Kilmarnock fans welcome Jefferies' exit

Richmond revealed chairman Michael Johnston made a surprise appearance at a meeting of the trust on Monday evening to inform them Jefferies' near eight-year reign was at an end."He got a round of applause," Richmond told BBC Scotland."I think it's the first round of applause he has ever had, certainly from us."Jim Jefferies gets a very easy ride from the media, but there's been a gradual decline for the last two years."Everybody has a shelf life and Jim seems to have reached his if you ask me and a lot of the guys here feel the same."Kilmarnock have slipped to second bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after winning just one of their last nine games and Richmond claims that was at the heart of the fans' reaction.Richmond explained Johnston appeared unable to go into detail about Jefferies' departure because of confidentiality agreements with the 59-year-old and assistant Billy Brown."But he clarified the fact that it had nothing to do with the Kevin Kyle situation," Richmond added."To be honest, there was a lot going on there before the Kevin Kyle thing happened, so there could be a shade of truth in it."Jefferies left Rugby Park days after captain Kyle alleged Johnston had attempted to discuss the manager's tactics with him, a claim the chairman denied.Richmond added of Kyle: "The chairman just spoke about him just now in glowing terms apart from his wee indiscretion the other week there."From a personal point of view, he acted like a big daft boy. I had expected more from him than that, but I think, if he puts the ball in the net, it will all be forgiven."But this is the Kevin Kyle who has only scored three goals this season, which is not a lot halfway through the season from your top scorer."Fans were willing to lose him over this carry-on and I am not sure he is as big a hero as he once was."Richmond believed Killie would not find it easy to find a quality replacement for Jefferies."What the chairman said was that he is going to bring in an interim manager," said the fans' chief."The bottom line is that they will be going for somebody that they don't need to pay compensation for."

Source: Team_Talk