Kilmarnock have been a mainstay in the top flight of Scottish football since 1993, winning a few cups along the way and whilst there's been times Killie have been threatened with relegation, they've always came out the other end in a better place.

The Ayrshire-based club are currently led by Tommy Wright, who only took charge in February following the club parting ways with Alex Dyer.

Wright is hoping to lead Killie back to better times but they're struggling as of now in a relegation battle. with their 28-year stay in the top division looking under threat.

Let's look back at better times for the club though as we look at the managers who have the top 10 PPG (points per game) record in Kilmarnock history, with all the names managing at least 10 games for the club.

Clark's first managerial role after a predominantly Premier League-based playing career was at Huddersfield Town, where he caught the eye with a 43-game unbeaten run, but after failed spells at Birmingham City and Blackpool he came up to Scotland in 2016 with a point to prove.

In his first few months with the club, Clark was able to save Killie from the drop in the relegation play-off and had the club in the top six in the 2016-17 season, but he departed in February 2017 to return to England with Bury - a move which didn't work out at all.

Clark finished his year-long tenure with Kilmarnock with a 0.98 PPG record from 44 games.

After playing for Killie earlier in his career, Johnston returned to Rugby Park as manager in 2013 after starting his managerial career at Queen of the South a year before.

Johnston struggled in his first season, just keeping the club outside of the relegation play-offs, but things got better in the following campaign until February 2015, when Johnston - unhappy at the sale of Robbie Muirhead to Dundee United - announced his intentions to quit at the end of the season.

The Killie board got there before him though and sacked Johnston, leaving him with a PPG of 1.06 from 66 games.

Dyer spent much of his career as a coach and assistant, following Chris Powell to Charlton and Huddersfield, before getting managerial experience himself at non-league clubs Welling United and Whitehawk.

Steve Clarke then brought Dyer to Kilmarnock as an assistant in 2017 and remained when he departed for the Scotland job - he was eventually appointed manager following the sacking of Angelo Alessio in late 2019.

After a promising start, Killie started faltering this season and in January 2021, Dyer was sacked as manager with a PPG of 1.07 from 41 games.

Calderwood had previously spent years in charge of Aberdeen before replacing Jim Jeffries at the helm at Rugby Park in January 2010, agreeing a deal until the end of the season.

The Scot kept Killie in the SPL but he wouldn't stay for longer than his original contract - disagreements with the chairman over budgets meant that Calderwood departed after just 23 games and had a PPG of 1.09.

Like Calderwood, McCulloch's time as manager of Killie was brief, although he joined the club in 2015 as a player-coach he took caretaker charge in 2016 and then again following Clark's departure for Bury.

McCulloch was handed the manager's role permanently in the summer of 2017, but lasted just a few months - 13 games to be exact - before he was sacked.

Still though his PPG of 1.14 puts him sixth on this list which is surprising for someone who left so early into their reign.

After a failed stint at Bradford City, Jefferies returned north of the border in 2002 to Kilmarnock, and spent nearly eight years at the club before he departed in 2010.

Jefferies guided Killie to one Scottish League Cup final in his time at manager and kept them safe in the SPL for the duration of his reign, and ended with a PPG of 1.19.

Shiels already had a mountain of coaching experience back in Northern Ireland before being appointed as Killie assistant at 2010, and following Mixu Paatelainen's departure, Shiels stepped into the manager's role temporarily before it became a permanent fixture.

Shiels was wildly successful in his first season, leading the club to not only two wins against high-flying Rangers but also a Scottish League Cup final win.

His second season wasn't so impressive and with Killie struggling in the final few months and Shiels charged by the SFA for comments made about Celtic in an interview, the Northern Irishman was sacked in March 2013 with a PPG of 1.31.

A former assistant coach of Juventus, Italy and Chelsea, Killie's capture of Alessio in the summer of 2019 was seen as a bit of a coup.

He didn't have a great start though as Kilmarnock suffered Europa League disappointment against Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads, but the club were improving through the later months of 2019 and they were sitting in fifth position in the Scottish Premiership when Alessio was sacked in December 2019, just months after arriving.

It seemed more down to player morale than results, as Alessio departed with a PPG of 1.45.

The first of two Killie managers to be headhunted for a national team position, Paatelainen had disappointed at Hibernian as manager before joining the Ayrshire club in 2010.

He would turn Kilmarnock's fortunes around though, impressing many during his time at Rugby Park and in March 2011, approaches came in for him from Scunthorpe United, which was rejected, but also the Finland national team, which couldn't be turned down by Paatelainen.

Killie were comfortably in the top half at the time of the Finn's departure, and he left with a PPG of 1.50 from 34 games.

A coach at many top Premier League teams, Clarke only had managerial experience at Reading between 2014 and 2015 but was perhaps harshly sacked by the Royals.

Clarke though took over at his boyhood Killie in October 2017 and guided the club from the bottom of the league to fifth position - and was subsequently named Manager of the Year by Scottish Football Writers.

His impressive work continued the following season - a third-placed Scottish Premiership finish meant European football but Clarke wouldn't be around to oversee it as he departed for the Scotland job with a PPG of 1.77.