Kilmarnock manager responds to Reuben Gabriel’s Twitter message

The Super Eagles midfielder believes he has been unfairly treated during his time at the Scottish club

The manager of Kilmarnock, Allan Johnston has told Super Eagles midfielder, Reuben Gabriel that he has to do more to force his way into the club’s starting XI.

Johnston was reacting to comments made on Twitter by the former Kano Pillars player that he had not been treated fairly by the club.

“It’s good that he’s disappointed not to be playing but it’s a bit silly putting it on Twitter. That’s just not done,” Johnston said to the club's official site.

“At the end of the day, you are playing on merit and he has to do more himself to get in the team.

“He’s obviously been a good player when you see that he has been involved in the national team.

“But you play in the first team on merit and because you’ve played for Nigeria doesn’t mean you automatically get picked for the first team.”

Gabriel said in his Twitter comments that he had not been paid for a while as the manager and the owner insist that he is not doing enough in training.

Gabriel tweeted: “I just see video of Alan Johnston [saying] that he has not seen enough of me. Be honest with me and fans, you have seen me training for months.

“I have trained with you everyday for some months working very hard. I’m ready to play for the fans. This is why I come to Scotland.

“You don’t pay my wages, and manager say he don’t see me train when I train everyday. Unfair treatment by two Johnstons. Very strange,” Gabriel added.

But Johnston replied saying there were rules in place about players making their feelings known on social media networks.

“There are rules in place that you’re not meant to talk about football on Twitter or Facebook or whatever.

“I’m sure he understands the rules. I will speak to him and hopefully he learns his lesson.

“The main thing for him is that he’s got to work harder to get himself in the team.

“He needs to do better. At this point, there are a lot of good young players in front of him,” Johnston added.

Gabriel was on the bench for the Super Eagles against Ethiopia and Italy but is yet to feature for his Scottish team this season. The other Nigerian at the club, Rabiu Ibrahim has 10 league appearances to his name.