Mulumbu hasn’t given up hope of a return to English top flight
Kilmarnock supporters better enjoy new favourite Youssouf Mulumbu while they can after the midfielder revealed his ambition to make it back to the English Premier League.
Playing in just his fourth game for his new club, the 30-year-old was man-of-thematch as Killie came from behind to defeat Rangers in the Saturday lunchtime game.
His perfectly weighted through ball enabled Eamonn Brophy to cross for Kris Boyd to level the scores, before the former Ibrox striker managed to grab a second after deflecting Mulumbu’s shot past Wes Foderingham in the away goal.
“I’m not going to claim it as a goal but I’ll claim it as an assist,” laughed Mulumbu.
The Congolese international is once again enjoying his football after a frustrating two-year spell with Norwich City. Considered a key figure in the West Bromwich Albion side which first won promotion and then became a mainstay in the English top flight, he barely got a look-in with the Canaries under Alex Neil.
Out injured when his contract expired in the summer, he had to wait until November for his former boss at West Brom to throw him a lifeline. Steve Clarke made the player his first signing as Killie manager and the move has paid off for both parties. Despite not being 100 per cent match fit, by his own admission, Mulumbu’s class still stands out in the Ladbrokes Premiership, and he hasn’t given up hope of using his time here as a stepping stone to get back to the top level.
“If everything goes OK then I may pick a bigger team or go back to the Premier League, you never know. But right now I’m enjoying my time here and I hope we finish in the top half of the table,” said Mulumbu.
“I did two years at Norwich. It didn’t go the way I wanted, but now I’m enjoying playing. I enjoy winning, it’s always easy to work during the week when you win. I’m not going to lie, when you go from playing every week for West Brom and then you go to Norwich, maybeevenasmallerclub,andyou don’t play then it’s quite hard.
“I picked up some injuries, I came back and the coach wasn’t that great with me. I’m not going to blame him, maybe I did something. I had some bad luck.
“I came here because I knew the way Steve Clarke works and he gives me 100 per cent confidence on the pitch and I’m just learning every day. Even though I’m 30 I’m still learning.” Stranraer have asked their first-team squad have been asked to take a pay cut.
The League 1 side, who sit in fourth place after losing 1-0 to Alloa on Saturday, are under pressure from their bank to cut their expenditure and a number of options have been put to manager Stevie Farrell by the board.
The pay-cut proposal was put to the Blues’ players last week and it remains to be seen whether it will be accepted or whether other options, such as the transfer of players or a reduction in squad size, will require to be implemented.
Farrell is supportive of helping the club keep the wolves from the door, but wants to retain a playing group that can remain competitive in the promotion hunt.
A club spokesperson said: “Our attendances have fallen and we have been hit with rising costs for our electricity which has been used heavily recently for floodlight game.
“When you add that to going out of the Scottish Cup early to Brora we have to take measures to balance the books.”
Elsewhere in League 1, Ayr manager Ian Mccall lamented not having an entire midfield available as the Honest Men’s ninegame winning run came to an end at the weekend when they lost 2-0 to Airdrie.
Ross Docherty, Jamie Adams and Robbie Crawford all missed out against the Diamonds, with Andy Geggan limping off after half an hour.
Mccall said: “We had lost a soft goal, missed chances and then did not really have the players available to dig us back into the game.
“We ended up with players playing out of position and a really open approach. Airdrie defended really well and we could not get a break.”
Meanwhile, the top two sides in League 2, Montrose and Peterhead, won at the weekend to set up an exciting final game of 2018 when they meet at Links Park on Saturday.
The Gable Endies enjoyed a 1-0 success at Stirling, with the Blue Toon hitting an injury-time winner as Cowdenbeath were seen off 3-2.