A manager's post-match interview is always a recipe for potential disaster, especially if their team have been beaten, and even more so if there was any perceived injustice involved. After all, pretty much every fan, in the immediate aftermath of a poor result, has on occasion ranted and raved about a poor refereeing decision, or a cheating opponent, or goodness knows what else, only to have a moment of clarity half an hour or so later where we realize that we got beaten, it happens, just deal with it.
Thankfully, no-one sticks a microphone under our noses and records these tirades. Some managers are better at keeping their composure than others. Craig Brown, for example, was actually critical of officials quite often, but made his complaints in such a reasonable voice and manner that no-one could take offence. Terry Butcher has charisma and a complete understanding of how the media machine works - by throwing in some vaguely amusing soundbites and deliberately exaggerating for comic effect, he tends to largely the avoid the ire of the SFA. If you are frequently going to risk landing in hot water, make sure you have the full support of your chairman and your fans - like, for example, Neil Lennon and Derek Adams.
Kenny Shiels has just discovered that he doesn't really have the support of his chairman.
There is a lot about Kilmarnock's Northern Irish coach to admire. He is well known to put a lot of time into community work. He's unafraid to give young players their chance - no fewer than 14 players under the age of 21 played for Killie in the SPL this season. And, in theory at least, he sends his team out to play what most of us class loosely under the cliché 'good football' - that is, a style based on keeping possession, allowing creative players to express themselves, and with more emphasis on attacking than defending. And he deserved all the credit he got for guiding the club to their 2012 League Cup triumph.
But his credit level appears to be exhausted.
Shiels hasn't been sunk by results, though 2012-13 was ultimately a disappointment for Kilmarnock; they struggled to put any sort of run of good form together, and their record at Rugby Park was a disgrace. Despite all that, they should have made the top six, but collapsed spectacularly in the last three months of the season, finishing ninth in the table (for comparison, they were seventh last season, and fifth, under Mixu Paatelainen, in 2010-11). But that was hardly the end of the world. And he could point to the January departure of his best player, Liam Kelly, as a mitigating circumstance, along with the ill-advised (in hindsight) decision to change the team's style of play to accommodate Kris Boyd.
To put it bluntly, Shiels' problem is that he can't keep his mouth shut.
The thing is, most of the time he doesn't have anything particularly interesting or clever to say. Have you ever listened to one of his post-match interviews on the radio? He has a voice like 'The Most Boring Priest In Ireland' from the Father Ted Christmas Special. The vast majority of the time, he waffles for the whole five minutes without making a single point of note, yet he seems to think that he's enriching the lives of his listeners. If he wasn't a football coach, he'd be a Pub Bore. But the media still keep grabbing him for comments, because, if they catch him at the right time - or the wrong time, depending on the way you look at it - he'll say something that is controversial, or ridiculous, or both.
The 'ridiculous' includes comments such as "It's not fair for Kilmarnock to make a long round trip to play the Highland clubs four times a year" - tell us about it, Kenny, ICT and Ross County have to make that journey in the opposite direction every second weekend - or "The government should subsidize cheaper tickets for fans" - because it's far more useful to give the money to football than, say, schools, or hospitals - or announcing that Gary Harkins "isn't going anywhere because he's one of the best players in the SPL" a few days before letting him move to Dundee. Maybe he doesn't believe any of these things, and he's just trolling us. But, more likely, he's just saying whatever comes into his head without thinking it through, because he's more self-important than he is bright.
The latter theory is backed up by his constant run-ins with the SFA this season. First, he got into a spat with referee Euan Norris after a home defeat to Inverness, where he accused the official of saracastic comments to him at the final whistle. When asked what Norris had said, the best Shiels could come up with was "I don't know what he said but it was something flippant". It transpired that Shiels, trying to make a point about how he couldn't verbally criticize a referee without getting into trouble, had gone out to Norris at the final whistle shaking his head and wagging his finger so dramatically that the Rugby Park fans could see his displeasure; Norris responded by saying "So you're not happy with my performance then?"
Then came the saga of the match against St. Johnstone, where Manuel Pascali was harshly sent off after only a few minutes. On the advice of fourth official Andrew Dallas, Shiels was sent to the stand. After being cited by the SFA, he told the press "If we are being malpracticed (sic) against, and I'm not saying we are, but if we were, it's important that I fight that corner. I've been told they are going to get us by people...I don't know how they are going to manufacture this to get me because I've contested two refereeing decisions without abusive language, without any form of disrespect."
He got a three match touchline ban. As you can imagine, he didn't take it on the chin, describing it as "morally wrong...my freedom of speech has been taken away". You certainly can't accuse the man of hyperbole. Incredibly, he wasn't finished, announcing that Dallas had lied to the referee in order to get him sent to the stand - and that Shiels had evidence to prove there was a conspiracy against him! "I brought in evidence to disprove the fourth official, who fabricated stuff to try and incriminate me. I don't like that. I'm not going to lie down to these people. The fabrication was outrageous - at least four different things that were said about me - but he wasn't aware I had visual evidence on my laptop. I think it was to get me into trouble. I'm sure it was to get me into trouble. There is no maybes about it and I would like some answers...He had to substantiate a really good story to back that up. He tried but he wasn't aware I had evidence on camera."
The SFA gave him another four match ban for this. Perhaps the Scottish footballing authorities, despite being incapable of organizing a piss-up in a brewery, are successfully orchestrating a campaign to discredit and destroy the Kilmarnock manager. Or, perhaps Shiels was talking out of his bottom. I know which of these scenarios I would put my money on. Not that he saw himself as a martyr, though - "I've got a clear conscience. When you're sinned against like I have been then you don't regret anything...My behaviour's been impeccable. The problem is I've been truthful and it's not good to be truthful in this industry.
He'd barely got back to the dugout before he was sent away from it again, at the end of a match at Inverness in February. His explanation? "In my frustration I turned round to kick at nothing. There was a bottle lying on its belly and I stroked it - a beautiful piece of skill. Neil Lennon kicked a bottle up here and he got off but I'm not Neil Lennon." After being ejected from the touchline, Shiels decided to stand on top of the dugout instead. As you do.
Whilst his antics have at least been amusing to us, it can hardly have pleased his employers to him have to appear at Hampden Park so often, and his absence from the touchline during so many games can hardly have been of help to his players. His latest touchline ban appears to be straw that broke Michael Johnston's back. Not only was Shiels banned for a further four matches (two of which are suspended) last week for an April interview in which he questioned the impartiality of the SFA's judicial panel and the integrity of Celtic after claiming the Parkhead club have "massive influence" over disciplinary hearings, and are "the monster of Scottish football", but Kilmarnock were censured as well for failing to prevent these repeat offences.
Johnston subsequently announced this weekend that Shiels' position was under review, due to a combination of poor results, his constant run-ins with the SFA and unspecified issues with his conduct at the club. The Daily Record claimed he'd been sacked, but that doesn't appear to be the case...yet. However, the phrase 'shoogly peg' comes to mind.
It'd be a shame if he got sacked. He clearly has the ability to be a good SPL manager, and he's shown he can get Kilmarnock punching above their weight (insert your own Kris Boyd joke here). But as time passes, he accumulates more and more baggage. Kilmarnock have reached, or are reaching the point where the benefits of having Kenny Shiels as manager are outweighed by the hassles.
Sorry, Kenny, but you should have just stuck to the Dictionary of Football clichés. Or, alternatively, you could have found something interesting to say from time to time.
L.
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