HOW many players do you think Kilmarnock signed since the start of this season?
If I were to tell you ten it might raise an eyebrow. But that's only the permanent ones. Another 14 loan deals were done mostly, it has to be said, by former manager Lee Clark.
Some 19 players left, the turmoil in the boardroom remains unwelcome distraction, Lee McCulloch is still the interim manager, fans are staying away and, oh, that artificial pitch is rubbish.
When you add into all of this that the first-team squad is the youngest in the division by quite a bit, is it any wonder the players have struggled for any sort of consistency?
“Someone said there are only nine players left from the team photo at the start of the season and I’ve never experienced anything like that before," said club captain Stevie Smith.
“Lee Clark, the previous manager, did a lot of good things as well but his signings have had their bedding-in period now and it’s time for them to kick on. It would help us if there were only a few changes to the squad this summer but that’s what happens when managers make signs – some work and some don’t.
“That’s normal in the game but the turnover of players we’ve had in the last year isn’t normal at all so it would be good to have a settled squad.
“I’ve been here for just two seasons and the number of players who’ve come and gone is just ridiculous, certainly compared to any other club I’ve been at.
“Hopefully, when we get a permanent manager again, he’ll do things differently. Maybe I’m biased but I would love to see Lee (McCulloch) get the job.
The Kilmarnock board have made plenty of mistakes in the past and not offering McCulloch the job full time would be another.
The former Rangers and Scotland man is a lot smarter than he's given credit for. This is a man who experienced just about everything in his career and is a strong character. In short, exactly what Kilmarnock need.
“He has that winning mentality," said Smith a team-mate of McCulloch's at Ibrox. "He’s also shown he’s not scared to throw the young boys in and the big thing for me is that, since he’s come in, he’s been trying to change the mentality.
“It’s also worked to a certain extent. We had a big talk last week about how poor our home form had been and then we went and beat Inverness.
“Mentality is a huge thing in football because, without the right approach, you won’t go anywhere.
“At the moment we win a game and then we go on a downer. It’s not because we think we’re better than we are but I’m sure that if Lee is appointed as manager then that situation will quickly change.
“The reason he got as far in the game as he did was through hard work and being mentally strong.
“Young players tend to be inconsistent in any case but you can try to change that while accepting it by helping them to learn a bit more quickly.
“It’s great to have so many of them about the club – and most of them are local boys – but it’s only really good if you’re also winning. You don’t want to find yourselves down at the foot of the table every single season.”
Kilmarnock won the League Cup in 2012 but since then the club has not contributed much and found themselves in the play-offs last season.
Clark was an error and an obvious one at that. So was Gary Locke. They can miss out on McCulloch if he wants the job.
“He would give us continuity plus you can see the way we’ve been playing and the results we’ve been getting and the number of young players being given a chance; it’s all good," said Smith.
“The message he continually gives us is to be better every day. And, if he gets the job, then the fans will see us improving every week.
“His situation hasn’t affected us. I’ve been in dressing rooms before where having an interim manager would have been a problem but, perhaps because Lee was already here, no-one’s spoken about it or used it as an excuse.
“But we’d like to see this sorted sooner rather than later because, apart from anything else, it would help us prepare for next season.
“It shouldn’t be about surviving – we want to kick on. You can only do that by being consistent and we haven’t won two games in a row this season. That’s frustrating for me but at least we’ve done our job this year.”
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