Locke Delight At Killie Appointment

*Photo by Jeff Holmes *

New Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke says he is both "relieved and delighted" after being handed the Rugby Park reigns on a permanent basis. The Scottish Premiership club announced at a press conference this morning that they had given the former caretaker boss a three-year deal. The ex-Hearts head coach joined the club as assistant boss to Allan Johnston last summer but took control of the team when his one-time Tynecastle team-mate quit at the start of February. The 39-year-old has lost just once in seven games since taking over at Rugby Park. But after he was axed unceremoniously by the Jambos despite leading them through their administration nightmare last summer, Locke admitted he feared talks with Killie could collapse. He said: "I'm just delighted to be able to get my future sorted out. Now I know what's what and I can look forward to pressing ahead with plans we want to put in place for Kilmarnock moving forward. "You always have nagging doubts at the back of your mind that something might fall through, especially after what happened last season, but I was always confident we'd get it signed off. "The new board of directors have been fantastic with me and after meeting with them I knew I'd get it over the line. "I left all the negotiations to my lawyer Liam O'Donnell and while he sorted everything out, I just concentrated on the football. "I'm over the moon that it's now all been agreed. Now I can get back to focusing on the team, which is the most important thing." New Killie chairman Jim Mann added: "I am delighted we have been able to secure Gary on a permanent basis for the next three years. "Over the last few weeks almost every player has come up to me and told me we need to appoint him as manager - I think that is a great testament to his man management skills and the energy he has brought to training since taking over. This added to our recent results on the park put Gary in a very strong position. "I was also conscious when hiring that we needed a long-term plan, we needed someone who was capable of helping us develop our very own style of football 'the Killie Way' and ensuring that it filtered down the club. "After spending some considerable time with Gary over the last few months I have no doubt he is the person to do this. We all wish him the best of luck going forward."