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Peter Leven "we are hurting just as much as the supporters"


Scouser2

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14 hours ago, livvy said:

There's little to be said for hard work in this context. If anything I find the last couple of days to he a reflection of a management team who don't know how what to do and are clutching at straws.

If they need to ask the players what is wrpng it suggests that they cannot identify it themselves.

How about this for a suggestion as to what's gone wrong? We have only one top flight standard central midfielder and he's injured. Without his leadership in there we are sending young lads with reasonable potential such as Wilson and Frizzell to the slaughter. The media and support identified this, our management team did not. We have signed several players who are here for their last pay check. When you include Boyd already at that stage of his career it leaves us Burke, Boyd, Greer and Broadfoot who are at the tail end of their career. We have very few players in the peak performance age ranges. The majorityof our squad are young and learning their trade, the rest are pissing about on sky singing simply the best on a piano.

It makes sense to take the path of asking the players what is wrong, it helps identify any issues that could be impacting those players from playing to their full potential. For all we know a player could be having personal issues at home or a gambling problem or whatever and the process helps build trust/relationships.

However, it clearly comes across the management are running out of ideas on how to get the team to perform. Which makes me think simply some of the players arent happy and/or dont believe in the management.

We have a decent team, with the right manager the potential to do well is there.

Its now a matter of when not if, will LM and PL get booted out and the sooner the better.

 

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59 minutes ago, KTIDanny85 said:

It makes sense to take the path of asking the players what is wrong, it helps identify any issues that could be impacting those players from playing to their full potential. For all we know a player could be having personal issues at home or a gambling problem or whatever and the process helps build trust/relationships.

However, it clearly comes across the management are running out of ideas on how to get the team to perform. Which makes me think simply some of the players arent happy and/or dont believe in the management.

We have a decent team, with the right manager the potential to do well is there.

Its now a matter of when not if, will LM and PL get booted out and the sooner the better.

 

I wonder if none of the players in other teams have " issues ", or remarkably, is it unique to Kilmarnock again?

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1 hour ago, KTIDanny85 said:

Nothing against u but I hate this saying. It makes no sense, even more so in football. Successful ppl dont achieve success by not working hard.

It makes particular sense in football, assuming at least that you are currently working hard.

If you are losing every week there is no point simply doubling your training hours and knackering yourself by matchday

Similarly on the pitch it is not all about running like a headless chicken for 90 minutes and conviincing yourself at least you have been working hard.

I must admit it would appear that some players could do with working a bit harder on their fitness but they could also be a bit smarter about their refuelling.

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1 hour ago, KTIDanny85 said:

It makes no sense, even more so in football. Successful ppl dont achieve success by not working hard.

While I agree with your main point, perhaps it does make sense to proclaim you are going to "work harder". Perhaps they anticipate that most of the people their message is aimed at think they are where they are because they are lazy bastards and could do better if they just worked harder.

Only a few discerning souls appreciate that they are where they are because of what they are doing and if they want to improve things to improve they need to change something. 

You are right, successful people work hard all he time anyway. But there are a lot of people who work very hard but are not successful. What makes people successful is 1) hard work coupled with 2) doing the right thing and 3) luck. You cant do anything about 3) Hence my motto, "the key to success is persistence beyond the point of stupidity".  

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5 hours ago, kevin1869 said:

But but but.... "Peter Leven insists he and manager Lee McCulloch are working all hours..." o.O

"Work harder", "we're winners"... blah blah blah. Heard it all before, and it stank of pish the first time. Honestly though, just once I'd like one of these guys to come out and break down why we lost/failed to win in terms of tactics, transitional play, or something/anything that suggests a deeper understanding of the game than "we woz unlucky" and "we must work harder."

Spot on and due to the fact we don't get much media coverage they don't get asked questions that we would like asked. Why did you pick that team etc?!

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1 hour ago, jamieboy said:

Spot on and due to the fact we don't get much media coverage they don't get asked questions that we would like asked. Why did you pick that team etc?!

Last time McCulloch was asked if it was a mistake sticking with Boyd up top he shut the interviewer down straight away. Any time he has been questioned about his selection he has always said he made the right call, from my memory of the interviews. 

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55 minutes ago, mitch14 said:

Last time McCulloch was asked if it was a mistake sticking with Boyd up top he shut the interviewer down straight away. Any time he has been questioned about his selection he has always said he made the right call, from my memory of the interviews. 

The worrying thing is if he genuinely believes he hasn't been making mistakes. Sign of a poor coach/manager is to blame everyone bar themselves. Don't think he'll be Killie manager in a months time put it that way.

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1 hour ago, jamieboy said:

 Don't think he'll be Killie manager in a months time put it that way.

Don't think we will have picked up 3 points from a single game in a month's time but his departure will take a bit longer IMO.

I thought he was doing OK as first team coach but his signings have been an unmitigated disaster. generally a manager will bring in several donkeys in the course of a season but I really can't think of any of LM's signings that don't fall into that category. the only quality in the team is what is left from last term.   

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1 hour ago, gdevoy said:

Don't think we will have picked up 3 points from a single game in a month's time but his departure will take a bit longer IMO.

I thought he was doing OK as first team coach but his signings have been an unmitigated disaster. generally a manager will bring in several donkeys in the course of a season but I really can't think of any of LM's signings that don't fall into that category. the only quality in the team is what is left from last term.   

I think Thomas is a good wee player and Findlay has done well in the past few games. If Greer stays fit he should be considered an excellent signing. I saw Thomas play well in a decent Scotland Under 21 team v Holland. He's not scared to shoot and tries to entertain. Unfortunately I think the likes of Higgins and Samizadeh may show more under our next manager. I do get your point though quite a few are looking like poor signings. Clark made a few mistakes but he corrected them in January by getting Woodman and Ajer. McCulloch should have admitted he got it wrong with Power and brought in another centre mid instead of signing Bell imo.

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24 minutes ago, jamieboy said:

I think Thomas is a good wee player and Findlay has done well in the past few games. If Greer stays fit he should be considered an excellent signing. I saw Thomas play well in a decent Scotland Under 21 team v Holland. He's not scared to shoot and tries to entertain. Unfortunately I think the likes of Higgins and Samizadeh may show more under our next manager. I do get your point though quite a few are looking like poor signings. Clark made a few mistakes but he corrected them in January by getting Woodman and Ajer. McCulloch should have admitted he got it wrong with Power and brought in another centre mid instead of signing Bell imo.

Thought Higgins played very well in the dept game on Tuesday.  There is a player there somewhere. 

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"We're hurting too'! Aye...I should f**king hope so!!! Leven and McCulloch are NOT Killie fans, they DON'T know how much we're hurting. It's horrible what we're having to put up with. They'll end up at other teams through their coaching careers, we'll still be Killie, so that patronising s**te about knowing how we feel doesn't wash with me. Do what you're paid for and coach your players to do what they're paid for...playing football!!!

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Successful professionals in any sport usually have that ultra competitive gene. They HATE losing. I'm sure our players and management team are no different. They won't feel it the same way as the fans do, but that's the difference between being a fan and a professional. There may well be 1 or 2 who are just going through the motions for a pay packet, but the dressing room is a pretty vicious place for anyone not pulling their weight. LM wasn't the most talented player, but he certainly got the most out of his playing career through hard work and will to win. I had hoped this would be the attitude he would instill in the squad and that his signings would have the same type of mentality. If the squad are behind him and pulling in the same direction, there is still a glimmer of hope that he can turn things around although there is a huge number of negatives that exist and that are growing as each game passes.

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On 13 September 2017 at 3:59 PM, Scouser2 said:

**************

Peter Leven insists he and manager Lee McCulloch are working all hours in an attempt to right the wrongs of Kilmarnock’s poor start to the season. The assistant boss admitted he completely understood fans’ anger after just one point from 15 in the league so far.

But he stressed that he and McCulloch are hurting just as much as the supporters as they try to come up with the formula to get the team firing. Saturday’s defeat to Motherwell was Killie’s fourth in five games, with just a 2-2 draw at home to Hamilton to show for their season thus far. Leven said: “We had a good set of meetings on Monday. We sat each player down and just said to them ‘What’s going on?’

“We got a lot out of those meetings and the players opened up and spoke to us. "Now we just have to work as hard as possible – that’s all we can do.”

Leven, along with McCulloch, was part of Gary Locke’s backroom team in the 2015/16 season when it took the Rugby Park side until September to get their first three points on the board.

Asked if they can take anything from that period, Leven replied: “We can take a bit of experience from it but we’re a completely different team this time around. “We feel we have brought in quality players and I think we have a better team than we did last season as well.

"In every game we have played this season – other than against Celtic – we could have taken something. “On Saturday, we could have scored a couple of goals in the first half and if you do that it’s a different game. But the second half wasn’t good enough and we were punished.”

Disgruntled fans aired their displeasure at Saturday’s performance on social media, with some already calling for the manager’s head. But Leven insists the coaching team are as frustrated and angry as the supporters. He said: “We’ve been in very early in the morning and working around the clock to try to get it right. We put pressure on ourselves to be successful. The manager is a winner, I’m a winner and it hurts when we are not picking up results. “I totally understand the supporters being annoyed — I’m a fan too, I’m angry and upset. We’ve just got to find a way to get the monkey off our back.

“There are a lot of very good young players in the team — I know we will start winning games eventually.”

Killie travel to Aberdeen this weekend, with Derek McInnes’ men unbeaten so far in the league. The Dons have won the past TWELVE meetings between the sides but Leven is adamant his side can spring an upset. He said: “They’re a good team but we can’t worry about them. “It’s important we look after ourselves and put the hard work in all week to make sure we’re ready to go there and carry out the game plan we have worked on. “Aberdeen have good players but so do we — it’s important we go there and try our best to get a result.”

**

PL: What's going on?

Player: Was about to ask you the same.

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