Second-bottom in the Scottish Premiership, winless in 14 and labelled “rubbish” by one of their own fans… Kilmarnock do not have their troubles to seek.
But following Tuesday’s announcement of Neil McCann as their new manager, it’s now up to the 51-year-old – and assistant Billy Dodds – to conjure up some solutions to their pile of problems.
Save a short stint in interim charge at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2021, McCann has not been a manager since leaving Dundee more than seven years ago.
And he is under no illusions of the “difficult” position the Ayrshire club finds itself in, but remains “very confident” he and Dodds can “make an impact”.
They need to do that immediately with their first game in charge on Saturday a six-pointer at the home of bottom-side Livingston, who are just four points behind.
One of the first things on the new manager’s to-do list is improve the squad.
And McCann – who told Kilmarnock’s club media he has “absolutely” been looking at who he can bring in – knows it.
He also understands how tricky a window January is, adding “there’s no guarantees that someone will come in, so I need to look at what I’ve got right here, under my nose, and try and improve us.”
Quite the assignment, given the alarming issue is how many reinforcements his squad require.
Only St Mirren (16) have scored fewer goals in the league – having played two games fewer – so a forward must be near the top of the list.
Bruce Anderson, David Watson and Tyreece John-Jules are the club’s joint-highest goalscorers in the league with three.
They have sorely felt the losses of Kyle Vassell, Danny Armstrong and Fraser Murray in the summer, while injury to Djenairo Daniels early in the season scuppered hopes he might fill the void.
In Vassell, Kilmarnock not only lost a goalscorer but a leader.
During this wretched run – where they last tasted victory on 4 October – no player has been able to drag the team off the canvas.
Captain Brad Lyons has never filled that role before, while former Livingston captain Jamie Brandon was only brought in in the summer. A wise old head is missing.
“I do believe we’ve underperformed and I do believe there’s a lot to come from this existing group,” McCann said.
“The squad is at a stage where, without stating the obvious, they’ve not done enough in games. The points return is not reflective, I think, of what they’re capable of and that’s for me to have a talk to the group in-house.”
In addition to the lack of goals, Kilmarnock are leaking an average of 1.8 goals per game, having already conceded 38. Only Livi have shipped more with 40.
As thin as they are in the forward area, it’s just as bad between the sticks, meaning they must have their eye on a goalkeeper.
Max Stryjek’s absence through injury has coincided with Kilmarnock’s rotten run – they haven’t won during his lay-off – with youngsters Eddie Beach and Celtic loanee Tobi Oluwayemi struggling.
But McCann is accustomed to adversity and is assured in turning things around.
“More often than not you go into a position through someone losing their job and maybe the team not performing as well as it should,” he said.
“And that’s absolutely the position I found myself in previously and we’ve always got very, very good results. So the hard work starts here.”
That hard work which will be needed for the run of games coming up.
Even at this early stage in his tenure, the message will be to return from West Lothian with a win on Saturday.
A home victory would pull Livi to within one point and that would bring real squeaky-bum time to Rugby Park.
If there was any hope the Scottish Cup could offer something of a distraction, a difficult-looking tie against resurgent Dundee doesn’t appear to afford that.
It would be welcomed, though, given trips to high-flying Motherwell and Rangers and sandwiched by the visit of managerless Aberdeen.
Having only won two games all season, it’s not easy to pinpoint where Killie can start picking up some much-needed points as they look to preserve their Premiership status.
But that’s the brief for McCann and Dodds. And it’s a big one.
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