Kilmarnock Football Club 2002-03

A Word With The Manager

The Killie players assembled before the cameras this morning for the annual pre-season photo shoot. Unlike the previous two shoots We've have attended, it was chucking it down today which made things a bit difficult for all concerned but everyone just got on with it nonetheless. There were no new faces in the line up that came as a surprise (although striker Paul McManus of East Fife was hanging around waiting to train) but it was good to see the players all laughing and joking around and showing a bit of real team spirit.

We took the chance to have a few words with manager Jim Jefferies after he had endured the Glasgow hacks and, as with our previous interview, he was more than happy to impart any information that we inquired about. A pleasant change from talking to Bobby which was at times like drawing teeth, no disrespect intended there of course but he could be a bit 'difficult' at times when he wanted to be, normally when a plonker like me was asking daft questions!

We asked Jim about the Il Ciocco training camp in Italy. Jim said: "It was excellent and the lads all enjoyed it. Durranty has been there a few times with Rangers as has Greg Shields and Gary McSwegan as well and I took the Hearts there a few times so I knew all about it. It's a first class location with the training centre up in the mountains and they treat you well in the hotel. We trained very hard but never played any bounce games as such, just a kick about among ourselves at the end of the week. We could only really train from 10.30 to 12.30 and then 17.30 to 19.30 so in the afternoons we made sure that they had at least an hour in the pool and two hours in bed to rest for the afternoon sessions."

Jim also took the chance to have a look at some players while over in Italy. He said: "I had two Italian lads on trial, basically because we were over there any way so when we got the call to view them we thought we might as well. One of them was an Albanian striker who was recommended by Stefano Salvatori who was with me at Hearts but he wasn't what I was looking for. He had good ability but he never had the presence that I was looking for, we already have players who I feel are better than him."

He went on: "The other lad, who I don't really want to mention too much about, looked quite good in a game for three quarters of an hour and then had to come off. Because of the close season break he'd not had too many training sessions and he developed a few bad blisters on the back of his heels so had to stop playing but he did really well in that game. He scored and he looked sharp and strangely enough for a foreign player he attacked the ball well in the air. We were quite surprised by him and thought that we could patch him up and get another look at him but he only lasted twenty minutes of the next game because his heels were too sore. To his credit he did great to even take part in the second game, in which he scored again. It was a penalty in fact but he created the chance himself."

So will be be seeing more of this striker? Jim said: "Right at this moment we are waiting to see if he is fit or will have recovered enough for us to be able to take him to Ireland. We had another lad over here on trial, Ahmed Dabo, that I had recommended to me. He's a big French lad who plays up front but I don't think he's quite what we're looking for either."

Jim laughed when we asked if he had any idea who his first choice starting eleven were. He said: "Well what I did was chop and change it around a wee bit at first during the games just to keep folk guessing! Games at this stage are all about getting the players match fitness back and what I'll do is give everyone a run out at Queen of the South. The team that starts will be different from the team that finishes. What I'll do in Ireland is give everyone a game again but maybe for the Glentoran game we will think about doing things differently. Certainly though against Sheffield Wednesday, and possibly even a closed door match next week before we play Rangers, we'll see the real shape of the team. I have a rough idea who will be starting though but I wouldn't look too much into squad numbers. We moved some players up because they were crazy numbers but that's no reflection on who will play."

Kevin McGowne made a shock exit last week after six good years with his home town club which surprised a few people. JJ said: "What happened was that after we signed Barry McLaughlin I got a phone call from Kevin saying that if there was an opportunity came up for him to go would that be okay and I said that I wanted him to stay and there was no way that I wanted him to go. What happens in cases like Kevin's is that after six years here he's getting to the age where he's looking for a well paid two year contract because it could be his last one. He's looking to make a few quid and because of his great service to the club we decided to allow him to do that."

Jim added: "He did miss a few games over the last couple of seasons because of injury but that didn't matter because we didn't expect him to play all the games anyway so I turned down the request initially. Then his agent called and said that he had the chance of a good two year contract with Dundee United and that he was moving back to Perth anyway where his wife is from...so we had a talk about it and I said look, leave it there and I'll have a talk with the directors about it. So I went and had a discussion with the directors and we decided that since we had brought Barry in and also we have Chris Innes there, that it was time to look forward and told Kevin that he could go."

Fans have been speculating about what formation the team will be playing next season due to the players that have been brought in so we asked Jim if he was abandoning his favoured 442 formation to concentrate on a 532 or a 352. Jim said: "I always prefer to play with four at the back rather than three. There will be the odd game or two when it may be more tactically appropriate to put in a three and we can do that if necessary as we've got Innes and Hessey. They are competing for places, you can't always go with two or three due to injuries and suspensions, that's why I was keen to keep McGowne here."

One rock in the defence that won't be moving is Freddie Dindeleux. Jim said: "I've made Freddie the club captain today. I've been very impressed with him since I've came in. He's got good technique, he talks and organises and leads well. I've paired him up a lot in the training with Barry McLaughlin but then Chris Innes was injured and never made the trip and Sean Hessey is another who can play in there. Sanjuan also played a lot at the back in our practice games and he looks comfortable as well.

So it's in with the new captain but what about the outgoing captain Ian Durrant? Jim said: "Ian has fitted in well as part of the backroom staff so what we've done is given him some of the pre-season work. He's been involved in the warms ups and lots of other stuff the same way that the likes of Jim Stewart, Alan Robertson and the other coaches are. They all pull together to try and make sure that Kilmarnock are successful."

Jim also feels that he has enjoyed his time at the club so far. He said: "It's been fantastic. The set up here is great. The directors here are all geared towards getting things right off the park. They don't interfere with things and let me get on with it while trying to help as much as they can. I've been grateful that at such a tough time like this they've made it possible for me to bring in more players and in turn they are quite pleased that it's not involved too much transfer money being outlaid. The players have also been realistic when it comes to the likes of wages because they realise that it's hard times as well.

Gary McSwegan is the latest player that Jim has brought in. He explained: "I felt that with all the good young players here that experience was needed so we brought in McSwegan. He's only on a short term contract so it's up to him between now and December to earn a longer contract. If he does that then Kilmarnock will benefit greatly. I think that this new transfer window will only help Rangers and Celtic because they have big enough player pools to cope. You've just got to hope that you don't get a spate of five or six injuries or you're in trouble. That's why I've added four boys to the team, okay we've also lost two or three but we're still looking to add and with all the young boys coming through we should be okay. Teams will need to watch that they are not running with squads that are too small or they'll struggle"

We asked Jim if he thought that Berti Vogts should be keeping an eye on any of the Killie players, he said: "I think there's now a great chance for every player at every club to impress the new manager as he seems to have different ideas. He's already show that he's going to give all players a chance so that's now a challenge for them, especially players at this club,  to go and have a good season and see if they get picked. We've already got Kris Boyd and wee Stevie Murray missing next week with us to go with the Scotland Under 20's to Ireland. When I'm over there I'll try and go down and see them on the Wednesday."

The search for that elusive target man still goes on though and is foremost in JJ's mind. He said: "I feel that I'll be happy with one more player. What I'm trying to get in is a bigger striker up front. Someone with presence. Boydie's a big lad but he's not a target man. He plays all along the front and he can get into good channels behind but he's still young, that's all, he'll be hammering them in, in no time. I'll keep looking for a big striker before the start of the season and hopefully we can get something sorted out soon.

We kept the ultimate question for last and asked our new manager if we would beat the yahoos this season if we drew them in the cup. Jim's smile widened into a Cheshire cat like grin and said: "Aye, of course we will!"