The
Under 19 team lost their ninth game in a row at home to St Mirren on
Saturday morning by five goals to one with Steven Noble grabbing what
has become Killie's customary consolation goal. If you've already looked
at the Fixtures, Hotshots and League Table pages before viewing this
then you will realise why the statistics therein give cause for concern.
Results wise we have the worst youth team in the league...and that does
not auger well for the future.
While
the first team is on the verge of a Cup Final appearance, no one seems
to be batting an eyelid at the plight of the area of our club which
should prove to be our salvation. Fifty for the Future subscribers
aside, everyone else seem quite content that Jim Jefferies is doing a
good job with our current crop of first-teamers...while our long term
prospects are falling by the wayside. A situation that could have
serious ramifications in seasons to come.
We
spoke to a well known Killie fan who expressed his concern about the
youth development situation and he is far from impressed with the
direction the club are heading. He said: "Questions should be asked
why the KFC Youth set-up has been allowed to deteriorate from wining the
Youth Cup in 2004 to rock bottom of the Youth League in 2007. The
working relationship between Jefferies and Robertson seems to be almost
non-existent, Jefferies or Brown never appear at these matches, and I
wonder if there is a deliberate attempt to starve the Youth set-up of
resources in order to force out Robertson."
Strong
words indeed, but the fan in question follows the fortunes of the youth
team closely and is sufficiently qualified to start alarm bells ringing.
The downhill slide has been gradual over the last few years but it seems
that the cuts that were made prior to the Killie Trust stepping in with
Fifty for the Future are now taking their toll. The fans, through the
Trust, are doing all they can to help (though more FFTF subscribers are
always welcome), but surely it is time for the club to take a look at
the situation and take steps to rectify whatever it is that seems to be
going wrong?
