Bye Bye Boom Boom?

Chick Young's 'exclusive' about Kris Boyd going on trial to Molineux last Saturday came as a real surprise to the Killie fans listening in on the way home from Castle Greyskull. As the huns ran up the gold championship flag, and we ran up a white one, Boydie was one of very few Killie players who did not look out of his depth and given any sort of service the score line might have looked a little more respectable.

So what exactly is going on? Kris left for the Black Country straight after the Rangers game and will train with Wolves until Thursday when he will return to Rugby Park to prepare for the Partick game. Apparently their manager Dave Jones wants a few days to run the rule over our young strike sensation to decide whether he is worth making a bid for. A

The big question is, would his transfer be a good move for Killie or the player himself? At this point in time we seriously doubt it. Wolves are currently having a bit of an injury crisis in the forward department, but for how long will Boom Boom command a starting place once the top earners are fit again? That's no reflection on Kris as a players, but it would take an exceptional run of form for the manager to be able to justify paying top dollar to guys for sitting on the bench every week. In all honesty, how many goal fests are Wolves going to have in their first season back in the Premiership? Not many we'd guess. They've also just splashed out 1.5m on Silas, signed Stefan Iversen and have Mario Verpakovskis on trial, among others.

That in mind, would it not make more sense for him to stay at Rugby Park where regular first team football will aid his development and help him fulfill some of the enormous potential he has shown? The amounts mentioned in dispatches so far seem derisory when you consider that Wolves have just received between 15 and 20 million for their promotion. They paid 3 million for Kenny Miller who couldn't hold down a first team slot at Ibrox...and if James McFadden is worth 2 million then 250k for Boyd is simply laughable.

We wouldn't want to stand in Boydie's way for a minute and we've no doubt that he will indeed go on to greater things some day, but the timing of all this is questionable. He is contracted to Killie until 2006 so there is no danger of us losing him under the Bosman ruling, and even if we eventually did, he has been brought up through the ranks at Killie and we would be highly compensated. If he continues to improve the way he has so far then he will be worth a whole lot more cash a couple of seasons down the line, scoring more than a few goals for us in the process no doubt. It's pretty hard to calculate just how much his goals would be worth to us in the long term...we'll bet that a bottom six finish due to a lack of goals would cost a whole lot more than 250 grand!

Of course it has to be said that we are far from a one man team and we do have a dearth of talented youngsters, but we can't fathom how the club seem so eager to sell on one of our prize assets when it makes much more sense for him to stay here for the time being. We spoke to the big man at our player of the year bash and he's more than happy to stay at Rugby Park for a wee while yet...so what reason can there possibly be to get shot of our top goal scorer in such a hurry? In short...it's probably all down to money, and no doubt we will probably have heard all about it at the open meeting last Tuesday night. (Speaking of which, 24 hours official notice, what was all that about?)

Jim Jefferies rates Boydie highly enough, despite his youth, to start him in the first game of the season against the reigning champions, surely he can't be keen to see him move on right now? Maybe it's all part of his master plan, and we've been given no reason to doubt the gaffer's wisdom so far, but we can't see any money raised from the transfer being given back to re-invest in the squad so what is the angle there? A managerial decision we would grudgingly accept, but if the decisions are being made by the bean counters then that opens up a whole different can of worms.

Whether the moved has been forced upon us or not, Killie must hold out for the best deal possible. Anything less than half a million (with add-ons for international appearances etc.) would be an insult given the current market status, and there will be some serious questions asked if the club take the same route as boards gone past and start selling off our biggest assets for nominal fees. We need players like Kris Boyd who has scored goals at every level he's graced, and Kris Boyd needs us, for a few more seasons at least, to mature into the finished article. B&H say...Boom Boom must stay! 

Hello Mrs. Scoular!

We've been running the Share Centre for a few months now in an attempt to 'pair-up' Killie fans for the season ahead. Kevin Scoular and Kara Sim took that to another level last Saturday and paired up legally for life! Friends and family gave it some large in the Park Hotel at the post wedding knees up and a great night was had by all. It just goes to show you that despite getting a tanking that afternoon from the blue weegies, the huge number of Killie fans in attendance were still able to put it behind them and swing their pants with everyone else. This was one match where there were no losers!

Can We Kick It?

The pre-season friendlies are now a distant memory and Ibrox on Saturday was a timely reminder of how difficult this season could be. Of course it could be argued most of the problems were self-inflicted but silly individual errors will be punished and it's a habit we need to kick now.

One of the most important questions is how will we cope with loss of players through injury and suspension? The starting eleven on Saturday included a few surprises but it highlights that we have good cover in most areas of the park. JJ had a trialist on the bench as Smith is missing for 2-3 months therefore we are short in this position. Melly wont need reminded of his mistake, however, he'll be aware that his place is in jeopardy if the errors continue.

In defence we appear well covered but that will be tested immediately as Innes' stupidity results in a suspension this weekend. McLaughlin or Dillon are the obvious candidates to replace him with young Sean looking as eager as ever. Both did well in Mondays U21 victory over Rangers though Dino sat out part of the second half with an ice pack on his arm. Dindeleux and Shields were among our best performers at Ibrox so we can only hope that's a positive for the rest of the season.

Mahood, Fowler and Canero were absent from the midfield with Locke returning to the fold alongside Stevie Fulton. The U21 game on Monday had McDonald, Hardie and Murray battling away so again we seem to have plenty of options. McDonald is a player who is progressing the right way and we'd expect to see him get plenty of first team action during this campaign. Wee Stevie turned in a fine performance and although JJ feels he's a victim of the system we play we're sure he can do plenty of damage, even if it's just coming off the bench for the last half hour.

We are hoping that we can hold on to Boydie for a while yet (see above) as the big man knows how to hit the onion bag. Along with Di Giacomo and Invincibile they battled hard at Ibrox without getting great service. Nish, McSwegan and Dargo are waiting in the wings if they fail to deliver the goods.

All in all we still have a decent squad and the management team have done well given the financial restraints they are working under. We have several younger players who will be all the better for last years experience and allied to the experience throughout the team, the balance seems just about right. Bring on the Jags!

Share Centre

It's the last chance saloon for all you non-season ticket holders. We still have blue vouchers to be taken up so if you want a last minute bargain call us on 0774 771 8754.

Read the B&H column in the Kilmarnock Standard every week