BLAME GAME
Fans vent fury at Johnston but Magennis insists Killie players should take the heat
HAD Josh Magennis planted a simple header under the crossbar, there would have been every chance of Allan Johnston departing his technical area to the welcome sound of cheering.
Such are the thin margins in football. And it is why Magennis believes the Kilmarnock players, not their manager, deserved to bear the brunt of the blame about a defeat that left Rugby Park in uproar.
Johnston was barracked by sections of the home support as a winning position against 10 men began to unravel. The vehemence of the abuse left no one in any doubt he i s back under real pressure.
It had all looked so promising for Killie when, in the 47th minute, Magennis was toppled by David Raven and the Inverness right-back was ordered off. Johnston sent word from the sideline that Alexei Eremenko was to t ake t he spot-kick. That call was justified when the Finn squeezed his effort past Dean Brill.
From there, however, things rapidly tumbled downhill. Magennis missed a snip for 2-0 and, two minutes later, Billy McKay had levelled through a glorious solo effort.
Johnston’s decision to replace Eremenko with Chris Johnston in the 70th minute — which he later admitted was a mistake — brought the first real salvo of stick. Boos rang out around the stadium, accompanied by chants of ‘ you don’t know what you’re doing’.
When McKay then completed a remarkable turnaround via another excellent finish, the volume was notched up further. This time, the j eers came alongside cries of ‘Johnston, get to f***’. It was a blunt message, heard again near the final whistle.
Killie remain seventh in the table, just t wo points adrift of St Johnstone, but it seems there is precious little goodwill left for the man in charge.
Magennis insists it is down to the players to try to alter that situation, admitting they let their management team down with a limp display. ‘The gaffer gave us our instructions from the sidelines and we just didn’t take it on board,’ he said.
‘We blew it. It is completely our fault. He sets out the team but, when we cross the white line, it is up to us.
‘When you are not doing it at a f ootball club, it’ s always the manager who gets the stick because people think it is all down to him.
‘But he gave us our instructions, we were drilled from Monday to Friday and told what to do. After that, it’s the 11 men on the pitch and we didn’t do the manager or Gary Locke any justice.
‘It was a bit of a shambles. I had a chance at 1-0 with a header which I put over the bar.
‘We should have gone 2-0 up and then coasted from there, here, but we gave them too much respect when they had 10 men and didn’tn’t press the game.e. Maybe it’s a mentality thing from the boys.’
Killie endured a dire run of seven defeats and a draw before recording narrow back- to - back victories overr Hamilton and St Mirren at the turn of the year.
They have now lostost two consecutive home games after the Inverness defeatt ffollowedlld a convincing victory for champions Celtic seven days ago.
Even so, the extent of the insults fired at Johnston from the stand came as an eye-opener in terms of the discontent being felt.
‘Of course some of it was venomous, but that is football,’ said Magennis. ‘ You have f ans who pay their hard-earned money and want to be entertained. ‘ The gaffer is the closest one to them on the sidelines andan he gets it, but he has bbeen in the game a long time and he is a great professional. ‘hhe wants us to play witwith confidence and yoyou can’t play that way if everyone is hammering and bbattering you, so he takes the brunt of it and tells us to plplay with freedom. ‘ tthat’s why we wanwant to do so well for him.hi He is the type of persperson who wants us to concenconcentrate on the 90 minutes and he says he’ll deal withith theth rest.t bbutt it is unfortunate hearing it and seeing it.
‘People come and want to see their team doing well at home, so they have every right to shout and we just have to take it on board.’
The rancour within Rugby Park overshadowed what had been an outstanding effort from Caley Thistle. In particular, this was a game which underlined the immense value of McKay. Retaining the striker beyond t he current t r ansfer window might well be the difference between the Highlanders making Europe and not.
His first goal was sublime, as he flicked the ball over Mark Connolly’s head before finishing off with his left foot. Yet the second perhaps better underlined what he brings to John Hughes’ side.
The Northern Ireland international robbed the ball from Mark O’Hara near the halfway line and bolted forward to slide a through-ball for Nick Ross. The midfielder couldn’t get a shot away, but managed to send the ball back to McKay, who dispatched an exquisite strike from the edge of the area.
‘Billy’s first goal was something else,’ said Ross. ‘It reminded me of that (Matt) le Tissier goal. He flicked it over the defender and you think he’s going to hit it on the volley, but he just waited for the finish.
‘At the second one, I could have been in to score but I took a bad touch. I got a bit fortunate but I knew that Billy would finish it off if I gave it to him. And he did.
‘He’s a really important player for us and probably the only out-andout striker we’ve got at the moment. If we can keep him fit and scoring goals, then we’ll be all right and we’ll see where we get to.’