Source: Team_Talk
Hassler in talks over Killie vacancy
Kilmarnock chief Michael Johnston has confirmed he has held talks with former Germany star Thomas Hassler over becoming the club's new manager.[LNB] But Johnston was reluctant to install the 44-year-old - currently youth team coach at Cologne - as his favourite to succeed Jimmy Calderwood in the Rugby Park hotseat.[LNB]Johnston said in the Daily Record: "I still have another couple of candidates to interview next week and it would be wrong of me to say the job was as good as filled before those meetings.[LNB]"But Thomas gave me the impression he liked what he saw of the club."[LNB]Calderwood decided to leave Killie because of further cutbacks planned at the debt-laden club.[LNB]But Johnston insists that has not deterred World Cup-winning midfielder Hassler, who also won the 1996 European Championships with Germany.[LNB]Johnston - who confirmed he had also discussed the vacancy with Alex Rae - said: "Thomas knew the financial landscape at the club and that didn't prevent him from getting on to an aeroplane and coming here, did it?[LNB]"He was a gifted player who is now passing on his skills as a coach at a Bundesliga side. That has to be of interest to a club like Kilmarnock.[LNB]"He's been shown everything associated with the club, from the playing surface to the hotel dining room and he'll fly back to Germany after a night's stay to consider his position.[LNB]"I've already spoken to Alex Rae, who is a coach with the MK Dons, and others. I said that Steve Kean, from Blackburn Rovers, was my favoured option but we were unable to get him.[LNB]"That's why it's now best to maintain a dignified silence until the club is in a position to give a definitive statement."
