Adios Pedro

THERE was a fair degree of sadness last week when young Peter Canero made the inevitable move down south to the English Premier League. Killie tried their best to persuade him to stay but it goes without saying that our offer would have looked derisory compared to what a Premiership club could offer, no matter how skint they are. Career wise it will do him no harm either, what price a few full-blown Scotland caps now?

The gratifying thing about the whole situation, however, has been that Killie fans have not reacted badly to the events. Peter was no doubt one of our better players and his talent and potential was always there for everyone to see. It seems to us that the general consensus is we accept the fact that we

couldn't hold on to him forever, having served us well in his time here we don't grudge him the chance of a having a crack at a higher level. Our best wishes go with him and we hope he does Killie proud.

On the down side has been the carry on with the agents surrounding the transfer, highlighting the fact how much they are ruining the game. There were several stories in the tabloids about what kind of fee was involved and who was trying to screw us for what but the truth is that the majority of them, as usual, were just taking a stab in the dark and did not know what really went on. We spoke to a club insider to get to the bottom of what really went down.

Strangely enough quite a few of the reports were not far off the mark. When it became clear that Peter was not staying, Killie started negotiating with Leicester who had expressed an interest and things were pretty much on the level, until ProStar Management Ltd got involved that is. Raymond Sparkes, who as far as we know owns the agency, stuck his oar in and demanded a huge fee for himself from Leicester to get the player on the cheap for the English side. Dave Bassett had been happy enough with the deal but Leicester are not exactly cash rich either so he had to keep his board happy and go for the cheapest option. Killie did lose cash in the long run but the two teams managed to make sure that the agents didn't get as much as they wanted…a minor consolation in the circumstances.

Former Killie player Gordon Smith belongs to the ProStar stable and as such has been getting pelters on the website message boards, mainly due to him being named as the agent involved by some sections of the media. The fact is though that while he may be guilty by association we are led to believe that he was not directly involved in the transfer and unaware of the details. It's difficult for us to defend any agent because they are all bastard sons of Henry Templeton and Margaret Thatcher but in this case we will give Casper (and him alone) the benefit of the doubt…despite him never giving Killie the respect we're due.

These agents are going to be the death of football as we know it if they continue to push their players from one club to another because they are taking vital money out of the game that is needed to keep clubs from going under. What they don't seem to take into consideration is that the more clubs they drive to the wall, the less clubs there are for them to move their players to. In effect they are going to put their own clients out of a job…but then again they will have made their dough by then and won't give a monkeys.

Sparkes has a further six players on his books at Rugby Park and due to his disgraceful behaviour the club have banned him from the Theatre of Pies. It's time that other clubs followed suit and let these parasites know that they are not wanted and are not welcome. The player's union were looking at employing staff to act as agents for their members but nothing seems to have came of that, maybe it's time for them to look at it again before the situation deteriorates beyond redemption.
Peter Canero, who refused to go to Dundee United at the end of the season because Killie would not get a penny, will always be remembered fondly by the Blue and White Army. His agents are meant to be a guiding light in his career but when it comes to loyalty and professionalism they could learn a thing or two from their client. Adios Pedro, you'll always be welcomed back.

Sale of the Century

THE January sales aren't simply confined to the town centre as the Killie Shop have some great deals at the moment. Josie tells us there are still some of the red away tops (adult sizes only) for £10 whilst they have been doing a roaring trade with the Killie mobile phone covers. If you've still got a few quid left after Xmas get along to Rugby Park and grab yourself a bargain.

Kadikoi Army On The Road

OUR Killie chums at the Kadikoi are great followers of both club and country and they are running a bus to see Scotland face Wales in Cardiff on 18 February. The bus leaves the pub at midnight on Tuesday 17 February and IT will be returning after the game on the Wednesday night. Seats are still available at £40 per person - to book a place call Colin Boyd on 0789 0416290 or the Kadikoi on 01563 534196.

Killie Here, Killie There...

IT'S great to meet up with Killie fans from different countries and there was more than a fair share of well travelled faces at the Theatre of Pies last Saturday. Many moons ago (circa 1985) a few of the boys entered the Killie Club after a home game and were greeted with some Cockney sounding accents at the bar. We soon got talking to the lads and it turned out they had travelled from Harlow, Essex to watch the famous Killie. One of the lads had been born in Scotland and although he moved to England as a youngster he always followed the fortunes of Ayrshire's finest.

We shared a few beers and swapped phone numbers although there was a distinct chance we'd never meet again. Thankfully everyone kept their promises and we've met up with them every year since, both here in Killie and down in Harlow. As usual a great weekend was had by all with Saturday night in The Howard being an evening to remember. This was in no small part thanks to the large and noisy Dutch Killie fans that had also chosen last weekend to pay their latest visit. You may have heard them generating a bit of atmosphere in the West Stand, now there's a sentence you won't hear repeated very often! They were joined in the pub by many of the Young Killie troops who they met last year on a trip to Amsterdam and friendships were re-forged. Cheers to everyone for making it a top night out and I'll always remember where I first heard Paper Roses chanted in Dutch!

Die-Hards Hit Back!

AS we predicted in the column last week we got our lugs bent by a few die-hards (by no means all granted) after our comments regards the Scottish Cup match. We knew that our suggestion of allowing any old firm fans into the West Stand (or East for that matter) wouldn't go down well in all quarters. We tried to make it clear that it should only be done in extraordinary circumstances, in a high profile match such as this when we know we can't sell our empty sections, and we're charging them silly prices for hospitality with strict segregation. However, our arguments were never going to convince everyone, and so it came to pass.

We spoke to a well-know member of the Travel Club on Saturday night and he disagreed vehemently with what we had suggested. We can't remember whether he said we could use his name or not so we wont just in case. But, he had some points to make that to be fair are perfectly understandable and it wouldn't be representative of us not to publish them as everyone is entitled to their own view, and it wouldn't be the first time we've been wrong!

Our good friend reckons that we should under no circumstance 'surrender' home advantage to any of the old firm. He reckons that Killie are far too condescending to the Glasgow giants and we are by far the worst for giving them what they want in seating terms, more than anyone else in the league. We should be concentrating our efforts in filling the East and West Stands and indeed trying to re-capture the Moffat Stand rather than selling our soul for gold, after all, a good result with a good crowd behind us will generate more cash in the long term.

It goes without saying that our mutual friend is 100% correct. Sadly our outlook has been tainted by the realization that power is measured by the pound or the fist and unfortunately Killie are not packing a punch on any level these days…a situation not alien to other clubs of similar standing. Demographically we are condemned to eternal damnation due to our close proximity to the old firm. We saw for ourselves just how many 'Killie fans' came out for the woodwork for the cup final in '97. But, until we can convince those punters that being Killie is a state of mind and not just for special occasions then we will never again be gripped by the sense of pride and belonging that fans enjoyed in the '60's.

Fate has dealt us a hand that does us no favours and as has always been the case if we are ever going to win anything it will take a great deal of skill supplemented by a little luck. The skill of course has to emanate from the people who embody the club - the board, the management, the squad and last but not least the fans, the luck as ever is that elusive random factor needed to balance the equation. We can't do anything about the luck of course but what we can do is try and make sure that everything else is in place, and if that means a few sacrifices here and there for the greater good then so be it. If anyone disagrees this week, Hippo wrote this bit, honest!

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