diegomarahenry

It was more a joke about how shite our team is just now. McKenzie could have been out on loan this season based on how much he has played. Ecripont is 3rd choice left back, beyond that I’d be hard pushed to name another youth player that isn’t already on loan at a junior team. id rather they played out on loan than a game at KG5 every week

I agree with all of what you say, on this section though. In my opinion, if Hopkin or Duffy were in charge of Raiths current squad this season, they would be struggling with us at the bottom of the league. appointing the right manager is absolutely key to the development of the playing squad. Fans would back anything if there is a clear forward plan and obvious improvements to be seen. Up until yesterday, that wasn’t massively apparent. Going down at a whimper because we are part time and have a small budget is understandable. Going down with a full time team because of a managers inadequacy is another. Clyde, Airdrie and Stirling Albion are ghosts of clubs that were on the rise off the park and it can easily happen to Ayr if apathy creeps in. We need to be at a stage as a club and support that we don’t let standards slip from year to year and aim for continual improvement where budgets allow.

Raith have signed Sam Stanton. A player who has underachieved and flattered to deceive for years. Just like Dario Zanatta

The only drawback I can see with this is, teams actually wanted players from Hibs on loan, we are going to have to hawk some absolute shite in the coming weeks, if any clubs do take players they probably won’t answer the phone again. We did farm a lot of players out to junior teams over the last few years for development so hopefully that will continue while they progress through the pyramid system. there have been so few players on the bench for the first team. It’s hard to have a passing knowledge on the young players coming through. Apart from Ecripont, there are none regularly on the horizon.

He’s been fine this season, possibly overshadowed by some of our other defenders to the point he almost goes unnoticed. He was dreadful last season and probably cost us a goal a game on average just by switching off. He played with a few centre halfs and goalkeepers which probably didn’t help him. He still has a bit of last seasons stink on him though and I don’t think too many fans would be upset if he were to leave. He’s probably gone from being the first centre half out the door to maybe 3rd.

Again with the wee patter. You really are an odd person. there is also nothing negative about what I posted, the interview was a day 1 say the right things without saying anything definitive…which is exactly the right thing to do. Others are reading between the lines of what he said but there is nothing there. Why? Because it is his first day. When a manager comes in and makes bold statements on day 1 they are normally either playing to the gallery with no substance behind what they are saying, or they are arrogant fuckwits that will blame everything around them other than themselves when it goes wrong. it is you that is negative, Reading everything I post, absolutely raging and trying to find an agenda…then posting creepy stuff fantasising about me being small (I’m 6’1 for reference) the last time you got this worked up was backing your man Hopkin to the hilt then had to take a months sabbatical once he was sacked in embarrassment.

Glad they put an interview up, clears up some aspects of what is going on. There wasn't any targets or statements of intent mentioned or any bold predictions. Nothing of note really other than the enthusiasm he seems to have for the job. It looks like a good development opportunity for him as well as a highly regarded employee for the club. Unfortunately he's not going to get a quiet induction period because we are going to need almost a rebuild in January. Smith said during the Spiers interview that a footballing director was something we didn't have the budget for currently. perhaps the projected income from the Hub has facilitated his hiring. He was pretty honest about his football knowledge, it must be frustrating owning your boyhood team and making a James Hunt of your first appointment and then being sold a pup on your second. It will have been a costly mistake and hopefully Mathie will prevent to many more.

Be interesting seeing what the next steps are. If Mathie is going to be the public face of the club then you would expect an interview with him to be up on the club website soon explaining his role and his hopes etc. If there isn't then that would be concerning. One of the biggest changes to the club structure in years deserves and should have an interview. It would also be good to have one with Smith as well. Even if it coincides with the new commercial manager. I don't expect any swift changes but now would be the time to make them, it would allow a settling in period and time to get things right to hopefully achieve mediocrity and cement a mid-table place.

I was pleased when Duffy joined, it was obvious that Hopkin was mince and it looked like he knew he needed support. Duffy didn’t appear to help Hopkin at all, when he took over I thought he should have left as part of a failing team but the next 3 games it looked like the shackles of Hopkins set-up had been removed and we were playing football again. after getting pumped of Partick, the shackles were reapplied and it’s not worked since. To me, I don’t think his heart is in it, his interviews never address the free fall we are in or a desire to get it right, they come across as a - meh, you win some you lose some. Reading and Murdoch have looked better players under him, better than they did under Kerr or Hopkin. The defence as a whole have looked worse though. persevering with Afolabi and continually dropping Bradley has cost us points, sitting back with a 3rd of the pitch between the back line and midfield has also cost us because it relies on defenders not making cheap mistakes. Anyone who has watched us in the last 18 months knows that we make them half a dozen times a game. you can blame the players and the squad Hopkin built but there are ways to compensate and play to strengths and Duffy hasn’t done that

Mathie has other interests looking at his profile so this role might allow him To combine them. so his wage, while probably still a decent amount may be based on a part time requirement rather than day to day running. we have a board of directors, a club secretary, a CEO and admin staff. it may be a marriage of convenience for both parties. Either way it is a step in the right direction

Unless Smith and Mathie are going to announce Ross, who is lured with the promise of spunking 10's of thousands on players in the next 18 months. It would show a statement of ambition. No guarantee of success either. I imagine they will still be keeping Duffy until the end of the season or it becomes messy and they have to punt him, whatever comes first. His first job will hopefully be phoning every agent in existence to try and get players in.

Apart from the article saying he unearthed John McGinn......like Neilson saying he unearthed Shankland, Its came as bit of a surprise. Time will tell if it is a good move, he has experience and is a former player, local as well. It is something that will hopefully take the pressure off Smith and improve things off and on the park. Positive appointment in my opinion.

Ayr played better on Friday night but I suspect that was because Hamiltons midfield looked worse than ours. We are normally so one dimensional. I suspect Duffy will go with the same team again, mostly because he has no clue what do do and Friday almost worked by accident. He chose not to play Moffat all season and then hails it a masterstroke that he brought one of the best link-up players in to the squad and we are having shots at goal again. Moffat has longer left in his professional career at 36 than Afolabi has at 20, yet he got the nod for months. Again, it comes down to actually wanting to win, If Queens are up for it then they will win. First goals the winner 1 nil win to some c**t

If we did I don’t think he could play until January anyway

The frustrating thing about tonight is, we played on the front foot and had a bit of a go at Hamilton and faired a lot better. It’s often been the case this season but we always resort to defending our 18 yard line for the first hour. Defensively we were ok, McGinty actually played well. Not sure what happened at the goal, if Reading was asleep or he didn’t get a shout. Midfield, McCallister spent the game apologising to people and looking bemused. Murdoch did a lot of work. O’Conner was ok in spells and Maxwell played well. Adeloye could have had more goals. Moffat didn’t do much but what he did was positive and always adds a different dimension. Duffy hasn’t had a chance to sign any players but playing Afolabi over Moffat and playing negative football is on him. Maxwell spoke well in his post match interview (content not quality) and he didn’t sound like a loan player. Adeloye sounded gutted.

Cameron sr took the club on from Barr for £1 and inherited the debt. Cameron Jr wiped out the “hard” debt but the “soft” debt increased every year from directors. Cameron and the board were putting in at least 5 figures a year if you believe him. This was to keep the club afloat and operating. Chucking 50 to a hundred grand at something every year only to get moaned at can’t be very pleasant and it is the measure of the guy that he didn’t sell it to some conman. Had Smith not appeared, I expect that Cameron would still be owner, still making a loss with no hub. Would we be doing better on the pitch? Hard to say. His appointments were mostly shite

I would like to apologise to all Hibs fans for this w****r taking up your thread to act out his unhealthy obsession with me and Ayr United as a whole. I wish you well with your endeavours

The concerning part of it for me is Duffys Quote, we need to cut out the mistakes. Normally when he makes a statement like that we are worse in the following game

Other clubs manage it by focusing on other areas of business away from the team. for instance, all weather parks that can be hired out (don’t want one personally) letting office space or commercial space in the stadium. Hospitality space for rental. A gym and physio space that members can use in the evenings and available to players during the day. There are junior clubs that attract the best players because of the money they make from their community rather than gate money. Having a setup like this means that the financial burden on individuals are less. From what I have seen, the hub, the conference facilities and the hospitality facilities will all be available to the public out side of match days

Absolutely

Both players were inconsistent with Ayr mostly due to them being played in a different role almost every week. both were flung in as youth players, (Forrest was still at school when he scored his first goal for the club) due to the piss poor squad we had at the time and they had to adapt pretty quickly. The Forrest brothers seem to be the same, brilliant for a 6 week spell every once in a while and frustrating the rest of the time.

I know you think you are being funny but you are really quite odd and making shit up is making it worse. Your obsession with me used to be quite sweet but now it has become weird.

I don't think anyone is expecting success in year one, they are trying to halt a slide that started in Camerons last year and is getting worse. I also think that if we show continual improvement, no one will complain if we don't end up in the premier league in 5 years. The slide we are on at the moment is going at the same rate as the gulf between the club and support. it is widening and a lot more could be done on one aspect that could improve the other. The success Cameron and McCall built and the foundations that were created are almost gone, the frustrating part is that the infrastructure around the club is improving without that transferring to the pitch, We could be the first full time Ayr team to be relegated. I don't expect anyone to put huge sums of money in to the club they don't have to and having a club that is self sufficient is everyone's goal. So explaining the situation will calm the majority of the support down. After the Barr era, most Ayr fans are realistic about money and expectation. But knowing there is a plan in place in the coming 6 weeks that will hopefully see us alright would put a lot of peoples mind at ease.

If he ever becomes Ayr manager, I fucking own you yah p***k

You bought your way out of it, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about anyone mentioning it though.