PLEASE SHOW ME SOME PATIENCE, PLEADS ALESSIO
KILMARNOCK boss Angelo Alessio has urged the club’s fans to be patient as he seeks to fight his way back from a turbulent start to life at Rugby Park.
The Italian is already under pressure before a ball has even been kicked in the new Premiership season following Killie’s humiliating Europa League exit at the hands of Welsh minnows Connah’s Quay Nomads.
Ahead of tomorrow’s league opener against Rangers in Ayrshire, Alessio also dismissed the suggestion that there is unrest in the dressing room.
Sportsmail understands senior players were unhappy with Alessio’s training methods, specifically that they had gone into the European games under-cooked and patently unfit.
But the new manager is adamant that he retains the full support of those around him, reiterating a desire to add at least three more new players to a squad desperately thin on numbers.
Since taking the reins from Steve Clarke, Alessio has added just three players — on-loan Juventus goalkeeper Laurentiu Branescu, Dutch midfielder Mohamed El Makrini, while defender Alex Bruce re-signed on the back of a loan stint last season.
Heading out the door, meanwhile, have been Kris Boyd, Jordan Jones, Liam Miller and Conor McAleny of the team which secured third in the league last time around.
All of those attacking players are yet to be replaced, which leaves Eamonn Brophy as the club’s only senior striker heading into the new campaign.
‘This team is not complete because we have lost eight players over the summer,’ said 54-year-old Alessio, who has been appointed on a three-year deal.
‘I am happy this group are behind me but I need more players to complete the squad.
‘For me, it is a big challenge
(to improve on what Clarke achieved). At the moment, it is difficult for me to do my style of football for many reasons.
‘I want to fight and work hard every day. But at the moment it’s difficult because we don’t have enough good players in some roles.
‘We started the pre-season and our team was not complete. We tried to find new players, but it was very difficult.
‘There is a time (that will be required) to transfer my ideas. I hope in the future that I have the possibility to have two or three new players.
‘I ask the fans to be patient because I am a new manager and I work hard every day into the evening to look for new players.
‘The club work hard as a whole. I have the support of the club every day in trying to find more players.’
Asked if he felt there had been an over-reaction to the defeat against the Nomads, Alessio insisted that he understands the anger from fans — especially given that the club’s first European adventure in 18 years ended in such embarrassing fashion.
Their part-time Welsh opponents were defeated 4-0 on aggregate by Partizan Belgrade in the next round.
‘The fans love this club and they want to see good results,’ continued Antonio Conte’s former right-hand man.
‘If I get good results, then they will have a good opinion of me.
‘If not, then they will hate me. They will want me out. That is normal when results don’t go your way. Now it is important for us to stay together as the new season starts. The team, the club, the fans must all be together.
‘The Connah’s Quay game is in the past. We have been working hard every day to improve our performance before we play Rangers.
‘Every day I read in about Connah’s Quay and our European exit. But it’s finished, in the past. It’s vital we find a solution now.’
Now 34, veteran defender Bruce has a wealth of experience to call upon. There isn’t much in football that he hasn’t seen before. Yet the atmosphere around the club just now is desperately flat. And it probably took Bruce by surprise when he returned to the club a couple of weeks ago.
Compared to just a few months ago, when Clarke serenaded the fans with an emotional farewell speech after a victory over Rangers on the final day of last season, it’s night and day.
With an unknown foreign manager taking charge, Bruce has been in this movie before during his stint at Hull City and the arrival of Portuguese boss Marco Silva in 2017.
‘Let’s be fair to him, following Steve Clarke after just about the two most successful seasons Kilmarnock have ever had is a hard task for anyone,’ said the big centre-half, son of Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce.
‘It’s not impossible, but it’s hard as Steve was doing so well.’