Andy_K_97

Having watched Hearts yesterday, I know they can definitely play better than they did - it certainly was an off-day, and I can only hope that the JTs have another day like that on Saturday. The two games at Tynecastle have been close affairs and we arguably could have won both games on another day, but the LC QF at RP saw us switch off at the worst possible time, and the match in December was a poor one where we once again shot ourselves in the foot. On our day, we can certainly match Hearts - but will we finally get a win against them this season? I'm quietly confident that we'll take something from this one.

Very good result and performance, going by the sounds of it. I'm just surprised that's only our third away win of the season in the league given our league placing. Glad to have got things over the line and with results going the other way, I think it's safe to start dreaming now.

Back to the subject of the game, I'd like to think we'll get the job done, but it'll be far from easy. Would take a repeat of last week's events.

A hell of a lot riding on this one - a Killie win, coupled with a St. Mirren loss to Celtic and fourth place is basically ours to lose. Even a draw (given our away form) coupled with a St. Mirren loss isn't bad from our perspective, but it would be amazing to go and do the business to really cement fourth place. I suspect Levein will have Saints up for this after last weekend's win against Hibs, and I expect a stuffy game. Could end up being a bit like Saturday's match in terms of playing style. I won't be going up to Perth, but I'm glad to see a big away support will be there. Why Saints didn't start off with just the north stand for away fans I don't know, but ultimately it doesn't really matter too much as everyone who wants to go should hopefully be able to get tickets one way or another.

Not the best game to watch by any stretch of the imagination, but we played well enough and deserved the win. Pleased for Vassell as I thought that the ball was starting to go out a bit too wide for him to get a shot away but he took it well enough. I don't know what Wickens was doing, though - that's a dreadful error to make. A win next week coupled with a St Mirren defeat and I think 4th place is ours to lose.

On paper, we should win. However, this game won't be played on paper - it will be played on (plastic) grass. 2-1 to the stripes.

Connah's Quay Nomads is the obvious one - but over the past decade and a bit, there's been a number of quarter finals that we've royally shat the bed in. The most painful of these was probably in 2018 when we took the lead against Aberdeen, only to have them beat us on penalties. The quarter final at RP against Hibs in 2013 was also a sore one - big crowd in the place and a good large away support, and we just didn't turn up at all. On that note, the whole time that Rangers were in the seaside leagues can be considered a time when we shat it and underperformed under poor management. I was disappointed when we sacked Kenny Shiels (although some people may not have been), but we should have found a better replacement than Allan Johnston. In turn, we also should have done better than getting Gary Locke to be his replacement. I still don't really know what to make of Lee Clark's time in charge given he kept us up in the playoff final, but the style of football wasn't exactly eye-catching and I suspect that we'd have finished around 7th or 8th. During the time Rangers were absent from the Premiership, teams like Motherwell and Dundee United managed to capitalise on this and reached Europe - instead, we were floundering in our own mediocrity due to poor decisions made by our weasel of a former chairman. Even when things were bad for us in the Championship, things still seemed a lot more positive than they were around ten years ago when the weasel was sucking the very life and soul out of the club. His leaving of the club, never to return, has turned the club around and made being a Kilmarnock fan much more bearable - I lay the blame for our mediocrity from 2013-18 solely at his door.

I've seen my team win both the Scottish and League cups in my lifetime, so I'm not doing too badly compared to some. I really thought this might be the year to do something given that Celtic are flaky and Rangers can also be beaten on the right day too, so getting put out with such a tame performance at Pittodrie was a huge disappointment. Ah well, like I say every year, there's always next year.

Killie 4 QotS 5. A very odd game indeed as we raced into the lead only to go back to 2-2 within the space of a few minutes. Once the first team players went off, Queens took advantage of some poor play and got the winner in the last minute of normal time.

Rangers had better get the finger out, didn't realise they were so rubbish! I'm afraid you're correct, both have been shut for a while now. However, there's a few other places that you can go such as Fanny By Gaslight, the Tartan Sheep, Mack's Bar... Most places will be welcoming towards away fans provided you're sound and I certainly wouldn't object to seeing away fans such as yourselves if I was in a boozer beforehand. Very tough test ahead, and we need a big result after the bitter disappointment of losing to relegation fodder in Aberdeen. While a loss would be damaging for our morale and charge for the European places, I would say that the Buddies have a tougher run-in before the split - we both have still to play Hearts, but we've then got Ross County and St. Johnstone while St. Mirren have Celtic to play before the split. I suspect the Buddies will get something against Motherwell. Big away support is always good to see - I just hope that they leave disappointed (but not too disappointed, because I don't have anything against St. Mirren).

I really enjoyed your challenge last year. I'd like to do it one day, but finding the time isn't always easy.

Ticket bought, bus booked - just got to hope the team turn up now. This time last week, I was feeling a lot more confident about our chances, but for some reason the doubt is starting the creep in. I hope that I'm proved wrong.

Both teams coming off defeats in midweek - a narrow one for us, yet a chastening blow for Dundee at Parkhead. These things can happen, though. Quietly confident about this one, but both league games have been tight with late goals for Dundee. Would far prefer a start along the lines of the Scottish Cup tie, but that's unlikely to happen. Dundee have impressed me this season and I expect a tough task, especially with the whole Docherty v McInnes factor attached. Let's see how it pans out.

Fair assessment - Rangers deserved the win for making the changes at the break (proof the Clement is actually a good manager unlike the previous incumbent in the Ibrox hot seat) but had we taken our chances, we could have had the game wrapped up by half time. Going in 1-0 at the break was the least we deserved at the time, and had it not been for Butland's superb save I think the best Rangers could have hoped for would have been a draw. The chance that Kennedy had just after the break could also have been crucial, but five minutes of sloppy play cost us the game. When Danny Armstrong went off for Rory McKenzie, we definitely lost an outlet going forward on the right side that GMS might have been able to keep going. Overall, the performance was good tonight (especially in the first half) and on the whole there's very little to be despondent about as a Killie fan these days. We were competitive once again against an opponent with far greater resources in title-winning form, and it's a far cry from last season where I was questioning if we would ever be able to beat the Old Firm sides ever again. We have a great chance to bounce back at Dens on Saturday, and I'd expect a few changes. Still, that's one of the toughest runs of fixtures for us out the way with. If you'd told me that we'd get 4 points from Celtic away, Aberdeen at home and Rangers at home before this run began, I'd have taken that. Onwards - the season has some tantalising fixtures and potentially rewards still on offer, and two or three more victories should see us over the line and confirm the top six place.

This list will be mainly restricted to Premiership, but I'll try to think of all the grounds I've been to. Premiership grounds first: Aberdeen - never been, although I'm going up for the cup game a week on Saturday. I'll leave this for now. Celtic - been to Celtic Park on two occasions, once for a 2-0 defeat under Allan Johnston's tenure that proved to be the beginning of the end for him, and the other time was for the Scotland v England game where they won 3-1 and Robertson scored his first Scotland goal. Not a good record for me. Dundee - been once for a Scottish Cup tie and despite being up 1-0 we drew 1-1 and beat Dundee in the replay at RP. That's a no, then. Hearts - umpteen times. A very happy hunting ground and one of the best stadiums in the country. Hibs - been many a time, but only witnessed one Killie win on the last day of the season ten years ago that kept us out of the playoffs. A cracking day. Livingston - yes, but many moons ago when either Paul Lambert or Richard Gough was in charge of Livi. Motherwell - the first ever away day I was taken to was at Motherwell, and it was a 2-1 win for Killie on New Year's Day in 1999. Seen a few wins there. Rangers - no. Been three times for Killie games and the best I've been at was the 1-1 draw where Chris Burke scored the late equaliser in Steve Clarke's first game in charge. Was at Ibrox for the 1997 SCF so at least I've seen my team win at Ibrox, but I won't count that since it was a neutral venue. Ross County - never been to a game there despite having visited the stadium before. Would like to experience the full Dingwall away day at some point. St. Johnstone - yes. One of my least-favourite away days, so not much to say here. St. Mirren - yes, both at Love Street and the current ground. Miss that big steep away stand, the current facilities are good but the rake on the stands is too shallow for my liking and it's not always the easiest to see what's going on up the far end of the park even in the back few rows. Of the grounds I've been to that are currently Premiership grounds, that's three I've not seen wins at. Now for the rest of the leagues, as best as I can remember: Airdrie: yes Ayr United: yes Dundee United: yes Dunfermline: yes Morton: yes ICT: no (went once, last year for the cup quarter final debacle. May be a while before I get a chance to break this particular hoodoo) Partick Thistle: yes Falkirk: yes Hamilton: yes Queen of the South: yes Dumbarton: yes The Spartans: yes Overall, I'd say my record isn't too bad at most places I've been to. We'll see if my good record continues in the Scottish Cup.

Not sure about this one. The past two results have been very good, all things considered, but this is an entirely different proposition with the form that Rangers are in. On saying that, we've shown ourselves to be well-organised and difficult to break down - one loss in 14 is some of the best form I can ever remember us being in. Even if we get beat here, there's no cause to lose optimism about the season. Every setback that we've experienced thus far has been overcome, and I think we'll have a slightly different starting eleven on Wednesday night. If the team go into this with no fear there's a chance that we'll cause another upset. I'm just really enjoying supporting Kilmarnock for the first time in a good while, and even if there's a defeat on Wednesday it'll take a fair bit for my optimism to be dampened. Let's see what happens.

Just look at what has happened since the transfer window of January 2023 closed. Having started the window in a promising way by signing Kyle Vassell, absolutely nothing else was done until Luke Chambers signed on loan the day before the window closed. I can remember hearing rumours of players coming in as the clock ticked away, with nothing happening apart from a feeling of dread building. When the window shut, I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that relegation was coming, and we would only have ourselves to blame if it happened. The following day Dundee United came to town and we managed to win, thus changing my outlook slightly for a while - but on the whole, it felt as if McInnes was giving himself the worst possible hand on purpose to try and stay up in order to prove some oddly perverse point. It all worked out somehow - but how, exactly, I have no idea. Bringing it back to the present day, we have strengthened very well over the course of the two windows. While I was sceptical about the merits of re-signing some of the players who renewed their contracts, the only one who has disappointed has been Liam Donnelly. Almost every member of the current squad who features regularly is earning their keep and performing well. After surviving in a fairly comfortable fashion on the final day of last season, the club seems to be going in a good direction and things are broadly positive for the first time since the days of Steve Clarke's glorious reign. Things feel slightly different from that time, however. From my own time as a Killie fan, I would liken this current era to the 90s in terms of the vibes and the general feel. The club is on the up, looking towards Europe, and the fans are coming out in force at home games. With the prospect of a tasty cup run on the horizon, things feel a lot better at RP than they have for some time. At the start of the season, I would have been satisfied with a season of consolidation that improved upon last season's survival. A 7th-placed finish would have been perfectly adequate, with more improvement over the summer and then having a proper crack at the top six and subsequently Europe, should we have been good enough for that. However, given the way in which the season has unfolded, I don't see why we can't aim for a European spot come the end of May. I don't know what's going to happen next - and it could all fall apart at any moment - but I feel a real excitement watching my team these days and I don't want it to stop.

Hoping that Dundee's transfer dealings have weakened them ahead of this - especially with Beck being replaced by Costelloe. If this was an away game for us, I'd be worried about getting a result - however, I'm hopeful that our home form can keep up. I expect a tight game given the two that have already taken place this season.

Went once before with friends who I've since drifted away from. I wish I could remember more about the city as I didn't spend a lot of time there and I'm planning to go and watch the Switzerland game in one of the fanzones. If I get a ticket, great - if I don't then I'm just happy to soak up the culture, atmosphere and lager. My main memory of Cologne was watching the 2018 WC semi where Croatia beat England in extra time. Had to not go off my nut when the Croatians scored as one of the guys I was with was English and otherwise quite sound, and there was a homeless man who kept wandering in shouting "Turkish merda!" because for some reason the referee caught his ire. The Kolsch was decent, though.

I know the thread is usually pretty quiet these days, and this is yesterday's news... but to try and keep it up to date, I'm pretty pleased with GMS extending his stay until May

Well, this thread didn't become mind-numbingly tedious at all... A brilliant win for the stripes, and in a very pleasing manner. I don't think I've ever seen a Killie team be as poor in the first stages of a game and then come back to not only win, but totally dominate the proceedings. As soon as we equalised there was only going to be one winner and if we had scored a couple more goals it wouldn't have been surprising. In the second half every single player in blue and white was brilliant, and while Armstrong deservedly got MOTM you could have given it to Kennedy, Lyons, Deas or Findlay to name but a few. A very good week with a very unexpected 6 points out of a possible 6 has stopped the rot and put us back in a good position after we had started to slip back down the table. As others have said, the inconsistency and away form have meant that McInnes hasn't been able to win over all of the support, but big results like that will put a hell of a lot of credit in his account. There have been times where I've been scunnered with him, such as the defeat to Inverness in the cup, but on the whole he has achieved all his objectives (get promoted and stay up, with the addition of the League Cup run). I hope that this really is the start of a consistent run where we can finish strongly before the break and then come back strongly in January in the cup.

Expected nothing from this and thought a draw was probably a fair enough result. However, given the mount of heartbreak the Dons have caused us over the past decade, I'm especially delighted that we managed to grab a winner. What a hit from the Prestwick Pirlo! I sincerely hope the fella with the Arab Strap tickets went to the gig - I was so unenthused by the thought of watching this on a stream earlier on, I would have picked the gig too.

The referee looks like a particularly angry Vic Reeves character who didn't make the cut to actually appear in any sketches. In fact, everyone in this photo looks as if they're about to deck the photographer.

Game on, it seems. Insert moaning about the plastic pitch here

The new one that we've put up at RP is much better than the old one that was there beforehand - however, as it's down the front of the Moffat Stand I feel it's perhaps a wee bit too open to the elements. Still, our disabled fans are largely complimentary about it. The new viewing platforms up the back of the North Stand at Hampden are really good too - night and day from people with mobility issues having to sit down the front with a less-than-great view and being open to the elements.