C4mmy31

From an outsider looking in, it appears Thistle have gone a bit stale, same old routine for some players if you will, a clear out is definately needed as a lot of your normally reliable players seem to be just going through the motions. Archie should be given a chance to rebuild regardless of which division you end up in, he got you promotion & last season's top 6 finish so, imo he's a decent manager, who deserves the chance to make amends. From a personal point of view hopefully you stay up as Firhill is a cracking day out for us Killie chaps.... All the best for the rest of the season.

Surely in Partick's current plight, the 11 new signings in a day record would be smashed [emoji23]

Taken from the Scottish Sun article of last Friday ...... "But Mulumbu, who lives in Glasgow with his brother Aris Amisi who has just joined Killie’s Under-20s, admits he loves the city and is in no rush to leave Scotland"

Mulumbu's wee brother has joined our U20's squad, Aris Amini Kamaneno, a left winger previously with Notts Forrest, he played against St Johnstone U20's yesterday.....

Due to a minor schedule change, the open training session has been changed to the afternoon of the 11th April, gates now open at 1:30 pm with the session starting at 2pm.

Definitely, would appear to be organised well in advance to happen while the school kids are on holiday. Apparently the catering bars will be open during the session, so they're obviously expecting a decent turnout.

SC is holding an open training session at Rugby Park on Wed 11th April. Gates open from 10am, the session is from 10.30am till 12 noon.

The good news just keep coming..... I really thought he was leaving in the summer to be closer to his family. Really pleased we've tried him up till 2020 [emoji7]

One of the guys on kickback, who's pretty good with the stats, posted the last time was what got Bobby Williamson the job full time.

 Categories Scotland U21 star Eamonn Brophy handed new Killie deal....... Eamonn Brophy has been rewarded for his impressive debut season by being handed a new Kilmarnock contract. The club has moved to extend the Scotland Under 21 international's contract until the summer of 2021. Brophy arrived at Rugby Park following his exit from today's opponents Hamilton Academical, where he turned professional. After scoring his first goal of the campaign against St Johnstone in December, Brophy has hit eight goals in 24 appearances. A hit with supporters for his 'Wolf' nickname and celebration, the 22-year-old recently earned his second Scotland U21 cap. He featured off the bench during the 1-1 draw with Andorra with Killie boss Steve Clarke moving to add Brophy to his list of contract extensions. Greg Kiltie, Alan Power and Rory McKenzie have all agreed fresh terms with the club with talks underway with other squad members.

Livi boss David Hopkin said he was “delighted” to have secured the youngster’s services, adding: “Adam is a attacking player who gives us some options and cover for the games ahead. “We are coming into a busy period of games that are going to be massive for everyone at the club. “I think Adam can help us through this period and he brings Premiership experience with him. He is an explosive player, and can play anywhere across the midfield or up front. “Hopefully his style of play will excite the fans and get them off their seats.” The speedy playmaker, capped by Scotland at Under-16 and Under-17 level, has made 21 appearances for the Rugby Park side in all competitions this season, and has contributed two goals. Hopkin added: “He is a exciting young prospect who I’m sure can push us on again, and he gives us more options up top and midfield. “I would like to thank all at the club and Steve Clarke for getting this deal over the line.” (Scotsman)

Look after Frizz guys, he's a very good player who has an eye for a pass as well as a cracking shot, he isn't scared to shoot from anywhere either. I think the livi fans will like him.

Like this [emoji7] .......

You can expect a very good young midfielder who has an engine that doesn't stop for 90 mins.

Big Eck talking up the work SC is doing at Rugby Park on TalkSport and that a couple of the team are well worth a look at being involved in future squads, the positivity continues at a pace. O'Donnell probably one he's thinking of, who else, Taylor or Brophy?

Anyone else noticed all 3 players signed back up this week are only till 2020, funnily enough till the end of SC's tenure. No coincidence, imo, as SC is going nowhere.

Rory signs on till 20/20.....

Apparently Happyaccie has been banned for a heids gone moment in one of the St Johnstone threads ????????????

That was a tongue in cheek comment to Kiltie due to the amount of time he's spent in the treatment room with his knee & ankle injuries. I do think we are trying to get Dicker signed back up but he may prefer to move back down south to be closer to his family, time will tell I guess.

BB is just putting the house in order Andy [emoji3]

Youssouf first if you don't mind [emoji3]

Happy Hooky [emoji3] ........ For the vast majority of Kilmarnock supporters, manager Steve Clarke is already being hailed as a club icon. And from one Killie hero to another, Garry Hay has described the impact the new boss has made as “frightening”. As a steadfast supporter of the Ayrshire club, the 2012 League Cup winner can’t get enough of Clarke-mania. With eight league games of the campaign to spare, Saltcoats-born Clarke has steered Killie from relegation favourites to finishing in the top six for the first time in seven years. The last team to achieve the feat were Mixu Paatelainen and Kenny Shiels’ side of 2010/11, of which Hay was a part of. And the former left-back, who made 353 appearances across 14 years at Kilmarnock, spoke of his admiration for the current gaffer’s influence at Rugby Park. Hay said: “The impact he’s had is frightening. It has been way beyond what I was expecting. “Obviously he came with a very good pedigree and a very good reputation and you thought there would be a positive response. “But it’s been incredible and we’ve gone on a fantastic run of results. “You see things on Twitter like how many points Steve Clarke has taken since he took over and we’d be sitting second in the table. “Everyone is loving it — it’s a superb job he’s done.” After playing under Paatelainen, Hay knows what it’s like to be led by a highly-skilled manager. He also knows that, for a club like Kilmarnock, keeping hold of their prized asset is difficult — as demonstrated when Paatelainen departed Rugby Park for the Finland job. But Hay is hopeful Billy Bowie’s recent announcement on Twitter is true and Clarke will prolong his stay in Ayrshire. Hay said: “He’s getting the best out of the players that were there before. “It’s a bit like when I played with the team and Mixu was boss — Clarke has turned average players into much better players. “It was brilliant to see Billy saying Clarke is going nowhere. “Although if Barcelona come calling, I don’t think anyone will be stopping him! But hopefully he does stay.” Clarke’s imperious stature as one of the most skilled managers in the Scottish Premiership further heightened as he and his players achieved a superb 1-0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox. It stretched his unbeaten run against the Old Firm to five games and Hay praised Clarke for rejuvenating a squad that looked set for a relegation battle before he arrived. Hay said: “He seems to have a core of about 20 boys and they all know what they’re meant to be doing. The standard of every player has gone up. “It is great. For the Killie boys now, beating Rangers and Celtic must just feel like another three points!” For each league game from now until the end of the campaign, three points will be Clarke’s priority, despite the club sitting pretty in the top six. But Killie are hot on Hibs’ tails in the battle for fourth place and Hay thinks Clarke and his players won’t be preparing for holiday mode just yet. He said: “The manager will rightly get the plaudits but the players absolutely should too for getting into the top six — the consistency of a lot of the players has been incredible. “For a provincial club like Killie, it is difficult but it has been fully deserved this season. “We’ve stretched our lead over Hearts and there’s no reason why we can’t push Hibs. “I’m pretty sure Steve and the players won’t be getting the cigars out yet because they can still turn what has been a great season into a fantastic season by pushing for fourth place.” (Standard)

There isn’t a week that goes by without a former professional talking up the job Steve Clarke has done at Kilmarnock. While the Rugby Park faithful would rather his name was left out of conversations about Scotland, Rangers or any other team which doesn’t call KA1 home, you cannot argue against all of the praise coming his way. Everything about his time in Ayrshire has just been so impressive. He’s taken the club from relegation battlers to assured top six finishers, reigniting a spark among the supporters which had lain dormant in the previous few seasons before his arrival. While some signings have helped - Youssouf Mulumbu, most notably - largely he’s managed to achieve this with the same bulk of players he inherited from Lee McCulloch. This is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the job he’s done thus far. It’s one thing to take a floundering squad and overhaul it completely. It’s quite another to take an unimpressive core and improve it to an extent where they’re one of the best teams in the country.Here are the eight players who’ve transformed the most under the former West Brom and Reading manager’s stewardship... Alan Power There’s every chance Alan Power wanted to go on holiday last summer and instead sent a non-football-playing lookalike to start for Killie in the Betfred Cup. There is little other rational explanation - apart from Steve Clarke’s magical transformative powers, of course - to explain how someone would look so out of his depth against League One Ayr United and then go on to have a sustained spell in the early winter months where he was literally Killie’s man of the match in every game. Stephen O’Donnell A plodding, cumbersome looking right-back has steadily reverted back to the player he was with Partick Thistle: a marauding powerhouse capable of influencing play consistently at the attacking end. He also looks like a more dependable defender than his days in Maryhill. Killie fans were recently calling for him to be included in the Scotland squad. Considering the nation’s dearth of options at right-back, it wasn’t the most ridiculous shout. Kirk Broadfoot While he still has his wild moments, he’s certainly more reliable now than at the beginning of the campaign. After several shaky performances he was banished from the starting XI following a daft red card against Hearts for pulling the hair of Esmael Goncalves. Between then and Lee McCulloch’s exit he only featured once more, coming on as substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Motherwell. As soon as Clarke stepped through the door he was a player transformed. The new boss didn’t even have to manage the team to improve his fortunes, as Broadfoot was one of the best players on the park as Clarke watched on from the stands while academy director Paul McDonald led the squad to victory at Firhill. He’s barely been out of the team since and can count himself among the best centre-backs in the league this season. Yes, that’s right - Kirk Broadfoot has been one of the best centre-backs in the league this season. Kris Boyd This is probably the most impressive transformation. While Alan Power was adjusting to Scottish football, and the likes of Stephen O’Donnell and Kirk Broadfoot were getting their fitness levels and match-sharpness back, Boyd had already been playing regularly at the club for two seasons. Fans wouldn’t have said he was terrible over that stretch, still chipping in with a goal now and then, but he was nowhere close to replicating the form showed in his talismanic season before his ill-advised return to Rangers in 2014. With eight games still to play in the current campaign, he’s only one goal shy of matching his total from his previous three league seasons - and one of those was in the second tier! More than his strike-rate, though, he’s no longer an ageing poacher hanging about the final third waiting on a chance. He’s contributing to the attack even when he doesn’t find the net, bullying defenders, holding the ball up and creating space for others. Eamonn Brophy Another attacker who’s been reinvented under Clarke. He always looked an intriguing prospect during his time with Hamilton, though he never quite put it all together. Often he would drift around the attack with little purpose or idea on how to influence play. Now he’s regularly at the centre of things. In addition to being a ruthless finisher in the final third, he’s shown himself to be an excellent link-man with midfielders and his attacking partner, a characteristic which beguiles his diminutive frame. Lee Erwin The gradual improvement of the former Motherwell striker has highlighted Clarke’s patience. It would have been so easy to pick out the most underachieving member of the first-team striking corps and look to discard him in January in order to get his own type of striker in. Instead, he’s tried to build Erwin’s confidence back up after it was slowly eroded during a difficult spell south of the border following an ill-advised exit from Fir Park. If recent performances are anything to go by, he’s returning to the player he was at Motherwell: dynamic, strong, direct and capable of scoring goals. Rory McKenzie The midfielder has always been willing to run himself into the ground for the cause, though sometimes he does so without discipline, simply haring around without actually influencing the game much. Clarke has used his stamina and work rate and channelled it in order to maximise his worth to the team. It’s no coincidence that McKenzie now tends to start most of the tougher games and you have to wonder whether he’s having cold feet about his pre-contract agreement with St Johnstone. Stuart Findlay The youngster started Clarke’s tenure on the left of the back four but has looked much more comfortable playing at his natural centre-back position. With his poise in possession and calm demeanour he’s the sober yin to Broadfoot’s raging yang. Getting the 22-year-old on a permanent deal would be huge for Kilmarnock going forward as the other first-team centre-backs are all over the age of 30. (Craig Fowler, Scotsman)

More good news coming out of RP...... Kilmarnock Football Club is pleased to announce the extension of its deal with shirt sponsorship partner QTS for a further two years. As part of the agreement running until the end of the 2019/20 season, QTS will become the longest-serving shirt sponsor in the club’s history, with its logo adorning Killie’s home and away shirts for eight consecutive seasons. The deal also ensures QTS will remain Killie’s shirt sponsor as the historic club celebrates its 150th anniversary throughout 2019. QTS, one of the country’s leading railways contractors, has enjoyed a strong relationship with the club since 2012. As well as continuing the sponsorship with the first team, QTS is also a proud supporter of the Youth Academy and has also committed to another year as the main sponsors for FC Kilmarnock Ladies. The company’s bold orange and black branding will also remain as an instantly recognisable feature around the stadium. Alan McLeish, Managing Director of QTS commented: "QTS is very proud to be involved so closely with Kilmarnock Football Club and the longevity of our partnership shows the commitment that we have not only to the club, but also to the wider community. "The team under Steve Clarke has shown incredible drive and determination over this last season. His leadership has revitalised the players, and also the spirit in the town, and we are thrilled to be continuing as main sponsor for the next two years, especially as it ties in with the milestone anniversary. "QTS is passionate about sport and encouraging young athletes so it is important for us to not only support the first team, but to also invest in the up and coming talent in the club. This is why we have also committed to sponsoring the ladies and youth academy once again too, helping to nurture the Killie stars of the future." QTS is also heavily involved in the Kilmarnock Community Sports Trust, with Commercial Director, Phyllis McLeish, a founding trustee. Through the corporate and personal generosity of QTS and Phyllis & Alan McLeish, KCST, has flourished since its inception in September 2015. Its goal is it help to inspire the local community, young and old, to be more active in sports and to adopt healthy lifestyles. Through this backing, new cabins have been purchased to give KCST a much needed base in the grounds of the stadium. A new portable street pitch has also been purchased which will help the KCST team run a series of fun activities for young people at Rugby Park and via an outreach program in the surrounding areas. An expanded program of KCST activities is to be launched next season and the club and the charity are now aligned in their desire to make a positive impact for their supporters and the wider community. Kilmarnock Football Club Chief Executive Kirsten Robertson said: "We are delighted to continue our partnership with QTS as the club’s main sponsor for a further two years, which takes us through to our milestone 150th anniversary. "This is an extremely exciting period for our great club as we celebrate our proud history and tradition as well as look forward to promising times ahead under Steve Clarke’s stewardship "We place great value on the ongoing relationship and commitment shown by all at QTS and their support has proven invaluable throughout the years. "QTS share our passion to see Kilmarnock Football Club thrive on and off the field and we look forward to seeing the club and the KCST continue to evolve and grow over the course of this agreement."