The Power of Kentucky Fried Chicken

Hey guys, and any girls on here of course, I've decided to start a story about KFC....no not the resteraunt....KFC the football club, Kilmarnock Football Club to be more precise.

The club is my local team and I've supported them first and foremost for the best part of my life (19 years) so I thought it would be a good idea to start a story about them on here.

I have tried a story before that kind of never "kicked off" but hey-ho here we go again.

Anyway...a bit of background on the team and the situation that I start in in-game.

Information on Club

Kilmarnock Football Club was founded in 1869 and currently play in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. Their stadium, which holds 18128 fans, is called Rugby Park which was built in 1899. The clubs main rivals are local team Ayr United, but due to Ayr being in a lower league not many derby matches take place between the teams. Last season the club reached 5th place in the league...their highest finish in 5 years, thanks to a new manager and style of football...being deemed the very poor man's barca by many fans and scottish pundits.

Facilities

Stadium: 18128-all seated, good condition, under-soil heating, no roof, grass pitch.
Training Facilities: Average
Youth Training: Adequate
Youth Recruit: Average
Corporate Facilities: Adequate

Situation with Club

The squad looks decent enough attribute wise, and there are only 3 players in on loan...though 2 of which I would be looking to put into my first team, this may cause a problem later in the first season but we will deal with that when the time comes. With no squad registration for the league or any of the cups and only the rule of having 3 under-21 players in the first 11 or subs in a league game squad my plan of bleeding some youth into the first team shouldn't be hindered if not helped.

Finacially the club is pretty poor with a rating of Okay, and I'm sure this won't be helped by the £8.5mil debt on the clubs head...which is x2.5 more than what the club is actually worth I might add...and with the league and cups not paying out much in terms of prize money it will possibly come down to selling players or hoping fans flock to see home games for the team to earn some much needed money.

Contract wise, 9 players in the first team run out of contract during or at the end of the season...that includes the 3 loanee's currently at the club, 1 in december and the others in June.

As for season expectations of the board, they wish for me and the squad to achieve a mid-table finish, which they have given £70,000 and £90,000 for transfers and wages respectively, something I believe is very possible with the current squad and any additions I decide to make...if any.

All in all I think the situation is bareable for now. I do plan on achieving a top-6 finish in the leage which would be higher than expected, media predicts 8th, and hopefully doing so will bring in fans which would mean I may not have to sell off players that I may need.

Anyway I hope you will join me on this quest to take KFC global and to make scottish football more popular...in game at least thanks for reading.

Great! Another Scottish team story on here. I am sure you could finish in the top 6 as they do have quite a strong side.

Players you could look at:
Marco Paixao
Gregg Wylde(loan)
Chris Pozniak
(not sure there worth's)

Also try an get in some cash for deadwood.


Good luck!

Good luck with your story and with your team

Transfer News

Joe Slattery -> Queen of the South
Kyle Letheran -> Hamilton
Daniel McKay -> Raith
Ryan O'Leary -> Livingston

All on loan for 6 months.

Thank you for the support so far guys, and thank you for the suggestions CGEOJ.

I did take a look at Greg Wylde and tried to get him on loan however I am currently unable o pay the £650,000 Rangers wanted for him and can only pay 10% of his wages which is far to low for Rangers liking.

As for Paixao and Pozniak my game unfortunately hasn't loaded them....which means I can't even think about signing them.

July

Fixtures

(Away)Killie v.s Morton = Won 1-0 (before I took over)
(Home)Killie v.s Reserves = Won 6-1
(Away)Killie v.s FC Halifax = Won 3-0
(Away)Killie v.s Aldershot = Won 5-1
(Away)Killie v.s Doncaster Rovers = Lost 2-1
(Home)Killie v.s Leeds United = Won 1-0

I am relatively happy with the performances in pre-season. The game againt Aldershot should have been a clean sheet if it wasn't for an own goal, whilst the game against Donny should have been a draw...again if it wasn't for an own goal. The game against Leeds I particulary enjoyed, tipped as the underdogs a first half header from a corner by Mahamadou Sissoko gave us the lead and nearly doubled it at the start of the second half from the same situation, I think this result proves that we could do quite well this year despite it only being a friendly.

Transfers

In:

Micheal Stewart (CM) - Free - £3,500p/m till 2015
Charlie Telfer (M/AC LC) - Free - Youth Contract £130p/m till 2015
Bobby Roberts (Scout) - Free - £500p/m till 2016
John Brownlie (Scout) - Free - £875p/m till 2016
Steve Jones (Fitness Coach) - Free - £1,400p/m till 2016

Out:
Joe Slattery -> Queen of the South (Loan/6 months)
Kyle Letheran -> Hamilton (Loan/6 months)
Daniel McKay -> Raith (Loan/6 months)
Ryan O'Leary -> Livingston (Loan/6 months)
Billy Berntssen -> Carlisle (Loan/End of Season)

Micheal Stewart will be put straight into the first team in a ball-winning midfielder role in place of James Fowler who will take the cover position on the bench. With both players in their 30's though I may need to delve into the transfer market again in a couple of seasons if the youthplayers I have in midfield don't develope as well as I hope they do. Charlie Telfer is a prospect for the future and hopefully will develope enough for me to offer him a pro contract instead of the youth he signed on.

Contract Extensions

David Silva - £3,500p/m till 2016
Manuel Pascali - £4,600p/m till 2015
Alex Pursehouse - £725p/m till 2015
James Fowler - £2,600p/m till 2013
Lee Ashcroft - £750p/m till 2015
Gary Fisher - £700p/m till 2015
Rory McKenzie - £575p/m till 2015
Rory McKeown - £1,300p/m till 2015

I am glad I managed to extend the contract of Pascali as he is the captain and he is the driving force in defence or even midfield and will be instrumental in keeping my defence in shape. Fowler got an extension because he provides handy cover for midfield, and in a defensive midfield position as well as right back so he could come in to play alot if injuries take hold...here's hoping that won't happen. The 5 other players are all youth players who I hope will develope within the next year or two into players that can push for first team football...Pursehouse and McKeown are already in the first team but both providing cover for Buijs @ right back and Panikvar/Hay @ left back.

Transfer News

Rory McKenzie -> Fleetwood (Loan/End of Season)

Matchday 1

Away to Dundee United

Formation: 4-2-2-2

Line-Up:

............Bell............
Buijs..Pascali..Sissoko..Hay
.....Harkins.....Stewart....
Dayton.................Shiels
.......Galan.....Gros.......

Result

Lost 2-0

I was really disappointed by this result, the team performed well getting 50% possession and got twice as many shots at goal than United, 6 to our 12...them getting 3 on target while we only got a measly 4. The team just couldn't defend the set pieces which both goals came from...something I intend to remedy befor the next game.

Matchday 2

Home to Motherwell

Formation: 4-2-2-2

Line-Up:

............Bell............
Buijs..Pascali..Sissoko..Hay
.....Harkins.....Stewart....
Dayton.................Shiels
.....Heffernan.....Gros......

Subs Used: Kroca DC (Gros), Kelly CM (Harkins), McKeown LB (Hay)

Result

Won 1-0

A returning from injury Paul Heffernan took the place of Galan who was injured against Dundee United last weekend. Pascali hit the crossbar from a corner which was then cleared off the line early on in the game which I thought showed our attacking intent. After a bit of a dry spell where both teams had a share of possession a corner into the back post was then headed back across goal by Pascali to the head of Sissoko for a simple header into an open net. Not 5 minutes after scoring though Sissoko was sent off for persistant fouling...leaving me a man down only 31 minutes into the game.A great save in a 1-on-1 situation by Cammy Bell kept the lead going into half time after Harkins was easily out-paced on the counter-attack. Just seconds before half-time struck Heffernan came agonizingly close to doubling the lead with a shout from outside the box that just went wide.

As the second half started, the players went out in a good mood after keeping the lead while a man down...but it didn't take long for the pressure to start to take hold as Motherwell started to go on the offensive. The pressure continued for most of the second half, with the team not able to gain the same foot-hold they had in the first half, Motherwell created chance after chance but for the most part the defence held strong and kept them at bay and forcing the opposing players to shoot from distance. Then in the 81st minute, Motherwell collected the ball in their own half and worked their way into the final third on a 3-on-2 break...the winger (Nicky Law) however instead of passing to one of his team mates took a shot from distance which Bell parried back out to the feet of Keith Lasley who lobbed the ball into the air...and I thought it was going to be the goal that undid all our good work to keep our slender lead...until Bell somehow pulled off a magnificent save tipping the ball over the crossbar.

Finally the whistle went to end the drama. The team had held on, with 10 men for the best part of an hour they had held onto the slender lead gained in the first half to take the 3-points and gain our first win of the season...at home no less. We won the possession battle just, 51% to their 49%, but with that slight advantage in possession Motherwell got off more shots at goal, 15 to our 12, with 6 of them on target compared to our 4. Despite that I am more than pleased with the teams performance...well all apart from Sissoko who I have mixed feelings about, after scoring the goal and getting sent off.

Contract News

Alan Mahood and Paul Wright both signed new contracts as Coaches instead of Youth Coaches which now means I have more staff for first team training, something I really need as I am limited to 6 coaches.

Financial Update

On the 1st of August the club will start to pay back a gift loan of £825,000 taken out earlier. The payments will be monthly payments of £75,000 when in profit until the 4/7/2012. This will go together with the payments towards a £9.75mil loan that the club already pays £95,000 a month for until the 1/1/2018.

August Preview

In August the team only play 3 games:

(Home) v.s Hibernian
(Home) v.s Hearts of Medlothian
(Away) v.s Inverness Caley Thistle

I strongly believe we can get 2 wins out of these three games but wouldn't be too disappointed if we drew against Hibernian or Hearts as they are teams I believe to be level with us on skill and "power" in the league. Inverness however I believe should be a win for us as they are one of the weakest sides in the league, however I will have to make sure the team don't become complacent when that game comes around.

Fixture Update

The draw for the league cup has been made (Round 2), pitting Kilmarnock against 3rd Division Montrose. The game will take place at Rugby Park and shifts the Hearts game forward a day as to not clash with each other.