January 31, 2025

Club-by-club midseason review by fans Part 2: Kilmarnock to St Mirren

The second half of the fan perspective on their respective clubs! You can find Part 1 here … Kilmarnock (by Kyle Brown) How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? At the time of writing we are sitting 11th, but also only six points off 5th. It’s disappointing we are as low as we are, but I don’t think the table is necessarily reflective of how we have played in some games. We have had a habit of turning wins into draws and draws into hard luck defeats. I was tempted to actually score the season higher due to the fact that we got three European ties and handled ourselves well in those games. But sadly we are toiling in the league and we suffered early defeat in both domestic cups. 5/10 Star players/ flops We haven’t really had any out and out star players. Some players like Brad Lyons and Lewis Mayo have been consistently pretty good. Bobby Wales has come into the team and done well. Delighted for him. The flops are for sure both of the goalkeepers. Neither O’Hara or McCrorie have really staked a claim for the number one or even had a consistent run of games in the team. I was hoping McCrorie had turned a corner only for him to sadly fracture a bone in his face at Parkhead. Biggest surprise of the season so far? I am surprised by just how poor defensively some of the goals we have leaked in are. We were solid defensively last year and Derek McInnes is known for having solid foundations so it is both a shock and source of extreme frustration. You do have to perhaps look at the goalkeeper position but I also think some of our defenders really haven’t hit the heights of last season. Best/ worst away fans? Tough one and no doubt you are going to get pelters whoever you choose. I felt Dundee have brought a decent support to Rugby Park the last few years; shoutout to all the Aberdeen fans who made a horrific journey to us on Boxing Day only to watch their team get pumped 4-0. L’s in the chat that day for both Aberdeen and whoever makes the fixtures as that’s a nightmare for an away fan. Worst –  I was shocked at how little fans, home and away, Copenhagen brought to the games. They just didn’t seem to care about playing Kilmarnock in the Conference League less than a year after beating Man Utd and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. I wonder why! How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? Jack Burroughs and Oli Bainbridge were both recalled by Coventry and Sunderland, respectively. They weren’t really playing much so it is no great loss. Bainbridge did play in the win away to Tromso though! Our only new signing has been Calvin Ramsay on loan from Liverpool. He was hooked at half time at Tynecastle sadly on his debut. I am hoping he gives us something new and it is a great move for both us and the Scotland-capped youngster. One player you would take from another Premiership side? Kuhn from Celtic. Any Celtic player really to be honest. Anyone that can finish. From a non Old Firm perspective, I have always liked the creativity of Yan Dhanda. I get he is a flair player and probably will flatter to deceive in some games, but I have felt we could have used a player like him over the last three seasons. Motherwell ( by Callum Hart, Journalist for SPFL News Now) How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? I think the season has been fairly underwhelming. Although the league table looks good on paper, watching the games is no where near as enjoyable as you would want to see from a team sitting 5th in the league. The standard and tactical choices mean we haven’t been as successful as I believe we could’ve been. I’m glad Kettlewell has stepped down (I’m not happy with the reasons behind it) I feel that with the right choice of manager, the team can finish the season strongly. 5/10 Star players/ flops Lennon Miller has been a standout, massively impressive from a player of his age. Stephen O’Donnell and Tony Watt have failed to impress me this season. Biggest surprise of the season so far? Kettlewell stepping down has to be the biggest shock, I thought there was no way he would be sacked or ever step down. As I mentioned I’m not happy with the reasoning behind him leaving. However, I feel it will be better for the club. Best/ worst away fans? Best – Celtic. Just generally the loudest, don’t stop making noise. Worst – Ross County (although to be fair the long trip makes up for the poor support) How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? I think the club have made signings in positions that needed improvement. I’m reserved with my opinion if the players as I haven’t seen anything from a few of them as they have came from down south. I’d like us to sign a number 10 as I feel we could use more creativity in the midfield. One player you would take from another Premiership side? I would have Hamza Igamane, I think he is the leagues best striker. We need someone that can come in and score goals and I think he does that very well. Rangers (by Daniel) How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? The season has not been good enough especially away form and against teams that we should be beating but the most annoying part is we beat the teams like Celtic but can’t beat