FLIPPING POINT
KILMARNOCK GAFFER’S MINUTE TO SAVOUR Clarke: Things can change so quick .. our crazy draw at Ibrox shows that
STEVE CLARKE knows how quickly fortunes can change in football after his dugout debut for Kilmarnock was transformed in one mad minute at Ibrox.
Which is why – as Rangers head for Ayrshire tomorrow seeking revenge for the 1-1 draw that got Clarke’s reign off to a flier – he is too savvy to get excited about the highs of his first two months in charge.
Don’t expect his team’s supporters to remain similarly down to earth though. If ever the temperature of the Kilmarnock support is to be taken the best reading has always been at the club’s – usually stormy – agm.
Previous editions have been defined by mutiny – angry criticism of performances on the pitch and votes of no confidence in unpopular former chairman Michael Johnston.
Not this time. On Wednesday night punters no longer needing their Johnston Out banners were more concerned about keeping Clarke in.
And no wonder they’re worried about hanging on to a manager who has rallied a team going nowhere who couldn’t buy a win at home all season.
Now their confidence is building after four wins, four draws and just two defeats – and it all began against tomorrow’s opponents at Ibrox.
One crucial turning point in injury time saw keeper Jamie MacDonald save a penalty before Chris Burke went straight up the pitch to snatch a last-gasp draw. This time Clarke must be eyeing the game as a strong chance of a third home win on the bounce. But if he is he’s too canny to say it and too long in the tooth to take the flying start to his reign for granted.
Clarke said: “It’s what happens in football. Things can change very quickly in a short space of time.
“So I’m sitting at Ibrox, first game in, thinking, ‘Well at least I can tell the lads they’ve put on a really good performance and we can build on it’.
“Then Jamie saves the penalty, we’re down the other end and it’s 1-1. The second half unfolded a bit like I told the players it might at half-time so suddenly they’re thinking, ‘That guy’s not daft’ and they’ve got a lot of confidence from the result as well.
“We carried that on to the next game at Celtic Park and slowly we’ve built a decent run. All we can do is try to continue that this weekend.”
But has the strength of his players’ response to his methods prompted him to reassess the goals he’d set when he took over the job in October?
He said: “No. I don’t think you should lose sight of what the original goal was. I know football. And I know as soon as you get complacent and dream about going up the way it can quickly bite you on the backside.
“You can quickly find yourself back in the dogfight. Credit to all the teams down there. It looked like Partick might get cut adrift but they produced a great win against Motherwell. Ross County are down there just now but historically they always do well in the January window and get players in.
“Dundee looked like they were going to get cut adrift but they had a marvellous run and are back involved.
“So there’s not one team you are looking at and thinking they’re gone.
“With three games this week the whole picture can change. Until we are far enough away from the bottom to stop worrying I won’t think about how high we can finish.
“It’s nice when you get all the plaudits but I know in 10 weeks’ time it can all have flipped round and things won’t be going so well.
“So I’m not going to get too carried away. I know it’s a little bit boring but that’s just the way it is.”
It’s the kind of boring Kilmarnock fans will happily settle for after too many agm dramas over the years.
Clarke added: “They told me one or two stories about previous agms but I said to them going into it the best secret about any club is to win matches. If the team is doing well it can cover a multitude of sins.
“It was nice – a good environment. The supporters are appreciative of the efforts of the board to get me in. They also appreciate the players have done so well in recent weeks.”
If you get complacent it can quickly bite you on the backside STEVIE CLARKE