NO ROOM FOR ERROR NOW KILLIE
FORMER Kilmarnock chairman Jim Mann admits he was disappointed to see Lee McCulloch leave the Ayrshire club.
And he now believes it’s crucial the board get the right man in to replace the former Scotland international as they bid to turn their season around.
Mann worked with three different managers in his short time at Rugby Park and is adamant the club need someone who can sort the team out first and foremost.
He said: “The club needs someone who is a strict disciplinarian and who can come in and improve the team’s fitness and their style of play.
“In pre-season we were all quite excited about the players who were brought in but, for whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out the way we had hoped.
“The players now need to start playing for the manager.
“I was disappointed it didn’t work out because part of the deal when Lee Clark came in as manager was that he would keep Lee McCulloch and Peter Leven on.
“We wanted him to be working with them for two or three years before they’d eventually become the management team but it maybe came a bit too soon for them.”
The former chairman, who is based in Milton Keynes, headed the recruitment process when the club appointed Clark as manager in February 2016. And he gave an insight into the process directors go through to get the right man.
He said: “It’s important that you set out what your criteria is.
“You need someone who is experienced and has a good track record.
“But as well as that you’re looking for someone who understands how important it is to take to do with the whole footballing side of the club rather than just the first team.
“At a club like Kilmarnock you need a manager who is willing to bring through the young talent and give them a pathway to the first team and back that system.”