Furious Killie boss lets off steam after shocker
Owen Coyle made a perfect start to his time as Ross County boss, while Lee McCulloch was furious with his Kilmarnock players.
The Rugby Park manager tore strips off his men during an angry, hour-long meeting in the dressing room at time up.
Killie were booed off at half-time and full-time, but McCulloch felt the supporters went easy on the players.
He said: “I had to tell the truth to the boys.
“I felt let down by the first-half performance.
“I’m well aware of the fans’ frustration and they were probably kind in not booing for longer and being more hostile.
“That first half cannot be accepted. I can’t put my name to that – it was embarrassing.
“I can’t remember a tackle going in and we need to get back to the ugly side of the game.
“Nobody went in for 50-50s and some were even jumping out of them.
“They’re happy to walk about with a swagger with the toilet bag under the arm and look the part, but not to do the ugly and nasty parts.
“We’re too nice. We need nastiness in the team.
“There are some people who have been nasty earlier in their career and then turned out not to be so nasty.
“I don’t know why that happens. It could be that they’re content to be in a comfort zone but that cannot be accepted.”
Former Scotland midfielder McCulloch is adamant he won’t be walking away from the job, although he knows the failure to win any of their first eight league matches puts him under severe pressure.
He went on: “I know the fans are hurting.
“I’m hurting and I want to turn this around.
“There are too many jobs at stake for players to be going through the motions. “I won’t be giving up.” The contrast in emotions with visiting boss Owen Coyle couldn’t have been greater. He was grinning from ear to ear on his return to Scottish football.
Coyle said: “The three points are invaluable but it was even important that we delivered a good performance.
“We played an extra man in midfield because I wanted us to pass and move the ball.
“That probably summed up the game – that we dictated the play.”
Although it was a promising start, Coyle could tinker with the squad at Dingwall. He explained: “Everybody has
their own flavour of players and mine is probably different from other managers.
“If we can look to add to the squad with free agents between now and the next transfer window, the chairman has intimated he will try to help me to do that.
“It’s only fair, however, that I give this group the next month or so to prove themselves.”
Coyle admitted he saw a deer in the back garden of his house just before he took over at the Staggies. It proved to be a good omen and the 51-year-old will hope it’s a sign of good things to come.
Kris Boyd had a chance where he only succeeded in smacking the ball off his standing leg.
The Staggies went ahead when Craig Curran was given space between Killie’s central defenders to head home a Davis Keillor-Dunn cross. It was the sort of soft defending that’s sadly been all too commonplace from the Ayrshire side. County’s second came when Gordon Greer failed to stop Kenny van der Weg running down the wing.
The Dutchman got the ball back when Curran’s attempted shot ran into his path and he shot past Jamie MacDonald.
County didn’t do a lot to threaten the home goal in the second half but visiting goalie Scott Fox didn’t have a save to make all afternoon.