Kilmarnock have been left reeling from their Europa League humbling at the hands of Connah’s Quay Nomads. The only player that can walk away from this situation with his head held high is Kilmarnock veteran Chris Burke.
The experienced winger was Killie’s best player during their second leg clash. For some bizarre reason, his boss Angelo Alessio thought it would be a good idea to hook him whilst trailing in the tie.
For the 82 minutes he was on the park though, Burke did himself no harm.
Kilmarnock lost the tie when Burke was hooked
The lack of attacking options at Rugby Park was put on display in brutal fashion against their Welsh opponents. The only effective attacking outlet Killie had was Burke.
Up against the Nomads defence, Burke was superior to his part-time opponents. They couldn’t match his technical ability. With a Kris Boyd type striker up top, he would no doubt have bagged a couple of assists.
Alessio made plenty of bad decisions against the Nomads but his worst was taking Burke off. Replacing him with inexperienced youngster Innes Cameron was madness. He’d single handedly killed any creativity he had out on the right.
Killie were 2-0 down by the time Burke was hooked and there was no way back. Meanwhile, the veteran looked on from the bench, livid. Even when he came back onto the park to applaud the fans at full-time he had looks that could kill. You wouldn’t have wanted to get on the wrong side of him that night.
He has nothing to be sorry for though. The 36-year-old was the only one showing desire to win and trying to get anything in front of goal.
Kilmarnock were embarrassed by the Nomads but Burke can at least walk away from the situation knowing he done all he could to prevent the disaster.