STILL only 39 years old and with just one full season of managerial experience to his name, Allan Johnston's installation as Kilmarnock's new manager seems at first glance to be a dream appointment.

Just a few hours into the job, however, and Johnston has learned that any time for savouring the moment has long since passed. There is simply too much work to be done for that.

Johnston's triumph in leading Queen of the South to the Irn-Bru Second Division title and the Ramsdens Cup not only made him attractive to Kilmarnock but also to the club's supporters, who now hope the player who once spent five years at Rugby Park can deliver similar success and do so by playing the sort of attacking football that made him an hero at Palmerston Park.

However, just six weeks before the season starts, Johnson will survey his squad and realise a rebuilding job awaits. Sixteen players have left, with just five coming in, leaving the new manager with a small group augmented by young prospects with which to start pre-season training. Michael Johnston, the chairman, has promised there will be funds available to attract the requisite number of new recruits and the new manager and his assistant Sandy Clark will not stint in spending it.

"There has been a massive turnaround in players so there is a lot of work to be done," Johnston said. "We need to bring in about six. I am happy enough with the budget I have got and the chairman has assured me that he will give me his backing to try and strengthen the squad. The style of football here has always been attacking football and we will try to play that way. Hopefully the fans get right behind us and enjoy it and we win a few more games than last season."

Johnston has also inadvertently wandered into an ongoing row between his chairman and a number of supporters who want to see a change of ownership at the club. To try to exert pressure on Michael Johnston to leave, some fans' groups are advocating a policy of 'not a penny more' that would mean them boycotting matches, season tickets and club merchandise.

That could affect the manager's budget, of course, and Johnston hoped the fans would reconsider. "I would ask them to think again about boycotting matches," he said. "There's been a lot of negative stuff and we need to get a more positive vibe around the football club. It is important that the fans get right behind us. They did that when I was a player here and I hope they do that now I am the manager. It will affect the team if they don't and we will not get the money to bring in new players. I know we have quality, young players coming through but we need to bring in some experienced ones."

Johnston, who also played for Hearts, Sunderland and Rangers among others, could not be different in temperament to his predecessor: quiet and softly-spoken where Kenny Shiels was garrulous and opinionated. Shiels will forever be a popular figure with fans for winning the 2012 Scottish Communities League Cup but Johnston hopes to make a similar mark, albeit in less controversial fashion.

"I know Kenny did fantastically well, although last year was disappointing, and hopefully we can respond to that and have a better season this campaign. We took 19 points from the last 19 games last season and that is not good enough for a club like Kilmarnock. If we win games, then we will win over the supporters. They want to see the match played in the right style as well and hopefully we can do that with the players we bring in and the ones that we already have."

His chairman felt there was little risk in appointing a manager with just one year's experience under his belt, plumping for Johnston ahead of 49 other candidates. "Time will tell," he said. "But I don't think so. Allan is a very experienced pro, he has been at big clubs in England and he played with us for five years and he was very popular.

"I think anyone who spends any time with him knows that he is a deep thinker and a careful planner. He is into his sports science and fitness, and he has a winning mentality. He approaches each game on the basis that he wants to win it, and that was evident from the way Queen of the South played. Even after they had won their division, there was no sense of slacking off."