It is 14 years since Mark O’Hara was thrown into the deep end for his full Kilmarnock debut at Celtic Park, aged just 16. Manager Kenny Shiels provided the ultimate sink-or-swim scenario for the youngster, who answered an SOS call to solve a right-back issue against Neil Lennon’s champions. Far from drowning, O’Hara strolled through 90 minutes as Kilmarnock ended a 57-year winless run in the east end of Glasgow with a 2-0 victory in October 2012. That performance launched a career that has now come full circle back to Rugby Park via Dundee, Peterborough United, Motherwell, and St Mirren.
Shiels Reflects on O’Hara’s Remarkable Debut
Shiels, who took charge at Rugby Park in June 2011 and led the club to League Cup victory the following year, expressed amazement that O’Hara is still only 30. He told Record Sport: “It’s amazing for me to think Mark is still only 30. That debut seems like a lifetime ago. But Mark is a fantastic footballer and a really, really good character in the dressing room. It’s a great signing for Kilmarnock.”
Shiels recalled the decision to start O’Hara against Celtic: “My assistant, Jimmy Nicholl, said to me, ‘throw him in if you want but it's not the easiest place to get your debut’. I thought; ‘aye you don’t say…’. Kilmarnock hadn't won at Parkhead since 1955. I’ll be honest, I was worried about him a little bit. But I also wanted to let Mark know that I trusted him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been throwing him in there.”
Character and Performance
Shiels praised O’Hara’s temperament: “The type of character he had, he was a silent assassin. He wasn't mouthy. He was well disciplined and well brought up from his family. Mark never took anything for granted. He just played the game and we didn't have any problems that way. He was thrown in at the deep end at right back. He was a midfield player but I thought he had enough of his game knowledge to play that. He was up against James Forrest. But his performance was controlled. He wasn't nervous, he was fine. It was a great opportunity for him to lay down his mark and what a great mark it was for him. He was really, really good.”
O’Hara went on to make 20 top-team appearances that season as Kilmarnock finished ninth. Incredibly, 14 years later, he will still be able to call on Rory McKenzie and Greg Kiltie as teammates, a trio that might make fans think they have entered a time warp.
Youth Development and Future Prospects
For Shiels, O’Hara’s return brings back happy memories of a flourishing youth system. He hopes it can still produce talent and help his old club push towards the top six. Shiels said: “We had a lot of young players coming through from the academy for Kilmarnock back then. It's amazing when you think three of those guys are about to be teammates again. I take pride in seeing these guys have good careers. You know, being a manager is difficult. You don't do these things for your own ego. There's people that's ego-led and there's people that's not. I had to tiptoe through that rather than pump me own name up. Being given a licence to play with the first-team players was a great feeling for them. Someone cared about them. It was great to see them develop like that. I wanted to get people in there to have belief. It's a big thing in football for a young player, for people to have belief in them. We worked on the trust module where we've got to trust each other and make sure that we're prepared for every obstacle. And if we don't win, let's not pass the blame.”
Shiels, who now runs his own coaching academy in Northern Ireland, hopes Neil McCann can find a balance to blood more starlets this season while never losing sight of the need to drive Kilmarnock up the league. He said: “They have to be doing it with dual purpose. Let's not get relegated but let's try and develop maybe four players so that they know each other and come through the youth system. I’m on the outside looking in now and I feel that they've done well. It's a testing time for them. But Kilmarnock should be further up that league.”
