ALLAN JOHNSTON has heard the case against him.
On Saturday he stood accused of taking his eye off the ball, the Kilmarnock manager having raised a foot to bring a stray pass under control, a reflex from a career in football which spans 25 years, only to misjudge the bounce and allow the ball to rear up over his head and disappear into the dugout. Johnston might have considered taking refuge there too as his misstep invited abuse to rain down from the stands with a ferocity comparable to the storms which battered the country over the weekend.
The 41-year-old will muse that the sun has still to come out since he returned to Ayrshire at the beginning of last season. His appointment brought him back to a club he served as a player for five years but was clouded by the refractory relationship which exists between chairman Michael Johnston and supporters, many of whom disapproved of the decision to remove Kenny Shiels as manager.
Allan Johnston was harangued for replacing another fans' favourite on Saturday; his decision to substitute forward Alexei Eremenko midway through the second half drawing scorn from the majority of supporters. It was a decision which the manager later acknowledged was "wrong", the removal of "Alexei's experience and quality in that area of the pitch" leaving his side vulnerable. This had been confirmed already as Kilmarnock surrendered possession with eight minutes remaining and Billy McKay scored decisively for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Johnston will return to the dugout this weekend when his side face Motherwell. There are Kilmarnock fans who would rather see him in stocks. He is a conscientious coach and remains a popular figure among his squad but has still to convince his jury in the stands, with Johnston found guilty on Saturday of one count of losing to a team reduced to 10 men and failing to repair his team's recent desperate form. A stirring start to the campaign has allowed his side to remain in contention for a top-six place - St Johnstone are just two points ahead in sixth, albeit they have played one match fewer - but Kilmarnock have since won twice in 12 matches, an uncomfortable run of results which includes nine defeats. They have also kept a clean sheet just once since October and at the weekend there were meek, albeit audible, calls for Johnston to be dismissed.
It is incumbent on the Kilmarnock manager to accept responsibility but his players remain accessories to any failings this season. Johnston reconstructed his team last summer and signed nine new players, of which only Tope Obadeyi and Michael Ngoo were absent from the squad against Inverness.
"Unfortunately it's the manager who always gets stick because people think that's it . . . I think the fans felt frustrated because we had been one-nil up against 10 men," said summer signing Josh Magennis, with generous understatement. "It's the gaffer who is the closest one to them and he just gets it. He takes the brunt of it and deals with it, then tells us to just play. That's why we all want to do so well for him."
There has been less scrutiny placed on how long McKay will be employed in a prominent position in the SPFL Premiership. The Inverness striker is in the final six months of his contract and is known to be a wanted man in England as Peterborough United, Fleetwood Town and Rotherham United have each expressed an interest in the Northern Irishman during the past two seasons. He has scored nine times this term - his goals at Rugby Park redolent of the natural finisher.
Inverness have relied on that same prowess in their recent relative success and since McKay signed in 2011 the Highland side have finished comfortably in the top six, reached the final of the League Cup and competed for a place in European competition. The club approached McKay with a new deal earlier this season but that "isn't what I'm looking to do at the minute", an indication that he will go for free in the summer. Case closed.
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