ALL of a sudden, the plaudits sound pyrrhic.
The reservoir of goodwill Kilmarnock have amassed for the aesthetically pleasing nature of their football was washed away on a soggy afternoon in Ayrshire yesterday, a third defeat in the space of a week causing the grouchy denizens of Rugby Park to rasp their throats at full-time.
Perhaps they have a point. Just as looking at the league table becomes a worthwhile pastime, the Rugby Park side have slipped to within just two points of bottom-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle after a run of just one win in seven matches.
They remain seventh in the SPL, but this loss to a quietly impressive St Johnstone caused many to question Kenny Shiels’ football philosophy. Not that the manager is concerned.
“That’s frustration; they were in an emotional state of imbalance, as I am as well after a game,” he said. “You say things you later may regret, but we maintain our philosophy and stay faithful to it. If that means not progressing up the table, that’s what it means.”
Such defiance is admirable, but the truculence of the fans is understandable. Many of the delightfully embroidered passages Kilmarnock produce all too often culminate in a scuffed shot or slack pass. Knowing what they are capable of only heightens the frustration. The signing of Paul Heffernan has gone some way to addressing the issue, but the Irishman was more provider than poacher yesterday. Instead, chances fell to others.
Dean Shiels twice tested Peter Enckelman and Rory McKeown juddered the bar with an arrowed strike from 25 yards. Zdenek Kroca, too, found himself in positions of prominence, having one close-range prod cleared off the line then spurning a glorious opening after a Heffernan dribble.
Yet, for all their fine football, Kilmarnock’s first goal in three games owed more to fortune than flair. Granted, Enckelman had been forced to shovel a Heffernan drive wide after another splendid incision into the visitors’ area but, from the resultant corner, Shiels’ delivery eluded Mohamadou Sissoko and struck Steven Anderson, looping over Craig and into the net to cancel out Fran Sandaza’s earlier opener.
Ultimately, that equaliser was to prove little more than a consol-ation, though, as Kilmarnock’s defensive frailties proving as exasperating as their profligacy in attack. Shiels responded to the loss of seven goals in three matches – and perhaps the threat of St Johnstone duo Sandaza and Cillian Sheridan – by withdrawing Manuel Pascali from his midfield berth into a libero role, but it failed to have the desired effect.
Sissoko, in particular, struggled to cope with the movement of the visiting forwards, at one point almost ushering Sheridan past him to lash in a strike that Cammy Bell did well to block, with Pascali doing likewise from Craig’s follow-up. With Sandaza also threatening, though, it was no great surprise that the opening goal for the visitors came after 22 minutes, David Robertson jabbing a clever pass beyond Pascali for the Spaniard to slide past Bell.
Kilmarnock’s leveller, however, put the hosts in the ascendancy and probing for a winner – James Fowler scudded over, Heffernan claimed a penalty when he was nudged by Robertson and Enckelman had to stretch after the Irishman lashed an effort off Anderson – but the feeling they were susceptible to another goal bore fruit in the 73rd minute.
Sissoko again was culpable, failing to control the ball and allowing Sandaza to release Sheridan, who rounded Bell and slid a calm finish into the net. “There was a temptation to bring Cillian out a few weeks ago, but I felt we had a partnership worth persevering with,” said Derek McInnes, whose side have only lost once in six away games. “The more we talk about them, though, the more people come looking.”
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