Neil McCann on securing safety, chasing ninth place & a message to the supporters
The manager spoke to the media on Friday morning ahead of Kilmarnock's last game of the season against Livingston
Neil McCann is targeting a strong finish to the campaign as Kilmarnock prepare to round off their season against Livingston in West Lothian on Sunday.
Killie secured their top-flight status with a midweek victory over Dundee and now know a win tomorrow, coupled with other results going their way, could see them finish ninth in the Scottish Premiership.
The manager discussed the prospect of four consecutive victories, celebrations after securing safety, preparations already underway for next season, Aaron Tshibola’s future and his exchange with Marley Watkins.
Here is every word McCann had to say away from the cameras…
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Q. Kilmarnock are chasing four wins in a row and could still finish ninth if they beat Livingston and Dundee lose to Aberdeen at Dens Park. How important would it be to end the season on that kind of high?
“The four wins in a row would be nice because that’s what I charged the group with trying to get after we didn’t beat Aberdeen. Ninth place is absolutely a target, 100 per cent, and it would be great to do that.
“The only way we’re going to get that done is by beating Livingston.
“I’ve already watched the last couple of games. I really like Scott {Arfield}, he’s a great guy. In my last year at Falkirk he was one of the lads coming through when he was a kid. I’ve got loads of respect for the career he’s had.
“Whether he wants to go into management full-time remains to be seen, but I know he’ll have the boys at Livingston well drilled, so we give them full respect and look forward to that.
“If we can achieve ninth place, that’s the target, but again, we need favours elsewhere. We can only take care of ourselves, and that’s winning our game.”
Q. How many beers did you have on Tuesday night?
“I had one, and then I had maybe another one, and then another one...
“No, I had a couple of beers because it has been a lot of work and they tasted quite nice. I shared a couple with the guys and then we met as a staff the next day and, as I said, had a wee review and enjoyed a wee beer that day as well.
“Look, I think we’re entitled to celebrate the achievement. A lot of people made remarks and I’ve heard, through third parties because I don’t use social media, that we were over-celebrating.
“No, if you want to look at it like that, then fine - it’s quite negative. I think where this club was, and the perception of where it might end up, was very different to the jobs that the guys have done and the way they’ve done it as well.
“That should be celebrated. We’re not celebrating just scraping by, and we won’t be looking to achieve that next year, let me tell you. But this year they’re entitled to enjoy that.
“What I said the other day is these boys are actually humans. They’re playing under an enormous amount of pressure.
“Then they’ve got a maniac that comes in and tells them to start taking more risks, so you can understand that it’s not been easy for them.
“Particularly when we’ve suffered some heavier defeats after going down to 10 men, and the Falkirk result was really poor, they’ve had to go again and bounce back.
“They were more than entitled to take their families onto the pitch and celebrate that.”
Q. Where does keeping Kilmarnock in the Premiership rank in your managerial career?
“Personally, I feel it’s a brilliant achievement, but Doddsy {Billy Dodds} is massively important to that achievement. We’ve come in here and taken on a job that maybe people wouldn’t have fancied, and we both did.
“When I went into Dundee, it was a very similar situation. When I went into Inverness, it was a difficult situation. And the same when I went into Rangers - it’s all pretty relative in terms of success.
“The one thing you’ve got to do is make sure you’re strong in what you want to do and, as ever, it’s the players if they come with you.
“It’s a nice achievement, but it’s nothing to get too carried away about. As I said, it’s something to be enjoyed, but next year’s a big year for the club.”
Q. Has work already started behind the scenes on plans for the summer?
“Well upstairs I think they’ve got more things on their mind to take care of just now.
“I’ve sort of been looking ahead to see what’s possible, but we’ve not had a real deep dive into what’s really going on. I’ve just sort of started looking ahead.”
Q. Aaron Tshibola has made a huge impact since returning to the club. Is he someone you would like to keep next season?
“Yeah, brilliant. Absolutely fantastic.
“He’s really got an affinity with the club and I think the fans showed him how much they love him.
“He came here and it took him a wee bit of time. We had a conversation and gave him an opportunity to come back here.
“It took him a couple of weeks to get up to speed and then maybe one or two more to really get to the point where he showed how good he can be, and he really played a big part in what we did here.
“He’s definitely one that I would love to see stay at the club and I think he’s indicated his affinity with the club, so hopefully we can get there.
“But we’ve got a game to deal with on Sunday and all those things will take place after that.”
Q. Are you and Marley Watkins best pals again after Tuesday night?
“I haven’t seen him, actually, but I’ll blow him a kiss if I see him again when he’s coming out!
“No, look, listen, Marley might have been a bit emotional. I think the emotional charge at this football club the other night was for everyone to see.
“And sometimes emotions boil over. I’m the last one that’s going to throw any stones at anybody from my big glass house.
“I’m quite an emotional man as well and there’s nothing there that wasn’t all forgotten about in the dressing room.”
Q. You’ve spoken about how proud you are of the team but you must be proud of yourself with the way you’ve dealt with this challenge?
“Honestly, I’ve got a pride in the job that Billy and I have done since we came in because we came in with a remit and we’ve managed to meet that.
“But honestly, it genuinely isn’t about me. It would be so unfair to the rest of the staff. The staff have been brilliant - they’ve been so supportive in what I’ve asked them to do since I came in.
“It’s been such a collective effort by the staff, but it’s always the team. It’s always the players.”
Q. What’s your message to the supporters ahead of the final game of the season?
“Well, first of all, thank you for your support. I think it’s been absolutely magnificent.
“Slowly but surely, we’ve been getting more and more through the door here at Rugby Park.
“The away fans who are going to come and support us on Sunday - hopefully I’m listening to you on some podcast a couple of days later and enjoying yourself at a train station as I did after St Mirren. That’s the beauty of football.
“Football’s hard. Football management and coaching’s hard. The best days are when you’re able to celebrate the wins and it’s been a long time coming for this team and this support.
“But I think they’re going into the summer with a wee bit of optimism.”