HE had one club president sentenced to six years in the clink for moneylaundering. His last game as a manager was abandoned after 48 minutes after supporters invaded the pitch with some trying to get into the directors’ box to have a go at the owner.
Lee Clark joked on agreeing his three and a half-year contract as manager of Kilmarnock that he likes to think he still looks young, but recent events in his career would have put years on anyone.
The 43-year-old has had his successes in the dug-out, of course. In his first job at Huddersfield Town, he reached the end-of-season play-offs twice and led the club to a record-breaking run of 43 league games unbeaten before being sacked, most surprisingly, in February 2012.
Since then, however, happiness has been hard to find. At Birmingham City, he had to deal with cobbling a team together with loan signings and one of the lowest budgets in the Championship after the club president, Carson Yeung, had been arrested and charged in Hong Kong.
Yeung’s trial would take place during Clark’s time as manager and, eventually, see him step down from all club-related positions following his conviction.
Clark did avoid relegation on the final day of the 2013-14 season thanks to an injury-time goal from the former Celtic full-back Paul Caddis in a 2-2 draw with Bolton, but he was sacked in October and jumped from the frying pan into the fire when taking up an offer from Blackpool.
What unfolded there last term needs little introduction. Clark lasted just 192 days, his tenure played out against the backdrop of supporters at war with chairman Karl Oyston. Things got so bad that his goalkeeper, Joe Lewis, had to play one game wearing a shirt he had already signed for a sponsor because the kitman had left the club and no-one could find a replacement.
Clark left in the wake of that on-field protest in the final game of the season against Huddersfield, of all teams. He admitted the atmosphere around the club had become “toxic”. Things are not exactly great at Kilmarnock right now as they endeavour to pull themselves away from the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership, but the challenges ahead must seem like small fry to a fellow who has been through the mill.
“My three jobs have been completely different for various reasons, but I know what it takes to keep teams in a division,” he said. “I’ve experienced the other side of it, of course, even though, when I went to Blackpool, they were well adrift.
“My ego was probably too big and I thought I could keep them up.
“Of course, that hardened me. There was turmoil off the pitch which affected what was happening on it.
“The club started that season with five players signed on the morning of the first Championship game. A lot of the things are needed to be successful in that league, which is a ridiculous league for intensity, but that period has given me the experience to understand all the challenges that can exist, be they on the field or off the field.
“I had different scenarios at Birmingham City. When I took over there, the owner had been put under house arrest and stuff like that. That involved a lot of cost-cutting inside the club, which is still a huge club with huge expectations.
“I’ve experienced a lot in the game for someone who, I hope, still looks young. That can only benefit me going forward.”
Clark has admitted in the past that he jumped into the Blackpool job too quickly after being released by Birmingham City. This time, he has been more careful in choosing his next challenge.
“This is the longest I’ve been out since the days when I left school,” he said. “It was a time for reflection, a good time for me to look back at things.
“It’s been tough. There were earlier opportunities that I didn’t think were right, but I’ve signed a long-term contract and I’ve got plans. I’m excited by the challenge and the group of young players here. I want to make them better. If that means fighting off bids for them, then that’s what I want.”
Clark will take a backseat for tonight’s William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round replay at home to Rangers, allowing Lee McCulloch and Peter Leven, who will serve as his backroom team on his behest, to set up the team.
A victory would be welcome, of course, but survival in the Premiership is Clark’s immediate project. He does harbour ambitions, though, of taking Kilmarnock back into Europe during his reign.
“There is no reason why that can’t happen,” he said. “Some things have to change, though.
“There’s the recent history with the high turnover of managers and managers not lasting, but the club has also been in and around the bottom half for too long.
The short-term aim is to keep the club at the top level then, in the summer, reassess things like the recruitment process, how we go about getting players to take the team into the top half and challenge for Europe.”
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