DYER IS KILLIE BOSS UNTIL END OF SEASON
KILMARNOCK last night confirmed that Alex Dyer will remain in charge of the side until at least the end of the season. The 54-year-old Englishman, who came to the club as No 2 to Steve Clarke two years ago, was handed temporary charge of first-team affairs after Angelo Alessio was sacked earlier this month.
After witnessing a fifth straight defeat at St Mirren on Sunday, Dyer had urged the Rugby Park board to come to a quick decision over who would be in charge after the New Year.
Dyer, whose temporary spell at the helm culminated in three one-goal losses, had never ruled himself out of the running but had stated it would be up to the club to approach him about the manager’s job.
Speaking after he was finally offered the opportunity to take charge for at least the next five months, Clarke’s Scotland assistant said: ‘I care deeply about this fantastic football club and it is a privilege to be named manager until the end of the season.
‘I believe we have a good group of players at the club and, with a few additions during the transfer window, I’m convinced we can rejuvenate our season and re-establish the identity the club has built over the past few years.’
A Kilmarnock statement confirmed that Dyer and James Fowler, the club’s head of football operations, have already started working on transfer targets for the forthcoming window.
Club owner Billy Bowie added: ‘Alex is hugely respected by everyone at the club and we believe he is capable of ensuring the club moves forward in the right direction again.
‘In Alex and James Fowler, we have two men who know the club well and our full focus is to support them during the transfer window and all the crucial work that will follow.
‘I’m sure our fans will join us in giving their full support to Alex for the remainder of the season.’
One of Dyer’s main tasks over the winter break will be to ensure that the team start scoring goals again on their return to action.
With that in mind, striker Liam Millar believes that he and his team-mates need to learn to ‘relax’ in order for their current goal drought to end. Not since Dario Del Fabro scored in the 93rd minute at Easter Road on November 30 has a Kilmarnock player’s name appeared on a scoresheet.
Faced with a long three weeks to reflect on that bleak fact before facing Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup, Millar believes that searching too deeply for the answer may prove counter-productive.
‘We need to relax,’ said the on-loan Liverpool striker. ‘I missed a good chance on Sunday and maybe I should have relaxed and I would have scored.
‘I just think it’s about being calm and relaxed in front of goal. Right now, we are panicky.
‘I wouldn’t say I put myself under pressure because, if you do that, you are just going to make it worse. I don’t feel under pressure to score every game.
‘If I score, it obviously helps the team, but you can’t be that obsessed by scoring when you are not scoring.
‘You’ve just got to let it happen freely and they will start going in.’
The 1-0 loss in Paisley saw the Rugby Park side drop out of the top six but Millar sees no reason why they can’t recover lost ground in the second half of the season.
‘For sure we can,’ said the 20-year-old. ‘We need to start performing again. But six games without a goal is not good enough for any team in any league.
‘We need to put our head down and just try to get a result. Even if it’s scrappy, just get a result.
‘Last year, we were on a run of games where we weren’t doing very well, then we came to St Mirren and I ended up scoring and we went on a great run until the end of the season. So it’s literally just that one game, that one goal that can change anything.
‘We have almost the same team as we did last year. There were a couple of different players like Jordan Jones and Greg Stewart and those guys were in there scoring goals, but mostly it’s the same team.’
Kilmarnock announced yesterday that forwards Simeon Jackson and Osman Sow will leave the club with immediate effect.
Jackson, 32, had arrived on a short-term deal in October, while 29-year-old Swedish striker Sow will return to parent club Dundee United following a loan spell which started in September.