FORMER Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood reckons he could be out of work until September at the earliest.

The 55-year-old, who replaced Jim Jefferies at Rugby Park in January after being out of the game for eight months, kept the Ayrshire club in the SPL but walked away at the end of last season rather than implement the 25% budget cuts chairman Michael Johnston demanded.

However, even though his former long-term assistant Jimmy Nicholl has been appointed manager of First Division Cowdenbeath, Calderwood faces another long spell as a reluctant spectator.

“I had a couple of options in Holland but they didn’t work out,” said Calderwood.

“Now I’ll just have to wait and see, but I’m not expecting anything to happen until September or so because most clubs seem to have their manager’s position filled.

“I’m now just waiting for someone to have a bad start, which is a horrible thing but that’s the way of it in football. It’s always been the same.”

Meanwhile, some Scottish Premier League clubs are holding back from signing new players until July just to save a month’s wages, according to top agent Gerry Carlile.

While there has been plenty of transfer speculation this summer actual deals have been slow to materialise.

Carlile is not surprised and said: “It’s slower than I’ve noticed before. It is stagnant because clubs everywhere are cutting costs. Clubs will hold off from signing players until July because they don’t want to pay a June wage.”

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KEVIN Kyle claims Aberdeen came within one conversation of landing him on loan in the January transfer window.

The 29-year-old said the Dons had agreed a loan deal with Kilmarnock, with a view to a permanent move this summer. Former Pittodrie manager Jimmy Calderwood, who had just taken over from Jim Jefferies in Ayrshire, even told the former Sunderland and Coventry attacker he would be making the right move as his contract at Rugby Park ran down.

Kyle told how one conversation put a halt to Aberdeen’s hopes of landing him at the turn of the year. Kyle, who insists he knocked back a switch to the Dons to instead sign for Hearts because of his settled family life and not money, said: “All throughout January I was desperate to move. I would have left then if I could have got away. Aberdeen came in and asked me to go on loan there and, for some reason, with Kilmarnock sitting in relegation trouble, the loan was agreed.

“Apparently the forward who was supposedly going to get the goals to keep them up was allowed to go on loan to Aberdeen. Jimmy Calderwood said Aberdeen wanted to sign me for next season, so he thought it would be a good move for me to go.

“But I had a think about it and asked him if he wanted me to go. He said he didn’t but I could go if I wanted.

“I told him I didn’t want to go but I thought it was a bit strange they were allowing me to go. But I stayed and eventually scored a couple of goals to help keep us up.”

©2010 Press and Journal

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JIMMY Calderwood today claimed he never believed South Africa would be ready to host this summer’s World Cup when his Aberdeen FC side visited four years ago.

Aberdeen FC headed there for a pre-season camp in 2006, at a time when the country was still in the early stages of preparation for the biggest sporting tournament on the planet.

Then Pittodrie boss Calderwood left with major concerns about how giant new stadiums would be completed in time, a lack of infrastructure and poor training facilities.

He said: “When I left there with Aberdeen, I didn’t think there was any chance the World Cup was going to be in South Africa.”

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Jimmy Calderwood has told BBC Scotland he will not be returning to Kilmarnock to manage the club.

The ex-Aberdeen boss was unhappy at the playing budget for next season and at the prospect of parting with assistant Sandy Clark to cut operating costs.

“I couldn’t fulfil my ambitions under those financial limitations,” he said.

Calderwood, 55, who guided the Ayrshiremen to Scottish Premier League safety on the final day of the season, replaced Jim Jefferies in January.

However, the manager and Rugby Park chairman Michael Johnston had agreed that that arrangement would run only five months, until the end of the season, at which point both parties would consider a longer-term deal.

Now, though, former Willem II, Nijmegen, Dunfermline and Dons manager Calderwood has decided to continue his career elsewhere.

“To be honest, it was more to do with the budget and Sandy leaving,” he said.

“To have a fighting chance of making the top half of the table, the budget wasn’t enough.

“It would have made it very difficult to do that and take it on to another level.”

Calderwood was not prepared to work without his established management team of Clark and Jimmy Nicholl, the trio having worked together at East End Park and Pittodrie.

But with debts of around £11m, Kilmarnock need to restrict their costs and Johnston wanted to save money by axing Clark, just as he had done with Jefferies’ coach Gary Locke last summer.

“It is true the chairman wanted Sandy to leave to save money, but that was never going to happen as we are a team,” said Calderwood.

Former St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson, who spent 11 years at Kilmarnock and won the Scottish Cup with them, is likely to be on Johnston’s short-list to become new manager.

However, MacPherson, who was sacked by the Paisley side at the end of last season, faces stiff competition from Steve Kean, a first-team coach at Blackburn Rovers.

A midfielder on the books at Celtic in the 1980s, Kean moved to Swansea City before completing his playing career in Portugal.

He has spent time at Spaniards Real Sociedad, Fulham and Coventry before joining Blackburn under Sam Allardyce last year.

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Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston has told BBC Scotland he does not expect the club’s managerial situation to be resolved until the end of May.

Jimmy Calderwood, who helped the Ayrshire side avoid relegation from the Scottish Premier League, is on holiday.

Calderwood was contracted until the end of the season but remains first choice to continue as manager.

“The manager is the priority,” said Johnston. “Once we have that finalised, we will look to the players.”

The Rugby Park outfit also have a number of players out of contract, with many keen to find out if they have a future.

Killie have signed up Daniel McKay on a new two-year contract after the 19-year-old striker spent the second half of last season on loan with Ayr United.

“I’ve already had discussions with Jimmy over players he’d like to keep,” said Johnston.

“It’s a long close season, so there’s plenty of time. Pre-season training doesn’t start until the 5 July.”

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Manager Jimmy Calderwood is waiting to hear from Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston whether he and his assistants will be back at Rugby Park next season.

The former Dons boss kept the Ayrshire side in the Scottish Premier League but is in limbo about his future.

Calderwood told BBC Scotland: “I think the chairman wants us to stay. I get that impression. We’ve been talking about things as if we were staying.

“But there’s a lot of uncertainty about the financial situation in football.”

Along with first-team coaches Jimmy Nicholl and Sandy Clark, Calderwood steered the Rugby Park side to SPL safety thanks to a goalless draw on Saturday against bottom side Falkirk.

Defeat would have sent Kilmarnock to the First Division and resulted in cuts of around £1.5m, according to Johnston.

After the match, a relieved Calderwood indicated that he wanted to be sure that the ambition of the club’s board matched his own, and that he had found the strain of relegation “horrendous”.

Having enjoyed a few days to reflect on his spell in charge, which began in January when he took over from Jim Jefferies, Calderwood made it clear that a decision on his part would be affected by the resources made available to him.

“The board have got to make a decision,” he said.

“The chairman and the board have been very good with us. Does the chairman want us to stay and is it possible for him to keep us?

“He knows my idea – if we do stay, what has got to happen. He may not be able to realise his ambitions financially so he has got to try to get the finances sorted out and then we’ll take it from there.

“So it’s just a matter of waiting and I’m sure the chairman will contact us sooner rather than later. It just depends on what the ambitions are.

“I’ve got nothing against staying because it’s a good club with good people but there is a lot of things to be done before that will happen.”

Calderwood left Pittodrie a year ago with a sound record in the league but having presided over cup defeats by Queen’s Park, Queen of the South and Dunfermline.

And despite his relative success at Dunfermline and Aberdeen, he found it difficult to find another club immediately.

“I was very disappointed last year. There were a couple of wee things but nothing materialised and we were out the game for seven months,” he recalled.

“It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Jimmy and I went round Europe to different clubs, which was fabulous – it gave us a chance to do something we had always dreamed about doing.

“But if we’ve not got a club come the start of the season I’m sure it would be very difficult again.

“It’s a very strange situation. Normally these things are done and dusted and you’re looking forward to next season and getting your own players.”

Instead, Calderwood has had to make do with basic planning for the 2010/11 campaign.

Revealing he had discussed pre-season fitness programmes and friendlies with the players, and possible comings and goings with the chairman, Calderwood said of Johnston: “So he knows my ideas on that but he will need to see what is possible at this club.”

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Jimmy Calderwood has questioned remarks by Falkirk manager Steven Pressley suggesting Killie are under pressure in Saturday’s relegation fight.

Killie are two points ahead of bottom club Falkirk going into the last game of the season.

“I find it strange, but good,” said the Rugby Park manager. “We’re all entitled to say what we want to say.

“As far as I know, we’re still two points ahead and we’re playing against them at home.”

Despite the remarks, Calderwood insists he will not pin Pressley’s comments on the dressing room wall to motivate his side ahead of the relegation encounter.

“They should be geed up enough,” said Calderwood.

“It would be sad if you had to get players up for something like this.

“They know how important it is for the club and for themselves. That’s what it’s all about, it’s all about players and not managers.

“Hopefully, with that massive result we got at Aberdeen, we can take it into the game and finish on a high.”

Calderwood insists his players will not underestimate Pressley’s side, with so much at stake for both clubs and expects the match to be a difficult 90 minutes.

“I think Falkirk are a good team,” said Calderwood. “They work very, very hard – they have some good individuals.

“We played there just before Eddie May left and we were fortunate to win. Even in the cup tie at Rugby Park we were a bit fortuitous.

“I’ve not seen them since, but they’ve got nothing to lose now.

“They know they’ve got to win and maybe that’s what Steven means, but you can’t play for a draw.”

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KILMARNOCK boss Jimmy Calderwood today warned Aberdeen FC they face a battle to sign Kevin Kyle.

Aberdeen FC manager Mark McGhee has admitted he wants to snap up the Rugby Park striker, who will become a free agent this summer.

But Calderwood, who was in charge at Pittodrie before McGhee, claimed there will be a lot of interest in Kyle.

Calderwood said: “There will be a lot more clubs than Aberdeen after him.”

©2010 Evening Express

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Manager Jimmy Calderwood says Kilmarnock will have to emulate last season’s feat if they are to secure their Premier League status.

Killie, who are now one point ahead of bottom side Falkirk, went on a five-game unbeaten run after the split.

“It’s all down to the nitty gritty,” said Calderwood.

“Last year, they were unbeaten in the five games after the split and it’s got to be something like that again to secure our safety.”

Calderwood admitted that the players received a stern assessment of their present predicament from the manager twice this week and he hopes the message gets through.

“I told them a few home truths this week,” revealed the man who was Aberdeen manager last season.

“I did it after the Hearts game before I spoke to the media and again on Thursday about the severity of the situation.

“Last week, we lost 1-0. Seemingly, we’ve lost 1-0 10 times in away games this season and we’ve only scored four goals, which tells it’s own story.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves – we’ve got to get it done.

“We know the quality’s there – we seem to be a much different team at Rugby Park. We’ve got to get that sorted out, because we’ve got three away games in the last five and we can’t rely all the time on our home form.

“If we’d drawn five of those away games, we’d be five points ahead and looking forward to the summer, but that’s not the case. We’ve dug a deep hole and we’ve got to get ourselves out of it.”

Defender Frazer Wright could be back in action next week despite initial thoughts that his season was over after suffering a hamstring injury against Aberdeen.

“I did say he could be out for the season, but it says a lot for the lad,” added Calderwood.

“He’s a wonderful competitor and that’s the type of person you need round about you in the circumstances we find ourselves.

“He actually wanted to play against Hamilton, but we thought that’s a wee bit too soon.

“He’s a wonderful character and a winner – you can’t get enough of them in your team.”

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Jimmy Calderwood believes his old club Aberdeen could yet be involved in the relegation battle.

The Kilmarnock manager does not accept his own side along with St Mirren and Falkirk are the only ones in danger.

He says depending on this weekend’s results, the battle to avoid the drop might even involve Aberdeen.

“If they lose and we win, and whatever happens at the bottom, then it could, because we’re all playing each other,” said Calderwood.

“I think other teams could still get dragged into it. I definitely don’t think it’s a three-horse race.

“It’s very, very close. Usually someone’s tailed off by now, but I think it’s going to go to the wire. Hopefully we’re not on the wire.”

Calderwood is conscious that Kilmarnock’s final league placing will have a major bearing on his own employment next season.

Having accepted the Kilmarnock job until the end of the season initially, no decision will be taken either by him or the chairman Michael Johnston about his future until the club’s Scottish Premier League status is established.

“The most important thing is the club, not Jimmy Calderwood. It’s about Kilmarnock staying in the SPL. That’s what we were brought here for, and then we’ll have a look,” he added.

“Obviously we’re talking to the chairman all the time, but he needs clarity for his club before he can do anything.”

Calderwood foresees brighter times ahead for the Rugby Park club – if they can steer clear of relegation this time round, which he acknowledges is the tricky part.

“Jimmy Nicholl, Sandy Clark and I feel we’ve done well (over the years). We’ve virtually always been fighting for Europe, we got promotion with Dunfermline. We got to cup finals, semi-finals,” he said.

“Obviously if the worst scenario comes, it’d be very difficult to get back to anything like that.”

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