FINAL WARNING
Killie boss fearful further breaches could see ban on fans extended in hammer blow to clubs
Kilmarnock manager alex Dyer fears that one more irresponsible act of idiocy by a Premiership player could lead to catastrophic financial problems for Scottish clubs.
Having been placed on the naughty step by First minister nicola Sturgeon yesterday through no fault of their own, the ayrshire club have at least been allowed to play ross county in Dingwall tonight.
aberdeen and celtic have been punished due to indiscretions on the part of their players but Dyer worries that further breaches of protocol by individual footballers could lead to an indefinite ban on fans being allowed entry to grounds.
‘We’re all desperate to have supporters back in the stadium, 100 per cent,’ said Dyer. ‘We have to keep drumming the same messages into our footballers because we have an opportunity here.
‘The world is watching us because we’re one of the few leagues going at the moment, so we need to do the right things.
‘We’re role models and we need to make sure we behave in the right way. That means coming here, training hard, playing our matches and then going home.
‘i tell my players they can go out with their wives or girlfriends for a little meal, but then you go home.
‘You can’t be going out in groups, or flying off somewhere — it’s not the right thing to do. Whether it’s for another six weeks or six months, that just has to be done.
‘There’s a lot of people worse off out there than we are and we can’t afford to play behind closed doors all season — no way.
‘Everyone, including the government, wants to bring fans back in but they can’t do it if we keep having these errors. Hopefully, from now on everyone behaves themselves and we can try and get fans back into stadiums.’
it is, of course, impossible for clubs to ensure that their employees won’t perform selfish and ultimately damaging acts of rule-breaking.
‘We’re all parents and, when our kids go out at night, we don’t always know what they’re doing,’ stressed Dyer. ‘We try to educate them to do the right thing as they grow up but once they’re out on the street you don’t know what they do — that’s just life.
‘and it’s the same with the football club. We do our best to give them the right information but, once they leave the ground, there’s always maybe going to be one or two that go astray.
‘it’s not the manager’s fault, the staff or the rest of players. it’s just individual errors that they know are wrong.
‘They don’t consider the consequences of their actions, which will also fall on other people. Hopefully, now everyone knows that if you keep messing up there will be consequences.’
Boli Bolingoli put his own teammates and kilmarnock’s players at risk by going aWol to Spain last week and then coming off the bench on Sunday instead of self-isolating on his return.
Dyer, however, doesn’t blame celtic. ‘They didn’t know — it’s one of those things,’ he shrugged. ‘i know neil (lennon) and i know the staff. They’re good people.
‘They’re surprised themselves but it’s happened. let’s just move on and keep doing the right thing. They apologised because they’re a proper football club, just like we are.’
one kilmarnock player who has been unaffected by the new normal is full-back ross millen, who had put himself under lockdown long before it became standard.
‘if you live your life right in normal circumstances then you won’t have a problem,’ said millen. ‘i go home, eat, sleep and get back up and play football. i’m not interested in going out anyway, so the restrictions don’t make a difference to me.
‘The way i look at it, if you’re trying to make a career in football, then that’s the way you should live your life but that’s just my opinion and i understand you also have to enjoy yourself — but only at the right times.
‘my first thought when i read the story about Bolingoli was that i hope the league doesn’t get paused and also that the player himself doesn’t have coronavirus, so it’s great news he’s negative.’
millen, 25, has succeeded Scotland star Stephen o’Donnell in killie’s back four and been pleasantly surprised to do so.
‘i’m a wee bit shocked to have played two full 90 minutes but i’ve worked hard in pre-season and got my head down and worked away,’ he admitted.
‘When Stephen left, i thought that i’d have an opportunity and the gaffer said it was up to me to make that right-back spot my own.’
lkilmarnock have signed Hearts goalkeeper colin Doyle on loan until January. Boss alex Dyer was seeking back-up after on-loan Sheffield United stopper Jake Eastwood was ruled out for 12 weeks with a thigh injury.