or similar, to the old boss. Assistant manager, Kenny Shiels is interested and is in temporary charge for the trip to MacDiarmid Park on Saturday. Is he big enough to fill that Jacket? We shall see. I think he’s earned his chance.

The annoying noon kickoff on behalf of Setanta tv probably contributed to the low ‘Well support which looked a lot less than the 300-odd that was announced. This was a good game, open and honest for the most part and in the first half the few travelling fans would have taken cheer from the fine run of winger Humphreys whose long range angled effort found Sutton’s touch and bizarrely eluded Clancy, Sissoko and Jakkola to  open the scoring. Killie however don’t let such minor inconveniences as losing the first goal bother them these days. This isn’t a Jeffries team and it’s a new season, a whole new game. As with Scotland, when we famously irked Brazil by scoring, so the ‘Well goal inspired our players to lift their heads up and notice that they had a job to do if Stuart McCall’s Lanarkshire loons were to be duly despatched.

First, the opener, a Pascali header from Eremenko’s superbly flighted assist from open play. Then a penalty which Hamill put away without fuss. See the attached video. That gave us a one-goal lead going into the break.

In the second half, Motherwell huffed and puffed to no effect and looked like a beaten team from the off. We scored again – Eremenko again supplying a perfect corner cross to allow Kelly to nod home. After that we squandered about 10 chances and it could have been a real goal feast. Perhaps if Motherwell had scored again we would have had that determination in front of goal but as it went, entertaining though the football was, we made do with the two goal lead, some showboating from Eremenko and Silva, and the recapture of 4th place from D. Utd.

From my seat there was further bizarre entertainment from someone sitting behind who berated Alexei Eremenko loudly throughout the second half – “numpty”, “waster”, “puddin” and even “donut” being some of the well-chosen epithets. Now, I can see that Alexei is often frustrating and did hang onto the ball a few times when if might have been better to release a runner’s impetus, but minor moans aside, it is quite extraordinary to demand his departure!

It might be imagined that this criticism of just about the best player currently in Scotland was ironic jest, but I assure you it was serious. We laughed at this, but it puts into perspective some of the jeers in previous times that have been aimed at the likes of Invincibile, Fowler; and more recently toward Hay. Some people just need a whipping boy and even really exceptional talent is never enough.

One further bizarre point of note – last week Invincible actually scored – a good header for his new club, St Johnstone. Awra best Danny, don’t repeat that against us!

A good victory. A determined performance. Once again, a game of two half’s. Before the interval it was all fine football, clean passing, running off the ball, winning possession and making the most of chances. In the second half we were pinned back by a livelier St. Mirren and we started to make mistakes, totally surrendering the midfield. Tiredness seemed to have set in and it was frustrating that Mixu didn’t bring on fresh legs earlier. Eventually Gros was removed, receiving a deserved ovation from the support after a great first start at the club.

We scored both goals in the first half, Gros running onto a fine, precisely threaded Eremenko pass and doing well to slot home past the advancing keeper. Then Gros returned the favour, setting up Alexei for an audacious low chip from the edge of the box that bobbled and bounced deceptively right in front of the keeper to squirm in at the corner of the goal.

The young Frenchman, Gros, from Reunion Island, a product of Didier Agathe’s football academy, looks like he can do a job. MoM however went to Fowler who never stopped running all game. Pascali too deserves a mention.

BBC Scotland will broadcast live television coverage of the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie between Rangers and Kilmarnock at Ibrox.

The game will be played on Monday 10 January, with a 1930 GMT kick-off.

In a spectacular piece of foresight, the SPL decided to take the unprecedented decision to suspend the full card today, rather than let the usual procedures apply. Ok, that was sarcastic. Let’s look at it with an appropriately seasonal cool head:

After a week of atrocious, icy weather it’s perhaps surprising that the thaw came along, but it has and there’s no doubt that several games could have gone ahead. There’s no cloud certainly, so it was cold overnight, but the sun is splitting the skies and the ground is softer now than last week when Killie and Dons players pranced around on the pitch.

The decision was probably taken to prevent any possibility of untoward incidents involving fans travelling to games. Was it the right decision? Hard to say. The decision was taken 4 days ago, bit even if the SPL had waited until yesterday to decide, they might still have looked out the windaes, shivered at the snowy spectacle and taken the big red pen to the fixtures.

Recreation Park on Friday

It’s a pain, but sometimes it just happens that way. There is yet a query over why the Alloa / Peterhead game was judged by the SFL as able to go ahead on the synthetic pitch at Recreation Park.

The travel situation would be the same even if the pitch is cleared on time.

It’s difficult to criticise a decision that ensures safety (although the SPL clubs are doing so now with the benefit of hindsight), but I have to say in my time I’ve travelled to many Killie games in much worse conditions than we see today.

Aye, much worse than this beautiful December day.

I am sure the official website had it wrong, but it has been corrected now.

Extraordinarily generous gesture. Well done JM.
MJ comments: 
WWW.Kilmarnockfc.co.uk/articles/20100906/press-release_85961_2145549
I’m not so sure what the council can do though, in these cash-strapped times.