killie.net

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Fowler's howlers and Boyd goes Nap

A couple of weeks have passed since my last post, a period which has seen Killie plumb some pretty deep depths only to recover in astonishing style at the weekend.

Just like our trip to Tynecastle earlier in the season, the optimism and fervour that preceded our home match with Aberdeen was misplaced and, perhaps, misguided. The expected bumper crowd didn’t turn up and neither did many of the Killie players. The 1-0 defeat, neatly encapsulated by the calamitous own goal scored by Jamie Fowler, was probably our poorest 90 minutes of the season to date. Often it is said that fans will accept just about anything from their team – a complete lack of skill even – just as long as they see complete commitment from the players. Sadly, this is just what Killie lacked against Aberdeen. The carrot of second place in the SPHell dangled but just didn’t seem that tasty. Jim Jefferies said as much in his post-match excuses and it’s that kind of attitude that should gravely concern the manager.

Our return to Tynecastle just 4 days later gave us the chance to make amends for the display against Aberdeen and progress in the Wee Cup. In the end we made a half-arsed attempt at the former, but ultimately failed in the latter, Hearts running out 2-1 winners. JJ juggled the team about for this one. Locke, injured in the Dons match, was replaced with Eric Joly making his first start in the blue & white. Peter Leven also debuted at left-back at the expense of Dillon, and Gordon Greer came in at right-back with Fowler pushing into the centre. Not much changed in the performance though. The midfield combination of Fowler and Joly was an experiment too far, with Fowler at fault for both Hearts goals (scored by an impressive Paul Hartley). Boyd and Dargo (latterly as a sub) battled away up front with little reward, but Invincibile and Johnstone could have stayed on the team bus and had as much influence on the match. The goal – a neat finish from Leven – was the only highlight in an otherwise drab night in Gorgie.

Quite what changed between that Wednesday and last Saturday is hard to fathom, but when Killie emerged from the encounter with Dundee Utd at Rugby Park 5-2 victors everything once again seemed OK with the world. The fact that Kris Boyd scored all 5 goals – and had a legitimate sixth disallowed – will be talked about for years to come.

Changes in personnel certainly helped. Out went Fowler (his first time on the bench in JJ’s reign) and Joly. In came Dillon and Dargo, with Leven switching to his more natural position in midfield alongside MacDonald. The biggest change, though, was in Killie’s verve and tenacity – qualities sorely lacking in the previous two outings. The attacking combination of Invincibile, Johnstone, Boyd and Dargo was just too much for a lethargic Utd defence. Leven and MacDonald, too, probed and pressed the match into the opposition half to great effect. In the end it was Boyd who took all the plaudits, finishing almost every chance or half-chance that came his way – a feat that puts him on a par with Kenny Miller, Marco Negri and Paul Sturrock as the only players to have scored five goals in one match since the Premier League was formed. Boyd would be out his own, but for the failure of the referee. Make no mistake this was one of the best performances by a Killie player ever seen. We might now even have to talk of Kris in the same breath as the great Willie Watters!

Of course, what this now means is that we head to Ibrox on Sunday full of confidence and optimism of perhaps springing a surprise result. Experience tells me that this is kinda dangerous. As soon as we think we’re a good team we get humped. Hopefully, this is a lesson we’ve learned even this early in the season…

¶ 8:05 PM

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