Top six beckons again under top coach Clarke
On the back of the remarkable transformation Stevie Clarke, pictured, effected on a moribund Rugby Park side following his late October arrival, many wondered how profound the immensely-shrewd coach’s influence might be across a full season.
Now we are about to find out. And, with little change to the personnel at the Ayrshire club over the summer – save for the considerable loss of creative fulcrum Youssouf Mulumbu – the team’s fortunes will depend much on the wiles of the man in charge. He is unlikely to be found wanting.
That said, it will be exceedingly difficult for Kil- lie to replicate their form of the last Premiership campaign. Across the winter months, they lost only once in 18 games – a run that bet- tered anything they had achieved in two decades. Likewise, with the goal haul that could be expected from Kris Boyd, who ended the term the league’s top scorer but will turn 35 in a fortnight.
Yet, with an upturn in supporter numbers and enthusiasm to propel them, and a group of players infused with belief, it would be a surprise were they not to once more earn themselves a place in the top six.