Kilmarnock winger Dom Thomas has maintained that he has no issue with the change in methodology at Rugby Park following the appointment of Angelo Alessio as Steve Clarke’s successor.
Kirk Broadfoot left the club and took a pop at the Italian’s training sessions on his way out the door last week with the defender’s vocalisation of his frustrations coming on the back of intense speculation about the unrest among senior players at the club.
Thomas, though, was keen to buck the trend with the 23-year-old declaring himself willing to adopt to the idea that different coaches can bring in different strategies.
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One of Broadfoot’s criticisms was the lack of physical condition with a focus since Alessio’s arrival on shape and tactics rather than the more robust elements.
“Kirk might have been loyal to Steve Clarke but I can’t speak about him,” said Thomas. “For me the squad we have is together.
"We have a good dressing room. It is a good dressing room to be part of and I think we will do well. There is a togetherness. I enjoy going to my work every day.
“Kirk has his own opinion, but my opinion is that training has been good. I have been enjoying it, working hard and my fitness levels are up. I feel sharp and fit. If we were not fit and ready we wouldn’t be so high in the table.
“I don’t really notice that much change. Things are pretty similar. It is a good group of boys and it is a happy camp. If you are not together you won’t keep three clean sheets in a row.
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“Steve Clarke was brilliant at Kilmarnock and is one of the best manager’s the club has ever had . I didn’t play as much as I would have liked. I probably needed a change and I got one. It is up to me to impress the new manager.
“And as much as I didn’t play much under Steve Clarke I felt I learned a lot from him.”
It was a fraught start to the season before recent results suggested that Kilmarnock may yet find their feet under Alessio.
And Thomas has maintained that the ambitions of the Rugby Park club and their desire to maintain their recent lofty placings of the club have not been diluted in the turbulence of the last six weeks.
“When you do that well and take the bar that high realistically it is going to be hard for whoever gets the job to continue that,” he said.
“But the boys want to keep raising it again. Our ambition is still to finish third this season and get into Europe. Hopefully we can work hard to get back there.
“It is a new era and I think the fans are still behind us.”
The best way to silence any dissenters is by getting results but in that respect Kilmarnock have a fairly heavy schedule ahead.
They play Hibs, who have had their own struggles so far this term, twice in the league and then the League Cup with a visit to Celtic Park sandwiched in between this month.
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However, Thomas is optimistic that the performances before the international break will offer some confidence ahead of the next phase of games.
“You read a lot about what is going on but we are sitting in the top six,” he said. “When you are in and around the place everything seems fine to me.
“The spirits are high and we are in the top half of the table so things can’t be that bad. These things happen in football but we just take it as it comes.
“You have good weeks and bad weeks. We have just come off the back of a win so the spirits are high. St Johnstone is a hard place to go but we got a win and another clean sheet.”
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