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Incomings and outgoings.


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Kilmarnock Summer Scouting Report 2018

Every season, this site produces a detailed look at the possible transfer business each SPFL Premiership club will carry out over the summer. This summer, this site will have the most detailed look ever at the ins and outs we may see, with the help of data from Wyscout amongst other resources to produce team scouting reports the most accurate you could get short of having a portal into the manager’s mind.

 

Manager: Steve Clarke. Will likely be in demand, but the club’s resolve to keep him is pretty stout and Clarke himself is enjoying life at the club he supports so while the club will surely be tested, I wouldn’t expect Clarke to actually go anywhere.

 

Signings Profile: Too soon to say, but Clarke has recruited well and been able to convince names you wouldn’t expect to turn up at Rugby Park to do just that.

 

Contracts Ending: Chris Burke, Leo Fasan, Gordon Greer, Dean Hawkshaw, Youssouf Mulumbu, Alex Samizadeh, Steven Smith, Brad Spencer

Greer, Burke and Smith are all getting on in years and all have seen playing time decrease as time has gone by. There is no player the club will really miss aside from Mulumbu but the expectation is that he will be picked up by a bigger club - Killie were always simply a club to put him in the shop window and he has done exactly that.

 

Loans Ending: Jasko Keranovic, Stuart Findlay, Aaron Simpson, Aaron Tshibola

Tshibola’s contract with Villa isn’t up till 2020, so the only name worth talking about here is Stuart Findlay whose contract with Newcastle is up this summer and who has been a regular. Expect Killie to try to pick him up.

 

Potential Sales:

Jordan Jones will be linked with a move every window and, while Rangers didn’t get near Killie’s valuation in January, someone is bound to come pretty close over the whole summer as English Championship clubs will surely be sniffing around.

One would perhaps wonder if someone might think Eamonn Brophy is worth a bid - his potential has always been there and Clarke has enabled him to realise that more than he was able to with arguably more game time at Accies. Even then, it’s not an especially likely shout and Killie are going to focus more on bringing players in unless an offer comes in for Jones that is too good to turn down.

 

Areas to Strengthen:

Arguably, goalkeeper - Jamie McDonald is rightly considered one of the better goalkeepers in the league but his form has always seemed to let him down a little when club expectations have gone higher than simply “don’t get relegated”. Given Killie’s ambitions next season should be far higher than that lowly bar, history may not be in his favour but he does deserve the chance to set that record straight - a keeper brought in a competition rather than as back-up may well be Steve Clarke’s best idea.

It goes without saying that Youssouf Mulumbu will need replaced but one would likely want to see an extra central defender brought in in addition to bringing in Findlay permanently to shore the team up that little bit extra. Striking ranks are well filled and Erwin and/or Brophy should be able to step up and allow Boyd to transition into a more rotational role as it’s not that reasonable to rely on him scoring 15+ next season at 35 and, short of getting a very, very good deal on a player, I can’t imagine that Clarke would dive in on getting a player to add to that area of the pitch.

 

Suggested players:

It’s tempting to hope that Clarke may be able to weave the magic that brought Youssouf Mulumbu to the club to bring in a similarly prestigious player and, while I’m sure Billy Bowie would back him for the right candidate, I would expect the club to be a little more modest this summer and maybe get a player outside of the window if they’ve had trouble finding a club - like Mulumbu, would a similar player choose Killie as their first choice destination or as a destination that is a little enforced upon them?

So, for goalkeeper, it’s best to plump for the obvious in Aberdeen’s Danny Rogers. Proven many times over in the Championship but never afforded the opportunity at Aberdeen, he’s the type of Keeper who is a little too good to just be a back up for a Kilmarnock which is just what Killie need - competition for the position. This season saw him receive a very brief run of games as Joe Lewis was injured and prior to the Dons bringing in Freddie Woodman on loan. Obviously, given Rogers’ status as back-up I can’t do a statistical comparison between him and Macdonald so I will make the most effective comparison I can - who did Falkirk fans prefer: MacDonald or Rogers?

Moving forward to the central defence, and a fairly obvious match would be Thomas O’Ware. With Morton in turmoil, it seems certain that their better players will be taking a step up. O’Ware has been linked with St Mirren but Kilmarnock tick the same boxes as the Buddies and O’Ware spent time at the club as a youngster. Compared to other Championship defender who have made the step up, such as Mark Durnan, O’Ware has more in the way of experience and would be coming to a Killie side which has plenty of defensive nous about it which should make the transition far easier. Previously linked with larger English clubs, his star waned a little along with Morton’s this season.

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Statistical comparison with Kirk Broadfoot: O’Ware comes off very well against the rejuvenated Broadfoot - almost 5 more successful defensive actions per 90 and 0.7 more defensive duels at a 10% higher success rate. Aerially, he is involved in 2.5 more defensive duels per 90 at a 17% higher success rate and interceptions per 90 are 1.2 higher than Broadfoot. This is, of course, at a lower level than the Premiership, but it’s a busy and efficient baseline for someone like Clarke to work from and grow the player to a higher level along with being at an age at 25 where now is the time to make that step.

Up the park, Youssouf Mulumbu has to be replaced. That’s a difficult task for any side and Steve Clarke will have to work magic to get a player even half as influential and destructive as Mulumbu but if there is a role where Clarke is to work magic and get a higher profile player in that normal, it will be this. For Mulumbu himself, Celtic seems a likely destination, but for Killie, I’ll go back to an article from earlier this season about expiring contracts in the former Yugoslavia (because, well, this is this site and I know this sort of thing more than I do the English leagues!) and to two all action midfielders is Luka Muzenjak of Cibalia and Nemanja Glavcic of Spartak Subotica. 

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Muzenjak is the older of the two at 24 and the more established in the first team at his home town club while Glavcic has been highly thought of for a while if not having quite made the full breakthrough and his previous club Partizan.

Statistical comparison to Mulumbu: Minutes are an issue here as, generally, I like to compare based on over 2000 minutes of action, but Mulumbu hasn’t had that this season so it’s only right to note that this can’t be a perfect comparison but most of the stats between the three are similar - there is 1.2 between the three on Defensive Duels per 90. Mulumbu’s success rate there is the best of the three (as you’d expect) but Glavcic comes closest within 3%. When it comes to passing, Glavcic gets through the most per 90 with Accuracy percentage being pretty similar across all three. Finally, of the three, Glavcic has double the xA per 90 of the other two.

Of the two, Muzenjak is the most similar stylistically to Mulumbu but Glavcic is the better of the two when it comes to the bare stats (along with the fact that Glavcic has the higher potential of the two. Obviously, Clarke is highly unlikely to be looking at either, but Mulumbu has been so impressive that it will be difficult to replace him even if Killie really push the boat out.

What do you think? Who do you want Killie to sign this summer? Let me know in the comments or on twitter @timomouse.

(The Football Life)

 

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That is a bizarre ending to an article. It’s like someone started it then let craigieboy finish it. 

For me CB, CM and fullback cover have to be our priorities. We need more at the back than Broadfoot and Boyd. Hopefully Findlay thinks his future is here as well. Even at that probably one more as well unless Higgins has kicked on. CM we are losing two good players who have played important roles since joining. Perhaps Wilson will be ready to step up but we are still losing bodies and quality in there.  If Smith goes and Simpson returns to Wolves we’ve no cover for the fullback roles at all so that has to be dealt with. 

 

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4 minutes ago, piffer said:

That is a bizarre ending to an article. It’s like someone started it then let craigieboy finish it. 

For me CB, CM and fullback cover have to be our priorities. We need more at the back than Broadfoot and Boyd. Hopefully Findlay thinks his future is here as well. Even at that probably one more as well unless Higgins has kicked on. CM we are losing two good players who have played important roles since joining. Perhaps Wilson will be ready to step up but we are still losing bodies and quality in there.  If Smith goes and Simpson returns to Wolves we’ve no cover for the fullback roles at all so that has to be dealt with. 

 

Kilmarnock didn't need sign centre back because Kilmarnock got four centre back to Higgin, Findlay, Boyd and Broadfoot. Kilmarnock would sign permanent deal to Tishibola and Simpson. I think Kilmarnock should sign keeper, left full back (back up with Taylor), midfielder, winger and striker 

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3 hours ago, Craigieboy said:

Kilmarnock didn't need sign centre back because Kilmarnock got four centre back to Higgin, Findlay, Boyd and Broadfoot. Kilmarnock would sign permanent deal to Tishibola and Simpson. I think Kilmarnock should sign keeper, left full back (back up with Taylor), midfielder, winger and striker 

We may not get Findlay, Craigie and Tishbola is out of our price range, although he may come back as a loan.  Simpson is a possibility as he is out of contract with Wolves, but not sure how much i rate him.  I'm sure I could easily be proven wrong though.

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For first time in years there will not be the huge turnaround of the squad in this summer transfer window ,  and as Clarke has said he will be looking for the few players who can bring in better quality to improve the team

For me in terms of first team players an attacking mobile centre midfielder is top of the list ,  a quality centre half (2 if Findlay moves on ), and another attacking wide player with pace 

 

 

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Stats like that prove nothing. I wonder if the guy has ever seen a game with either of the two foreign players he quoted? 

He says that Mulumbu hadn't played over 2,000 so he can't do a 'perfect comparison'. Clearly things like quality of teammates, the opposition, the manager and whether they are playing each game in their preferred position and, in this case, cultural adaptability don't even matter. 

Real football is not Football Manager - unfortunately as Killie would have won the champions league a few times after signing a young unkown striker called Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 

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Might as well get this started seen as the season is done. Who do you think will leave and does anyone have any rumours of who will come in?

I reckon we will miss out on signing Findlay. This is based on nothing at all but I think he may end up at Aberdeen next season, I also think Matthew Kennedy will be a Killie player next season.

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I'd be very surprised if Findlay doesn't sign. Greer, Smith & Burke will go and I think Frizzell will be allowed to leave or will go out on loan again. 

Dont think Jones will sign an extension so if the club get an offer closer to their valuation he will be away in the summer or in January. Hard to see Mulumbu not getting a better deal somewhere else. Would like to see Tshibola back for another season, he's starting to show what he's capable of. 

A couple of people have mentioned Kennedy - is there any basis in this or just speculation? 

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Where does the Kennedy link come form ( apart he played a few first team games for us)? Does he have a link with sc? He’s done very little that I’ve seen ( including pass marks spell at hibs in a Lower league) to merit a return. I’m guessing there must be some inside info but I’d be underwhelmed at the prospect of Kennedy coming back.

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I would absolutely love Findlay to sign. I think he is maturing into a fantastic defender. I think the biggest thing to note about his improvement is his confidence. I used to think he was a bit shy and stand offish as a defender. Now he gets stuck right in, physically and verbally, and loves to step into midfield (and beyond!) and is a good threat at attacking set pieces. I really like him

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The Kennedy rumour has been kicking about since january. Whether there’s any truth in it is a different story. What I heard then was we had made initial contact with Kennedy and Muirhead. People on here are close to the players or their families so would be better to confirm or deny the stories

I think Findlay will sign on but Hibs are my worry. 

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10 minutes ago, piffer said:

The Kennedy rumour has been kicking about since january. Whether there’s any truth in it is a different story. What I heard then was we had made initial contact with Kennedy and Muirhead. People on here are close to the players or their families so would be better to confirm or deny the stories

I think Findlay will sign on but Hibs are my worry. 

Kennedy has struggled since moving south but had a really good season for Plymouth last year.

 

Has struggled for game time at Portsmouth since the turn of the year. Will be interesting to see how has matured as a player.

Not Sure he's the right fit for this squad.

Edited by azertyuiop
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Worry about Findlay is why he hasn't signed a deal already (though may do so now the season has ended). Would certainly be good to get it done soon if its happening. Seems that Tshibola has been offered a deal, but might be weighing up his options which is fair enough. Obviously Villa would have to agree to another possible loan as well. 

As said, looking more likely that Jones will be away. 

On those leaving then, possibly?

Keranovic (loan ended)

Simpson (now returned to Wolves)

Greer

Smith

Waters

Frizzell?

Jones

Mulumbu

Burke

Thomas

Samizadeh

Spencer?

Could also be some out from the Development squad.

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29 minutes ago, Jedi2 said:

Worry about Findlay is why he hasn't signed a deal already (though may do so now the season has ended). Would certainly be good to get it done soon if its happening. Seems that Tshibola has been offered a deal, but might be weighing up his options which is fair enough. Obviously Villa would have to agree to another possible loan as well. 

Findlay has been quite open that he and his agent are waiting to see what other offers are on the table so I don't see him signing any time soon.

I don't see how we can have made Tshibola an offer as he is under contract at Villa.

I can't see Cardiff offering Kennedy another contract since he has been out on loan the past two season at lower division clubs and they are heading even higher.

He would be a good option as a replacement for Jones if necessary, but would he come back to Scotland to revitalise his career or would he prefer to kick around the lower leagues in England?

 

 

Edited by skygod
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1 minute ago, skygod said:

Findlay has been quite open that he and his agent are waiting to see what other offers are on the table so I don't see him signing any time soon.

I don't see how we can have made Tshibola an offer as he is under contract at Villa.

I can't see Cardiff offering Kennedy another contract since he has been out on loan the past two season at lower division clubs and they are heading even higher.

He would be a good option as a replacement for Jones if necessary, but would he come back to Scotland to revitalise his career or would he prefer to kick around the lower leagues in England?

 

 

If previous history will chase the money in the lower leagues  and who can blame him

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