I’ll give Welsh rivals as much respect as I did Ronaldo Andy’s only done good for Nomads
EXCLUSIVE CHRIS BURKE’S VERDICT
Chris Burke got his first taste of European football 16 years ago facing Gary Neville and Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Thursday he insists he’ll be giving Irn-Bru Cup finalists Connah’s Quay Nomads exactly the same respect he gave Champions League winners Manchester United.
Kilmarnock’s veteran winger has a star- studded 30- game Euro CV to call on as the Rugby Park side get set for their first continental outing in 18 years.
Fresh from an intriguing pre-season shift in the Spanish sunshine, working for the first time under new boss Angelo Alessio, the 35- year- old is optimistic about Killie’s chances against the Welsh outfit.
But the one thing he learned from all of it was to take nothing and no one for granted. The former Rangers, Cardiff and Birmingham City playmaker said: “When you’re a young kid and playing against teams like Man United, Stuttgart, Inter and Villarreal and in the Champions League, you expect it every year.
“You DO take it for granted. It’s naive – when you get older you appreciate your opportunities more.
“That game aga inst Manchester United, I came on against Ronaldo and Neville on my side of the pitch.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane were also in that great United team – it was an amazing experience.
“All of my European games were. With Rangers, I got to the last 16 of the Champions League and it felt like we’d do it regularly but it hasn’t happened since.
“We drew back-to-back with Porto away then Inter at home to qualify, when they had the likes of Obafeme Martins and Adriano up front and Javier Zanetti in midfield.
“Then we were really unlucky not to make the quarter-finals, drawing 2- 2 at home with Villarreal then going ahead over there before they pegged us back to 1-1 to win on away goals.
“I always remember putting in a cross for big Kris Boyd in that match – it was perfect and 99 times out of 100 he’d have put it away.
“But he just didn’t connect with it – we went out by the smallest of margins.
“I was a bit unlucky the year Rangers made it to the UEFA Cup Final.
“I’d played in the last- 32 against Panathinaikos then was
an unused sub in the next two rounds against Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon.
“But by then I was nursing an ankle problem and needed an operation – so I missed the semis and final.
“I had a great experience with Birmingham in the Europa League after we’d won the FA Cup as wel l , which was unusual when they were in the Championship.
“I love it , it’s a great test – every team who gets in to Europe, their players can handle the ball, from one to 11. They keep it longer as well.”
Whether Nomads fit that bill or not remains to be seen.
Bossed by Inverness- born Andy Morrison, they finished second in the Welsh league last season and, after a cross-border raid on the Irn-Bru Cup, were toppled by Championship w inner s Ros s County in the final. Burke said: “We’ll g ive t hem t he utmost respect . They have more recent European experience than us – it’s 18 years since Killie last qualified.
“Nomads know their strengths and play to them. They played Aberdeen in Ireland last week and drew 0-0, so we should be able to watch that game and use it as a good yardstick.
“But the great thing at Killie is that we respect everyone, we treat every game the same and
We’ll have respect – Nomads have more European experience than us
never slack off. We’ve proven it for two seasons now that we play the same way every game.
“This isn’t a glamour tie but it’s not too onerous in terms of travel for us or the fans. “Hope ful ly our s elve s , Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers can all put a wee European run together for the sake of Scottish football.” Killie came back from Connah’s Quay Nomads boss Andy Morrison’s autobiography is called ‘The good, the mad and the ugly’. But their co-chairman John Gray insists the Inverness-born boss has done nothing but good since he joined in November 2015. Morrison, who will be looking to stun Kilmarnock in their Europa League opener in Rhyl on Thursday evening, has put Nomads firmly on the map. He led them to their first major trophy, the 2018 Welsh Cup, took them all the way to last season’s Irn-Bru Cup Final and ensured they are European regulars. Gray is in no doubt Morrison should be managing at a higher level but knows his tracksuit-look and abrasive touchline antics put off other club owners. Gray said: “As
anyone who has read his book will know, Andy has had a colourful life.
“But since he came here we have had great success and we love him to bits.
“He’s disciplined off the field, professional, and you can see that in the way the team plays.
“He likes to bark orders but off the pitch he is a different man altogether.
“Will someone come in for him in future? Who knows?
“If I was a club chairman Marbella last week looking forward to their f irst session on Rugby Park’s new artificial pitch.
And they know they need to hit the ground running, despite having Steve Clarke’s successful system tweaked by their new Italian gaffer Alessio.
Burke said: “It has been another tough pre-season – the difference is the manager is learning about us while also trying to get his ideas over on how he wants us to play.
“And we need to learn quick. We’ve had only two pre- season games – we would like to have had more but that’s the schedule.
“We had a tough game on Wednesday, losing 3- 0 to Dinamo Bucharest who were very good – but it helped us
prepare. The manager took somewhere else, I would go for him. He puts everything into the job but, the way he works, he probably doesn’t suit the clubs who are looking for a man in a suit.”
The game with Killie has been switched to Rhyl’s Belle Vue because Nomads’ Deeside Stadium doesn’t meet UEFA’s minimum requirements.
Gray said: “The new venue has 1400 seats but it’s a bit derelict and we can only let Killie have 802 tickets.
“We will see how our allocation is selling before deciding if they can get more because they will want to bring a bigger support.
“It’s an interesting tie, it’s good to have a Wales v Scotland match.”
The Nomads are now gearing up for their fourth European campaign.
Gray admits Connah’s Quay struggle to compete with the finances of Welsh champions TNS due to their financial muscle.
And it’s a similar story in Scotland with Killie’s budget dwarfed by the Old Firm.
He said: “I was chairman and owner of the club for years but football drains your pocket. So we sold it to new owners but I have stayed on as co-chairman.
“We would love to beat TNS to the league. They get something like £1.25million from being involved in the Champions League.
“It’s hard to compete. We will get something like £200,000 from Europe but that’s tiny compared to what they get. It’s an imbalance so getting the better of TNS is my real ambition.”
a look at different players and different formations but Dinamo only scored one goal from open play, the other two were set-pieces.
“The style of play he’d like to introduce will see us press higher up the pitch at certain times in the game.
“During Clarke’s era, we were seen more as a team that would counter- attack but Alessio seems to want us to impose our game on the other team at times now – that would be the only difference.
“The core of the team is the same, although we need a few additions after losing our loanees.
“But as a team, we know how to defend, we know how to have a good structure, when to attack and when not to.
“The main thing he wants is to play maybe a wee bit more attractive football.”