GaryMc93

Since the computerised ATP rankings began in 1973 only two men, the last being in 1998, have become No. 1 without having won a Major. WTA is a higher figure with 7 players but they’ve all been between 2003 and 2017. Once the Big 4 or at least Novak retire we might see majors spread out and the above more likely to happen. A combination of the younger guys not looking comfortable on every surface and the fact they (usually Zverev) get dragged in to 5 sets in the early rounds against some absolute jobbers gives the impression that the top 20 in 5 years could all easily beat each other.

I know the U18's played Ross County on Friday 13th and had positive cases by the Monday so not sure if they've played or trained since then. Also the fact that squad is mostly 16/17 y/o and so some are likely still at school might make our situation worse if we try and integrate them with whatever first team players we have remaining. Suppose the game going ahead will depend if our new positive cases were the people previously deemed close contacts and if not do we have anymore ruled out due to being close contacts rather than positive cases.

Smith watched a David White team won 2-0 against a Morton team that started with 10 players Hopkin signed and yet still thought he was the right man for the job. I’m sure, but can’t confirm as B&W TV has deleted everything from last season, that Smith referred to the 3-2 game at Cappielow when Hopkin was appointed as some sort of positive aspect of his managerial ability. However I’m sure even the most pessimistic Ayr fan can admit we shot ourselves in the foot rather than Morton playing us off the park. If the increased budget chat for this season is true then at this rate Smith will run out of money in a couple of years. He probably needs to hire someone with football experience in a role that bridges the gap between on the park and off it.

Hopefully after today Hopkin accepts 4-4-2 is the way forward. It may be simple but it’s far more effective than us playing 3 or 5 at the back and them passing the ball between them before hitting it long. Despite what people think, for me Muirhead is more important in that CM role and, unless we sign a similar physical presence like a Jamie Adams type, I’d be leaving him in midfield for the season. Otherwise our midfield will be too soft and easy to play through. As for Adeloye he might not be the typical target man but his hold up play is what’s impressed me in terms of being able to win fouls, turn defenders and link up with others. Not sure many defenders will enjoy playing against him this season. Only slight criticisms from today would be not getting fresh legs on with 15 of the 90 left and that Afolabi doesn’t look like he’ll be the solution to our striker problems. Also odd that with 10 mins left we brought on Chalmers and Miller but neither were in the first 5 takers. Could be wrong but I imagine O’Connor would have put his hand up to take one if he’d been brought on instead.

Notice we've loaned out 3 of the youngsters. Kinlay Bilham to Irvine Meadow, Andy Heaney to Troon and Jonny Hogg to Rossvale. Wouldn't be surprised if Alex Jeanes and Paul Smith go on loan as well once McAllister is fit and we bring in another striker.

Would bring in Maxwell for either McKenzie or Salkeld so that we have fresh legs to bring on in place of Adeloye in the 2nd half. Only other decisions are a toss up between Albinson and McAdams in goals and at CB between Fjortoft and Baird. Hopkin might go for the experience option for both although in saying that I hope he doesn't drop Hewitt for Chalmers.

Didn't notice either of them at training yesterday so unlikely unless they were away home to collect their stuff.

Don't think Maxwell has recently started following the club. Twitter is a bit weird and doesn't always show the newest following/followers at the top. Yeah he did so I'm thinking he's in a new country with nothing better to do at night. Hopefully he does sign and I don't have to unfollow him.

I hope after the game when we enquired about players we got an actual yes or no answer from Burnley rather than them saying they'll wait and assess it after they've finished pre-season.

Yeah noticed that myself. This is from the Belfast Telegraph earlier this month. So does sound like he'd like full-time football. Still at Solitude, Daire O’Connor is in dialogue with Cliftonville chiefs after a potential move to Scottish Premiership side Livingston failed to materialise. The 24-year-old winger had been on a fortnight’s trial with Livi and is understood to be happy to stay in North Belfast if a deal can be concluded. “When Daire joined us on a short-term deal, it was always his plan to try and secure a move to full-time football across the water,” said Cliftonville Chairman Gerard Lawlor. “We fully understand that and allowed him to explore other options. We want Daire to sign a new deal to stay with us at Solitude, and we are in dialogue in the hope of making that happen.”

No doubt will turn out that Pat isn't a fan of huskies being made to wear football top and that Daire O'Connor has nothing better to do on a Saturday night than follow people straight back on twitter.

I wonder if Daire O’Connor is a potential target. According to the Cliftonville website he's known as The Irish Messi. Has already been on trial this summer with Livi and more recently Harrogate Town.

They do have a Hanker playing so probably a typo and it's actually Harker. One way to find out is if he scores. Mancini might be part of the first team today. He's not starting but could be part of the second half line-up. The pair of them will probably turn up on the 31st August after we've all given up hope of them signing.

Before Kerr was sacked a Montrose fan was linking us with Kai Fotheringham which didn’t make much sense until Smith leaving was announced. Possible the agreement to let Smith leave early was made when Kerr was still manager or at least before Hopkin was appointed. Also in Smith’s final few games our style of play and results (Dundee aside) under Hopkin wouldn’t have helped make Smith think we was a good tactic fit for the manager’s system (which is probably true) and neither would the fact that we didn’t win a game after he left. He's not the biggest loss but will 100% score against us.

Face German pair Krawietz and Puetz in R2. Yeah even the channel I mentioned only appears to show centre court. Finally activated my free 12 months of Discovery+ through Sky so managed to get it on there.

Andy and Joe Salisbury's doubles match is 2nd match on court 5 tomorrow. Jamie and Neal Skupski are 3rd on court 11. Heather Watson also in action and is first up on the opening day. Play starts at 11am in Tokyo (3am UK time) and looks like the tennis will be on Eurosport 3 (983 on Sky). No idea what courts that will actually cover though.

From the south section it's Queen's Park, East Kilbride, Dumbarton and Edinburgh City that have played 4 games. East Kilbride have a league game on Saturday, we've already played Edinburgh City and potentially could play Dumbarton in the cup if they beat Rangers B. So Queen's Park come on down.

Tough draw in the doubles too where Murray and Salisbury play 2nd seeds Mahut and Herbert. Although decent chance to make the SF if they could get through that.

Burnley 1st team played two training matches at the same time today. Mancini wasn't involved however Harker started. They were without two of their first choice forwards so doubt he'll be involved once the league season starts.

I think Maxwell signing would suggest Hopkin moving away from 5-3-2 to a 4-4-2 system and pushing Reading on. He played 5 at the back away at Arbroath and we were 3-0 down by the time we brought McKenzie on for Roscoe in the 34th minute. I'm sure Barjonas in the first minute and Walsh in the last minute had our only two shots at goal that day. We used it against Albion Rovers first game of the season which finished 0-0 against a team we beat 5-2 at the same stage last year and despite what someone said earlier it looked to me like we switched to a back 4 against Edinburgh City with Muirhead in more of a midfield holding role. Also based on Saturday I'm not sure Chalmers contributed enough at LM and seems to be more of a passenger when he plays CM to suggest he's good enough to start without us having to build the whole team around him.

Burnley U23s have another friendly on Wednesday night against Lancaster City so it might be worth seeing who plays. I doubt we'll get anyone from them this week though so imagine it will be someone else coming in.

I'm sure as well as LB that Reading played RB and LM for the U21's but that might say less about his versatility and more about Scot Gemmill's tactics. The Athletic mentioned it but I've no idea how reliable that makes it. Several clubs including Hibernian and St Mirren were interested but it is understood Rangers would want a compensation fee in addition to a sell-on percentage if Maxwell were to move on, which proved prohibitive to some. A loan to the Scottish Championship, where Ayr United are keen, or to the Norwegian top flight, where there is also interest, looks to be more viable.

Apparently we're interested in a loan move for James Maxwell. Not sure if there is much truth in it unless we want to move Reading to LM.

Andrew Heaney and Jonathan Hogg were part of the U18's last season and were listed online as trialists but noticed the stadium announcer read out their names. Didn't pay attention to what he said for the sub goalie but possibly was a youth GK, although not sure if Sandberg is still at the club.

He initially joined Burnley U23's on loan last October from the Angers B side before the move was made permanent in January. Given the number of U23's that stayed back to train with the Burnley first team I'd imagine anyone that made the trip to Scotland will be available for loan provided we can guarantee enough game time and the players are genuinely interested in joining.