GREG Kiltie reckons Lee McCulloch proved during the goalless William Hill Scottish Cup draw with Rangers at Ibrox that he is up to the job as Kilmarnock manager. So far, the 37-year-old assistant manager has been reluctant to put his name forward, while the likes of Billy Davies, Ally McCoist and Lee Clark have all been linked with the post, but whatever happens in the next few days, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder reckons McCulloch has demonstrated his promise in the dugout. The interim boss, who stepped up from assistant manager when Gary Locke resigned in the wake of last week's 1-0 defeat to Hamilton Academical, became the first opposing manager to shut out Rangers this season. The two sides now have to do it all over again at Rugby Park on February 16.
“Lee has been good as a gaffer," said Kiltie. "He doesn’t know how long he will be in charge but he has come in and tried to keep the spirits up. He had us well organised out there. He just told us to go out and be organised and stick to our jobs - but also to play with freedom. He told us not to be scared to have a go.
“He definitely can do the job," Kiltie added. "It’s not my position to say - it’s up to the board - but he has done well this week and it showed today. The board will want it done as quickly as possible to kick start the season.Hopefully it will be done soon and we can start climbing the table."
The Kilmarnock fans took a deserved bow after the match and Kiltie hopes the momentum they gained in Govan can be carried over to their next league match, against Motherwell on Saturday. The Rugby Park side currently sit in the play-off spot, with Dundee United showing signs of life beneath them. But the quality they possess has already been shown in two draws against Celtic this season.
“The fans have had to put up with a lot this season so it was nice to give them something to cheer about," said Kiltie. "Hopefully we can give them more when we get back to Rugby Park and it can also give us a boost in the league. If you can’t take confidence from this result there’s something wrong."
Kallum Higginbotham will serve an automatic one-match ban after being sent off late on for a dangerous tackle on James Tavernier, but the Killie players felt hard done to. "It looked like he took the ball but it’s hard to tell and the ref has made his decision," said Kiltie. "Kallum was disappointed. He didn’t feel it was a sending off.”
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