Kilmarnock

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Kilmarnock have reported a reduced loss of £974,000 for the year to May 2024, with turnover having increased by more than £1m.

The Scottish Premiership club, who made a loss of £1.12m a year earlier, took in £7.66m, compared with £6.41m in 2022-23.

Last season's higher finish of fourth in the table (up six places), boosted coffers by almost £550,000 and secured a European qualifying place at the start of the current season.

In the profit and loss section of their accounts, Killie list a 'cost of sales' figure of around £1.24m, which is a £330,000 change from 2023, while administrative expenses totalled around £8.01m - up from £6.84m.

The Rugby Park club had net current liabilities of £542,000 but "£459,359 was written off the balance due to Billy Bowie Special Projects Limited".

Cash in the bank was listed as £121,000.

Derek McInnes' Killie are 10th in the Premiership, six points off the top six with four games until the division's split.

The club are planning to replace their artificial surface at Rugby Park before the start of season 2026-27, which "will see a significant push to assist with the fundraising required".

"Club majority shareholder, Billy Bowie, will finance and manage the development of the new training facility, Bowie Park," said secretary Graeme Bryson.

"With the support of 5,000 season-ticket holders, we believe the club is in the strongest possible position to sustain life in the Premiership."

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

We are getting to the time of the season where the nerves kick in, the tempers get frayed and the lager intake sees a sharp increase.

Killie's three defeats in a week was very damaging and it simply puts a bit more pressure on our upcoming fixtures.

First up is a visit from Hibs who are on a great run even if they did get knocked out the cup at Parkhead last Sunday.

A fixture against the Hibees brings memories of Kris Boyd saving our skins our skins on the last day of the season, Paul Wright scoring world-class goals and endless entertainment on the bridge of doom.

Mostly though our last-day survival under Tommy Burns with over 6,000 fans in the capital is one of my favourite Killie memories.

That side displayed an incredible desire to succeed and that is the one quality we need more than any other in our remaining fixtures.

Hopefully we may have a few faces back from injury to strengthen the squad this weekend. Three points may just be the timely boost we need for a difficult run-in.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

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Kilmarnock teenager Bobby Wales is an "elite striker" who should be fast-tracked into the Scotland squad along with Hearts forward James Wilson.

That's the view of Scottish coach and football analyst John Walker, who would rather see Wales, 19, and 18-year-old Wilson named in Steve Clarke's squad on Tuesday for the looming Nations League play-off with Greece than Ipswich Town's George Hirst, who has been linked with a call-up.

"Anyone that's seen Wales play football up close knows he has absolutely everything, he is an elite striker and should be playing at the level that Hirst is playing at," said Walker on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The more you see of Wales the more I'm impressed, he's got everything, absolutely everything.

"He's an aggressive presser, he's got pace, he's brilliant at bringing people into play, he's got a great finish, he's really composed in front of goal.

"Him and Wilson, the sooner you get them into the squad, the sooner those two progress their careers, because the reality for Scottish football needs to be that we are feeder clubs for bigger stepping stones.

"Wilson and Wales are people that will feature in the national side going forward, I think you just get them in now.

"You're just kicking the can down to get Hirst in at 26, 27, for him to potentially be around for four years.

"At some point you need to stop, but this is the problem. Steve Clarke's got the carrot in front of him of you need to get to a World Cup, so maybe he's looking at it only in this cycle alone and [thinks] Hirst gives me the best chance to do that just now."

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

On 8 March 2024, Derek McInnes' Kilmarnock were fifth in the Scottish Premiership with 41 points from 29 matches. They would go on to finish fourth and secure European football in what was a wonderful season for the Rugby Park outfit.

Fast forward a year and they are 10th, with just 31 points from 29 matches.

Given the tightly-contested nature of the league this term, they could yet finish in the top six again, but it will be an uphill battle with just four matches left until the split.

The challenge of competing in an extra competition at the start of the season undoubtedly took a toll, but what else is behind Killie's drop-off?

Let's start at the back. Their success last season was built on a solid defence, one that shipped 44 goals in total. They have already surpassed that tally this time around, conceding 47.

That unhappy knack of conceding goals means they have dropped 11 points from winning positions.

Another alarming statistic is those 47 goals come from an expected goals against value of 42.1. Indeed, goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara has the worst save rato in the league with 52.4%.

At the other end, Killie have scored only one goal fewer than this time last season, when they had 34, but the underlying data shows yet more underperformance.

Killie have the fifth-highest expected goals (xG) tally in the league with 38.9, but the third-lowest goal haul, with only Ross County and St Johnstone netting fewer.

In total, McInnes' side have missed 37 big chances, with Marley Watkins alone squandering 13. Only Bruce Anderson is delivering in front of goal. The former Aberdeen and Livingston striker has scored eight times from an xG value of 7.9, converting 26.7% of his shots into goals.

McInnes has also been unable to find a consistent starting team, making 74 changes to his XI in total.

Underperforming in both defence and attack while having an unsettled side is hardly conducive to positive results, and goes some way to explaining Killie's slump from the highs of the previous campaign.

Stats taken from Opta and FotMob.

We asked you to tell us the one thing nobody is talking about at Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Jim: Nobody is talking about the decisions the manager is making every week. He very rarely plays the same team twice in a row. Why does he play a forward who has only scored four goals and contributed one assist all season?

Anna: Nobody seems to be mentioning relegation because that is what will happen if we don't get our backsides into gear and start winning again. Steve Clarke would be so disappointed with how badly wrong things have gone for Killie. If Derek McInnes thinks a top-six place is up for grabs...

Robert: Poor game management, is it lack of skill or mental weakness? Is this the reason McInnes keeps changing the line-up and refuses to play talented players off the bench? Gary Mackay-Steven, Calvin Ramsay etc.

Andrew: We seem to have lost our identity from last year. We played a back four, two wingers crossing into the two strikers who played off each other. This year we have chopped and changed formation depending on the team and played players out of position. It makes consistency difficult to come by and players struggle to remember the new instructions each week.

Amy: Nobody is talking about our injury record. It was trotted out about Motherwell yet they managed to sign a whole new squad. We've been unable to have a settled keeper, the best centre-back outside Glasgow in Stuart Findlay out for ages, Kyle Vassell injured, Matty Kennedy, who is our most creative player, out for months and nursing a problem. All important players.

Boyd: I think we are really horrible right now. We start so well against teams then completely chuck it and it costs us. I'm not confident we will stay up and I would only keep three players who are out of contract at the end of the season.

Derek McInnes' Kilmarnock have suffered three defeats in a row and are now tenth in the Scottish Premiership table.

The Rugby Park side are only three points ahead of Dundee in 11th and six above St Johnstone at the bottom.

What is the one thing regarding Kilmarnock - good or bad - nobody is talking about?

Let us know., external

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

It was a long day for the 300 Killie fans who travelled to Dingwall on Saturday and it rounded off a very bad week for us.

Our repeated bad habit of poor in-game management reared its ugly head again last midweek when we capitulated against Rangers.

Both management and players have to shoulder the blame and it could prove very costly as we plummet down the table.

A win at Dingwall would have been massive, however no points in three games against County is relegation form whatever way you dress it up.

We have the worst away record in the league this season and the manager's record of eight wins in 53 games on the road over the past three seasons is horrendous.

Many of the fans I spoke to in Dingwall were less than complimentary about the manager. It's time for him to take some responsibility, recognise things aren't working and make the changes that will help us retain our league status.

We have a free weekend upcoming so that may give us a chance to get some injured players back.

Kyle Magennis has had a terrible time with injuries and we hope he is back sooner rather than later following his latest setback on Saturday.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

BBC Scotland Sportscene pundit Michael Stewart says the number of chances Kilmarnock missed in their defeat by Ross County is indicative of their season.

UK only

Watch highlights from Ross County's 1-0 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

Available to UK users only.

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 1-0 defeat against Ross County.

Here's what some of you said:

Scott: A depressingly predictable outcome and another away day that was a waste of time and money. I've generally been a supporter of Derek McInnes but our away record since he took over is a disgrace. Our travelling supporters deserve better. Right now I'd be delighted to finish 10th but hate saying that after last season.

James: Very disappointing but we have to be more clinical in front of goal. Their goalkeeper was man of the match so we just need a little bit of luck. A fluke goal has cost us and you can't legislate for that. Just when we're getting our injured players back, Kyle Magennis suffers another injury. Hopefully not too serious.

Robert: Dreadful week, I would be more concerned about the top 10 than top six. The annoying thing is these players are capable of being much better like the way they started on Wednesday.

Alastair: I don't blame McInnes for that display, rather the players who just were not there. Too often we look bright at the start and rapidly go down in a downward trend. People may say change manager but I would rather change players. We knew this season we would be in the bottom half but to perform like that only confirms it.

John: I'm a season ticket holder at Rugby Park and I am hoping that they can stay in the top division. Two away wins all season is just not good enough.

Jim: Reality is here, we are fighting for survival in the top division. According to McInnes, players bought in the transfer window are not for sitting on the bench but that's exactly what's happening. Our existing forwards could play all season and never score apart from Bobby Wales. Wake up Derek. Play 5-4-1 to survive.

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Derek McInnes refused to speculate on the severity of Kyle Magennis' latest injury after the Kilmarnock midfielder lasted just 12 minutes against Ross County.

The midfielder was brought on as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 defeat but had to be replaced after falling to the ground while trying to tackle Noah Chilvers.

"I would hate to speculate too much until we get that looked at properly, but he has damaged his knee," manager McInnes said.

"I thought he was outstanding against Rangers midweek, but with his history we thought his best impact would be from the bench."

Since the 2020-21 campaign, when Magennis was at Hibs, he has not managed more than 13 league games in a season due to injury.

"Unfortunately, he just looks as if he has twisted his knee and those are always the ones you worry about. Hopefully he's lucky because he hasn't had much luck in injuries," McInnes added.

Kilmarnock changed three for the trip to Dingwall after a gruelling week, with Danny Armstrong, Bobby Wales and Magennis all dropped to the bench.

"A few boys were really leggy on Friday so we took that into consideration for the starting team, but we finished really strongly," McInnes added.

"We should have won the game. It has been a tough week. We were close against Aberdeen, against Rangers and again today.

"We just have to pull ourselves together and hopefully on having a game next week will let us get a couple of players back."

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• Kilmarnock have failed to score in 11 of their 29 games, no team has failed to do so more often in the Premiership this season.

• Kilmarnock have lost their last 3 games in the Premiership, their last joint longest losing streak was from 3 November 2024 to 23 November 2024.

Kilmarnock fell to their third defeat in a week as Ross County bounced back from a midweek loss to record a crucial win that puts them within two points of the Scottish Premiership top six.

Country are up to eighth while Kilmarnock remain 10th and, while they are only six points off the top half, manager Derek McInnes admitted that, if his side had any top six aspirations, this was a game they needed to win.

Looking below them, they remain three points above 11th-placed Dundee and six points above bottom-dwellers St Johnstone.

What did you make of that, Kilmarnock fans? Where was the game lost?

And what does this do to your season? Still think top six is possible?

Let us know your thoughts., external

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Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes told BBC Scotland: "We were decent at times on a terrible surface. I felt for all the players out there.

"We had to just play for territory and make sure we didn't make mistakes. We spoke about the game, about the pitch and conditions where mistakes could win it. One of the only times they were in our box in the first half, we've not dealt with the situation.

"We've got to do it the hard way, try and come from behind. The effort of the players was magnificent. We kept going, tried to make necessary changes, tried to add a bit of freshness. The second half we were good. We were the dominant team. You don't see a lot of teams doing that up here. We gave it a go, unfortunate not to get anything from the game.

"It's been a tough week. We were close to Aberdeen, close today, close against Rangers. But it's the stage of the season where you'd rather win a game and not deserve to win.

"It's a major disappointment but I've been in dressing rooms a long time, I can see the commitment and motivation of the players to do better. We'll get better as we go along, we'll get one or two back."

"I see signs that we'll be alright."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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"Anything other than a win makes it extremely difficult," said Derek McInnes said of his side's top six chances but his players didn't respond to the pressure added to them.

Although they had seven shots in the first 20 minutes, only two of them were on target and most of the chances they created were quite sloppy.

Even in the second half, two of Jordan Amissah's saves were really from crosses - from Brad Lyons and Fraser Murray - while Bruce Anderson missed a gilt-edged chance from in front of the goal.

Defensively, the goal - and the disallowed goal - was another poor one to concede. It's not the first time we've said that this season, which comes as a surprise given the reputation that Kilmarnock have built under McInnes.

Now, there seems to be a softer underbelly that plenty of Premiership opponents have taken advantage of.

To rub salt in the wound, Kyle Magennis didn't last long after coming on.

Trying to jockey Noah Chilvers, the Killie midfielder seemed to twist his knee in the turf and was immediately replaced. Not what anyone wants to see for a player who has suffered so many injury problems.

Kilmarnock have agreed a pre-contract deal for Queen's Park midfielder Jack Thomson, with the 25-year-old currently recovering from an Achilles injury. (Daily Record), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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Ross County will again be without Michee Efete (knee), Ryan Leak (Achilles), Alex Samuel (thigh) and Will Nightingale (knee).

Kilmarnock are still without captain Kyle Vassell and defender Stuart Findlay (both ankle).

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Derek McInnes has urged Kilmarnock to keep their fading top-six hopes alive by securing a first away win in four months when they visit Ross County on Saturday.

Tenth-place Killie are now five points adrift of Hearts in sixth after squandering a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at home to Rangers in midweek.

With five games left before the split, the Rugby Park side aren't clear of relegation worries but McInnes' focus is on securing a top-half finish for a second consecutive season.

McInnes, whose side last won on the road in late October at Hearts, said: "We dust ourselves down for Ross County, where it's important we try and get something.

"But I still believe… I want my team to be ambitious and be motivated to think that if we can find some good form and replicate a lot of what we did in the first half on Wednesday, that there will be wins there for us.

"We won't always come up against teams of Rangers' quality in the next few weeks. Hopefully we can get the wins that we need to hang on to that top-six aspiration."

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• There have been three instances of a side losing a Scottish Premiership game in 2024-25 in which they led by 2+ goals – all three have involved Kilmarnock, beating Dundee 3-2 in October, losing 3-2 to Dundee in November, and losing 4-2 to Rangers last time out.

• Ross County have won their first two Scottish Premiership games against Kilmarnock this term; only in 2014-15 and 2015-16 have the Staggies ever beaten Killie three times in a single season in the competition.

• Kilmarnock are winless in their past eight Scottish Premiership games away to Ross County (D3 L5) since a 2-1 victory in March 2017.

• After their 3-1 win over Dundee, Ross County are looking to win back-to-back home games for the first time in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Kilmarnock have lost their past three away league games, last losing more in a row in April 2023 (six).

Kilmarnock duo Stuart Findlay and Kyle Vassell are back in training following injury. (Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Sportscene pundit Michael Stewart on how Kilmarnock's fast start left Rangers "drowning" before the visitors hit back from two down for a 4-2 win at Rugby Park. (Available to UK users only)