Killie Keeper Gordon Marshall wants to
end the season on a high, and lay to rest any questions about playing
for Killie despite not been given a new
contract....
On his relationship
with Jim Jefferies...'Picking the team is the
manager's job but I will definitely be available for selection,
There was never any doubt about that. I don't have any problems
with the manager or the way that it was done. None at all. People just
want to make up stories. I have been involved in football for 24 years
and I think if you look back I have never said anything or sold any
stories at other clubs which I have left. I have always gone about
things the way that I think is the right way.
On his alleged "blow
up" & "walk Out"..."All
they needed to do was ask me the question, but instead they just printed
the story, They didn't name their
sources. So obviously it has come from the dressing room which makes it
another problem for the club. Whether the player who said it has
actually gone I don't know, but it has obviously come from the club.'
On the "contract mess"
in Scotland...'It is the same for any player, and
now in many ways I think it is equally hard for the younger players,
A number of the contracts these guys are being given are not
worth the paper they are written on. It is just a difficult time for
football altogether. Everybody is trying to find this bit of secure
ground. There is a bit of subsidence in the SPL and everybody is
scrambling for the higher ground.'
On Celtic "Ties"...'I
still have friends who are at the club, but I wouldn't say I have any
ties to Celtic, I suppose my situation is
still pretty unique. It just means you get called different names at
different grounds.'
On Killie's Season...'I
think it is possible that we will collect more points in the league this
year than we have at any time since I have been here,' Marshall said.
'We've played in Europe twice in five years, and to be part of the team
that gets back in would be a great achievement, no matter if I am not
around to play there next season.'
Jim Jefferies was quick to point out that
the choice to release Marshall was a 'financial' rather than 'football'
decision...'We didn't know
where the story came from,' Jefferies said, before suggesting a more
light-hearted reason for the leak. It
perhaps came from a wind-up amongst the goalkeepers about 16-year-old
Graham Bell, who could have played at Ibrox,'
Jefferies on
Marshall's Season... 'When I spoke to him, Gordon
actually thought he had had an inconsistent season, but I thought he had
a good season and could play on. I just don't have any money.'
Marshall on Killie's
Keeper cover...'Whoever plays in goals next
season, 'the guys (Meldrum
& Bell) we have got here under Jim Stewart are the best set of
goalkeepers that I have worked with, in all my years in the game. And
that includes my time at Celtic.'
