As Kris Doolan will probably be reminded when he takes cost of his first Kilmarnock recreation tomorrow, being a caretaker supervisor is a curious enterprise.
It’s, on the one hand, a selfless gesture, supposed solely to stabilise a membership rendered rudderless by the departure of its earlier boss.
On the opposite, it’s a helpful likelihood to achieve expertise, elevate your profile and, who is aware of, perhaps even turn out to be the following everlasting supervisor.
As ever, there’s a lengthy record of potential successors to Stuart Kettlewell, who was sacked by the Ayrshire membership on Monday after six months within the job.
Former Kilmarnock striker Steven Naismith is in there, along with Aberdeen first-team coach Peter Leven and David Martindale, whose appointment would serve to decrease relegation rivals Livingston.
That Doolan additionally ranks extremely within the betting will come as no shock to anybody, least of all Doolan. In any case, the 39-year-old has been on this film earlier than.
Caretaker Kilmarnock supervisor Kris Doolan prepares his gamers for the sport towards Falkirk
Scotland coach Steven Naismith is amongst those that have been linked with the Kilmarnock job
Stuart Kettlewell was sacked after his Kilmarnock workforce collected simply two factors from 10 video games
In 2023, the previous Partick Thistle striker returned to the Firhill membership as an academy coach and inside a month had taken interim cost of the primary workforce.
After simply three video games, he was introduced as a everlasting successor to the sacked Ian McCall and, within the two-year stint that adopted, twice took Thistle into the promotion playoffs.
This week should really feel surprisingly acquainted to Doolan, who was barely within the door as Kilmarnock’s head of youth growth when he was requested to fill the void at Rugby Park.
The rapid problem for him will probably be to regular a ship that had been itemizing badly below Kettlewell, beginning with a house recreation towards Falkirk.
It gained’t be simple. Kilmarnock haven’t gained since early October and are second-bottom of the Premiership desk, having taken simply two factors from their final 10 video games.
However what number of occasions have we seen it occur? New supervisor waltzes in and, on the first time of asking, strolls off with the victory that had painfully eluded his beleaguered predecessor.
Ought to Doolan be fortunate sufficient to make an prompt influence, you recognize what occurs subsequent: the followers get onside, the media ask questions on his long-term ambitions and, if the shape continues, he emerges as a straightforward choice for the board.
A fast look on the fixture record exhibits that Kilmarnock have St Mirren and Dundee after Falkirk’s go to. Then come Hibs, Livingston and Dundee once more.
They don’t seem to be simple video games, however they aren’t the toughest both. It’s, in reality, an simple alternative for Doolan to make an impression if Kilmarnock are in any respect undecided about their everlasting appointment.
These stop-gap conditions will be harmful territory if golf equipment learn an excessive amount of into them. The sport is suffering from profitable caretakers who’ve later proved to be insufficient after being appointed for the fallacious causes.
Fairly often a caretaker has restricted expertise and maybe a cv that’s ill-suited to the job at hand, however he’s given a three-year deal on the energy of his managerial ‘bounce’.
Like everybody else, Kilmarnock have made that mistake a number of occasions already. Gary Locke, Lee McCulloch and Alex Dyer have been short-term bosses who got here undone within the fullness of time.
If Doolan was the person for the job, they might have appointed him already. It’s protected to imagine he was not amongst their targets final summer season when Kettlewell took over from Derek McInnes.
If Kilmarnock are going about their enterprise correctly, they are going to undertake a rigorous interview course of and appoint a supervisor primarily based on his physique of labor and the standard of his utility.
They won’t do it on the energy of a brief audition within the submit. Regardless of how profitable, a handful of video games is not any information to a supervisor’s aptitude in different areas similar to recruitment and strategic planning.
That, a minimum of, is the way it ought to work. In the true world, it takes a powerful board to miss an interim supervisor who’s stringing wins collectively proper below their nostril, particularly if he has turn out to be common with supporters.
If Doolan can get off to a flyer towards Falkirk, he’ll maintain saying what he has been saying all week. That he’s solely there to offer stability. That he’s not trying past the following recreation.
However a uncommon victory would convey a much-needed smile to the struggling Ayrshire membership. It will additionally take the strain off of their hunt for a brand new supervisor and, possibly, current them with another choice within the course of.
