The sight of Lee Clark thundering into the Birmingham City fans in jubilation after a last-gasp escape from relegation, his face contorted with a combination of adrenaline, relief and possibly the fear of getting smothered by a mob of bawling Brummies, will not be forgotten for a while. “My agent said if I’d run that fast when I played he’d have had Real Madrid and Barcelona on the phone,” laughed the Kilmarnock manager as he reflected on that frenzied day at Bolton two years ago when Paul Caddis’ 96th minute equaliser ensured Birmingham remained in the English Championship by the skin of their grinding teeth and had Clark charging down the touchline in triumphant abandon.
It was an act of escapology that would have had Houdini saying ‘sod this, I’m signing on at the job centre’ and Clark is hoping his Kilmarnock players can pull off something similar over the next fraught fortnight.
A rousing victory over Hamilton last week has given the Ayrshire club renewed vigour in their bid to haul themselves out of the Scottish Premiership’s relegation play-off place. With three games to go, starting with a crucial encounter with stuttering Partick Thistle at Rugby Park today, Clark is hoping that never-say-die attitude he experienced with Birmingham gets mirrored in Kilmarnock
“With Birmingham it was an experience in never giving up until the last minute,” he said. “I actually felt relaxed before the game and even when we went 2-0 down with 14 minutes to play at Bolton, I stood in the technical area and still felt we could get back into the game. I knew it would happen.
“Obviously we needed help with Leicester playing Doncaster and we got that, but we stuck to our job.
“If we hadn’t have got the result at Bolton, it would have been even more horrendous as Doncaster lost their game. That’s what I’m stressing to my players.
“It’s no good thinking of other clubs because, ultimately, we have to look after ourselves to have a chance.
“All I can do is make sure the players have been given the right training, the right information on the opposition and the right game plan.
“I’ve experienced both sides of relegation. I stayed up with Birmingham but at Blackpool, that was a ship which was already gone.
“You still never want that experience again and that puts a fire in your belly.”
While Clark’s immediate remit upon taking on the Kilmarnock role was to preserve the club’s top flight status the 43-year-old has loftier ambitions going forward.
“Staying up would be a tremendous achievement, but it’s not what I want to leave as my legacy as manager,” he added.
“I don’t want everyone to think this is the be-all-and-end-all. It’s just the start of the process. The reason I accepted this job was the possibility of getting this club into the top-six. Clubs like St Johnstone, Ross County and Motherwell are benchmarks of what can be achieved.”
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