He wouldn’t call it ‘fear’ but Derek McInnes knows exactly how Rangers and Celtic used to feel when they played Kilmarnock under Clarke.
Derek McInnes is aware the Old Firm hated facing Kilmarnock under Steve Clarke.
The boss is hoping the latest group of Rugby Park charges can recreate those feelings of dread for Glasgow’s big two and all who face his team. Killie head into Wednesday’s mouth-watering clash against Rangers having already defeated them in Ayrshire. McInnes’ men have also sunk Celtic twice on their home patch and taken a point away from Glasgow’s East End.
Forner Killie star Gary Dicker recently recounted that the Old Firm hated facing his team when he worked for Clarke at Rugby Park. McInnes wants that feeling to be a constant as he said: “Gary is clearly right in what’s said. It was always a fixture teams looked at, not with a bit of fear, but knowing they’d have their work cut out and with a bit of trepidation about it.
“Steve used to play a really low block and he had good counter-attacking players in Jordan Jones, Eamonn Brophy and Greg Stewart. It was a side with great athleticism. Stephen O’Donnell and Greg Taylor at full-back could raid up and down the flanks so they possessed a real counter-attacking threat.
“I watched them a lot in those days. It was weird how Kilmarnock used to always play against Rangers or Celtic the week before us (Aberdeen). I used to watch Rangers and Celtic pass, pass, pass and try to play through that low block.
“That often played into Kilmarnock’s hands because they could counter on them. And that was against the best players in the country. We knew we had to do so many right things when we played Kilmarnock. We had to play slightly differently against them and we had to bring a certain level of performance to get anything.”
The fact Killie are back recording massive results against the country’s big guns just as they did under the now Scotland manager is a measure of their current progression. McInnes said: “I hope so because, although we still had a decent enough home record last season and we needed that to stay in the league, I still want teams to think, no matter what Kilmarnock team turns up, they are in a competitive game. We’ve been competitive from day one this season and the fact we’re considered a difficult opponent pleases me.”
McInnes’ team are in fine form heading into the contest with Philippe Clement’s table toppers. Killie swatted Aberdeen aside last weekend to take their recent run to just one defeat in their past 14 outings. McInnes’ players have spoken regularly about the belief they have instilled into them by their inspirational manager as key to their success.
The boss has been adamant all season it’s not just lip service and said: “I think it goes two ways. I can talk about belief, but I have to believe it myself that the players are good enough and I do.
“There has been evidence of that this season. Put it this way, if I told them I believed in them, but I didn’t really, then they would know.
“Sometimes you need to try and convince, but I am convinced. There is a body of work there since the start of the season which is a bit of validation of this squad and an evidence there. So it’s not just my words, there’s an evidence there when we can actually say: Look what can be done.”
