McCulloch poised to sign Killie deal — but Boyce steals show
LEE McCULLOCH used last night’s 20th anniversary celebrations of Kilmarnock’s Scottish Cup triumph to begin planning his vision of the future for the Rugby Park club with director Billy Bowie.
McCulloch is expected to sign a permanent contract early in the week following Bowie’s confirmation that he wants him to take on the manager’s position on a full-time basis — and his insistence that there will be ‘a larger budget’ in addition to plans to open a new indoor training facility.
Bowie, who owns 40 per cent of the club, and fellow director John Kiltie will lay out their ambitions for Killie to the former Rangers and Scotland star in midweek, with QTS having renewed their six-figure sponsorship deal and local figures likely to be invited to provide fresh investment, including businessman Chris McMail, who had previously committed £750,000 on the proviso that former chairman Michael Johnston stepped down.
Johnston resigned on Friday, with McCulloch giving his first public indication he will be staying for the long term.
‘If he (Bowie) is saying it, then it is probably going to happen,’ remarked McCulloch, who was also waiting last night for news on his midfielder Greg Kiltie, who was driven to hospital after suffering a first-half injury.
‘The anniversary celebrations are taking place. All the staff are going, including Billy and John, so I will get a chance to speak to him then and arrange a meeting over the coming week. Then, we can maybe come to an agreement.’
Bowie has insisted that he wants everything to be in place for McCulloch before he signs.
‘We want everything to be right, for Lee coming on board and also for the club,’ he said.
On a day filled with a sense of new beginnings, things started so brightly for Killie, with Conor Sammon scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes.
But Liam Boyce took his total of league goals for the season to 23 with a brace — and is now two ahead of Celtic’s Scott Sinclair as the Premiership’s top scorer going into today’s final round of matches.
‘To score that amount of goals at a provincial club says a lot about Liam,’ said County boss Jim McIntyre, a member of the 1997 Kilmarnock team honoured last night. Finishing the Premiership’s top scorer would be a fantastic achievement.’
McIntyre suspects the ball may have crossed the line from a Christopher Routis shot before Boyce’s first goal. However, the manager was unsure.
Killie’s opener came after Jonathan Franks had fouled Jordan Jones in the area, with Sammon stepping up to score.
Franks atoned for his mistake with three minutes of the first half remaining, though, playing a big part in County’s equaliser.
His shot from the right of the area thumped off the inside of a post and ran across the face of goal. Routis attempted to convert from a tight angle, with Jamie MacDonald’s desperate effort to prevent the ball crossing the goal-line hitting off Boyce and landing in the net.
A dreadful error from Kristoffer Ajer at the other end 20 minutes from time then sealed Killie’s fate.
The Norwegian, on loan from Celtic, misjudged a long ball from Routis and let it go over his head. Boyce got between him and MacDonald and lobbed it daintily over the keeper.