Calderwood jumps for joy as Killie avoid the drop on the last day of the season

Manager Jimmy Calderwood is waiting to hear from Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston whether he and his assistants will be back at Rugby Park next season.

The former Dons boss kept the Ayrshire side in the Scottish Premier League but is in limbo about his future.

Calderwood told BBC Scotland: "I think the chairman wants us to stay. I get that impression. We've been talking about things as if we were staying.

"But there's a lot of uncertainty about the financial situation in football."

Along with first-team coaches Jimmy Nicholl and Sandy Clark, Calderwood steered the Rugby Park side to SPL safety thanks to a goalless draw on Saturday against bottom side Falkirk.

Defeat would have sent Kilmarnock to the First Division and resulted in cuts of around £1.5m, according to Johnston.

After the match, a relieved Calderwood indicated that he wanted to be sure that the ambition of the club's board matched his own, and that he had found the strain of relegation "horrendous".

I was very disappointed last year. There were a couple of wee things but nothing materialised and we were out the game for seven months Jimmy Calderwood on his time out of management

Having enjoyed a few days to reflect on his spell in charge, which began in January when he took over from Jim Jefferies, Calderwood made it clear that a decision on his part would be affected by the resources made available to him.

"The board have got to make a decision," he said.

"The chairman and the board have been very good with us. Does the chairman want us to stay and is it possible for him to keep us?

"He knows my idea - if we do stay, what has got to happen. He may not be able to realise his ambitions financially so he has got to try to get the finances sorted out and then we'll take it from there.

"So it's just a matter of waiting and I'm sure the chairman will contact us sooner rather than later. It just depends on what the ambitions are.

"I've got nothing against staying because it's a good club with good people but there is a lot of things to be done before that will happen."

Calderwood left Pittodrie a year ago with a sound record in the league but having presided over cup defeats by Queen's Park, Queen of the South and Dunfermline.

And despite his relative success at Dunfermline and Aberdeen, he found it difficult to find another club immediately.

"I was very disappointed last year. There were a couple of wee things but nothing materialised and we were out the game for seven months," he recalled.

"It wasn't a pleasant experience. Jimmy and I went round Europe to different clubs, which was fabulous - it gave us a chance to do something we had always dreamed about doing.

"But if we've not got a club come the start of the season I'm sure it would be very difficult again.

"It's a very strange situation. Normally these things are done and dusted and you're looking forward to next season and getting your own players."

Instead, Calderwood has had to make do with basic planning for the 2010/11 campaign.

Revealing he had discussed pre-season fitness programmes and friendlies with the players, and possible comings and goings with the chairman, Calderwood said of Johnston: "So he knows my ideas on that but he will need to see what is possible at this club."

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