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Kilmarnock 0-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Toothless Killie uncomfortable in company of Wolves



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Published Date: 27 July 2008
By Ewing Grahame
at Rugby Park
Kilmarnock 0

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3
Iwelumo 24, 56; Vokes 32
THERE'S rationalising and then there's this. Kilmarnock midfielder James Fowler, reflecting on this comprehensive defeat, mused: "Sometimes it's good to have to chase the game because it helps you build up your fitness." You knew what the midfielder meant but there was no disguising the fact that this was anything other than a disappointing afternoon for the Ayrshire club.

It may have worked out differently for them, however, if they had been able to field Derry City striker Connor Sammon. "We had permission from their chairman to play him but that was withdrawn after Hamilton had a bid accepted for the player," explained manager Jim Jefferies. "However, he was stripped for action on the bench today because I was hoping to get a phone call in the dug-out telling us he could go on. We've agreed terms with the boy, he wants to come here and his agent has made that clear to Hamilton. I'm just hoping the deal is tied up as soon as possible."

Wolves were effectively fielding their second string and prominent among their ranks was former Celtic left-back Michael Gray, now reinvented as a right midfielder. Gray played a leading role when the visitors moved in front after 24 minutes, Scotland B striker Chris Iwelumo rising to meet his accurate free-kick and glance the ball behind Damien Rascle from 12 yards.

Killie's acute shortage of strikers is a problem manager Jim Jefferies is anxious to address: on several occasions here inviting crosses flashed across the face of the opposition goal just begging for a predator's touch. The lack of a goal threat serves to heap more pressure on midfielders to push forward, sometimes at the expense of their defensive duties.

So it proved here as the visitors broke away to notch a second goal by Sam Vokes.

The gulf widened in the 56th minute when Iwelumo struck again, stealing in front of Frazer Wright to provide a header to Daniel Jones' cross.


The full article contains 351 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Daillyman,

27/07/2008 05:36:46
Killie are starting to look a decent bet for fighting for a place in the 1st division at the end of the season.
2

xtrme,

27/07/2008 09:02:18
No I think they will be challenging for 3rd place, its just that the SPL is at such a low standard compared to the english setup. If you were to compare leagues I think the SPL will be similar to the Unibond league.

My team Hibs or any other team in the Scottish top flight bar the big two would struggle to hold there own in England's 4th division.
3

Talk o' the Toun,

27/07/2008 10:09:00
#2 Lets not let the current standard of HIBS become the barometer of the standard of Scottish football.
There is no doubt(nor should it be a suprise) that our better teams(excl OF)would struggle to compete with top English Championship sides(4th/5th richest league in the world??)
Killie have overperformed for years under JJ.However their player budget will undoubetedly be nearer UNIBOND levels than Championship. Although highly likely that Killie will compete at bottom end think the old fox will do enough as keep them in the top leauge again.
4

Utter Shambles,

27/07/2008 10:36:43
*2 I watched Unibond football last season, and the Scottish Premier hasn't reached that level. I take on board the point you're trying to make; in my opinion outside of the OF the rest of the Scottish Premier is English Championship/League 1 level.

Any league which has been won by only two teams in the last 20+ years is bound to be uncompetitive; and to me the SPL needs to have a long hard look at itself. Maybe the Setanta money will encourage some level of ambition amongst all the clubs, if not there will be no challenge to the OF, and the overall standard will drop further.
5

LaurieD,

27/07/2008 14:15:29
#2 - That's well off the mark, there is no way you can say the 10 SPL teams outwith the Old Firm are at the same level as the Unibond League.

I understand that the Premiership is a massive step up, and so is the top half of the Championship. But I think a few of the SPL sides could hold their own in the Championship and finish mid-table to bottom half, and the rest of the SPL sides would be no lower than League 1 level.

I know Kilmarnock were soundly beaten, but this is against a Championship side and you have to take into account Killie are one of the poorer SPL sides and will most certainly not be challenging for 3rd - at best they will make top 6 but I seriously doubt that.

Motherwell are one of the better SPL sides and they hammered Bradford 4-0 yesterday, and Stuart McCall's side are a reasonable League 2 side.

So Premiership, yes class above the SPL. Championship, also most of the sides a level above the majority of non OF teams. League 1 however is most certainly at something similar to the same level as most of the sides in the Scottish top flight and to say it is the same level as the UNIBOND league is more than a little insulting!

Attendance and finance wise I can certainly see that some of the small, even non-league English sides are better supported and richer than some Scottish sides playing at the "highest" level in our country. But I don't think it changes the quality of the teams on the park though, which may not be great is still pretty decent for a country of 5 million people and is most definetely higher than a league that is - at best - the SIXTH tier in English football.
6

Grass Class,

Ness 27/07/2008 14:35:48
No 5. No chance? What was the last Afc vs Gers score? Over the season, ok, so maybe if the money was better distributed around the teams in the SPL (and lower) - but then that would mean the graspers at the top having more competiton domestically one again, and that must never be allowed.
7

LaurieD,

27/07/2008 14:39:33
incidentally Falkirk (who finished in the bottom 6 last season) also beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0, who are now a Championship side with a fair bit of financial muscle behind them.

I know these are only friendlies but I just think people can think of our league as a lot worse than it actually is. And in fact in the grand scheme of things there is no shame to say the Championship is a far better league than ours. It is one of the best supported leagues in the world and as I say above considering the size of our country I think we have a pretty decent level of top flight football - even if it is dominated by 2 sides!
8

Greens,

27/07/2008 16:13:06
Hope Killie maintain this standard as they are the ONLY hope of Hibs avoiding relegation!

 

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