‘Steve Clarke exit deja vu a fear for Kilmarnock fans’

After a season of success at Kilmarnock, is there a growing concern manager Derek McInnes could follow the same path as the last man to guide them into Europe?

It’s certainly a fear for fan podcaster Paul Montgomery, who feels he is potentially watching a “re-run” of Steve Clarke’s exit.

Having guided the Rugby Park side to a third-placed finish, Clarke left Ayrshire to take the Scotland job.

The former Kilmarnock boss remains in post at Hampden despite a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, and Montgomery hopes that means at least “another couple of seasons” of McInnes.

“McInnes is still ambitious,” he told the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast. “He’s a brilliant manager, especially at this level, and I’m sure he’ll have already had offers.

“My concern about McInnes in terms of staying with Killie would probably be the Scotland job. It feels like it’s a kind of re-run of the Clarke stuff.

“He seems settled, but I’m not naive enough to think he’s going to be here for another 10 years. If we get another couple of seasons of stability, then he can go to Scotland or Real Madrid or something like that.”

Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell added: “I’m pretty sure he is an ambitious guy and I’m pretty sure he will have one eye on the Scotland job at some point in his managerial career.

“Whether that’s within the next two, three, five, 10 years, I don’t know. But I don’t really see him going to any other club in Scotland.”