11 hours ago
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The history books will show that Derek McInnes’ time in charge at Kilmarnock was an overwhelming success.
Having taken over in 2022 with the club sitting fourth in the Championship, he secured promotion just four months later.
His team stayed up with a bit to spare in their first campaign back in the top flight, before going on to clinch European football the following year.
Big nights at Rugby Park against the likes of Cercle Brugge and FC Copenhagen last August will live long in the memory.
Granted, Killie spent far too much of the previous season looking over their shoulder, but you never really doubted McInnes’ ability to get a tune out of his players when it really mattered.
A move to Hearts in May seemed like a natural progression. He may even have thought that he wouldn’t be begrudged the opportunity by those he was leaving behind.
Derek McInnes can expect a hostile reception when he rocks up at Rugby Park this evening
McInnes spent three and a half years in charge at Killie and guided the club in to Europe
Hearts sit two points clear at the top of the table following their recent last-gasp win over Hibs
Wrong. Five months on, the manner of his departure continues to leave a sour taste in the mouth. There will be no love lost for the manager on his return to Rugby Park this evening.
McInnes reflected this week on his decision to sign up at Tynecastle, insisting that he ‘did everything right’ by his former club.
Killie fans clearly don’t see it that way. In all honesty, the majority of them would have loved nothing more than to see their former boss fall flat on his face in these early months of the season. Bad luck, folks.
Things couldn’t have gone any better for McInnes. Hearts come into this contest on top of the table and with an unbeaten record to preserve, and, whether the manager wants to admit it or not, he is slap bang in the middle of a title fight.
A last-gasp victory over Hibernian prior to the international break underlined their credentials. The Jambos were a million miles from their best, but they got over the line — just as they have done so often this season.
After working on a threadbare budget for three and a half years at Kilmarnock, McInnes now has all sorts of riches — relatively speaking, in Scottish terms — at his disposal.
Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis have been standouts at the top end of the park, while Stuart Findlay — who worked under McInnes at Kilmarnock — has slotted in seamlessly at the back.
The squad will only improve when record-signing Ageu gets up to speed, with a hamstring injury restricting the Brazilian midfielder to just one appearance to date.
Alexandros Kyziridis and Cammy Devlin have been standouts under McInnes this season
McInnes must also take credit for rejuvenating some of the old guard. Cammy Devlin has been outstanding in the middle, while striker Lawrence Shankland looks like a man reborn.
A win this evening would be enough to move Hearts five points clear of Celtic — for a few hours at least — ahead of next week’s showdown between the top two in Edinburgh.
Stuart Kettlewell will hope to have something to say about that, mind you.
Killie fans were still fuming over the McInnes affair when he was announced as his successor. That appointment didn’t improve their mood.
How quickly things have changed. His start to life in Ayrshire has gone somewhat under the radar. Indeed, were it not for a dreadful decision to award Celtic a late penalty in their meeting last month, his team would also be entering this game with a zero in the losses column.
Kettlewell deserves more credit than he’s getting for their fine start, with back-to-back wins and clean sheets in their last two outings propelling them to third spot. No one could have seen that coming.
The loss of Djenairo Daniels for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury on international duty will be a blow, but the team look solid from back to front.
And, in David Watson, they have a young talent playing at the top of his game. The 20-year-old endured a challenging season last year under McInnes, finding himself out of the team for a spell at the turn of the year.
Stuart Kettlewell is doing an excellent job at Killie and is chasing a third win on the bounce
However, he returned to play a major role in their successful survival bid, and has now kicked on under Kettlewell, hitting the net three times already. You would be hard pushed to find a midfielder in better form in Scotland at the moment.
It’s all set up to be a cracker under the lights.
With this season’s derbies largely failing to offer up much in the way of entertainment, perhaps the ‘Del Classico’ will be the one to buck the trend.
CAN KLIDJE KICKSTART HIBERNIAN'S SEASON?
It might be about time for Thibault Klidje to come out of hiding at Hibernian.
The club parted with a record fee to secure the 24-year-old’s services over the summer, but fans haven’t seen much of him.
The former Luzern striker has made just two starts in all competitions, and netted just once against Livingston — today’s opponents at Easter Road — in the Premier Sports Cup.
Kieron Bowie started the campaign on fire — both domestically and in Europe — but there’s no question his form has dipped of late.
Record-signing Thibault Klidje is eager to impress after enduring a slow start to his Hibs career
If Hibs are to have any chance of challenging for a continental spot again this year, they are going to rely heavily on the youngster.
However, this could be a moment for manager David Gray to take him out of the spotlight and mix things up a bit in an effort to really kickstart the club’s season.
In the main, performances have been decent, but failure to convert chances has cost them.
A home clash against a newly-promoted side shipping plenty of goals should, in theory, be an opportunity to put things right.
