If it came out of Killie boss Jim Jefferies mouth then you'll find it here (if it was picked up by the press.)  Dates shown are dates reported ..... 

Aug 16th on the Buddies Post Match...  "Pascali has shaved his head since he signed and he looks a fearsome character. Maybe that is what's wrong. But he is a good player with good positional sense and he competes well. I thought the booking was very harsh. What incensed us was that when Garry Brady was dispossessed by Craig Bryson, he took the feet from him and the referee had a quiet word with him. Then he books Pascali for a challenge. Okay, it was a foul but it was nothing worse than Brady's and if you are going to do it for one you should do it for the other. They were either both bookings or neither of them.
On Connor Sammon ... "I thought Conor was out of luck. He is getting close to his goal and he was a handful. He did everything right on a couple of occasions, he found the target a couple of times but the goalkeeper was equal to it. He's only young and you can see his willingness to run into corners. He's got a lot to learn but he is only going to get better." Match Report

Aug 14th on the Buddies Pre Match... "What I like about them is since they've come in, they've consolidated and every year they've tried to improve. Gus has brought some decent players in, maybe he's got a bit more resources from the sale of the ground. They're progressing and they are a club on the up. They'll be pleased with their performance and this is now their first home game, so we know it'll be a hard game. But every game is a hard game."
On Building on Last Week... "It's important to get off to a good start. Where you have to take stock of things is after 10 or 11 games, once you've played everyone. Then you'll get an idea of what you've got to do, if you're going to struggle or whether you'll challenge for a top-six place. The picture will become clearer after 10 games but if we can get off to a good start, it can give us a bit of momentum. There is very little between the teams. Rangers and Celtc will always be there at the end of the day but for the other clubs, it'll be a lot closer. So that's why it's important to get points in the bag and put someone else under pressure."

Aug 13th on Signing Donovan Simmonds on loan ..."Donovan is extremely quick and looks a real prospect, so we decided to get him in on loan. He gives me another attacking option,"

Aug 9th on the Hibs Post Match... "Wins and performances like that might shut a few people up about us and relegation. It was a great goal by Jamie, he is a versatile player and a handy man to have in the squad. I was pleased for him because it was a goal fit to win any game. Ryan's shoulder has popped out and we will see on Monday how long he will be out for and Simon has stitches. But Frazer Wright came on played well and this season we have more competition for places." Match Report

Aug 8th on the Hibs Pre Match... "It doesn't matter what your pre-season results are, it's totally different when it comes to the opening day. We didn't have a great pre-season last year yet we went to Parkhead, took on Celtic and got a deserved point out of the game. So I don't go overboard when we win our pre-season games or lose them. It's about getting match practice against teams who make you work. The business starts on Saturday. We are up for it and we know we have tough opponents - just as do they. We are confident of offering a much bigger challenge because the circumstances are different this season. Last summer, after two good years, we lost five or six players due to various reasons and then we had injuries. I didn't have very many options and sometimes I couldn't fill the bench. These are facts. More importantly many of my players didn't have any experience of playing in the SPL and shouldn't have been playing but we didn't have any other options. But we have got a good squad now, we have a far better competition for places so there is no reason why we shouldn't at least contest for a top six spot."

Aug 7th Pre Match Hibs Comments.... “Damien (Rascale) has been outstanding in the pre-season games he’s featured in, so I would have every confidence in putting him in, but we’re monitoring Alan Combe in training this week to see how he’s progressing. His problem is a small cracked bone in his back, and as a consequence of that he hasn’t been able to play in the three friendlies.”
On Sammon leading the Killie attack against Hibs....“Conor hasn’t played a lot at our level,“but in the games against QPR and Coventry he did really well, and he was a real handful in training this week, but I repeat what I said last week – he’s one for the future.”
Martyn Corrigan on suffering  a bad reaction after being bitten by an insect....“He took a bit of stick from the lads, looking like the one-eyed monster because of the swelling around his eyes.” 
On the possibility of adding to his attacking options .... “I’ve still got a couple of irons in the fire, and even if something doesn’t happen before the weekend we still have until the end of August to bring in new faces.”
Jefferies on his  hopes to get off to a flying start ....“We’ve brought in a few new faces to strengthen and freshen up the squad. Now we hope that we have a decent crowd along on Saturday to give the players plenty of support.”

Aug 5th on the Season Ahead... “We lost Naismith on one transfer deadline day last season and then Colin Nish to Hibernian on the other, We lost a lot of goal threat and I felt that was one area of the team we had to change. The chairman is not a rich man, but he does his best for Kilmarnock and he agreed to let me bring in two or three players to freshen things up. We got one forward, when I signed Allan Russell from Airdrie, but he was a free agent. Conor is very inexperienced at this level but I felt he was worth a gamble. Reading signed Kevin Doyle from Irish football and he became one of the best scorers in the English Premiership. Conor has pace and strength and I am sure the fans will take to him. It is a fact of life that players will move to get more money. That is a hazard of the job, when you get people like Boyd or Naismith. We have to keep working within our budget. it gets harder every season. I know five or six Premier League clubs, outside the Old Firm, that offer more money than we do. It is hard to keep building when you lose your best players. We had a couple of good seasons, getting into the top five, and reaching the CIS Insurance Cup final, but that simply brings bigger clubs to look at your best players. Ryan O’Leary, Jamie Hamill, Iain Flannigan and Craig Bryson all handled the pressure of playing in the Premier League and now I want them to push on even more. With the new faces we have, and securing Medhi Taouil on a new contract, I still want us to challenge for the top six. That would be a great achievement for us."

Aug 3rd on Donovan Simmonds...  "I spoke with (Coventry assistant manager) Steve Kean and he helped us out. Coventry are thinking of letting him go out on loan as they feel it would benefit him. We gave Donovan 45 minutes against QPR to see what he was like and he's certainly got pace to burn. We'll let him train with us and we'll see how he does."

Aug 1st on Manuel Pascali... "His fitness is way behind the rest of the lads, and that's why I only gave him half an hour against Wolves. He played again on Tuesday, and I'll probably look at him again on Saturday against Coventry. He's certainly looked impressive in training this week."

July 27th on Signing Conor Sammon... “I’m not going to put Conor under pressure by saying that he is going to be the answer to all our striking problems. He’s only 21 and has a lot of raw edges about him, but he’s big, strong and busy and you can see the potential is there. It’s not often you get the chance to sign someone his age, but I think he looks as if he could be a big acquisition for the club.”

July 26th on the Connor Sammon Situation... "We had permission from their chairman to play him (Vs Wolves) but that was withdrawn after Hamilton had a bid accepted for the player, However, he was stripped for action on the bench today because I was hoping to get a phone call in the dug-out telling us he could go on. We've agreed terms with the boy, he wants to come here and his agent has made that clear to Hamilton. I'm just hoping the deal is tied up as soon as possible."

July 17th on Allan Russell's Injury...   "It's important that we bring in a new striker after Allan's injury, We have made a few enquiries and now we are waiting to hear back and see what develops."

July 15th Provides Updates from Italy... "Both Allan (Russell) and Gavin (Skelton) have settled in well, and from what we’ve seen , they’ll be valuable additions. Joel (21-year-old French striker Joel Thomas) has also shaped up well in training, and we’ll have a close look at him before we return home on Thursday. However, it wasn’t possible for another French lad we had hoped to have with us to join us. It’s well documented that it’s in the forward area that I’m looking to strengthen, and even although the new season is coming up fast, I’ve still got a bit of time to bring someone in. We’ll probably give most of the lads a run-out in these games, I would expect by the time we get to the final match against Coventry on August 2, I would be looking to field a side close to the one I want to face Hibs on the opening day of the season. With the new players we have brought in and the younger lads coming through, we’ll have healthy competition for the season ahead.”

July 5th on Bidding for Linfield's peter Thompson..."I don't think they want to do business (with us) and want much more money than we could ever afford . So we have made our final bid and we are not prepared to go any higher."

July 4th on the Squad Latest... "I thought about bringing in Craig (Rocastle ex-Port Vale) on trial and had a chat with him, But I've decided against it as we are well covered in the middle of the park and our priority is another striker. We also inquired about (Peter) Thompson but Linfield wanted substantial money for him, more than we want to pay, so I don't think that will go much further. We've talked to some clubs about getting players in on loan and we are waiting for them to get back to us."

June 27th on Mehdi Taouil's Status...  "I'm in regular contact with Mehdi's agent and, now the player is back in France after his holiday break, I'm arranging to have a chat with him, hopefully by the end of this week. I think the signs that he'll be here next season are very good. The fact that it has taken so long isn't something that we're concerned about."

June 11th on  Di Giacomo, and Wales ... “Both players are available to move on, neither having met the criteria in relation to appearances to kick in another year’s contract. Paul had a loan spell at Partick Thistle, but didn’t play regularly. But we brought him back and he scored a couple of goals. He’s going to look at all his options and see what comes up, but I know that there are two or three clubs trying to get a hold of him.  I’m in touch with a couple of clubs in the English Premiership,and spoken to them about players who they don’t want to lose but who might benefit from regular football in the SPL. They’ve promised me when their players return for pre-season training they’ll have a look at the situation and then let us know.”
On Moroccan Midfielder Mehdi Taouil... “Things on that front are looking okay and I’ll be speaking to the player and his agent at the end of this week to make sure that they’re happy with everything. Then it will be a case of having Mehdi in sometime early next week to get things tied up.”
On the Uncertainty Over Abdul Osman’s Move to Killie ... “There’s no doubt we have hit a snag following the medical, The advice from the medical people is that the player’s back injury could recur, but we’ll have another chat with the surgeons. Things are still ongoing, but I would say that it’s unlikely to go ahead.”
On Rhian Dodds ... “Rhian has signed a new contract until the end of this year and we expect him to make a full recovery from his hernia problems. He came back too quickly after his initial operation and had to have it done again.”

June 6th on the Squad Latest... "Gavin (Skelton) had three or four offers but turned down a better deal to come to us.  But a niggling back injury has put the deal for Abdul (Osman from Gretna) on hold at the moment. Gavin has caught my eye over the last couple of years and his former managers - Davie Irons, Rowan Alexander and Mick Wadsworth - all spoke highly of him.  Things are shaping up well at the moment and we're very hopeful Mehdi Taouil will sign a new contract next week. We're also looking at the possibility of bringing in a couple of strikers on loan from England."

June 4th on Signing Gavin Skelton... "There were several other clubs interested in signing Gavin but he got back to me saying he'd like to join us,"

     J. J.'s Comments for 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 2007-08

Killie Manager History 1957-Present Here