Boyd: Play-off final mauling to Motherwell showed Rangers needed radical surgery

via Evening Times |

KRIS Boyd today dismissed claims the Ladbrokes Premiership play-off system puts the Championship clubs at a disadvantage over their top-flight rivals.

Boyd was helpless to prevent Rangers being thrashed 6-1 on aggregate by Motherwell in the play-off final last season.

Stuart McCall’s side had played four matches against Queen of the South and Hibs in the quarter-finals and semi-finals and were blown away by the Steelmen.

But the former Scotland striker, who will line up against Falkirk in the first leg of the play-off final at Westfield tomorrow night, reckons Well deserved their success.

He believes the Ibrox club was in desperate need of a radical overhaul both on and off the park – something they have undergone since the humiliating reverse.

“We were beaten by a far better team,” he said. “You only have to look at Motherwell this season and the majority of their squad is the same. They probably underachieved in the league.

“Last year was totally different. Rangers and Celtic are something different entirely. You can see from the number of changes there have been at Rangers to see it was a club that needed tidied up and sorted. That’s happened.

“This is a great opportunity for Falkirk. They’ve only lost four games this season. We find ourselves in this situation and we’ve said for numerous weeks that we’ve got better players than we’ve shown.

“I think we’ve shown that in glimpses, but if you can’t do it on a consistent basis then you find yourself in this situation. It’s up to us to reward, the manager and even ourselves. For your own livelihood and the sake of your family, we need to stay in this division.”

Relegation would possibly result in Boyd, who has a year of his contract still remaining, moving on to another Premiership club next season.

But the player stressed that his personal situation was insignificant in comparison to the plight of Kilmarnock.

“I’m not thinking of that,” he said. “The most important thing is the next two games and making sure we come out on top.

“You only need to see what has happened in the last couple of months, there going to be big changes at this club. Either way, there are going to be changes. But it is easier to have an overhaul when you stay in the top division.”

Boyd, who has scored just six times for Kilmarnock in 31 appearances in all competitions this season, has netted some important goals for both club and country during the course of his career.

But if he can hit the target in the next two games and keep Kilmarnock up it will be as sweet as any of them.

“You go into game looking to score,” he said. “But the big thing is the team. If it takes an own goal or whatever, the main thing is that we keep this club in this division.

“It’s going to be a tough task, we know that, but we’re confident we can as long as we perform to the level we’ve shown we can. It starts with hard work. That should be a given and the rest comes from there.”

Should Kilmarnock fail to overcome Falkirk and drop into the Championship they will find themselves in the same league as their Ayrshire rivals Ayr United next season for the first time in 23 years.

The Somerset Park club overcame Stranraer on penalties in the Championship play-off final on Sunday to secure a place in the second tier and their supporters will be hoping Killie join them.

Boyd, though, has no desire to be involved in four derby matches in the league.

“Ayr are in the Championship now and growing a bit of momentum,” he said. “I live there and they are quite confident they will be playing against us next season. But the only way we want an Ayrshire derby next season is in a cup competition.

“I didn’t leave the house on Sunday. I don’t think they were too confident at the time because it wasn’t the best of games, but they got the job done and they are up. There wasn’t much between Ayr and Stranraer over the two games, but it doesn’t need to be the best performance of the season.

“You just need to find a way to come out on top on aggregate and stay in the division. It’s over to us to put on a performance. The most important thing for us is that we stand up, we become men and we go and put on two performances that merits this club staying in the top division.”