'We have lofty aspirations': Kilmarnock and Kettlewell set season aims
An unusual opening weekend schedule means the match at Rugby Park is the only 3pm kick-off on Saturday and sets the ball rolling for the Premiership season.
Kettlewell, who arrived as manager early in the summer to succeed Derek McInnes, has his full focus on winning his first league game in charge but has set targets for his squad to achieve over the next ten months.
He won't reveal those ambitions publicly but says they are setting their sights high, and the manager says those aims are achievable.
'In league terms, I'm never going to sit here and shout my mouth off about that,'Kettlewell said. 'It's safe to say that we have our goals.
'It's safe to say that we have lofty aspirations and where we want to be.
'You know, different people, different managers, different players, I see it across the country and in other country, sometimes we want to shout our mouth off about what we're gonna be and what we're gonna do.
'As long as my players and the staff and everybody at the football club understands what that looks like, what success is, what failure looks like, and that's really all I'm concerned about.
'Sometimes those goals can shift as well. Sometimes it's a scenario where you do that a little bit better and you think that you can push boundaries.
'It's safe to say that the goals that we've set will be difficult to obtain, but we think they're also achievable.'
While the long-term targets are being kept in-house, the desire for a winning start this weekend is clear and Kettlewell wants to build on a League Cup group stage where the new-look team took three wins and a draw to top their section and reach the second round.
'You always want to get off to a good start,' he said. 'I said it before the group stages that I've always been fortunate in my managerial career to win the group because that can be challenging. I think we've seen that again this year that it can be a sticky competition because of the stage of the season.
'So I always wanted to do that but you always want to get off to a good start. You always want to try and post your first win as quickly as you possibly can.
'So I think the shortest of short-term targets is to try and get your first three points on the board, as difficult as that will be.'
The manager says his side will face a tough task against newly-promoted Livingston on Saturday but is happy with how the group has been during his first weeks in charge and that he has confidence they can improve and succeed as they get to know his methods.
'I think they're responding very well,' he said. 'They're very receptive, which is all I ever asked for.
'But football's football. I've said that a number of times I've got ideas and I've got ways that I believe I want a team to play and function.
'I think it's about limiting excuses. That can come from from either myself, the players, the coaches and staff, and just trying to try to make sure that we're a really competitive side.
'We know that we face a difficult task against a good Livingston side at the weekend and we'll give them every respect as we always do. With any opponent we would always do the same.
'But for me it's just constantly trying to evolve and just trying to become the best version of what we want to be.'
Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
12 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Celtic are a level down in key area of team and vital victory can't alter landscape
The champions are up and running on flag day - but this is a diminished version a year on Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Better late than ever on opening day. Celtic had to show patience amidst increased perturbation at Parkhead before they finally barged down the St Mirren door on 87 minutes to win 1-0. This goes down as a vital victory for Celtic for all manner of reasons. The start to this season has come under the cloud of manager Brendan Rodgers' future and grumblings about their summer transfer business. Not prevailing would have increased the noise, of that there is no doubt. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But for the third successive season, Celtic have capitalised on their nearest rivals dropping points on the first weekend of the campaign. After Rangers' 1-1 draw at Motherwell less than 24 hours earlier, Celtic already have a two-point gap in the title race. Celtic showed their champions mentality - if not a champions performance - by overcoming St Mirren 1-0. | SNS Group This was not as convincing as a year ago, when Celtic scudded Kilmarnock 4-0 on flag day. There were celebratory scenes pre-match when the 2024/25 Premiership trophy was paraded, with one of the club's greats in Paul McStay on banner duty. But once the match began, Celtic's foibles were laid bare by a stubborn and well-organised St Mirren side. By the end there were cheers, but they were laced with relief too. Celtic did enough to win the game. It is important to point that out before going into where there are issues. St Mirren only had one veritable chance midway through the second half when Oisin Smyth had a netbound shot blocked. At the other end, Celtic slapped the woodwork three times and dominated possession with an xG of 1.73 compared to the Buddies' 0.27. They came up against an extremely disciplined St Mirren side intent on being resolute and carrying a threat on the counter attack. Goalkeeper Shamal George repelled almost everything that came his way before Luke McCowan's skidded effort found the far corner via a deflection. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Celtic aren't an improved version But this wasn't quite the Celtic of last year. They were very solid defensively but this performance was a level down from an offensive perspective. The rotations and synergies weren't quite as seamless in midfield, where new signing Benjamin Nygren was preferred to Arne Engels. The Swede was busy without any brilliance. Further forward, the problems are starker. Last season's Daizen Maeda worked hard but was wasteful in the final third, although more threatening than the two forwards next to him. On the right flank, Yang Hjun-jun was too quick to pass sideways or backwards rather than take on St Mirren left-back Declan John. He was replaced by veteran James Forrest before the hour mark and Celtic carried more threat with him on the pitch. With Jota injured and Nicolas Kuhn sold to Como, they need more down that side. The same can be said in the No 9 role. Poor old Adam Idah put in a shift but his ruthlessness in front of goal remains of concern. He headed straight at George in the first half, but the effort that he battered off the post on 72 minutes was more galling given he was seven yards out. Luke McCowan's strike squeezes past Shamal George to give Celtic a 1-0 win over St Mirren. | SNS Group Idah was never going to be an out-and-out replacement for the more diminutive Kyogo Furuhashi, but the Irishman has not done enough since January to convince that he is the long-term solution to lead Celtic's frontline. He cut a frustrated figure when replaced by Johnny Kenny. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad By that point, Celtic Park was starting to simmer. Captain Callum McGregor, one of the team's better players, had a 68th-minute strike ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up. St Mirren were throwing absolutely everything at balls into their penalty box. And they had a bit of lady-luck on their side too, displayed when a Reo Hatate strike hit Marcus Fraser, looped over George and hit the bar, bounced back off the keeper and off the post. There was also the blow of left-back Kieran Tierney trudging off on 65 minutes. On his first competitive match back at the club, the 28-year-old appeared to signal that he had caught the cramp that was bothering him early enough. His withdrawal weakened Celtic, though, given he was their best player, marauding down the wing and firing in some tantalising crosses. Yet whatever Celtic showed in terms of technical ability and creativity, their relentlessness remains. That is ultimately what champions do; they find a way to win, even on off-days. Rodgers threw on Arne Engels and McCowan in a bid to refresh his midfield and it worked when the former Dundee man found a pocket of space and finally broke George and Co's resistance.
Belfast Telegraph
41 minutes ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Dungannon Swifts ace on why Rodney McAree has what it takes to boss it in England or Scotland
Dungannon Swifts defender Adam Glenny believes his manager Rodney McAree could land a top club job in England or Scotland. Since returning to Stangmore Park, the former Glentoran and Coleraine boss has steered the Tyrone men to a fourth-placed Premiership finish and Irish Cup glory.
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Brendan Rodgers makes Celtic 'ready' vow for £40m tie, issues transfers status and Kieran Tierney update
Manager reckons team will be 'ready' for Champions League assignment Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers insists his team will be 'ready' for whatever Monday's Champions League play-off draw throws at them despite needing an 87th-minute goal to break down St Mirren on the opening weekend of the Premiership season. The defending champions struggled to find a way past an obdurate St Mirren team and their inspired goalkeeper Shamal George until Luke McCowan found the net with a deflected strike to seal at 1-0 win. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While Celtic were strong in defence and dominated possession, they did not show enough cutting edge in the final third, with wingers Daizen Maeda and Yang Hjun-jun struggling to make an impact, while striker Adam Idah missed a glorious chance when he struck the post from well inside the penalty box. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers gives the thumbs-up after the 1-0 win over St Mirren. | SNS Group Celtic's lack of summer transfer business has been put under the microscope in the build-up to this season, with many believing that Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn - two key components of the team during the last campaign - have not been adequately replaced. Rodgers and the wider Celtic hierarchy have until September 1 to sign new players but with a two-legged play-off standing in Celtic's way of a £40 million Champions League bounty, concerns remain within the club's fanbase of how equipped their team will be for such a key tie. Celtic are seeded in the Monday lunchtime draw and could play Sturm Graz, Basel, Dynamo Kyiv, the winner of Slovan Bratislava v Kairat Almaty or the winner of Qarabag v Shkendija. The manager, however, is adamant his team will be equipped for the challenge. 'We'll be ready for the games,' Rodgers said. 'Whenever they come, we'll be ready. The players are working very hard. They are always tense games. But we're in a good place and we'll take that game on when it comes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Celtic 'will accept whatever challenge comes' 'I'm feeling really good. We've had a great, really, really good pre-season. The players are shaping up very well and are working very hard. There's real spirit and solidarity here in the team. So we look forward to that. 'We know whoever we get, it's going to be tough, but it will also be tough for them. And we will accept whatever challenge comes.' Rodgers is set to have another defender to call upon, with Manchester City's Jahmai Simpson-Pusey in attendance at Celtic Park to watch the St Mirren game. 'We're still waiting for clearance on that one,' updated Rodgers. 'But he's up here. And I think obviously once it's definite, then it'll be announced. But yes, he's up here ready for the move.' Luke McCowan fires home the winner for Celtic. | SNS Group Rodgers refused to state what his priorities are for the rest of the window. it's just [about] improving,' he said. 'There's areas that we want to improve in the forward line. That's something that we hope we can do over these remaining weeks.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On the game itself, which required a deflected effort from substitute McCowan to break the deadlock, Rodgers commented: 'To win in the first game of the season is always good and it rounds off a lot of the good work that we've done over pre-season. I'm absolutely pleased with the performance. 'Everyone knows St Mirren and Stephen's coaching qualities, they're such a hard team to break down. You have to be aware of the threat on the counter-attack, the physicality at set-pieces. All of that we dealt so well with and the keeper's made some brilliant saves, which then keeps the game in the balance. 'At times we moved the ball really well. At other times we could have attacked a wee bit more when we got into certain positions and been a bit more aggressive in the one-v-one moments. But overall, to play against that team, against that system, that's how you've got to work it and then you need better quality to finish it.'
