Super Ayrshire Killie

[leckuno]

In preparation for the winter update coming out let me introduce you to my new save with Kilmarnock FC.

So a little bit about myself and my support for the team.

I actual come from the town of Ayr which is about 40 miles south of Glasgow and are coincidentally the home of Kilmarnock's arch rivals Ayr United. Kilmarnock was the first ever team I went to see and they were actually playing Rangers and got beat 5-1 but sitting in with the home fans with my brother and dad will always stay with me.

They have also done well with bringing players up through the youth ranks with notable former players and international Kris Boyd, Steven Naismith, Greg Taylor and Cammy Bell.

Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. The club has won many honours since its formation in 1869, most recently the 2011–12 Scottish League Cup after a 1–0 win over Celtic at Hampden Park and the Scottish Championship title in 2022.

Kilmarnock Football Club is currently the oldest football club in the Scottish Premiership, and are also the second-oldest professional club in Scotland. Home matches are played at Rugby Park, a 17,889 capacity all seater stadium situated in the town itself. Kilmarnock took part in the first ever official match in the Scottish Cup against the now defunct Renton in 1873.

Kilmarnock F.C. have a long-standing football rivalry with fellow Ayrshire side Ayr United, with both teams playing frequently in the Ayrshire derby in which both sides first met in September 1910. Kilmarnock have long been the most successful side in the Ayrshire derby, winning 189 times of 225 meetings.

The club have qualified for European competitions on nine occasions, their best performance coming in the 1966–67 Fairs Cup when they progressed to the semi-finals, eventually being eliminated by Leeds United. The club is also one of only a few Scottish clubs to have played in all three European competitions (European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup). Additionally, the club have played in the International Soccer League four times – 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1965, as well as competing in the 1995 Korea Cup where they had to face international teams.

The aim of the save will be to take Kilmarnock to the top of Scottish football and trying to conquer Europe and hopefully Scotland will take a punt on me as manager as well when the job comes up.

Sadly, we now need to wait a bit longer to get started so we can start with the latest update so we have all the January transfer signings and hopefully some of the younger players have had their CA and PA updated as well​

 

[leckuno]

Well it feels like its been the longest few days of my life waiting for the winter update to get started on this but it has finally arrived.

The Squad

From our first look at the squad is that we have a very strong centre back pairing in Lewis Mayo and Robbie Deas. Its even better as Robbie Deas is a natural left footed defender so will cover that perfectly and play well against Mayo. For the fullback positions we are very short of natural players and will be reliant on other CB's to fill the gaps. Corrie Ndaba who is in on loan from Ipswich can thankfully play at LB naturally but RB is a worry.

Moving into midfield we have a lot of average players who can play in the middle of the park but David Watson(the Ayrshire Pirlo) is the stand out player who we will look to build the midfield around as he can develop into a top player and will be key from the off. Kyle Magennis has a lot of premiership experience but is prone to injury so we will do our best to keep him fit and uninjured. Onto the wings we have loads of choice down the right with Danny Armstrong, Matty Kennedy and Greg Stewart. On the left were not as lucky so we will probably be looking to utilise Kennedy down the left with Armstrong down the right.

Upfront we have a nice choice of players as well with Greg Stewart, Marley Watkins, Kyle Vassell and Kevin van Veen. Its going to be tough to pick strikers out of all of them here but Van Veen was a big player for Motherwell last season getting 25 goals and earning a move to FC Groningen where it sadly didn't work out for him but he could do a big job again here.

Boards Vision

Now you've seen the squad its time to see what the board expects from us

The board expect a mid table finish so got to imagine that would be between 5th and 7th since there are only 12 teams in the league. Depending on draws in the cups as well I fully expect we should do ok in the cups as well and will enjoy any cup run we can go on.

Supporter Profile

So the supporters don't seem to bothered around where we finish this season with them just wanting to play defensive and counter attacking football. The most important thing to them though will be making sure we beat our Ayrshire rivals anytime we play them.

Finances

Looking at the Finances of the club they aren't in a great position with just over £1,000,000 in the bank. We have nothing to spend in our transfer budget but we do have a wee bit of leeway in our wage budget to try and bring in a loan player of free transfer.

Staff

Finally we look to the staff currently at the club and they are severely below standards and will need some serious improving before getting the season underway to give us our best chance at succeeding and getting the best of out players

​

 

[misterioBean]

Only having one GK in the first team is always a good way to start a save lol
Good luck in Scotland!

 

[leckuno]

Only having one GK in the first team is always a good way to start a save lol
Good luck in Scotland!

tell me about it so lets home he doesn't get injured since I can't bring in a permanent keeper

 

[leckuno]

Preseason

I've decided to group the group stages of the league cup in with preseason due to me seeing them as not very important with playing lower league opposition.

Right up until the final game everything had been going to plan with us scoring plenty of goals and not really conceding many but with Qualification already guaranteed we were able to swap some players around and it came very close to costing us here as we had to fight back twice to make sure we stayed in the game and we then managed to keep our cool in the penalty shootout to go through the group games undefeated.

League Cup Group

Tactic

With preseason going well its helped me come up with the tactic to best suit our team and I'm hoping that since its worked against lower league opposition its not going to come back and bite us when we're playing in the league but I've decided to go with a 4-2-4 which doesn't really go with defensive and counter attacking football but its how I want to set up and play at the moment.

August

As you can guess there has been no transfer business so far due to lack of funds but we do get the joy of starting our league campaign against Rangers which will not be an easy game before having to face Hearts twice.​

 

[leckuno]

August

Kilmarnock v Rangers

Even though we lost here we put in a good performance and it paid off with a well worked team goal but sadly wasn't enought

Hearts v Kilmarnock

A much better attacking performance here, especially from Danny Armstrong down the right wing as he gets a brace but our defenders that let us down here with a couple of poor challenges in the box and Shankland is able to convert both penalties.

Viaplay Cup 2nd Round
Kilmarnock v Hearts

Danny Armstrong is at it again with his goal to get us in front but this time Shankland doesn't need a penalty to score as he equalises just after half time. Thankfully two very quick goals in extra time though with Deas scoring a screamer from 25 yards out sees us into the quarter finals.

Motherwell v Kilmarnock

What a 3 minutes of football here as Motherwell equalise which just spurred us on as Armstrong continued his run of form showing he is going to be a huge player before Balagizi got his first goal for the club as well from the left wing.

League

Its been a sold month for us picking up 4 points from 9 and sitting exactly where we want to be come the end of the season

Transfer In

On deadline day we ended up making only the one signing as we struggle to afford peoples wages but we have Ben Jackson join on loan from Huddersfield and he will compete at LB this season

September

An interesting month here again as we have some great chances for picking up points against Ross County and Dundee before finishing off the month with 2 home games in a row against St Mirren​

 

[leckuno]

September

Kilmarnock v Ross County

With confidence flowing after our win over Motherwell we put in a great performance against Ross County with the penalty opening the flood gates for us.

Kilmarnock v Hibernian

Its not often you think you've won the game with 2 minutes to go to then throw it away with two poor defensive goals in injury time.

Dundee v Kilmarnock

I feel we should of really done better here as Armstrong is able to rescue a point for us.

Viaplay Quarter Final
Kilmarnock v St Mirren

What a game as we have to come from behind twice to take the game to extra time where it is Armstrong yet again that gets us the lead before we concede with 5 minutes to go but thankfully we have enough to win on penalties to get into the Semi Final

Kilmarnock v St Mirren

Well another great game for the fans here against St Mirren as Watkins puts in the game of his career so far with an outstanding 4 goals and never thought two of them would be in the opening 5 minutes with Armstrong for the first 2 before he got on the scoresheet himself.

League

7 games in and Celtic are undefeated after claiming the first win in the Old Firm derby this season but we're 4th but the teams below us have games in hand to join us on 11 points but we thankfully have a decent goal difference just now.

October

Our first game against Celtic, can we be the first ones to get them to drop points?​

 

[leckuno]

October

Celtic v Kilmarnock

An expected result here but again we put in a good performance to only lose by a goal

Kilmarnock v Livingston

We bounce straight back with a great team performance but it was a nervy final 25 minutes to get the 3 points

Kilmarnock v Motherwell

Not the most exciting game for the fans but it was a solid performance here and we did well getting the point

Kilmarnock v Aberdeen

Aberdeen have been struggling so far this season and we took advantage of it here as Matty Kennedy scores against his team from last season before he re-joined the club he started his career at to get us on our way.

League

We're currently exceeding expectations as we ditin 3rd spot behind the two old firm teams and Celtic have finally dropped points against Hearts but its still Celtic's season to lose.

November

Well it looks like our cup run might come to an end here in the Semi final but you never know. We do have a good chance in our league games for picking up points though​

 

[leckuno]

November

St Johnstone v Kilmarnock

It was a cracker of a game as we had to fight back from 2 down to get back into the game before the heart breaking moment of conceding with just 8 minutes to go to lose it.

Viaplay Cup Semi Final
Kilmarnock v Celtic

Our first trip to Hampden Park but it was a tie that nobody wants and Celtic showed their class against us and progress to the final where they will meet Rangers.

Hibernian v Kilmarnock

Well after losing two on the trot we bounce back but going down after only 2 minutes did give us a fright but the 2nd half was where we came together and got the 3 points.

Ross County v Kilmarnock

We go behind early again here which is something we might need to look at if it continues but we put in a great closing 5 minutes as Ross Country were just too tired to deal with us as fresh legs came on and helped us get up the park.

League

We hold onto 3rd spot at the moment by just a point and somehow only a point off 2nd as well but more importantly we have a 6 point lead over 7th as my aim is to finish in the top half come the split.

December

Its going to be a very busy month with 7 games here as we get ready for a couple of weeks off in January for the winter break.​

 

[leckuno]

December

Kilmarnock v Hearts

Not the result we wanted, especially after taking an early lead but Hearts came out a different team in the 2nd half and fully deserved their win.

Aberdeen v Kilmarnock

It was a ridiculously boring game here with only a single shot on target from each team and we were lucky Aberdeen didn't score with theirs like we did.

Kilmarnock v Celtic

A fully expected result again here against a very good Celtic side.

Livingston v Kilmarnock

We bounce back eventually with our first win in 4 games thanks to our wingers as they both did so well cutting in and slotting it home.

Kilmarnock v St Johnstone

I'm really disappointed with how this game turned out with us being 3 up at half time and thinking the 3 points were in the bag but sadly St Johnstone came out after half time and put us straight on the back foot and we never recovered/

St Mirren v Kilmarnock

Its nice that an own goal went our way this time for the 3 points after going behind early.

Kilmarnock v Dundee

A much better game here even though we left it to very late to secure the 3 points as we squandered a fair few chances

League

An up and down month sees us end up dropping to 4th as its getting very close behind us with only 10 points between us and 8th.

Via Play Cup Final

A classic cup final between the old firm here as rangers just kept coming back to land the first piece of silverware of the season

January

We've got a bit of time off here thanks to the winter break but its the Scottish Cup time this month and we have what should be a very easy game​

 

[leckuno]

January

Rangers v Kilmarnock

Another loss to one of the old firm but we're doing as well as we can just now but the gap is just too big

Scottish Cup 4th Round
Kilmarnock v Montrose

We were able to rotate the squad a bit here which let van Veen get back into the starting XI and he certainly showed what he can do with a hat-trick which should get him a start in the next game.

Kilmarnock v Hibernian

We played with confidence here after the Montrose game and it showed and Greg Stewart dictated play from midfield and even got a brace for himself as well

League

We close the gap on Hibs here after our win over them but Celtic are still running away with the league just now

Transfers

We had no incoming transfer this month but we did have two leaving us. Mackay-Steven didn't like his game time and it meant we cleared his wage off the book as well

February

A busy month with 6 games and the final 3 could be brutal with Aberdeen being sandwiched in-between the old firm games​

 

[leckuno]

February

Motherwell v Kilmarnock

What and end to the game as we got a real fright that the comeback could of been on if there was a bit more added time but we hold on for the 3 points.

Kilmarnock v Livingston

A real drab game here as both teams really struggled to find any space to get forward as most of the game was in the middle of the park with very few shots on goal

Scottish Cup 5th Round
Dundee v Kilmarnock

A great opening 25 minutes is enough for our midfielders to get the goals with Stewart scoring a peach of a goal from just outside the box.

Celtic v Kilmarnock

We got really excited here as Watkins stabbed the ball home to take the lead with just 20 minutes to go to think we get get something here but it just made Celtic angry as they stepped it up a level and won the game with two very quick goals.

Kilmarnock v Aberdeen

We thankfully bounce straight back with a very good win here considering Aberdeen were just 3 points behind us at the start of the month.

Kilmarnock v Rangers

The result was never in doubt here as we knew Rangers could step it up a gear whenever needed and Silva came on with 25 minutes to go and made an instant impact here for Rangers with his first goal.

League

We hold onto 4th spot and our 7 point lead over 7th spot but more importantly Celtic have finally lost a game with Hibs being the team to beat them

March

A nice quiet month and another favourable draw in the cup as well so hopefully we can reach our 2nd Semi Final this season​

 

[leckuno]

March

Dundee v Kilmarnock

What a second half with 7 goals scored her and we had to pull it back twice before finally getting into the lead to then have it pegged back and looking like it was going to be a draw before Stewart pops up in the box to head home in the dying seconds of the match to get us the 3 points

Scottish Cup Quarter Final
Greenock Morton v Kilmarnock

We took a huge gamble and rotated the squad here to give some other players a shot and it paid off massively as Murray and Cameron really stepped up given it was their first starts this season to see us into another Semi Final.

Kilmarnock v St Mirren

The first teamers came back into the starting XI here and they couldn't handle it at all as St Mirren played us off the park here

Hearts v Kilmarnock

I was hoping to get a response here but it went the other way completely as Hearts were ruthless in the 2nd half and ran us ragged.

League

We drop down to 5th here and our gap over 7th is still 7 points somehow meaning we have made the top 6. Celtic have had a poor month but still heavy favourites for the league with only 7 games left

Youth Intake

On paper it looks like a great youth intake but only one of the elite talents will make it in my eyes and that is Dean Cuthbert

15 years old and already 6'4 which is mad and he has a good jumping reach and tackling, he will need to work on his acceleration and heading though to become top class but there is still plenty of time for that.

April

We play two of the bottom 3 teams here so we need to pick up points to stay in the European hunt before we face Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi final.
After the final 2 games we'll then know all 5 teams we'll play after the split.​

 

[leckuno]

April

Kilmarnock v Ross County

A true game of two halves again here as we did really well in the opening 34 minutes to get a 3-0 lead before nearly blowing it in the 2nd half.

St Johnstone v Kilmarnock

A tough game against St Johnstone here but thankfully Vassell had enough in him here to find the back of the net to get us the 3 points.

Scottish Cup Semi Final
Kilmarnock v Hearts

Its not often that you lose a cup semi final by scoring 2 own goals and its got to be even more uncommon to lose a semi final where the winning team didn't even have a shot on target the whole game.

League

We have now reached the stage where the league gets split in two for the final 5 games as the top 6 play each other and the bottom 6 play each other but we hold a good spot and still in with a shot of European football.

Split Fixtures

Well the final 5 games of the season and they are all going to be tough but we will do our best but at least we are guaranteed the top half of the table​

 

[leckuno]

The End

Rangers v Kilmarnock

We still can't get close to Rangers at all as they do enough to keep us at bay and make sure we can't get a shot on target

Kilmarnock v Hearts

A much better performance as we use the Scottish cup semi final to spurn us on here and make sure that we run out winners this time

Hibernian v Kilmarnock

Hibs have done well this season and have made third spot their own and they show us how again here as we just weren't good enough to get a point

St Mirren v Kilmarnock

St Mirren were close on our heals here in the league so a defensive masterclass from both teams means is a dull game for the fans again as we get a point.

Kilmarnock v Celtic

Celtic are just too strong here again here as we don't get close to them.

League

We exceed our expectations this season as we finish in 4th spot meaning we enter the Europa League in the 2nd qualifying round which will really challenge us.

Budgets

Well its a bigger transfer budget than I was expecting so it gives us money to play with to improve the squad but we need a lot of players to come in.

End of Season Squad

After contracts have expired and loans have finished we have an extremely small squad with no goalkeepers in it so its going to be an extremely busy transfer window​

 

[leckuno]

Season 2

Transfers In

Stephen Kelly

Not the best player in the world but at only £63,000 from Livingston he has plenty of experience in the league and will be a valuable back up player

Jordan Hackett

A free transfer after he was released by Newcastle but he is a big step up to have a natural LB at the club.

Miguel Azeez

An Arsenal youth system graduate who left last year to get experience in the Spanish lower leagues again joins to be a back up in midfield on a free transfer.

Joe Wormlinghton

A new RB comes in as its a position we lacked last season but he joins on a free from Leicester City and if anything it looks like we'll be able to sell him for a high profit.

Andre Dozzell

A former FM wonderkid was released by QPR at the end of the season after being on loan at Birmingham where he was mostly used off the bench but he should be a very handy starting midfielder at this level.

Luke Southwood

We'd seen at the end of the season we didn't have any keepers at the club so Southwood joins on a free from Cheltenham Town who he was the No1 for last season.

Alex Mighten

A strong winner who only signed for Celtic in this window and we were lucky enough to snap him up on loan straight away as we will look to utilise him down both wings along with Armstrong.

Arthur Okonkwo

Yet another Arsenal graduate here who was the No1 for Wrexham last season where they missed out on promotion through the playoffs but he's happy to joins as our backup keeper.

Jason Kerr

A huge signing for us in my eyes as we sign Kerr on his release from Wigan to add some more depth to our CBs and its even better since he's Scottish.

Will Dickson

Needing strengthening up top we scoured the loan market and Dickson stood out to me as he joins on loan from Man City

Kevin Nisbet

Our star signing this season as we bring Kevin Nisbet back to scotland after he left last summer for Millwall. He was sparsely used there though with only being used off the bench as we splash out £450,000 on him to become the clubs record signing. To put this in persepective the previous record signing was Paul Wright who joined form St Johnstone in 1995 for £340,000

Transfers Out

It might have been daft when only having 1 striker but Vassell is 31 and his contract expiring at the end of the season it made sense to cash in on him while we could. Magennis going out on loan was because we couldn't sell him after he was injured for 8 months but Dunfermline will pick up his wages now until his deal expires at the end of the season

Friendlies

Well it was a really poor preseason as we continued to bring in players the whole way through it as we tried to get a team together and then gel but hopefully thats out the way now. I did lump in the Europa League qualifying here due to us facing FC Midtjylland as that game was always going to be tough but I'm glad we only lost by 2 goals and drop down into the Conference League qualifying now

Expectations

Turn out the board still just want us to avoid relegation even though we finished 4th last season and I certainly feel like we've improved the squad with the players we've brought in over the window so far.

The Start

A decent start in the league with 3 games which we should get points from and a good draw in the cup 2nd round as well. Now that we've dropped into the Conference League we have been given a favourable draw there as well with a trip to Latvia​

 

[misterioBean]

Nice to see you were able to strenghten in every position you needed.
Some good signings in there, Kerr was actually on my list as well but I ended up not signing him but he looks very good.

I'm just sad to see Will Dickson seems to be a better player in your save comparing to my lol

 

[leckuno]

Nice to see you were able to strenghten in every position you needed.
Some good signings in there, Kerr was actually on my list as well but I ended up not signing him but he looks very good.

I'm just sad to see Will Dickson seems to be a better player in your save comparing to my lol

Worst case with Kerr is that he gets sold at the end of the season and we make money off him but he will be fighting for a starting spot in my eyes.

the joy of random potential with Dickson it seems. Hopefully does well and develops

 

[leckuno]

August

Livingston v Kilmarnock

A solid start to the season here as the team are still getting to know each other but its great to see Watson popping up with a goal to show he will be key again this season

Europa Conference League 3rd Qualifying Round
Valmiera v Kilmarnock

We were given a proper game in Latvia after thinking it would be easy 2-2 at half time and I wasn't sure how it would go but Nisbett got a debut goal which got us back on our way to take a good lead going into the 2nd leg

Kilmarnock v Motherwell

Watson with his 3rd goal in 3 games which is great but a European hangover cost us here as we need more players in to cope with both

Europa Conference League 3rd Qualifying Round
Kilmarnock v Valmiera

We did exaclty what we needed to do here to get into the next round and Armstrong got a goal in the opening 13 seconds with the only goal of the game.

ViaPlay Second Round
Kilmarnock v Arbroath

We were able to rotate a few positions here with the next game in mind but even though we fell behind early we showed our experience to get the win and into the next round.

Europa Conference League 4th Qualifying Round
Kilmarnock v KRC Genk

Well this was a completely unexpected result as we come out from half time and go for it with Watson scoring the first from just outside the box before two very quick goals gives us the advantage for going to Belgium

Aberdeen v Kilmarnock

I thought it could of been a repeat of the Motherwell game but a good performance from our defence keep Aberdeen out as Nisbet heads home the only goal of the game.

Europa Conference League 4th Qualifying Round
KRC Genk v Kilmarnock

Another huge performance from us in Europe as we take a 2-0 lead and stay in front right until the end giving us confidence they were never going to get the goal difference needed to win.

League

A sold start for us after 4 games to sit where we finished last season but its just the start.

Europa Conference League

The draw has been made and we have a couple of tough games here but we will be looking to try and reach the next round if possible.

Transfers In

Sonny Finch

We were looking for one more striker to come into the squad and with the budgets available it meant a loan deal was the only option and Finch will come in and compete with Dickson

Tayo Adaramola

Wanting a second LB in was a must and Adaramola on loan can come in and make the position his own

September

Our first game against one of the old firm here but we also have a decent draw in the Viaplay cup to get into the semi final​

 

[leckuno]

September

Kilmarnock v Celtic

We did well with taking an early lead here against Celtic but it ended up being the usual story for when we face Celtic sadly

Hearts v Kilmarnock

Armstrong put in a man of the match performance here with his hat-trick to get us the 3 points along with Nisbet getting on the scoresheet for us to bounce right back.

Kilmarnock v Dundee

Nisbet is gaining some confidence in front of goal and it shows here with him getting a brace as we get a good win here

Viaplay Cup Quarter Final
Motherwell v Kilmarnock

Got to love a cup game as Motherwell make it a tight first half but a quick goal right after half time but Sonny Finch scored a tap in before Watson doubled the lead with a strike from just inside the box.

Kilmarnock v St Johnstone

A tough game here as we had to fight back twice to get the draw here and we got lucky to get that with the penalty.

League

We find ourselves second in the table just 3 points behind Celtic but with 4 teams just a point behind us its all going to be close.

October

We start our run in the Conference League this month with two games and I feel we should be able to get something from Astana but Bodo/Glimt will be a different story. Tough matches against Rangers and Hibernian as well will be interesting as well​