Kilmarnock

Image source, SNS

Kris Boyd does not expect Kilmarnock manager and "tenacious character" Neil McCann to change his approach and believes things can turnaround if they take more chances.

Boyd's former side lost 1-0 away to Celtic on Sunday and are two points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

"I thought they performed reasonably well at Celtic Park at the weekend there, could've scored a couple but ultimately lost the game," Boyd told BBC Scotland.

"I don't think Kilmarnock are a million miles away, but at the same time, you are bottom of the league; you need to start winning games, Neil McCann will know that.

"He's a tenacious character who will continue to work to get the best out his players. They will get there.

"They carry a threat, there's no doubt about that, but defensively right now Kilmarnock do seem to be struggling.

"I don't see Neil changing and I don't see why he should because they are creating chances, it's just a matter of taking them and hopefully Kilmarnock can climb that table."

We asked for your views after Kilmarnock remained bottom of the Scottish Premiership following a narrow defeat at Celtic Park.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Gary: I was thinking it would be 5-0 or 6-0, so 1-0 should feel like a victory. But, at the end of the day, a defeat is a defeat. When you keep playing the same way, there is only going to be one outcome. The board should be meeting to decide, during the break, if enough is enough.

Dugald: Brave does not equal points. Chances do not equal goals. Another defeat, and we are already relegation favourites. The manager needs to change his tactics, or we need to change the manager.

Anna: I didn't think we'd get anything, but restricting them to one goal showed how solid the defence was, and that's a good thing. It's just a shame the strikers have forgotten what the goal looks like. The standout for me was our keeper saving a penalty that was questionable at best. I've had a go at Neil McCann in the past, but if he can keep us playing that way, then things might not be as bad as they seem. Only time will tell.

Frank: Once again, McCann admits we conceded another sloppy goal. What is our defensive coach doing with the team? Sloppy goals conceded every game. If it isn't working, the obvious thing to do is make a change, and that's down to the manager. His media training is shining through. I wish that could be transferred into coaching the team.

Image source, SNS

"The boys are really disappointed we didn't take anything," said Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann after the 1-0 loss away to Celtic.

"It's not an easy place to come, especially after Celtic's good result against Besiktas and them having their tails up and being confident.

"We were brave and created three of four brilliant chances, but we concede a sloppy goal.

"I certainly think the guys stood up, which is not easy with all of the outside noise. So many good things from the game.

"So much of the football we play deserves a greater return in terms of points but I'm not going cry about it, we need to do more in both boxes."

Kilmarnock end the weekend at the foot of the Scottish Premiership following a narrow loss at Celtic Park.

The visitors had chances right at the start and right at the end and manager Neil McCann expressed great pride in the effort his players put in.

Read the match report

Have your say

Image source, SNS

Manager Neil McCann is urging his Kilmarnock players to be "brave" when they visit Celtic Park on Sunday.

They Ayrshire side are 11th in the table, a point above Hibernian who have played one game fewer.

Kilmarnock have conceded 28 goals in 12 games - the worst defensive record in the division

"Every player has just got to be brave," McCann said of Sunday's trip to Glasgow.

"You've got to continue to dig in.

"I've had so many occasions in my career where you could just hide, particularly on the wing when you're getting battered and it's not working for you.

"You've just got to keep taking the ball. It's your job. You've got to keep being brave on it.

"If a manager wants you to play in a certain way and he's given you the authority and the licence to go and continue to take it when you're making mistakes, that's the only way of coming through a difficult spot.

"And that's where we've got to go to Celtic Park and really show our personality."

Image source, SNS

Winger Yang Hyun-jun could feature for Celtic after a hamstring injury, but Alistair Johnston remains out through injury and fellow defender Auston Trusty following the loss of his father.

Kilmarnock were without defender Johnly Yfeko and midfielders Mark O'Hara and Bailey Rice last weekend, while goalkeeper Max Stryjek is a long-term absentee due to a knee injury.

Image source, SNS

Manager Neil McCann is remaining upbeat amid Kilmarnock fan discontent, insisting his struggling side will continue to play with "freedom and bravery".

Killie, who visit Celtic on Sunday, are a point above bottom club Hibs and have shipped 28 goals in 12 league games.

"Supporters will always give their opinion when they come into the stadium and they'll voice it. They're entitled to voice their opinion," said McCann.

"My pressure, to be honest with you, is preparing our players tactically, physically, mentally.

"And then when they take the field, I give them full autonomy to go and carry out all of those instructions, but play with the freedom and bravery that got us out of trouble last year.

"Nothing's changed in my build-up. Nothing's changed in my drive. Nothing's changed in my approach to getting Kilmarnock to be a team that wants to put on a product on the pitch.

"Of course, it's about results, very much, it's a results-driven business. But I was given this job to get us out of bother last year.

"And we came in, the first thing wasn't about, yes, results were important, but it was making sure that the team were capable and prepared to go and get those results.

"I think we are prepared to go and get those results. We just haven't given our support enough good days to celebrate wins.

"I'll hopefully see a team flourish, get the results that I think their performances deserve.

"And then we can all come together with the unity that we showed last season and hopefully Kilmarnock will start climbing the table."

• No side has recovered more points from losing positions in the Scottish Premiership this season than Celtic (7), while no side has lost more from winning positions than Kilmarnock (7).

• Kilmarnock are winless in 22 visits to Celtic in all competitions (D4 L18) since a 2-0 league victory in October 2012.

• Kilmarnock's tally of nine points is their lowest after 12 games of a Premiership season since 2017-18, when they had eight at this stage.

• Celtic have won their past eight league meetings with Kilmarnock, last winning more in a row in April 2007 (16).

• Celtic have only lost one of their past 11 home league games (W9 D1), a 1-0 defeat to Rangers in September.

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

Anyone looking at the faces of Killie fans trudging out Rugby Park on Saturday would have guessed they had just suffered a heavy defeat.

Our draw with St Johnstone was yet further evidence the manager has no idea how to organise a team to stop conceding soft goals.

The fact we faced 10 men for most of the game only makes matters worse and it would be fair to say the majority of fans have finally run out of patience with Neil McCann.

Fans will have their views on selection, formation and tactics but there is one glaring stat that tells you his time is up. The number of goals conceded - 28 in just 12 league games - is embarrassing and if we continue down that road we will set new records as we plunge to the Championship.

For the good of everyone McCann should be relieved of his duties now to give the new manager plenty of time to sort out the mess.

We now face the champions at Parkhead and it is very hard to imagine anything other than a heavy loss. Sad times.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

St Johnstone frustrate Kilmarnock in a four-goal Scottish Premiership draw, despite being down to 10 men (UK only).

Killie fans, we asked for your views after Saturday's 2-2 draw against St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Andrew K: Killie were so unlucky yesterday not to have won easily. We created so many good chances and the St Johnstone defence led a charmed life, not without some excellent tackling and cover.

Jim: The problem with Killie is we have let 11 good players go in the last two years and not replaced them with the same or even better standard of the 11 that has left, to name some Bobby Wales, Stuart Findlay, Fraser Murray, Danny Armstrong, Lewis Mayo, Corrie Ndaba. None of the present crop of players are anywhere near their standard.

Nick: Problem is overall team quality - not all on the manager. Lost some good players in the summer and replaced them with lesser quality.

Andrew: It's time for Neil McCann to go. The team selection and system is consistently imbalanced. There is no clear style of play, other than the pedestrian side to side passing which every other coach in the league knows how to effectively counter. We are so so soft. The intensity, both on and off the ball, that the team found for the run-in last season, has not returned and I do not envisage that it will.

Ken: The fans' frustration stems from our inability to learn from previous mistakes. We see the same defensive calamities week after week.

Keren: For the amount of time the 10 men of St Johnstone sat deep defending their box they looked comfortable, compared with how easily any opposition can form one simple attack and it results in us conceding. For the manager to spin this into having control of the game while also criticising fans, who stuck by the team throughout, is a horrendous deflection of responsibility.

Ten-man St Johnstone twice came from behind to deny struggling Kilmarnock a precious Scottish Premiership victory.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann: "In terms of the amount of chances we created, we just didn't take them.

"That being said, a man up, 2-1 up, you shouldn't lose two points.

"Sometimes when you're a man up it's difficult because that team are working ever so hard, it's difficult to play against and it requires patience. I felt the uneasiness around the stadium, even when we were 2-1 up, and the players looked like they were being affected by it. We rushed things and when it gets to 2-2, with lots of time left, there's no need to panic. We got into good areas but we just lacked that quality.

"The most galling thing is they've scored two goals with 10 men, that's a sore one.

"We need the support more than ever. The players are working with everything they've got. There's not lack of willingness or effort to win games. We're all hurting that we don't win the games, we haven't lost the game today but it feels like a loss because we dropped two points from a good position.

"Do I feel the pressure? No. I feel it for the boys because they're getting pressure applied."

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock were without Mark O'Hara, Bailey Rice and Johnly Yfeko in midweek.

St Johnstone have Liam Smith available after he missed the game against Motherwell with a groin problem.

Kai Fotheringham completes a two-match ban and Sam Stanton faces another week out with an ankle injury.

Image source, SNS

Defender Robbie Deas is aiming for revenge when St Johnstone come to Rugby Park on Saturday.

Kilmarnock suffered an opening-day 4-3 defeat at McDiarmid Park and have struggled since, going into this weekend's game bottom of the table.

Deas is hopeful for a better result to lift the mood.

The 26-year-old said: "I was unfortunately suspended for that game. So it was a tough, tough one to watch. So, look, we owe them one.

"I think we all hurt after that opening game. It was on the telly.

"The boys are hurting just now and we need to get together and get the job done on Saturday.

"Look at the last home game, we won 3-2 against Motherwell. We need to continue our home record and put three points on the board and thankfully the games come thick and fast to right our wrongs.

"It's a difficult league, difficult challenge, but we've got more than enough in the dressing room to get the job done and get three points and get the result that we want. We just need to believe in ourselves and back our ability to do that."

Deas has had a "frustrating" start to the season through injury and suspension.

He said: "It's been really frustrating, not being able to help the team on the pitch but doing my best off the pitch. It's difficult. It's been a really frustrating start to the season.

"And then to come in (against Dundee) and not get the result I wanted was also disappointing.

"There's loads of games coming up and I believe we've got enough in the dressing room to put a run together and start looking up the table."

• Since Neil McCann's first home league game in charge on 31 January, only Celtic (11), Hearts (11) and Rangers (8) have won more home matches in the Scottish Premiership than Kilmarnock (W7 D2 L4).

• Just one of the past 16 Premiership matches between Kilmarnock (5 wins) and St Johnstone (10 wins) have ended in a draw, a 1-1 stalemate in March 2023.

• Six of St Johnstone's 13 points this season have come from losing positions, only Celtic (7) have more, while Josh Campbell's 90th-minute equaliser against Motherwell last time out was their third via a substitute this season, no side has more.

• St Johnstone have won just three of their past 23 top-flight away league games (D4 L16), conceding 46 goals in that time.

• Kilmarnock are looking to win back-to-back home league games against St Johnstone for the first time since April 2019 (3 in a row) after their 3-1 win in February 2025.

Cal Giliknson
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell believes boss Neil McCann's expansive style is "unsustainable".

McCann saved the club from relegation last term but they have failed to kick on in the new campaign.

Kilmarnock currently sit bottom of the Premiership with only two wins out of their opening 11 league fixtures and 26 goals conceded.

Not only that, they have faced the most shots, shots on target, given away the most big chances and scored the joint fewest goals.

As pressure builds on McCann among the Kilmarnock support, Cammy Bell told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast what he thinks is going wrong for his former club.

"They need to stop conceding goals. You look at the amount of goals that they've conceded already this season and that has been a theme since McCann came in," said Bell.

"He's quite expansive in the style he wants to play. They've conceded 26 goals, that is just unsustainable to win games.

"You will not win games if you concede that many goals. They've only scored 11, so that tells you Kilmarnock why they are bottom. It's not good enough at the moment.

"McCann needs to turn things around quickly because the fans are now starting to question what direction Kilmarnock are going in. He needs to get some points on the board quickly."

We asked for your opinions following the 3-1 defeat at Dens Park that leaves Kilmarnock bottom of the Premiership.

Here are some of you replies:

Kenny: Surely Neil McCann's time is up, there has to be change.

Brett: Seriously embarrassing stuff. As far back as the last transfer window, the fans were saying that we needed a decent centre-back and we're still waiting. Bringing inexperienced youngsters in on loan isn't working.

Wolfgang: Eleven goals conceded in four games and only one of those came against a frequent top-four team. September felt like we were stabilising in defence, October has felt like we're nursing a hangover celebrating last month.

Isobel: The manager has to take the blame for this defeat. We are nose-diving into the Championship.

Frank: I think it's fair to say that the management team have lost the confidence of almost every Killie fan. His substitutions made the team weaker which shows his lack of tactical awareness. Billy Bowie should thank him for keeping us up last season and tell him to go.

Anna: Enough is enough. It's time McCann was sacked after last night's atrocious performance at Dundee. First half wasn't bad but the second was the worst ever in so many ways. We are bottom of the league with only two wins from 11 and 26 goals conceded. With form like that and the threat of relegation, I can't see Bowie doing anything other than firing McCann. Made me laugh last night with him saying the team had so much promise, well they showed none of that last night.

Watch the best of the action as Dundee win 3-1 with a late Ashley Hay double to go fourth in the Premiership and send Kilmarnock bottom. Available to UK users only.