grumswall

It will really depend on how Murray wants to set up on Saturday. Mcgill at lb and dick at cb with brown next to Byrne is probably how I would go. I prefer dick at cb just simply because he's not expected to get forward and he's decent in the air. I also think browns drive in midfield will be sorely missed if he is at cb. We've seen how effective dick at cb and McGill at lb was at eep at sitting in and absorbing the pressure. Utd obviously have a bit more quality than the pars do though so he might decide to just have a go in which case Byrne will either play on his own in the 4132 or he'll bring stanton back to sit next to him. Some big decisions for Murray to make this week and alot depends on the availability of Watson.

If we don't give him a new contract he won't be short of offers. I remember Dumbarton fans raving about how good he was and I didn't believe it at the time, but he has everything needed to actually play at a higher level for me. The only thing he's missing is a right foot but against qp he played a fantastic cross in for smith to get the first goal with it so he still has that in his locker as well. The way we lined up today we had 5 players who you couldn't describe as out and out strikers but the way they all linked up with the short and sharp passing was a joy to watch especially in the first half. Stanton’s run forward and pass for eastons second has been spoken about but I think the touch and pass from callum smith to get stanton on his way was fantastic and deserves a mention. Next week is Imo, a massive game for us and one where we can really set a marker for what we're going to do this season. I would be very surprised to see us play the same way from the off but it may be a gamble worth taking early on.

Did stanton not sign a new deal in the summer? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part. First name on the team sheet for me every week. Connolly hasn't kicked a ball for us yet this season and he had a good partnership with millen on the right last season. I like Mullen so far and think we've missed him when he hasn't played but a fit connolly gives Murray another headache.

We're a pretty small team compared to most once you take Hamilton out the equation.

I missed eastons shove as I was looking at Vaughan on the ground at the time but aye its poor refereeing that led to kicking off as it did.

Thought it was Murray's poorest game for us but as you say he was injured early on and there was definitely not a lack of effort from him. I thought millen had a poor game as well. He needs to stop letting his man face him up so easily. Brown did absolutely fine at cb beyond letting dowds get the run of him for the goal. I thought Byrne was very good today. You could see his experience thoughout the game, knowing when to buy a foul and slow the game down. Our game management was generally good in the second half but I do think Murray should have made a change earlier to try and control the central areas more. I thought mcgill in to cm would have been the right change for Vaughan. I don't think gullan offered anything when he came on today and if Hamilton was fit, I doubt he would have got on when he did. Vaughan was perhaps a little lucky not to see red today and if it wasn't for the afters from the Ayr players, I think he might have but I'd like to see a replay of it. The result definitely sets up next week against utd nicely though. Hopefully Watson is back for that one.

Aye he's always like that. Puts davo to shame with how much he berates dabrowski at times. Dabrowski is an excellent shot stopper but doesn't put much confidence in anyone when dealing with every thing else, iv not figured out if that's just his style and he's just that composed (without looking it) or if he's just inexperienced. I thought your 'keeper looked alot worse today though to be honest.

Millen is a bit of a wind up merchant so he was always going to do that after the stick he got.

You stay classy...

Had to laugh at one of them applauding Byrne for going down to win a free kick in the first half, then absolutely berating him for doing the same thing late on.

Byrne has them raging

Yeah true.

Goal came from brown not being a cb and letting dowds get the run on him

It's our Spanish kit, literally has the canary islands on it.

Pretty comfortable half for us. Created and took our chances well. Not giving them a minute on the ball which has resulted in them just trying shots from anywhere really. If Ayr are to get back in to the game it will come from a mistake or a set peice based on the first half.

Wouldn't be surprised to see a return to the 4132 today but it would make more sense for stanton to be dropping back into browns holding role.

Cole is going to be out of action for at least a couple of months so it would definitely be one way to progress his story and if everyone is fully covered it's an easy way to not have him have to take part in anything physical. With it being mjfs mask then he also in theory has easy access to it. There is the case that it could just be mjf realising what Cole said about it being normal to have more than one friend is true though.

I think I watched the game online or on alba or whatever it was. Was that not essentially the only save he actually made also? We naturally packed the defence and stopped shots happening but he did do pretty well coming off his line etc as well iirc. It's that old thing of every 'keeper started out as a striker really.

I agree with dick moving to cb and McGill moving to lb. I'm not sure where dick being a leader has came from though. I'm actually surprised he is our main lb this season despite him improving towards the end of last season. One thing that's always bugged me about his signing was mcglynn publicly stating he was his 3rd choice to sign that summer. He's definitely a solid enough player though but has shown his limitations at times with his slow reaction speed on top of giving players too much time on the ball. Again, I like mcgill but he isn't a lb despite how well he's done at eep. I felt we missed Mullen at rm against Inverness massively. I underrated him before thay game but once he wasn't there, I appreciate what he does more. He didn't have a great game against Airdrie but I think they just doubled up in the right areas to stop us playing alot, see easton at lw against them also. I'd have kept Ross but he doesn't offer much different to what smith does who came on at lw on Saturday. I'm not understanding what you mean with the diamond? The way it reads to me, we're playing with a 5 man midfield? Which makes playing the diamond pointless. Byrne is technically better than brown though so if we're having one sit, it will be brown.

Did we not play them with Ryan Stevenson in goals at Somerset under yogi? I'm starting to buy in to Bobby Barr saying we would have stayed up if locke wasn't punted *shudders"

I think Murray said two months during the week. For the 100th time they are hopeful they know this issue now...

I don't think we played anyone out of position today. Watson being injured meant we had to bring Masson on, who actually did very well, but was pulled out of position leaving a massive gap for the goal. That's just an experience thing. Brown was sitting in front of him today positionally and wasn't there as it was the rarest of off days from him also. I was told from a dunfermline fan that Airdrie will surprise a few teams this season and I can see that happening with the way they play. Their movement and playing between the lines is very good as well as beating the press, which we didn't do effectively today at all.

I thought he was really coming in to the game from half time onward today and was looking to control the ball instead of just flicking it on. It seemed to me he almost got caught with the ball under him before he hit that shot but he needed to hit it low and it's a goal and potentially 3 points. Not sure if he took a nudge which put him slightly off balance, I'm sure the highlights will show weather any of that is true. I think Hamilton is really improving week on week as he gets fitter so I hope his injury isn't a bad one. Has he actually played a full 90 for us yet?

Millen struggled from the start today in all honesty. He was letting his man face him up too often and he isn't the quickest so struggled with being ran at and the movement of airdries players. Watson going off didn't help matters but it was a rare off day from him today Imo.