Kilmarnock completed one of the most remarkable seasons in Scottish Premiership history, coming from the bottom of the table in October to finish comfortably in fifth place under the guidance of Steve Clarke.
Killie started the season with Lee McCulloch in charge after their former player had led them to safety last year, but he couldn’t replicate last season’s form and after a tough start which saw them win none of their first eight games he was dismissed.
Steve Clarke came in with an enviable reputation but with an unenviable task of trying to keep them in the division. What followed was almost unbelievable. After a few game settling in period, Kilmarnock blossomed. Kris Boyd, one of the oldest strikers in the league, turned into a goal machine, creating a special partnership with the pace and creativity of Jordan Jones on the left flank and ending the season as the Premiership’s top scorer.
From the point of Steve Clarke’s appointment in October until the split in April, Kilmarnock lost only three Premiership games and were consistently outranking runaway leaders Celtic as the league’s form team. They flew up the table, claiming a place in the top six and eventually finishing ten points ahead of sixth place Hearts.
Only Aberdeen proved to be their bogey team, beating them twice in the league and knocking them out of the Scottish Cup at the quarter final stage, but wins against both Celtic and Rangers showed their new found pedigree.
How Steve Clarke will manage to keep this form into next season is still to be seen, and he may have a fight on his hands to keep Jordan Jones at the club, while he is already resigned to losing the impressive Youssuf Mulumbu, but there’s a new sense of optimism around the club.
