Andy_K_97

I can only assume this was you when we equalised m7 A great day overall in the town - plenty of people mingling and having a good time before a competitive game where I thought we put in a great performance to give ourselves a fighting chance over in Bruges. The kind of day that makes all the shitey results worth it. Watkins was a big miss as he really makes our normal style of play tick, and if he's even available to bring off the bench on Thursday night that's a big positive for us. Onwards to Bruges.

I think there's a reasonable enough number of Killie fans on here and I do like that this forum is for all Scottish clubs (even the plastic ones) where you can see how others think. I go on the killiefc forums once or twice a week, but I dislike how any opinion that differs from the majority - even slightly - gets downvoted so quickly. It's always the same old angry guys who could perhaps be doing with getting up out their chair, taking a walk somewhere and considering that their perspective isn't the only one. By contrast, I've always liked this place and I probably always will.

Was expecting a much sterner test from Barrow last night, they looked about the level of a junior team like Hurlford Thistle (no offence to any Thistle fans) and didn't test either O'Hara or McCrorie in the Killie goal. Can't say I've learned too much from last night's match, but at least our players now seem ready for competitive football and up for the challenge of Cercle Brugge.

Aye, I'm currently on an ICE from Basel (and surrounded by Switzerland fans!) that's almost at Frankfurt Airport station. Planning to meet up with some mates and see whether or not I manage to get a ticket sorted or whether it'll be standing in a fanpark/bar tomorrow.

It would appear that the tattie has ended up staying at Dens. Sorry Dees - you may not have been a clown car club this season on or off the field, but the tattie is yours. Something something get doon etc.

Thoroughly enjoyed the occasion today, and the away support was great today (weans running onto the park needlessly at the end aside). As for the game itself? Don't know much about what happened and don't really care. Both teams have enjoyed very good seasons and deserve all the plaudits they've gained this season. Now the countdown to the Euros begins. Enjoyed the season, but now it's time to focus on the summer.

Would probably be fine with this tbh, even if it's just for the laugh

Have seen a few of our fans complaining at there being some Celtic fans in amongst the home support, which seems like it's always going to happen at a game of this magnitude. I know that the club have measures put in place to try and minimise this, but you're never going to stop them all. Ultimately, I don't really have an issue with people going into the main stand and trying to fit in/act like neutrals/sit on their hands if they can behave themselves. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen and I was quite pleased to see a few away fans getting ejected from the ground for outing themselves. I've seen some Celtic fans complaining that the reason there were "so many" undercover away fans in the home end was due to us halving their allocation. Maybe it is if you live in a fantasy land. In reality, we have the largest away end in the country and more Rangers and Celtic fans will be able to get into games against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park than will get into an Old Firm match next season. Both OF sides have substantial fanbases that span across the globe and there is always going to be demand to go to their games that outweighs the number of seats that the other 10 clubs' stadia can accommodate. In the past, I know that the old regime gave our fans a vote to give Celtic all three "new" stands and house all the home support in the Frank Beattie, which we voted for as a one-off to allow the club to make some money. Even that day there were infiltrators in the home end. Those days are gone now, and when the OF come to Rugby Park there is definitely a better atmosphere in the home stands. I will never understand why the "you should sell more seats to us because we're giving your club money rather than have empty seats" brigade think that they're so virtuous and generous by giving their money over - at the end of the day, it's our home ground and if we don't look after our own fans' interests then there's no chance of them coming back for games against St. Mirren or Dundee or Ross County. There comes a point where you have to ask, how accommodating is too accommodating towards away fans? A similar situation occurs for us when we go to play St. Mirren in Paisley and the away end holds around 1,600. Around a decade or so ago, I remember St. Mirren giving us a chunk of their West Stand (around a third) and it definitely gave a slight advantage to us as the away team, but since their relegation and subsequent promotion back to the Premiership the North Bank ultras have moved into that part of the stand and it's no longer a viable option to give away fans that end. If I don't manage to get one of the 1,600 tickets or so, I accept that this is because of the demand and I'll see if I can get the VPN on the go and watch the game on my laptop instead. I don't go on and complain that it's because I'm not wanted - I'm sure if the stand was bigger, St. Mirren would gladly accept my money, but that's just life. Furthermore, a lot of issues could easily be resolved if people could actually just behave themselves at the fitba. Maybe I'm too idealistic with that suggestion, but it's worth trying.

I've already forgotten about last night and I'm excited for this one. Always enjoy a trip to Tayside, so I can't think of a much better way to end the season by going to Dens for a party and to let the team know how much I've appreciated their efforts over the course of the season. The game will probably be a classic end of season dead rubber but it'll be a fun day nonetheless.

For me, the events on the pitch were secondary last night. As soon as Rangers scored their third against Dundee, you knew that Celtic's players were going to turn up and really bust a gut to get the title over the line - they played really well and it would have taken a team from a far higher echelon of football to have stopped them. Ultimately, the headlines will be all about them and the title win - however, this should detract none from the season that we've had. Given how things panned out, this was the worst possible fixture for us to have as our last home game of the season and really let the players know how much we've appreciated their efforts over the season, but a danger of finishing in the top six is always that you get to host a title party for someone else. Regardless, the Killie players deserve all the plaudits for an excellent season. Given where we were this time last year, and also this time two and even three years ago, it's night and day. Despite this being our heaviest defeat of the season, it by no means defines our season. Last night is over and done with, and we can look forward to a really fun day of partying in Dundee no matter the result. The Killie players deserve all the praise they've earned throughout the season, and we have one last chance to appreciate them on the pitch before the attention turns to Germany in the summer. I can't wait.

Putting club rivalries to the side, I think that Ayr have done a really good job since David Smith took over the running of the club in terms of sprucing Somerset Park up. The new stand is a really good mixture of old and new, allowing the fans to still stand on the terraces and seriously upgrading the hospitality offerings on the old portakabin-style arrangement. I was worried that building a new stand would completely change the vibe around the place - but I thought that a new stand would be completely all-seater, and thus I think the essence of the ground is still intact. Will be interesting to hear what it's like when the stand opens after the break and what it does for the atmosphere in the ground.

Good view of the old Love Street floodlights which were so low due to being so near to the airport. One for the "quirks of Scottish stadiums" thread.

Hard agree. It cannot be overstated how much we were on the decline from 2007 onwards and the LC Final really was a bit of a blip that we managed to ride on the crest of until Kenny Shiels got the sack. In the background, the weasel was running us into a state of managed decline, and had it continued we'd have eventually run out of luck and probably ended up becoming a bit like Falkirk. Let's face it, we were extremely lucky not to get relegated under Johnston, Locke and Clark too, and had we not replaced McCulloch with Clarke (especially given some of the names that were being banded around at the time) we'd have sank like a stone in the spring of 2018. We were so lucky that Clarke was available and we were able to get him, and that period from October 2017 to May 2019 was my favourite ever time supporting the club. Clarke's appointment and the weasel being kicked out for good are the main reasons as to why we didn't end up becoming a total basket case of a club who go on about how they're still a big club because of crowd sizes and not performances on the pitch. That being said, since Clarke left there were times where we threatened to become a rudderless ship, drifting off into mediocrity, but the current management team have done a sterling job of turning our fortunes around. Long may it continue, as far as I'm concerned.

The tattie remains firmly planted in the quagmire of a pitch at Dens - which, admittedly, looked a hell of a lot better today than it did last week. Will the Buddies take it to Paisley next weekend, or will it remain firmly planted?

Rangers, after labouring their way to a win against a determined but ultimately self-destructive St Mirren side, now have a home game against Killie. Killie have only lost to Rangers (twice) in our last 19 games - what a stat that is by the way - and I'm sure the Govanites will be looking to make that another win against Ayrshire's finest. Don't really know what to expect from this one as Rangers didn't need to be great against Hearts to get into the cup final, but from the game last Sunday they were absolutely there for the taking at times and better finishing would have seen them concede more goals. Despite this, Dessers is on a decent run of scoring now and has turned out to be a decent enough striker. I'll plump for a score draw - 1-1 for me. Let's see what happens.