Players, Passion & Self Promotion

We have been saying to the club for a while now that they are not using the biggest promotional tool they have to any effect...the players and management team. There is too much distance between the fans and the playing staff these days, no where near the interaction we used to have.

Hippo tells me that Jean Milloy used to go into the dressing rooms and personally get a list of players to attend fan's functions, and there was no shortage of volunteers...that's just not the case any more. I realise that times have changed and we are now a 'big' club in respect of being the fourth best in Scotland...but we were once the best team in Scotland and never had this problem then!

We need Killie players to wear our colours with pride and appreciate what an honour it is to play for an institution like Kilmarnock FC. Too many of them seem to look on it just as a job or a stepping stone to a 'bigger' club. Of course it may be difficult to motivate themselves as such if they support other teams, then it is down to the fans to get behind them and make them feel that they are part of something special. Bring back the Rugby Park roar!

Increased attendances next season will hopefully go some way towards resurrecting some of the atmosphere at the Theatre of Pies. A better atmosphere should in turn spur the players on to greater things...which should help create a better atmosphere and so it goes on. Equally things could spiral in the opposite direction that's why we have to be make sure that we at least do our bit and hope that the players rise to the occasion. Look how well we did this season, imagine what we could do with a partisan crowd at every game.

Getting back to the original point, the onus is on the club to start using the players as more than just commodities on the park. Let's get them out there and involved in the community. One Killie player making an appearance at a school is better than none, but send a few along and hit a few more schools and witness how many kids will suddenly see Killie in a different light. All they ever see are old firm players in the papers on a daily basis, lets get some posters (see above) printed up with Killie players so the kids can have Rugby Park idols adorning their walls.

Equally, the players could learn a thing or two from guys like Monty and Broono. Neither were up there as the most skillful players to ever play for the club, but with hearts as big as theirs, who will ever forget them? They showed a passion on the park that fans identified with and got the crowd really going (back to atmosphere again). We laugh about how Monty was always 'kissing the squirrels' but anyone who says that didn't make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up is a liar!

Andy McLaren is not everyone's favourite player due to being a bit inconsistent at times, but I'm not alone in hoping that his contract will be sorted out and he'll stay. He is one of the few players in our current squad that can have a bit of banter with the crowd and get us more involved in the game. We hate the way he constantly moans at the referee but can understand his frustration in doing so (for the most part). It may get him more than his fair share of yellow cards, but while some people see that as just daft, others see it as him actually caring about what happens. An attribute in a player not to be overlooked. Jim Jefferies claimed that our dressing room was the quietest he had ever been in, imagine what it would be like without Andy.

Someone said to me recently that the problem with the club is that it needs to be properly branded. Well we will have a new sales team in soon and hopefully they will be able to do something about it. We already have the product, what we have to do is market it successfully and make sure that Killie products are topping kids' Christmas lists and are not floundering at the bottom somewhere. The 125 initiative will hopefully be the catalyst in turning things around in the stands, and next season should see us go from strength to strength. Let's make sure we let people know what they will be missing out on if they don't get involved!

baz