Once
again the turnout at the Supporters' Association meeting this month was
shocking, especially given that manager Jim Jefferies was there to meet
the fans for the second night in a row after his wee stint at Mauchline
the previous evening. No doubt if we were having a bad run of results
there would have been far more people wanting to hear what he had to
say...so maybe perversely it was a good thing for the manager that not
many bothered to turn up.
JJ was
asked if there was any news on the signing front and he said that there
was a good chance a trialist he's been watching for a few weeks may make
the bench on Saturday. Dimitri Pronovych is a 20-year-old Ukranian
internationalist who has already had spells on trial with Carlisle and
Queen of the South this season. The midfielder has impressed JJ
sufficiently enough to merit contract talks and feels that given the
players situation he would not be out with our budgetary
constraints...that of course is not to say that he will become a Killie
player!
© queenofthesouth-mad.co.uk
We 'googled'
for more information but failed to find anything other than a few
reports from Carlisle and QOS matches where he was mentioned in
dispatches (all good) but we could find nada prior to his arrival in
this country. JJ did say that his dad was over last week and he was a
General in the Ukrainian police...go figure!
Kris Boyd
was understandably a topic of conversation and the manager told us that
there still had been no formal or indeed informal approach from Rangers
despite all the rumours. It had been agreed at the previous board
meeting that it would make more sense for Killie to hold on to our star
striker until the end of the season and see what compensation we are due
rather than accept a derisory offer, say in the region of £50k - £100k,
now.
Losing a
natural striker such as Kris could have a detrimental effect on our top
six aspirations and if he can maintain his current form then his goals
could shoot us up the table and earn us more cash. JJ reckons that the
top four places are all but tied up already but we have a serious chance
of fifth or sixth place...and that he would like Boomer to sign a two
year extension and continue his apprenticeship at Rugby Park...in case
"someone comes in with a serious offer that the bank says we have to
take".
Jefferies
was disappointed that Alan Combe was overlooked for the recent Scotland
games with the likes of Ryan Esson getting the nod before him but hopes
that our number one and possibly Kris Boyd may get selected for the
Scotland Future game due to be played at Rugby Park. He did stress
however that he felt the players merited their chance and shouldn't just
be named because of the venue.
KSA
chairman Jim Wilson expressed his displeasure at Killie fans not being
consulted prior to the upcoming Hibs game being moved and the lack of
information forthcoming from the club. Michael Johnson recently stated
that the change was requested by Hibs so more of their fans could travel
and after consulting with Jim Jefferies and Davie Mackinnon (and taking
Hogmanay events at the Hotel and Sports Bar into consideration), he
agreed to the switch. JJ conceded that the club "should have
approached the fans" but from a playing point of view it didn't
affect his plans.
The
recent call-off of the Youth Cup game was a mystery to JJ as Alan
Robertson was sent to the Clyde v St Mirren game at Broadwood on the
Saturday and the pitch looked fine. The Glasgow outfit were initially
allowed to switch the home tie due to 'maintenance work' and now say
they are happy to play it at Rugby Park, but we have our own scheduling
problems and as yet a new date has still not been arranged.
New
signing Ryan O'Leary took a bad knock in one of the youth games and was
advised to not train for two weeks, but his headaches persisted and a
follow up visit to a specialist led to him being unavailable for six
weeks. O'Leary, considered strong, quick and mature for his age, is now
back in training but it will probably be a while before he sees any
first team action, especially with the emergence of Frazer Wright.
It was a
big step up to the SPL for the former part-timer from Stranraer but it
seems he is now settling into his game. JJ recalled when he first
arrived that Boydie ripped him to shreds in his first training match but
a few weeks ago the tables were turned and he had Tarbolton's finest in
his back pocket...and there are not many can boast that about the top
scorer in the SPL...hence it seems that his slow but sure introduction
to the top flight has paid dividends.
Other
youngsters impressing the manager are Iain Flannigan (who we nearly lost
to a 'bigger' club recently), Jamie Adams and defensive midfielder Jamie
Hamill. 6' 3" winger Robert Campbell has been told that this is a
crucial season for him and he will be given an opportunity to prove his
worth to the team...hopefully he will make the grade.
Jefferies
said that one of his toughest decisions this year was dropping Graeme
Smith after he came in for Combe and did so well, but as Alan had to
drop out through injury and not bad form he felt it was only fair to
give him his starting slot back. He spoke to both keepers about the
situation and explained that if the same thing were to happen in the
future but the roles reversed, then to be fair he would start Smith. We
are glad to report that Smithy's confidence has not been affected and he
is still eager to take his chance when it come again.
Asked
about the newspaper reports linking JJ to the Dundee United job, he said
basically what we expected. Lots of managers have been linked, not nice
to talk about someone still in a job, concentrating on Killie's next
game etc. Jim wasn't asked outright whether he would go if requested,
because that wouldn't be fair, but considering the recent wage drop he
had to take (with a no compensation clause), the non-existent transfer
budget and the money Eddie Thomson has been splashing around...who
wouldn't consider it?
After the
departure of the manager (to the bar, not Tannadice!) the meeting went
on to 'any other business'. Pricing issues were the main topic of
conversation and it was agreed that the club should be approached to
possibly reduce prices for one of the Xmas holiday games to gauge
reaction an try and attract a bigger crowd. The general opinion was also
that £12 was too expensive for pensioners and should be reduced to £5
the same as kids tickets.
David
Mackinnon is reportedly leaving after the next Killie v Rangers game and
we have a financial guru from Dunfermline coming in. There should also
be a marketing person joining the club soon but with no representative
from the club in the meeting at this point details were a bit sketchy,
we'll try to find out more about the new employees in the near future.
And that concludes the report minus the juicy bits we can't report...bet
you wish you had went now!
