Kilmarnock Latest Blogs

Rangers 2 Kilmarnock 1

14/08/2010 21:06:20 by SPLBanter filed in Match Reports.

Rangers  2  Kilmarnock  1

The day started great for Rangers with the unfurling of the championship flag by Chairman Alistair Johnston amongst hearty celebration from the Ibrox faithful.

In addition was the introduction of their first new player in two years, James Beattie, and the promise of one or two more to follow.

Then just after the quarter hour mark Rangers had more to celebrate when Kenny Miller somehow bundled the ball home after a James Fowler had blocked a Kirk Broadfoot effort on the line.

Rangers had started the game well and when Millers effort went in you could have forgiven the home fans for believing they were in for a straightforward afternoon, especially given Killie are many a pundit’s favourites for the drop.

However, Mixu Paatelainen’s side with several new faces in it hadn’t read the script and settled in making life difficult for their hosts.

Toward the end of the first half Killie enjoyed decent spells of possession in the Rangers half and Danny Invincible and James Fowler both went close to equalising.

Rangers saw things out until half time and started the second period on top, with Beattie squandering a decent chance for a debut goal after Frazer Wright’s slip had let him in.

Rangers, however, did add to their lead on 57 minutes when their best player on the day Steven Naismith drove home an angled shot from Miller’s lofted pass.

Killie though responded immediately when Sasa Papac was correctly penalised for a push on Dayton in the penalty box.

Jamie Hamill stepped up a calmly stroked the ball past McGregor from 12 yards.

Kyle Lafferty almost eased the Rangers’ nerves with a free-kick which whistled past the upright, but it was Killie who finished the stronger as they looked for an equaliser, so much so that Walter Smith left his seat in the directors box for one in the dugout.

James Beattie was withdrawn after 80 minutes to mass applause from the majority inside Ibrox. As debuts go it was ok, nothing more. In his defence he only arrived in Glasgow yesterday and hasn’t even trained with his new teammates yet. More will be expected of him in the coming weeks and months.  

Rangers just about deserved to see the game out based on the chances they created, but Killie kept them honest for 90 minutes and made them work for their 3 points.

Rangers: McGregor, Weir, Broadfoot, Papac, Whittaker, Bougherra, Edu, Miller, Lafferty, Naismith, Beattie (Hutton 80)

Kilmarnock: Bell, Fowler, Wright, Gordon, Bryson, Hamill, Invincibile (Sammon 83), Silva (Hay 58), Kelly, Dayton, Pascali

Goals: Rangers: Miller [16], Naismith [57]; Kilmarnock: Hamill pen [60]

Taouil misses opener at Ibrox

13/08/2010 17:47:03 by SPLBanter filed in News.

Killie will be without Mehdi Taouil and Alan Combe for their SPL opening day clash against Rangers at Ibrox.

Both players coincidentally are recovering from double hernia surgery.

Taouil is expected to be out for two to three weeks whilst Combe is still two months from fitness.

James Dayton who signed from Crystal Palace in the week could make his debut.

Tim Clancy is out suspended.

Kilmarnock [from]: Bell, Hay, Wright, O'Leary, Fowler, Pascali, Bryson, Old, Owens, Sammon, Invincibile, Kelly, Hamill, Sissoko, Silva, Gordon, Dayton, Letheren.

St Mirren 1 Kilmarnock 0

26/04/2010 16:25:21 by SPLBanter filed in Match Reports.

St Mirren 1  Kilmarnock 0

Andy Dorman grabbed the winner as St Mirren took a massive step towards Scottish Premier League survival with what could be a crucial victory over relegation rivals Kilmarnock.

Dorman struck late on with the only goal of the game in what was a scrappy clash at new St Mirren Park as both sides desperately tried to haul themselves away from the danger zone.

In a further boost for the Paisley club, bottom side Falkirk also suffered defeat against Hamilton, meaning Saints are now four points clear of the drop zone, while Killie remain a single point ahead of rock-bottom Bairns.

St Mirren: Gallacher, Mair, Potter, Barron, Carey (Johnston 80), Murray (Brady 21), Dorman, Thomson, O'Donnell (Dargo 57), Robb, Higdon

Kilmarnoack: Bell, Clancy, Wright, Ford, Bryson (Skelton 66), Pascali, Kelly, Hamill, Severin (Maguire 46), Kyle, Burchill (Fowler 45)

Goals: St Mirren: Dorman (74)

Maguire: we need to mean

23/04/2010 16:11:51 by SPLBanter filed in News.

As Kilmarnock prepare for their trip to Paisley and a crucial relegation showdown with St Mirren on Saturday, on-loan forward Chris Maguire has called for his teammates to waken up, realise the position they are in and start fighting for their SPL lives.

Maguire feels that Killie have become a bit of a soft touch lately and is feels they need to develop a ‘mean streak’ if they want to secure top-flight football.

Maguire said: "We're down to the nitty-gritty stuff and I didn't think we'd be in this position after that win over Celtic.

"The team went on a run immediately after that but it didn't last. What's happened since then is proof you can take nothing for granted.

"Sometimes I think we're too nice as a team. We need to get our sleeves rolled up and develop a mean streak.

"It's time to do everything possible to get Kilmarnock out of the situation they're in."

Killie welcome back Kevin Kyle, Frazer Wright, Scott Severin and Mehdi Taouil.  

Kyle has served a two-match ban while Wright, Severin and Taouil have all recovered from injury.

Kilmarnock [from]: Bell, Clancy, Ford, Pascali, Hay, Taouil, Severin, Fowler, Maguire, Sammon, Russell, Bryson, Combe, Kyle, Wright, Owens, Kelly, Burchill.  

Hamilton 3 Kilmarnock 0

19/04/2010 18:15:13 by SPLBanter filed in Match Reports.

Hamilton 3  Kilmarnock 0

Hamilton confirmed their SPL survival and kept their amazing late season surge going by following last week’s 4-1 humbling of Hibs with a 3-0 victory over struggling Killie.

Accies were on the front foot from the off and Cameron Bell did brilliantly to claw Grant Evans' header behind from Imrie's cross inside five minutes.

Mickael Antoine-Curier was then involved at either, blocking the ball on his own line after Hamilton failed to deal with a corner before being gifted possession by Manuel Pascali, bearing down on goal and shooting too close to Bell.

Killie enjoyed a brief spell on top midway through the first-half but they were living up to their reputation of being shot-shy on their travels.

Accies regained control as the first-half closed out but, in fairness, were also unable to test the goalkeeper.

Less than four minutes after the restart, Antoine-Curier and Mark McLaughlin were both appealing for what they appeared to think was handball on the line from Garry Hay after a Flavio Paixao corner.

Both sides had cranked up the aggression but although tackles were beginning to fly in, referee Dougie McDonald was unmoved.

He had a big call to make just past the hour mark when Antoine-Curier got the wrong side of Tim Clancy and went down under pressure from the defender.

It looked a decent penalty shout but McDonald decided to book the striker for diving instead.

Antoine-Curier had a golden chance to put Hamilton ahead in the 68th minute.

Hamill's clearance careered off Marco Paixao straight to the striker, whose shot was turned behind superbly by Bell.

Killie responded by replacing strike-force Allan Russell and Burchill with Chris Maguire and Danny Invincibile.

But they fell behind almost immediately, Bell failing to claim a Marco Paixao corner and Imrie sweeping home from point-blank range.

The some side soon had a second goal and it was just about as spectacular as their opener was scrappy.

Imrie's 77th-minute cross was headed clear by Pascali but the ball was met full on the volley by Flavio Paixao and rocketed into the bottom corner.

Killie looked beaten, while their opponents were now full of confidence, though they had to replace the injured Tomas Cerny with Sean Murdoch soon after.

Their afternoon was capped three minutes from time when Joel Thomas made it 3-0, outmuscling Simon Ford before rifling a left-foot finish into the bottom corner.

Hamilton: Cerny (Murdoch 78), Canning, McLaughlin, Wesolowski, McArthur, Evans (M Paixao 46), Mensing, Antoine-Curier (Thomas 74), Neil, F Paixao, Imrie

Kilmarnock: Bell, Clancy, Hay, Fowler, Ford, Bryson, Pascali, Kelly, Hamill, Russell (Maguire 71), Burchill (Invincibile 71)

Goals: Hamilton: Imrie (72), F Paixao (77), Thomas (87)

Calderwood tells players home truths

17/04/2010 00:27:38 by SPLBanter filed in News.

If Kilmarnock are to avoid the drop this season they may well need to repeat their post split form of last season when they went the five games unbeaten.

Kiilie are struggling hopelessly for some sort of form at the moment, with their only win since mid February being the 2-0 victory over the equally hopelessly out of form Aberdeen a fortnight ago.

The Rugby Park club are only a point clear of both St Mirren and Falkirk at the foot table, and with Falkirk finding form at the perfect time and St Mirren capable of beating anyone in the bottom six on their day, Killie have to start picking up points now.

"I told them a few home truths this week," revealed Jimmy Calderwood.

"I did it after the Hearts game before I spoke to the media and again on Thursday about the severity of the situation.

"Last week, we lost 1-0. Seemingly, we've lost 1-0 10 times in away games this season and we've only scored four goals, which tells its own story.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves - we've got to get it done.

"We know the quality's there - we seem to be a much different team at Rugby Park. We've got to get that sorted out, because we've got three away games in the last five and we can't rely all the time on our home form.

"If we'd drawn five of those away games, we'd be five points ahead and looking forward to the summer, but that's not the case. We've dug a deep hole and we've got to get ourselves out of it."

Craig Bryson will return for the clash with Hamilton at New Douglas Park on Saturday afternoon.

However, Jimmy Calderwood has injury doubts over Manuel Pascali, Jamie Hamill and Scott Severin.

Kevin Kyle serves the second half of his two-match ban while Frazer Wright [hamstring] remains out but he could return the following week.

Kilmarnock [from]: Bell, Clancy, Ford, Pascali, Hay, Taouil, Severin, Fowler, Maguire, Sammon, Russell, Bryson, Combe, Invincibile, Skelton, Old, Flannigan, Kelly, Burchill, Fernandez.