RARELY does a conversation with Kenny Shiels pass without mention of his football philosophy.
Yet on Saturday, with the blustery conditions so fierce as to send a small tarpaulin scurrying halfway across the pitch during the second half of this soporific encounter, there were the first signs of those principles bending in the wind.
The interruption of such pragmatism pained the Kilmarnock manager, who described himself afterwards as feeling "hollow inside" and suggesting it would be hypocritical for him to welcome this perfunctory 2-0 victory over Aberdeen given the way his players had performed, but the tactical revisionism that caused the Rugby Park side to adopt a 4-4-2 shape was instructive. The adjustment might have been more through circumstance than choice – the absence of the increasingly influential Liam Kelly and Danny Buijs necessitating a midfield recast – but afterwards Shiels did reluctantly reference a need to counteract the worsening conditions over the coming weeks.
Fortunately amid a squad of clever prompters he has a player who can act as a pivot, an out-ball for his team-mates to hit when the conditions make their intricate play impractical. It might not be why Gary Harkins was recruited from Dundee, the midfielder being instead renowned for his deliberate midfield swagger, but on Saturday the 26-year-old was highly effective, first in a front two with Paul Heffernan, then as a lone forward.
While his assist for the second goal was a typically clever intervention, his own efforts in scoring the first – harrying centre-back Andrew Considine into a mistake then showing a hitherto hidden turn of pace to reach a short back pass – spoke of a player who is perhaps finally marrying his undoubted talent to the fitness required to make the most of it.
"He knows he carries a little bit of timber but he's been working hard and that's showing on the pitch," said James Dayton, the Kilmarnock winger. "Gary has got everything you need; he's big, strong, great with the ball at his feet, good in the air and he brings a lot to us. He's got a great footballing brain and great ability and he just fits right into this side. We can use him as a different outlet and sometimes hit it up to him if we need to as a plan B."
Aberdeen, on the other hand, appear to be without even a plan A. Craig Brown's side recovered from a two-goal deficit in the meeting of these sides in September but looked utterly incapable of responding to the loss of the fifth-minute opener this time; the only surprise was the outcome was not more overwhelming. Two thumping home wins in the middle of a desolate 12-game run have masked the problems at Pittodrie but they remain bereft of width or creativity, even if Brown and assistant Archie Knox have assembled a squad full of sturdy performers.
Perhaps of more concern is the belief among the players and staff that misfortune is the reason for their current position at the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. Granted, Aberdeen are not the poorest team in the league this season but such opinions mean little when the points are totted up.
"I don't think we're a million miles away, its just that little bit of luck," said goalkeeper Jason Brown, whose only involvement was to twice retrieve the ball from his net. "Every single one of us is working hard and football can change so quickly, and we're capable of going on a streak. To a certain degree, I'm surprised we're down at the bottom but the league doesn't lie and we're not too good to go down, but it's frustrating for the manager and Archie because they see what we're capable of and it's just trying to put that together and getting the win we need.
"I know what it's like to be in a relegation fight and I've seen one or two players give up but in this changing room, nobody is doing that. If we get a little bit of luck, confidence will spread like wildfire and you see the best players shine in the pressure games."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article