Wag

Ah, that made me laugh...

...still really enjoying the yarn though, it's one of the best about at the moment in my mind. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next

Peacemaker7

Thanks Wag

Yeah I know Iain, I didn't plan it that way. If I'd known in advance we would sneak the title, would probably have thrown the League Cup but these things happen. It's not all win win win though, but I'm afraid you might have to read a bit more Killie success before things change, sorry

Peacemaker7

The summer break had arrived, as short as it was, and the MacLeod family would be off to Madrid for a two week holiday. There was a lot of work to be done between the end of May and the start of July for Duncan, especially with a European campaign to look forward to, but he was adamant that whatever happened in the game, his family came first. The girls were now teenagers – Isabella would turn 15 in July, and Bethany was nineteen, engaged to be married to a young lad named Paul McGrath. Paul, a 21 year old bricklayer, had nothing to do with football apart from being a season ticket holder at Rugby Park. Bethany had never been much into football, and only appeared at the most important matches to support her dad, she never cared much for whatever team we had been playing for/managing at the time. Isabella on the other hand, was deeply devoted to football and had a keen Interest in Real Madrid, being that she had been born during Duncan's spell there and she was fiercely proud of being 'Spanish'.

Duncan loved both his kids deeply. They were good kids, as these things go. The MacLeod's had tried to instil a sense of decency and discipline into their childrens lives as well as a huge covering of love and it seemed to work. Duncan though never pretended to love all his kids 'equally'. He thought that was a rather stupid notion – each of his girls were different, they had different personalities, fears and hopes and he loved each of them for those things. He did though admit that he had had a special place in his heart for Mhairi. Perhaps it was because she was their first born, perhaps it was because she had spent most of her life battling one illness or another – but that was not the whole story.

Sure, the other two girls had their own strengths and there was no doubt of the love Duncan had for them – he would willingly give up his own life for any of his children. But Mhairi had had a strenght of character, a deep seated and strong courageous spirit that had seen her overcome many obstacles in her short life. Duncan recalled how Mhairi had tackled learning to ride a bike. To most kids, riding a bike comes about easily enough, after perhaps a few falls, a few cuts and bruises and some tears, their sense of balance kicks in and off they go. Mhairi did not have a proper sense of balance. It had been hard enough for her learning to walk at times, but by the age of eight – her six year old sister having already learned to ride her bike – Mhairi was determined that she would not miss out. Of course she fell off, cut her self, bruised her legs and knees and arms but she did not give in. Duncan and Alyson had been quite concerned that she might seriously hurt herself, or worse wander into the path of a car or something.


Yet their attempts to persuade their eldest child that perhaps riding a bike was not that important, fell on deaf ears. They offered to have stabilisers put on, but that was met with a flood of tears, and the assertion that people would laugh and that just would not do. Mhairi would never go riding with her family – at least not on her own – along the country paths, but she did, eventually, manage to get to the end of her street without falling off. That in itself was a quite remarkable achievement.

In his years as a manager, Mhairi's courage and bravery in the face of seemingly impossible odds, always helped him when things seemed bleak. It also made him angry when, from time to time, certain players would come to him to whine about this, that or the other. There were a few occasions when highly rated, highly paid players had burst into his office to demand that they get a place in the starting line up, to demand more wages, to complain that their boots were the wrong colour. All of these players were given a dressing down, being a footballer was a privilege and they should think themselves damned lucky to be getting paid anything at all for kicking a ball about a park. Most of such players would quickly be shown the door, MacLeod had not time for Prima Donna's.

The two weeks in Spain flew by as usual, and all too soon it was back to the office for Duncan. Liverpool were coming to town on the 10th of July, which also happened to be Isabella's 15th birthday. She would have preferred Real Madrid, but a match between Kilmarnock and Liverpool certainly appeared to be appetizing enough. Before then though there were players to be bought and sold, a Champions League season was ahead and the squad needed to be improved for that. Strikers Stewart Kean and Simon Lynch were shown the door, neither having done enough to hold down a first team place or proven they were ready for a higher level of football. Charlie Adam was subject of a £3M bid from Reading and that was more than even MacLeod felt he was worth and he was allowed to go, along with a few other minor players. There was still a fair amount of money from last seasons sales – and the sale in January of James Fowler – so this season's sales simply added to that and the chairman also knew the club would make a killing in the Champions League. MacLeod made three major signings in the Summer of 2007 – Rangers out of favour former Hibee Steven Whitaker for £1.2M and Udinese talented winger Gaetano D'Agostino for £2.7M. The real bargain of the summer though would be Milan's Salvatore Ferraro who cost MacLeod just £180,000 but would go on to become a permanent fixture in the central defence.

MacLeod expected this season to much harder – and the excitement of Champions League football could not be denied. Kilmarnock had expected to appear in the third qualifying round, but for some inexplicable reason had gone straight into the group stages and a guaranteed pot of money starting from £3M and rising. When the group stages were eventually drawn, MacLeod's side found themselves in with German's Leverkusen, French side Marseille and the mouthwatering prospect of English giant Manchester United. Nobody gave them a snowballs chance in hell of getting even a goal, but the experience would surely be invaluable nevertheless.

Peacemaker7

SPL Final Table 2006-2007


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Kilmarnock | | 38 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 74 | 37 | +37 | 81 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Celtic | | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 71 | 34 | +37 | 79 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Rangers | | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 81 | 37 | +44 | 78 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Hearts | | 38 | 24 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 75 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Hibernian | | 38 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 46 | 47 | -1 | 54 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Aberdeen | | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 50 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Dundee Utd | | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 51 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Motherwell | | 38 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 51 | 57 | -6 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Gretna | | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 41 | 69 | -28 | 35 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | St. Mirren | | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 44 | 72 | -28 | 32 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Inverness CT | | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 77 | -37 | 31 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | Falkirk | | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 30 | 65 | -35 | 25 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Peacemaker7

Erm yeah whatever.

HD

Ugh. That table is horrible. And your coding is wrong too.

Peacemaker7

Of the players who were promoted to the Under 19 side for the 2007/08 season, two at least would go on to make a decent enough impression in the future. Both sixteen year olds, goalkeeper Rae Marr was a highly promising young lad, it would just remain to be seen whether he had the partience to stick around the club long enough to secure a first team place, and striker Derek Meechan. Meechan in particular caught the attentions of Duncan MacLeod – he started 'dating' Isabella.

Isabella, now fifteen, had only shown as much interest in 'boys' as to how good they could play football and she was usually pretty scathing of that. She was herself a pretty decent player, and perhaps if football had been less sexist she could have made a reasonable career for herself out of the game. When his little Spanish Princess had announced that she thought youth player Meechan was 'cute', Duncan was amused and a little alarmed. Meechan though was probably more scared of upsetting the boss and when he finally appeared at the house to 'meet the parents' – even though he already knew at least one of them, the poor lad was a bundle of nerves and ended up pouring the gravy all over himself. Nevertheless, he eventually went on to marry Isabella, so he must have done something right.

The big match of the pre-season build up for the Kilmarnock support was, of course, against one of MacLeod's former clubs, Liverpool, who had finished 3rd in the English Premiership the previous season. It turned out to be an exciting match, even more so for the home support as a Peter MacDonald hattrick saw Killie to an excellent 3-2 triumph and the signs were looking good for the new season. The opening day, at home to St Mirren, was a party occasion as the League Flag was unfurled and not for the first time Isabella MacLeod was happy to have been born into her family, as it was she who helped do the honours. The parade of the League trophy and the two domestic cups followed and it seemed to inspire the side as an early goal from MacDonald was followed by a late strike from Ferraro as Kilmarnock went in two up at the break. Perhaps though the players had been celebrating just a bit too much as St Mirren came storming back in the second half to snatch a draw. Duncan MacLeod was not amused.

Wins over Motherwell, newly promoted St Johnstone, and Hearts though meant the opening day blip was forgotten as Kilmarnock headed off to Germany for their first ever match in the UEFA Champions League. Kilmarnock had once previously been in Europe's premier club competition, back in 1966 when it had been called simply the Champions Cup. A second round drubbing (7-3 on aggregate) to Real Madrid had ended that run, although the following year Kilmarnock had gained their best ever run in Europe as they reached the Semi-Finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup - which was later to become the UEFA Cup. That though had been over forty years ago and most people who had witnessed it were either now dead or senile. With Celtic having surprisingly lost 2-1 in Norway the previous (Tuesday) night, it was up to MacLeod's side to restore a bit of Scottish Pride. On the night though, despite a decent performance, Leverkusen proved just too strong and ran out two nil winners.

Three more matches took place before Marseille came to Rugby Park. Sandwiched in between league wins over Inverness and Gretna was a stunning nine nil League Cup triumph over a hapless Dundee side. The French side had opened their group campaign with a 3-2 win over Manchester United, so they were obviously no mugs. After just five minutes at Rugby Park, Marseille were ahead and the home support feared the worst. Perhaps though that goal, coupled with their win over the English giants, had made Marseille believe victory was inevitable and they were in for a huge surprise. Peter MacDonald levelled the match after a quarter of an hour, and Nacho Novo sent Killie ahead before the break. Just two minutes after that break, Marseille were in deep merde as Steven Whittaker fired in a third and as the French crumpled as they had done in 1940, so MacDonald and D'Agostino added late goals to secure a win that was up there with Dundee United's drubbing of Barcelona all those years ago.

As fate would have it, the very next match for Kilmarnock was at Tannadice, and if the players had any thoughts that they were now so good this season was going to be a stroll in the park they were about to get a lesson in complacency as United raced to a 3-1 triumph and Duncan MacLeod was far from amused that his highly paid players had capitulated in such a manner to a side they should be easily beating. The players seemed to heed MacLeod's words, as they recovered to hammer Celtic 4-2 at home, before Manchester United came to town expecting a goal fest. That they didn't get it was partly due to some terrible finishing on their part and partly due to some excellent goalkeeping in the part of Graeme Smith – the one from Motherwell, not the one who had gone to Rangers. A 23rd minute goal from Peter MacDonald, a journeyman player who would probably be lucky to get a game for United's reserve side, gave Killie a fantasic one goal to nil win over the biggest club in the UK.

Defeat though followed at Ibrox by 3-1 and then a single goal loss at home to Hibs as the European exertions seemed to take a lot out of the players and was seriously damaging their hopes of retaining the SPL title. A hard fought 4-3 triumph at Pittodrie though secured the leaks, but Manchester United were to gain more than adequate revenge at Old Trafford as they ran out winners by three one, and it could have been a whole lot more. Despite that defeat though, Kilmarnock were doing themselves proud and at least this time they came back from Europe to record a league win, 2-0 over Motherwell. Hearts were not challengers this season for whatever reason, but as both Old Firm sides looked a lot stronger than before, so Kilmarnock were keeping close to them, but they could not afford any more silly slip ups. That though, was probably asking a bit too much.

Peacemaker7

Wins over Motherwell in the League, and then Hibs in the CIS League Cup Quarter-Final set MacLeod's side up for a crucial Champions League qualifier at home to Leverkusen. This was, as expected, another tough outing for Duncan's side but four minutes from time, the referee awarded Kilmarnock a penalty which D'Agostino slotted home and Killie held out to record a superb triumph. Exactly how superb was highlighted three weeks later when MacLeod's side travelled to Marseille for the final qualifying match. This was to prove a torrid match for Kilmarnock and in the end they succumbed by three goals to nil as the French wreaked revenge for that earlier thrashing at Rugby Park. In the other match, Leverkusen had beaten Manchester United by a goal to nil, but it was all to prove irrelevant. United, who had won three and lost three of their matches, topped the group from Kilmarnock who had the same record. Marseille and Leverkusen both ended on eight points, but it was the French side who progressed to the UEFA Cup, and although it might not have been the most convincing of campaigns, Kilmarnock had made it to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League – where they would face up to the mighty Internazionale of Milan. It promised to be a fantastic occasion.

Before that, there was still a lot of work to be done to ensure that Kilmarnock would be back in Champions League contention next season. Results though continued to be mixed, a 1-0 win over Gretna was a relatively poor performance, but the very next match Dundee United were walloped 7-1, and the match after that Celtic hammered Duncan's lads at Celtic Park by 3-0. It was all getting a bit frustrating, but the side nevertheless remained in contention for the title. When the January 2008 transfer window opened, MacLeod was hastily active. He had not been happy with the way his side had blown hot and cold and wanted to add a few more experienced players to the squad. Warren Cummings and Mike McGlinchey were the main names out, McGlinchey clinching a £1M move to SPL rivals Motherwell, but MacLeod was not concerned.

'If he (McGlinchey) had been that good, we would have kept him' Duncan told the press, 'But the fact is we can and will find better players and good luck to the lad at his new club'

With money to burn, MacLeod moved to bring in Celtic keeper Mark Brown as back up to Smith – and also because rumours were circulating that Smith was getting itchy feet and wanted to go to a bigger club. The other half of the old firm was also raided as out of favour Rangers utility man Kirk Broadfoot was brought to Rugby Park. A few more players signed, but few of them would make a big impact. The two who would make an impact were 25 year old Italian left back, Pietro Accardi, signed from Serie A side Sampdoria for a fee of just under £1M. That transfer though was to be eclipsed by the audacious acquisition from Aston Villa of former Celtic idol – Shaun Maloney. The capture of such a high profile player – albeit that Maloney was not a regular at Villa Park at that time – set the press alight and things were looking good for MacLeod's side which was starting to look formidable, at least in domestic terms.

2008 started well for Kilmarnock with four successive league wins, as well as a Scottish Cup 3rd round triumph over last seasons beaten finalists, Aberdeen, by a goal to nil. The defence of the treble though was abruptly ended at the Semi Final stage of the CIS Cup, as Rangers ran out winners by 2-1. This was the last match in this tournament where MacLeod would play a full strength side as in future years he caused immense controversy by fielding teams of youths in the competition he regarded as totally pointless. Yet although Kilmarnock were putting together a good run of form in the League – out of the remaining thirteen matches before the split, Kilmarnock won eleven and drew one – they were still some way behind a rampant Rangers as the last five matches came round, and a 2-0 defeat at Rugby Park in the first of the five, from Rangers, virtually ended Kilmarnock's reign as SPL Champions. A draw to Motherwell did not help, and on the final day of the season, MacLeod led his side to Celtic Park needing a win to clinch 2nd place. On the day though Celtic proved just about good enough to gain a draw, and Kilmarnock would end in third place, behind the Old Firm pair and order had been restored. For now.

Peacemaker7

[b]SPL Final Table 2007-2008

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Rangers | | 38 | 30 | 2 | 6 | 74 | 28 | +46 | 92 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Celtic | | 38 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 73 | 31 | +42 | 82 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Kilmarnock | | 38 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 83 | 37 | +46 | 81 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Dundee Utd | | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 54 | 55 | -1 | 53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Hibernian | | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 39 | 47 | -8 | 50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Motherwell | | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 46 | 62 | -16 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Hearts | | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 49 | 53 | -4 | 48 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Gretna | | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 47 | 70 | -23 | 39 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | St. Mirren | | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 41 | 53 | -12 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Aberdeen | | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 53 | 67 | -14 | 36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Inverness CT | | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 37 | 60 | -23 | 31 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | St. Johnstone | | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 47 | 80 | -33 | 30 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Peacemaker7

Undoubtedly though, the highlight of the 2007-2008 season for Kilmarnock was the great Champions League run. The title may not be coming back to Rugby Park, but Inter Milan were. There was intense excitement in the town, indeed in virtually the whole of Scotland, as they geared up for potentially fantastic night of European football. With Celtic having reached the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup – Rangers having gone out to Werder Bremen in the round of 32 – things were looking good for Scottish football. Indeed, Celtic would reach the Quarter Finals, but would go out on away goals to PSV. A decent enough effort. Yet the UEFA Cup is of little meaning these days, and all eyes were firmly focused in Rugby Park. Even if few expected any kind of Scottish success.

MacLeod though was in the process of building a half decent team in Ayrshire, and Inter would be foolish to think this was going to be a walk in a park, even if the Killie manager did admit he felt his side was still some way short of where he ideally wanted it to be. The new signings of Maloney and Accardi were in the side along with the truly excellent D'Agostino but it was the, now, Old Guard who were to come through for Kilmarnock on a truly memorable night for all of Scotland. A tough, highly entertaining first half was drawing to a close, when Nacho Novo latched onto the ball on the edge of the Inter six yard box and blasted it beyond Igor Akineev and Killie took a sensational lead into the half time break. The second half was as tight as the first and it was fair to say Inter had the best of it. Five minutes from time, Novo turned provider as he whipped the ball across the area and there was Peter MacDonald to knock the ball home and Duncan MacLeod's side had done Scotland proud.

Whether a 2-0 lead would be enough, was a matter of some debate in the media. Twenty six minutes into the return in Milan, those who feared the worst had their fears reinforced as Inter went ahead. Killie though were not rocked and refused to be bullied by the Italian giants. Five minutes from half time. Novo was upended in the box, D'Agostino blasted the ball home from 12 yards and the match was surely now as good as over. Six minutes after the break, MacDonald sent Killie into a stunning lead on the night, but Inter soon equalized thereafter. It was not to be the Italians night though, and ten minutes from time Jose Antonio Reyes was red carded and that was that. Kilmarnock had reached the last eight of the Champions League, where they were paired with Valencia. It was certainly turning into a fairytale.

Once more the first leg was at home, and things looked to be on course when MacDonald sent Killie ahead after just six minutes. On the half hour though, as Kilmarnock looked well in control, an act of utter folly from Steven Whittaker saw him dismissed from the field of play, and now Killie were in trouble. One minute after half time, the inevitable happened as David Villa gave his side a precious away goal. Just as it looked as if MacLeod's side might hang for a draw, which could offer a small glimmer of hope for the return, Villa struck again and the task facing the fading Scottish Champions looked ominous. In football though, there is always hope and one minute from half time in Valencia, Peter MacDonald silenced the home support with a fine goal. The dream was back on, and another Killie goal would turn the match on it's head. The Spanish side though were not for buckling, and controlled the match for long spells in the second half. Injury time came, and just as Killie were preparing one last push, so Salvatore Ferraro headed the ball past Graeme Smith and into his own net – the dream was dead.

There was though to be some consolation for Kilmarnock in a season which in many ways was an excellent one. Hearts were overcome after a replay in the Scottish Cup quarter final, and four days after losing out to Valencia, Celtic were seen off by two goals to one at Hampden. Dunfermline would be the opponents as Kilmarnock defended their last piece of silverware but in the end it was not much of a Final – unless you were a Killie fan – as the holders ran out 5-0 winners and so MacLeod picked up his 4th trophy as a manager after a highly exciting season. There may not have been the success of the previous campaign, but Duncan MacLeod firmly believed his side was getting better and that before too long, the SPL flag would be flying over Rugby Park once more.