Kilmarnock

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Kilmarnock have signed Moldova winger Nicky Clescenco on a contract until summer 2027.

The 24-year-old, who arrives from Zimbru Chisinau in the Moldovan Super Liga, has scored six goals and provided three assists in 20 appearances this season.

Dublin-born Clescenco spent time in Sporting Lisbon's youth academy and played for Sion's second team in the Swiss lower leagues before a move to Petrocub in Moldova.

He made his Moldova debut in 2021 and has seven caps.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

"He's on the right track."

That's what Rangers head coach Danny Rohl said about 19-year-old Findlay Curtis on Thursday night as questions continue to swirl over the youngster's future.

Curtis started the Europa League defeat in Porto and made an impact after just six minutes, providing the cross for Djeidi Gassama to head Rangers into an early lead.

Rohl's side went on to lose 3-1, bringing an underwhelming European campaign to and end, but Curtis proved to be a shining light on an otherwise dull night.

"I want to praise Findlay," Rohl said after the game.

"He understood my words to him two-and-a-half weeks ago when we spoke honestly about where I see him.

"Since then, he's had exactly the right mindset. Today he was brave and nice in possession."

The winger has made 21 appearances in all competitions this season but has only played 596 minutes, which works out at around 28 minutes per game.

Still, in his limited game-time he has shown plenty of promise, registering three goals and two assists.

In the Premiership he has played 194 minutes across 10 games and created three chances from open play. His two fast breaks have only been bettered by Djeidi Gassama and Nedim Bajrami while his shooting accuracy of 66.7% is better than strikers Youssef Chermiti and Danilo, as well as captain James Tarvernier.

With Rohl keen in bring in additional attacking reinforcements before Monday night's transfer deadline, Curtis could find himself pushed further down the pecking order. He has been strongly linked with a loan move to Kilmarnock.

Rohl said: "We'll make a decision in the next couple of days on him but we need to look at the bigger picture.

"It's about game-time. It doesn't matter what we decide - he's on the right track."

Kilmarnock assistant Billy Dodds, who alongside manager Neil McCann worked with Curtis during their time on Rangers' coaching staff last season, thinks a loan switch to Ayrshire would be the best move.

"I can't confirm anything at the moment," the Killie assistant told BBC Sportsound about a potential loan.

"The best case for him to develop would be to get game-time and I'm not sure he's going to get that at Rangers with the signings they've made.

"He's got to play games somewhere and I think it'll be good for his development.

"I know Neil worked with him hard in terms of shaping crosses in and he's like a sponge, he takes it on board. His cross in Porto was top drawer.

"He's got a fantastic attitude to go with his technical ability. His attitude is to die for so he would be a good addition."

Rangers fans, what do you think? Should Curtis be kept at Ibrox for the title run-in - or sent to Kilmarnock for more game-time?

Let us know your thoughts.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann has been speaking to the media as his side prepare to host Aberdeen on Saturday.

Here are the main points:

• McCann stresses "we're working hard behind the scenes" to get bodies in before Monday night's transfer deadline.

• And while the Killie boss has "nothing to tell you right now", he is "pretty positive we'll have one or two in" before the window shuts.

• McCann admits "it's not that I need them, I would like them" when it comes to new arrivals, adding: "I think the dressing room would benefit from a wee boost."

• But he knows "I need to show we're capable of getting results with the players we've got".

• McCann says "the squad is looking good" for Saturday's game and he was "pleased to have had more time on the training pitch to try and eradicate the disappointment" of last weekend's 4-0 loss at Motherwell.

• While the Killie boss is keen to "park" that result, he thought his side were "very good" in the first half until Tom Lowery's sending off for a second yellow.

• McCann is expecting a "confident" Aberdeen after their 6-2 victory over Livingston, adding "they'll be in a good mood".

• He says it will take "a lot of hard work and maybe a wee bit of luck" to get a result on Saturday but stresses "we've got to try and use" home advantage.

• Max Stryjek and Jamie Brandon have started training but are not ready for the weekend.

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• Aberdeen's 6-2 win over Livingston last time out was the first time they scored six-plus goals in a league match since May 2017, when they beat Partick Thistle 6-0. It was more goals than the Dons had netted in their previous seven Scottish Premiership fixtures combined (four).

• Aberdeen have lost each of their last four away league games, after having won four in a row on the road before that. Indeed, since the start of 2025, the Dons have suffered more away defeats than any side in the Scottish Premiership (14).

• Kilmarnock have lost six of their last seven home league games (D1), including each of their last three in a row. Killie last suffered four successive home defeats in the Scottish Premiership in August 2017 under Lee McCulloch, and last did so within a single top-flight campaign in May 2015 under Gary Locke.

• The side playing at home has won 11 of the last 14 Scottish Premiership matches between Kilmarnock and Aberdeen (three away wins), although the Dons did win their last away to Killie 1-0 in October.

• Kilmarnock have lost each of their last three league meetings with Aberdeen, after having won four of their previous five beforehand (L1).

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

Throughout Killie's embarrassing winless run, we have shown a tendency to fold like a cheap suit once we lose a goal and it was there for all to see again on Saturday.

We started the game fairly well, but the loss of a goal at Motherwell - followed by another red card - sealed our fate before half-time.

We need reinforcements in all areas of the team, but an experienced centre-half who can organise that defence is desperately needed.

A couple of wingers and another striker are required too, but we are now in the final week of the window and time is running out.

There is a general feeling that relegation this time around would be a financial disaster and could see us out of the top league for a long time.

Aberdeen visit the 'Theatre of Pies' this weekend and a win would lift the gloom that surrounds the place at present.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

Watch Sportscene pundit Steven Naismith analyse Kilmarnock's red card and their defensive frailties in Saturday's defeat at Motherwell.

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Watch the best of the action from Fir Park as Motherwell continue their superb home form with a 4-0 rout of Kilmarnock. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 4-0 defeat against Motherwell.

Here's what some of you said:

Kenny: It's the same old story. Killie don't have the quality required to compete in the league and, unless drastic measures are taken to improve the squad, the Championship looks inevitable. If the squad doesn't get improved before the end of the transfer window then I think Neil McCann would have better luck playing the boys from the U19s as they know what it takes to win a game.

Iain: Same old, same old. I think the fans are getting tired of hearing about the lack of confidence, poor decisions by the referee, yellow then red cards undeserved, a bit of bad luck, and so the excuses continue. It is about time the players took a long hard look at themselves and not at the excuses.

Jon: You can't help but think that we're doomed. I don't think any manager could turn the results around with this current squad. The most disappointing thing is that there is no passion or fight in the players. They're just lucky that Livingston keep losing as well. Scraping survival via the play-offs is our only hope.

Tom: How much longer before McCann admits that he hasn't got the players in the building to keep us up. A clear-out of the deadwood and better quality in is the only answer or we will go down.

William: Maybe it's worthwhile just letting the season run its whole course - venting our frustrations doesn't seem to have had any effect in the last three months.

Colin: The officials did not cost us that game. McCann is clutching at straws already but the real blame lies with Stuart Kettlewell and his one dimensional squad. He left us in a hole we do not look like getting out of.

Motherwell maintained their superb home record and deepened Kilmarnock's relegation fears as the hosts strolled to a comfortable Scottish Premiership win.

Read the report

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Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann tells BBC Scotland: "I felt we were the better side in the first part of the game.

"The offside goal was not what killed us today, but it's so marginal. It looks like guesswork.

"We've got another still where it looks like [Polworth] is just on with Sparrow's shoulder.

"What has hurt us is the red card. What we have suffered at Livingston in the early part of the game where the Livingston player's not received the red card and then what we've got today.

"I'm told the first one is reckless. I can't see anything reckless whatsoever. It's such a poor decision, because it puts a combative midfielder on a tightrope. I thought the second one was soft as well.

"When we go down to 10 men against a side with their tails up, it's going to be difficult.

"I'm trying to get instructions onto the pitch. The fourth official knows I'm talking to two of my players and he lets them take a quick free-kick.

"I'm a bit disappointed with that. You're just looking for a wee bit of common sense.

"The whole flip of the game comes from a red card decision because before that I thought we were the better team.

"I don't think shoulders went down. They're just a group suffering from a lack of confidence.

"To concede so soon after the red card is a massive blow.

"I feel a wee bit of an injustice with the red card I have to say.

"What I will say is I don't see a dressing room that chucked it today. They fought. I'm sorry to the fans who came here that they saw a team that was so good until the red card succumb to that defeat.

"We're working hard - the recruitment side of the club have been going at it to try to get bodies in to help the dressing room."

Image source, SNS

New Motherwell striker Eythor Bjorgolfsson could feature against Kilmarnock. Sam Nicholson is almost back in full training while Andy Halliday is on his way back from injury. Elliot Watt (hamstring) and Regan Charles-Cook (ankle) remains out with long-term absentees Filip Stuparevic (knee) and Zach Robinson (Achilles).

Greg Kiltie is closing in on a comeback for Kilmarnock, who got relatively positive news on Marley Watkins' injury this week. Long-term absentees Max Stryjek (heart), Kyle Magennis (knee), Jamie Brandon (ankle/groin), Djenairo Daniels (knee) and Matty Kennedy (hip) remain out while James Brown has also been missing with a knock in recent weeks.

Image source, SNS

Defender Ethan Schilte-Brown says Neil McCann's "fear factor" can be the key to ending their 16-game run without a victory.

McCann has presided over a Premiership draw with bottom club Livingston and a Scottish Cup defeat by Dundee and is looking to pull off an upset against in-form Motherwell on Saturday.

Canadian Schilte-Brown, who this week extended his Rugby Park contract to summer 2028, said: "I've spent the most part of my career at this club, so it's just a really proud moment for me and my family.

"I'm just always grateful for the the staff giving me the chances to start games.

"Obviously it's a big jump (from the youth team) but I think it's just mentally preparing yourself.

"I went out on a couple of loans to Cumnock, Albion Rovers and Dumbarton. It was a step up each time so those helped and just playing with the different managers there as well.

"Every management team that's come in here has first and foremost treated me well and put their trust in me, so I'm grateful for those managers as well.

"The gaffer who's come in has been great. He's got great ideas and he's a very respectable guy and I think really instils that fear factor sometimes, but I think it's a good thing. I'm just looking forward to learning from him."

Killie are looking for a first win in 17 matches when they take on Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday.

"Everyone's just as determined as you can be," Schilte-Brown said. "It's never a good feeling going this long without a win.

"The fans have showed just how good they are by continuing to back us every week. We're desperate to get a win so hopefully it comes on Saturday."

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Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann will have "done his homework" on Motherwell - but has the long winless run shorn his players of the belief they can win at Fir Park?

Killie sit second bottom of the Premiership, without a win since October, as they travel to face fourth-place Well, who have lost just once in 13 games across all competitions.

However, former Rugby Park youth striker Rory Loy doesn't think a result for McCann's side is out of the question.

"What they're going to have to be is well organised, disciplined and have an understanding of what Motherwell do," Loy told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Neil McCann likes to delve into his tactics, understand the opposition and get his team really clued up.

"There's no doubt the homework will be done, and it'll be done thoroughly, so it's just a case of whether his players are capable on the day of believing they can go out and get something against Motherwell."

Image source, SNS

• No Scottish Premiership side has had more direct attacks this season than Motherwell (43, level with Aberdeen), with their three direct attack goals also a joint-high (level with St Mirren).

• Kilmarnock have only won two of their past 24 away league games (D7 L15), and none of their latest eight (D3 L5) since beating Dundee United 2-0 in September.

• Motherwell have won six of their past seven home league matches (D1), including their latest four in a row; the Steelmen last won five in succession within a single season in March 2019.

• Kilmarnock are winless in eight league visits to Motherwell (D4 L4) since a 2-0 victory in December 2020 under Alex Dyer.

• Motherwell have won two of their past three league meetings with Kilmarnock (D1), as many as their previous 10 beforehand (W2 D5 L3). The Steelmen could win back-to-back league matches within a single season against Killie for the first time since 2019-20.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann has been speaking to the media as his side prepare for Saturday's Premiership trip to Motherwell.

Here are the main points:

• McCann is looking forward to getting back to league business after a "disappointing" cup exit to Dundee, adding: "The league is where it's at right now for me, and it should be for the players."

• On the January window - and with Killie reportedly set to add Findlay Curtis, external on loan from Rangers - the Rugby Park boss says "nothing has really changed" in terms of getting players in.

• But McCann stresses Killie "can't afford for anybody to leave the building" and is urging his current players to "perform better than what they've shown".

• The former Dundee manager says centre-back Ethan Schilte-Brown's new contract until 2028 is "a reward for his hard work" amid "aspirations of getting into the Canada team for the World Cup".

• On Motherwell, who are fourth in the table and 23 points above Kilmarnock, McCann is "under no illusions of how difficult this game is going to be".

• With the Rugby Park side winless in 16 games, McCann says it's been "too long" since the supporters saw a victory and insists "we're doing everything we can to try and get that win".

• Team news: McCann says "one or two players are making real good progress behind the scenes" and he has had "good information coming back from Marley Watkins' scan".

• Jamie Brandon is "not too far away" from a return and Greg Kiltie is "closest to getting back into the team".

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock defender Ethan Schilte-Brown has extended his contract until the summer of 2028.

The 20-year-old Canadian joined the Ayrshire club's academy in 2023 after coming through the youth system at MLS side Orlando City.

After spells on loan at Cumnock, Albion Rovers and Dumbarton in his first two seasons in Scotland, Schilte-Brown has made 12 appearances for Killie this term, including starting their past five matches.

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock are "paying the consequences" for the length of time it took to appoint Stuart Kettlewell's successor as they near a club record winless run.

Neil McCann was named as the new head coach on 6 January, three weeks after Kettlewell was sacked.

Kilmarnock sit second bottom of the Premiership table, three points above Livingston, with just two victories in 22 games this term.

Their last league victory came in October, a 2-0 win over St Mirren, and Saturday's Scottish Cup defeat to Dundee made it 16 games without victory, two of which McCann has presided over.

Should Killie will to win any of their next three league fixtures, they will equal a 45-year milestone.

"We're on a horrendous run," Kilmarnock podcaster Callum Scott told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"We're just about to equal our record, I think it's 18 league games without a win, which goes back to 1981. And there's every chance we can break that record, which is something that no club wants to be proud of.

"For me, it's really, really, really tough times being a Kilmarnock fan, but we're still hoping we can get some new recruits in.

"I want to make clear that, at the moment, none of the support put any of that at Neil McCann's door. He's been in here less than two weeks.

"We took far too long to get the appointment done and dusted, particularly with a guy that was out of work as a manager at that moment in time. And we're really paying the consequences for it."

Winger Findlay Curtis, 19, is expected to join Kilmarnock on loan from Rangers. (Herald - subscription required), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

I recall we lost a cup tie away at Inverness during the Derek McInnes reign and thinking it was probably our worst performance in 20 years or more.

Our cup exit at home to Dundee last Saturday maybe wasn't quite as awful but it wasn't a million miles away.

Other than an excellent goal from Dom Thompson we created nothing. Credit to Dundee, who should have scored more, but we made them look like prime Brazil.

Our captain Brad Lyons made a comment last week that we needed to improve but the answers were in the building. I'll respectfully disagree - we are in desperate need of leadership, quality, width and pace.

That's a lot to ask for in the January window but the new manager has inherited an unbalanced squad that was poorly assembled by his predecessor.

We travel to Fir Park in hope rather than expectation but maybe we'll get a wee rub of the green and the outlook will appear much brighter.

Hats off to our travelling fans who will once again attend in good numbers even on the back of this horrific run.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 2-1 defeat against Dundee to knock them out of the Scottish Cup.

Here's what some of you said:

Sandy: Well we shot ourselves in the foot. Started well but then things got worse. Second half was really poor and we could have lost by more. Neil McCann and Billy Dodds have a lot of work to do. Defence is poor, strikers misfiring and we need a creative midfielder. It's going to be a long hard season.

Dan: No confidence in the team at all, we've got into that free fall situation where losing is expected! Board need to open the purse and back the new manager. Some players need to be moved on!

Robert: I thought Killie were atrocious. Poor defensively and offered little in attack. Had it not been for the posts, crossbar and one kicked off the line it would have been a heavy defeat. More than three months since they won. That's relegation form.

Gary: Well we could say sack the manager when it's the defence we want to sack. Whoever agreed to sign some of these players should also be sacked. Most will struggle next season in the Championship. Maybe the sooner relegation is confirmed the better.

Stephen: A total disgrace of a performance. The worst display of an already dreadful season. Dundee were streets ahead in every single aspect and totally dominated. McCann implying it was close and that going down to ten then made it difficult is utterly laughable. It looked like a lower league team taking on a Premiership team. No idea what our tactics were supposed to be and substitutions actually made us worse. Would love to know the criteria on which McCann was judged to be the best candidate for the job.

Grant: So many players so far off the standard. The club lost too many good players in the summer and tried to replace Derek McInnes, and those players, on the cheap and it's coming home to roost now. Need to find some quality, and quickly, or it's back to the Championship next season for us.