Reasons to be Fearful, 1,2,3

Article appeared in Killie Hippo 87 (out 21st March 09)

Well, I sit here typing with the Radio Scotland sport player thing pumping out the speaker, on it I have the Killie game v Inverness, as you can gather I am not there. Its not yet half time and were down two nil. If anyone is in any doubt yet (mr Jim Jeffries and your top six comments for the papers listen up) relegation is very much a reality for us this season.

This could be the end of our fifteen year stay in the Scottish top division, and some people think this could be good, premier league football has become boring and the novelty has long since wore off so a season in the first could be the thing that reignites the Kilmarnock fan, the thing that shakes off the apathy that is clearly cloaking our loyal support. In my opinion it wont, relegation my friends would be the first step into the oblivion.

Lets have a look at our squad, because the way I understand it, the people who have a wee feeling that a season in the first would be good also feel that just one season would be good, no more, a season in which we end it with a full Rugby Park celebrating a League Championship trophy clearly and then a triumphant return to the premier claiming that the first couldn’t hold us and it was merely a season to sort ourselves out. Well sorry but with what squad do we think that this could possibly be done with? Our stand out player this season, Craig Bryson, would be long gone, a tiny fee no doubt agreed due to the desperate need for cash due to our relegation.

I interrupt this article to bring news of Killie grabbing a goal back, and now its half time. 2-1 down.

Back to the squad, I could go through them all, player by player and show that we couldn’t afford to keep this squad (and why would we want to I suppose) we would need to sell a fair chunk for peanuts in a bid to stay afloat, Kevin Kyle, gone. Mehdi Taouil, gone. I would also see the likes of Hamill and Flannigan gone, plus Danny Invincibile would def be off, I am sure that since it would be a world cup year he would need to be playing in a top flight of some sort in order to put himself in the national managers plans! Combe? He would be off. Pascali? I really do think that our carcass would have the bones picked by any vultures circling and with our administration there would be no way for us fans to stop it. The players we would bring in I cant imagine would set the heather alight. Rascle, Murray, Hay, Ford and Lilley? A goalie and back four that any reader thinks could form the backbone of a championship winning team? I dread to think what would play in front of them!

Also would we keep our manager? I would like to think that they would fall on their swords and allow someone else to try sort us out but who would we get? Dick Campbell perhaps? Probably not as he has a contract, no, we would scour the market for some out of work punter who works a Sunday on BBC Scotland on the weeks that Celtic or Rangers aren’t playing (I am not particularly alluding to anyone more highlighting that this is a b it of a graveyard shift, I seem to remember Jim Lauchlan doing a bit of punditry on such days) as we wouldn’t want to pay an compensation. Or we keep JJ and BB but are they ready for the fight for promotion? my gut feeling is no, frankly I am of the opinion that they are past their sell by date for us in the premier so a drop and them staying at the helm for me is unthinkable.

Its not exactly a guarantee that we would go straight back up as well, look at the teams who have dropped before us, for all Dundee Utd and Hibs seemed to have a great time when down look at Dunfermline, St Johnstone and Dundee. They are teams with history like us who have struggled to get back to the top. I feel we would end up like them rather than the Hibs and DU’s. Look too, down south a similar thing happens, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City god Wimbledon! This could definitely be us. What happens is when the money that you get in the top div dries up you either have a go or cut your cloth accordingly, frankly were in such a dire financial state that if we decided to cut our cloth accordingly then we would end up with a team of juniors and if we went hell for leather then we would end up playing in the juniors.

So lets say we do go down and we do get to play all sorts of new and interesting teams, visit places we havent been to in many a long year, plus the possibility with the scum riding high in the second of playing them four times next season, I mean after the excitement of the cup games this year surely sky would want to pick up all four matches since it has proven to be the best match seen on its channels so far this year. Would crowds really improve? Would we see a return of the fans who vowed never to go back? Would the gate reciepts get a dunt since the boring inevitability has been altered by our new 1st division status? I would say most probably no. the only thing that brings the fans back is a winning team and I for one would rather see that winning team in the Premier. There is no guarantees for it in the first. it’s a possibility yes but not a guarantee. The money coming in wouldn’t improve as some of the first division teams have the same apathy with their situation as we do with ours, I cant really see them coming through to us to follow their team, tiny crowds I would expect from Livi, Dunfermline, and more. We would no doubt end up hanging our entire cash flow form tickets on our two games at home to Ayr. No sorry, this wont work.

Final score is 2-1 against us.

Right I am going to tie this up as its depressing and writing stuff that is depressing isn’t good for the soul, especially on a Saturday night. Relegation after todays result is a reality, this season unlike others there is no Gretna, no Livi where they are teams with little or no history (Inverness excepted I suppose but they have proved their credentials as a SPL side more than Livi ever did) were in a dogfight and whoever goes down I feel would be missed from the league. In the history of the SPL we are the 4th highest point scorers (records from beginning of season, think were now 5th), this is one of the richest most successful chapters of our clubs history, relegation I think would signal that chapter ending. Sure I do see the good side of going down, a chance to regroup as a fan base, see different places and reignite in the young fans bellies a rivalry with our county cousins that they seem to think exists with us and the old firm. But really it can do us no good.

I have written this thing and tried to look at scenarios that would happen if we went down under the proviso that we would actually survive, but I suppose there is always the chance we didn’t. the fact is that our financial position is so dire that it would take some serious changes at the highest level for us to continue if we went down. That probably sounds alright, a big change, kind of like the last time we were relegated some 20 years ago on the final day of the season at Palmerston but sadly there is no one coming in like then, no Fleetings with big plans just a MJ looking into things. So that could actually be it, an end to all things Killie, we go to the wall and we all look for other things to do on a Saturday, other websites to check when were skiving from our work. It could happen and relegation is what could push it to the brink.

Please let us survive.

Ruud Kerouac
Killie Beat Writer