Catastrophe is crucial
The boos at full- time told their own story.
Ju s t two mo n t h s on f rom cheering the same players off the pitch as Kilmarnock beat Rangers to qualify for Europe for the first time in 18 years, the home fans were left frustrated and angry after watching their side knocked out by Welsh minnows, Connah’s Quay Nomads.
It was a disastrous home debut for new manager Angelo Alessio, who inherited Steve Clarke’s squad but couldn’t get anywhere near the same level of performance out of them.
The under- fire Italian has less than a fortnight before Rangers visit to kick- off the Premiership campaign.
He will need to fix whatever is troubling Killie before then.
On the evidence of Thursday night, he has his work cut out.
Veteran player Chris Burke, surprisingly subbed off when Killie needed a goal late in the game, admitted they don’t have a lot of time to get things sorted.
The former Rangers winger said: “There’s no time in football, is there? You have to hit the ground running. You have to do well straight away.
“It’s early in the season, but I’m sure as time goes on, we will learn and do better as a group with what the manager is trying to implement.
“But we will have to learn quickly. We can’t be waiting and waiting for it to click.
“We have to take responsibility collectively as a group. We have to make sure we do better in future.
“If we don’t, we’ll find ourselves in a difficult situation.”
Clarke could do no wrong in his 19 months in charge before leaving to take up the reins at Scotland.
Getting into the Europa League was meant to be the reward for a successful season when Killie took the scalps of both halves of the Old Firm on their way to finishing third.
Now, after just one qualifying round, the Ayrshire side have been bounced out, despite 10 of the 11 players who beat Rangers on the last day of the season starting on Thursday night.
Burke admitted it was a really painful one to take.
He added: “We worked so hard over 38 games to get into Europe, and then it was all gone in one match.
“To say we’re disappointed is an understatement. We took our foot off the gas, thinking the tie was done and it wasn’t.
“We got a great result in Wales and maybe got too comfortable. We kept giving the ball away cheaply and didn’t move it fast enough.
“When they scored their first goal, it knocked us for six. But it shouldn’t have.
“We should have dealt with that, and realised we were still going through. But we didn’t react well to that and that’s why we lost the second goal.
“It’s difficult to take. To work that hard last season, and then let it go to waste so easily when it’s in your own hands, is a big disappointment.
“We have to prepare now for a very tough game against Rangers.
“In football there are lots of disappointments, and this is one of them. It’s how you react to it that counts.
“The fans turned out in big numbers expecting a performance, and we didn’t do that.
“They are right to feel aggrieved, angry and disappointed as much as we are.
“They came out to support us and we didn’t deliver.”