Lee Clark has appealed for unity at Kilmarnock after angry shareholders laid the blame for the club’s troubles at the feet of director Michael Johnson.
The Rugby Park outfit’s Ladbrokes Premiership status is hanging in the balance ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash with Hamilton.
While Dundee United’s troubles mean automatic relegation seems unlikely for the Ayrshiremen, defeat to Accies at New Douglas Park combined with Partick Thistle avoiding defeat at home to Inverness will consign Killie to the lottery of the play-offs.
Relegation would spell disaster for a club which last week announced losses of £724,406 for the year to May 30, 2015.
The negativity has been bubbling away under the surface all season as attendances have dwindled.
But tempers finally flared on Monday when unpopular former chairman Johnson faced calls to resign from the board at the club’s AGM from angry shareholders who feel the equal-majority stakeholder still wields too much power behind the scenes.
Boss Clark left the meeting before those protests but he urged supporters to stick by the side as they battle for their top-flight lives.
He said: “I wasn’t there [for the shareholder protests]. Once I did my speech I had to get back to the training ground.
“But the response to me and the players since I’ve been here has been magnificent, so we’re just saying thank you for that and keep it going for these last four games.
“Hopefully that is all we will need to secure our top-flight status. If not, we’ll need them to keep it going for whatever else is coming our way.
“The fans have been terrific. They want to see success. The club has been floundering around this position for too long, so we need to get this season done and dusted and then turn things around.”
