F**k Off Roberts

[Hawk89]

Advertise the job for once, see who is interested rather than pick someone at random from the current payroll

Rip up McGowan's contract, allow Twaddle, Mcstay, Winters, Brown, & Merengi to "find other clubs"

Sign or at least play players who care about the result, the only 3 things that Ross Robertson did when he came on yesterday was was put in 3 frustrated thumping challanges and ended up getting booked, he was the only person to look as if he was taking the defeat personaly, too many of them put in half a shift week in week out.

Moffat 99% of the time could not put in more effort that he does, Robbie Crawford runs for 90min as does McCausland, the trialist looked interesed as well, other than that they are a shower of wasters, Sinclair was given some slack when he was scoring goals, now he's as bad as the rest of them.

I could handle being relegated playing a team of boys, if that is all we could afford, but we can afford 8-9 pro's and they are the ones letting the club down

Brown I would keep, I've warmed to him recently and he has been putting in a decent performances.

I was pretty harsh to him when he started out although when I came to realise that McCann and Twaddle are truly awful players and he had very little going on in front of him my views changed.

First priority is to bin McCann and Twaddle. They should both retire and forget this season even happened.

Second priority is to move on McStay as he's completely anonymous when he's having a good game, Merenghi is the same however he's also injured every other game.

I would keep Winters, he's not the best but atleast he looks like he's trying week in week out and I feel that if he had a stronger midfield supporting both himself and Moff they would be doing alot better.

McGill (in the two game I can remember seeing him) really hasn't been up to much, I'm not sure if it would be fair to judge him as he's young and has garbage around him.

Roberts is hopelessly out of his depth and to get through this season he's needing an experienced #2 who will tear shreds out the players not performing and install a level of discipline and authority.

Roberts comments pre Alloa summed him up for me, he said that he had fun as a football player and he thought being a manager would be fun as well. He needs to understand that he can have a laugh and a joke if its going well with his pals but he needs to tear into them if they aren't bothering their arses to perform.

[diegomarahenry]

Agree with your post madonjag67. I believe things will improve given time.

McNamara had a poor first season with Thistle & only really now are things coming together. It takes time to build a team capable of competing at the right end of the table & Thistle have slowly built a capable squad on limited funds, cause as far as I know (I'm no expert on Thistle's finances) they didn't have a great deal of money at their disposal. ''Aye but McNamara's team weren't dragged into the relegation zone'', no but he did have better players at his disposal.

I honestly think it's about time our supporters got a bit of a reality check. We're not the club we once were, infact we weren't even much of a club even then to be honest. We had a bit of a heyday (in recent times) 15 years ago with the Barr era, but even then I remember there not really being any real conviction that we would ever make it to the next level of progression, which in those days was the new stadium & going for the SPL.

Nowadays, ''the next level'' is trying to get back to being a regular 1st Division outfit. Again, I get the same feeling that there is not really any conviction from the board to get us there. Content with being a sh1tey wee team that occasionally flirts with the playoffs & it's a bonus if we get promoted. For as long as I can remember of the recent few seasons, we've had to build virtually a full squad every pre-season. Looking back now, Reid done very well with what he had at his disposal. Yes he made mistakes along the way but he did manage two promotions.

Roberts then gets the nod & pre-season results look great, we're signing some good prospects & playing some really nice football. That's all very well pre-season but the games are not played with that competitive edge, there is no points at stake, so in reality there is less pressure on the players. Add to that the fact that there is guys playing for contracts & they're going to pull out all their best traits to catch the eye.

So we're now in January & we've known for a few months that we need a few more additions to the squad. Preferably a hatchet man in the middle of the park & a comanding no nonsense centre half. I'd also have liked us to have held onto the lad from Hamilton up front as he seemed to have a physical pressence. I feel Robertson could do that for us now but Roberts doesn't seem to fancy him, and he lacks pace from what I've seen.

Anyway, back to Roberts staying or going etc. I think we really should give it longer & look to keep the better players in this squad together for more than a season. Roberts will have an idea of the types of players he wants to add to his squad, and he'll know the ones he doesn't think are capable. This months a big month for us in terms of signings. If we can get a couple of loans or even an out of contracter to bolster the squad then we'll hopefully finish above the relegation zone. Next season you've got Sevco in the 2nd & the season after that it might be the reconstruction, so for me, I'd like to see us building a competitive squad for next season & going for promotion along with Sevco. The season after is anyone's guess what's going to happen so I'd like to see us in the 1st before the big changes take place. If we get relegated, that'll be it for us as a club if you ask me.

Yes, we've had some extremely poor results, but we've had some results where we've grinded out a win. We had a wee spell where we avoided defeat, followed by a bad spell, stopped the rot against Alloa with a 0-0 draw (where I thought we played some nice football & were the better team) & then destroyed yesterday by the leagues strongest team. However, I do think Roberts is trying to get the team to play football the right way & it's a learning curve for both the players and the manager, so there is bound to be inconsistency etc. My only concern is the lack of confidence in the players & the fact that it only takes one bad pass for the atmosphere at Somerset to turn sour. I'm urging all supporters to ride out the storm, continue to back the team & eventually Roberts will get it right, as will the players. A lot of them are in their first season in this league & will take time to adjust. Some will say they've had enough time already but half a season isn't really that long. I'll hold my hands up just now and say that if he doesn't get it right then I'll take back everything I've just said but we need to be patient. He's working with one arm behind his back due to not having anything in the way of finances & that's down to our tight @rse board. They could change this situation if they were remotely interested in the fortunes of the team but Roberts is left to try and do it the hard way.

In my 30+ years following Ayr, we have always been a contender, always had potential to be a big team, in my time, ST Johnstone, Livingston, Inverness, Ross County, Queen of the South and Gretna to a point have all passed us by, teams of the same size of town as Ayr.....Falkirk, Hamilton, Dunfermline, Morton all have sustained full time football and a decent level in Scotland

Since Cameron took over, we have went part time, sold the car park, the hospitality and the shop and are now staring at entering into the 3rd division for the first time since re-construction.......and you are looking for Ayr fans to be realistic ? We've never been good so why bother now?

Are you Lachlan Cameron ?

Gerry Britton wasn't given much time at Thistle, Grady wasnt given much time at Morton, Irons wasnt given much time.....well, anywhere

Sometimes guys just don't make the step up

[Ayr_United_1910]

In my 30+ years following Ayr, we have always been a contender, always had potential to be a big team, in my time, ST Johnstone, Livingston, Inverness, Ross County, Queen of the South and Gretna to a point have all passed us by, teams of the same size of town as Ayr.....Falkirk, Hamilton, Dunfermline, Morton all have sustained full time football and a decent level in Scotland

Since Cameron took over, we have went part time, sold the car park, the hospitality and the shop and are now staring at entering into the 3rd division for the first time since re-construction.......and you are looking for Ayr fans to be realistic ? We've never been good so why bother now?

Are you Lachlan Cameron ?

Gerry Britton wasn't given much time at Thistle, Grady wasnt given much time at Morton, Irons wasnt given much time.....well, anywhere

Sometimes guys just don't make the step up

Have you even read anything I've f*cking wrote ya know all c*nt?

I'm asking folk to be realistic under current circumstances. The Chairman has all but washed his hands of the club & Roberts has been thrown in at the deep end and given his first crack at management, the cheap option again from the board.

It's all good and well saying change the manager, get rid of this player, that player etc but IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN and I'm saying to folk that while Roberts is here then we need to get behind him.

I've not said we've never been good, what I'm saying is, is that even though we've had the potential to go places nothing concrete has ever materialised and it's always been a case of glorious failure & to me (no one else's opinion bar my own) there has never really been that real belief that we'd ever make use of our success at certain times. To elaborate on that point I give you the whole stadium fiasco and ask you the question.....did you truly, deep down in your heart, ever believe that we were going to get our new stadium? I f*cking didnae, there just seemed to be a feeling surrounding the issue that didn't add up. We have the potential to have a bigger support, the potential to be a bigger club, the potential this the potential that, but in reality there is absolutely no interest whatsoever from the people in control of the club to make use of these potentials. We're stuck with what we've got and I gave up a long time ago shouting for this to change and that to change etc. Whether we like it or not we're stuck with Roberts and this squad of players, which is not our fault, or their fault but the boards fault, and the support need to back the players on the park to get them through this tough period because roaring abuse at them is going to have an even more negative effect on them and their development. Imagine you're in your place of work & are met with constant verbal abuse from customers. Natural human instincts set in and the continued put downs etc will 100% effect confidence. When your confidence is low, your performance becomes poorer due to lack of belief in your own ability and there's a knock on effect.

This is the reason I don't post on these forums because my input is always slammed by bawbags like you diegomarahenry, bawbags that have actually either misunderstood my original post or even more insulting to me, not even read it and just seen a few quotes and decided to have a go.

[diegomarahenry]

Have you even read anything I've f*cking wrote ya know all c*nt?

I'm asking folk to be realistic under current circumstances. The Chairman has all but washed his hands of the club & Roberts has been thrown in at the deep end and given his first crack at management, the cheap option again from the board.

It's all good and well saying change the manager, get rid of this player, that player etc but IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN and I'm saying to folk that while Roberts is here then we need to get behind him.

I've not said we've never been good, what I'm saying is, is that even though we've had the potential to go places nothing concrete has ever materialised and it's always been a case of glorious failure & to me (no one else's opinion bar my own) there has never really been that real belief that we'd ever make use of our success at certain times. To elaborate on that point I give you the whole stadium fiasco and ask you the question.....did you truly, deep down in your heart, ever believe that we were going to get our new stadium? I f*cking didnae, there just seemed to be a feeling surrounding the issue that didn't add up. We have the potential to have a bigger support, the potential to be a bigger club, the potential this the potential that, but in reality there is absolutely no interest whatsoever from the people in control of the club to make use of these potentials. We're stuck with what we've got and I gave up a long time ago shouting for this to change and that to change etc. Whether we like it or not we're stuck with Roberts and this squad of players, which is not our fault, or their fault but the boards fault, and the support need to back the players on the park to get them through this tough period because roaring abuse at them is going to have an even more negative effect on them and their development. Imagine you're in your place of work & are met with constant verbal abuse from customers. Natural human instincts set in and the continued put downs etc will 100% effect confidence. When your confidence is low, your performance becomes poorer due to lack of belief in your own ability and there's a knock on effect.

This is the reason I don't post on these forums because my input is always slammed by bawbags like you diegomarahenry, bawbags that have actually either misunderstood my original post or even more insulting to me, not even read it and just seen a few quotes and decided to have a go.

You get abused and insulted? I didn't abuse or insult you yet you feel it acceptable to call me a C**T and a bawbag......you are a confused individual, you don't want fans abusing the players but once your in keyboard hardman mode anyone is fair game ?

Get the dummy back in

[Ayr_United_1910]

You get abused and insulted? I didn't abuse or insult you yet you feel it acceptable to call me a C**T and a bawbag......you are a confused individual, you don't want fans abusing the players but once your in keyboard hardman mode anyone is fair game ?

Get the dummy back in

Where did I say I get abused? But yes I feel insulted to be asked if ''Are you Lachlan Cameron?'' when my posts are about backing the team and manger, whilst pointing the blame at the Chairman/Board and their lack of interest or investment. I am as angry as any other supporter at the current set of circumstances and yes I apologies for swearing but it's the frustration coming out & no it's not intended as keyboard hardman mode, I am speaking my mind, the same way I would speak to you or anyone else in a face to face situation.

Regards,

Marc Dunlop.

ETA: I'd appreciate if you answered my questions too, I genuinely want to know what other folk thought of the stadium thing etc.

[diegomarahenry]

I am unhappy with the way the club is being run, I am also unhappy with the apathetic approach that some supporters wish to take, don't abuse the players as it will effect confidence. I agree with that to a point, and that point is when a player is giving 100% like Ally Brown, but just isn't up to standard.

Craig Nelson was rotten at Ayr for the 1st 3-6 months of his time at Ayr and turned out to be a great keeper for us with the occasional clanger, but he saved us in more games that he cost us. Maybe Ally Brown, with the right coaching could go that way

I can tollerate an off day from players as well, Moffatt and Crawford could have off days from now to the end of January, but we know what they are capable of.

But, there are guys who are turning out, week in week out who just don't try, who put in no effort, show no desire, Reid was quick to punt these guys out the team and Roberts has signed 5-6 They haven't shown in 6 months that they are willing or capable of even half the effort of Moffatt or Crawford and that angers me. To say we should cheer on these guys and hope they respond isn't going to work, 6 months they have got away with simply turning up and accepting defeat.

[ayrmad]

I am unhappy with the way the club is being run, I am also unhappy with the apathetic approach that some supporters wish to take, don't abuse the players as it will effect confidence. I agree with that to a point, and that point is when a player is giving 100% like Ally Brown, but just isn't up to standard.

Craig Nelson was rotten at Ayr for the 1st 3-6 months of his time at Ayr and turned out to be a great keeper for us with the occasional clanger, but he saved us in more games that he cost us. Maybe Ally Brown, with the right coaching could go that way

I can tollerate an off day from players as well, Moffatt and Crawford could have off days from now to the end of January, but we know what they are capable of.

But, there are guys who are turning out, week in week out who just don't try, who put in no effort, show no desire, Reid was quick to punt these guys out the team and Roberts has signed 5-6 They haven't shown in 6 months that they are willing or capable of even half the effort of Moffatt or Crawford and that angers me. To say we should cheer on these guys and hope they respond isn't going to work, 6 months they have got away with simply turning up and accepting defeat.

That's the worst thing about this team, I could happily have kicked some of their cnuts in after the East Fife game so I ain't going support any player that shows an Ayr jersey such disrespect.

There are 3 or 4 that I wouldn't give the respect of a phone call or face to face, I'd just simply text a "get tae fcuk" message to them.

[ayrboy]

Lets see what players he manages to bring in. I have to agree a certain number of the current bunch are not up to standard/bunch a wasters and changes are needed. Looking ahead at the rest of the fixtures for January 3 away Stranraer w3 l3 d3. Forfar w5 d1 l3. East Fife w3 d1 l4. Ayr's current away form w1 d1 l5 and Stenny at home w1 d5 l4. The only game I can see us taking anything is the Stenny game. .

[Meathead]

So what's the solution guys?

If they sack him who do they bring in?

And if they keep him what changes would you make to keep Ayr in the division?

Gary Bollan. I don't think we'll progress under Roberts but if we keep him it's vital he gets an experienced assistant manager and has a clear out of the squad.

Rip up McGowan's contract, allow Twaddle, Mcstay, Winters, Brown, & Merengi to "find other clubs"

Why rip up McGowan's contract? It's hardly his fault he's had to have knee surgery and on his day he's one of our most talented players. I think Ally Brown has done enough to merit his place in the team too. He's no Kevin Cuthbert but he's put in a few excellent perfromances this season after a shaky start. I'm undecided about Winters, I can't tell if he's shite or just struggling because of a lack of service. I'd get rid of Twaddle, McStay and Marenghi though and I'd add McCann to that list too.

Brown I would keep, I've warmed to him recently and he has been putting in a decent performances.

I was pretty harsh to him when he started out although when I came to realise that McCann and Twaddle are truly awful players and he had very little going on in front of him my views changed.

First priority is to bin McCann and Twaddle. They should both retire and forget this season even happened.

Second priority is to move on McStay as he's completely anonymous when he's having a good game, Merenghi is the same however he's also injured every other game.

I would keep Winters, he's not the best but atleast he looks like he's trying week in week out and I feel that if he had a stronger midfield supporting both himself and Moff they would be doing alot better.

McGill (in the two game I can remember seeing him) really hasn't been up to much, I'm not sure if it would be fair to judge him as he's young and has garbage around him.

Roberts is hopelessly out of his depth and to get through this season he's needing an experienced #2 who will tear shreds out the players not performing and install a level of discipline and authority.

Roberts comments pre Alloa summed him up for me, he said that he had fun as a football player and he thought being a manager would be fun as well. He needs to understand that he can have a laugh and a joke if its going well with his pals but he needs to tear into them if they aren't bothering their arses to perform.

Agree with this. Darren McGill is actually a very talented player but he seems to have struggled to adapt to the physicality of senior football. He's only 17 though so I expect he'll adapt over time.

[diegomarahenry]

Why rip up McGowan's contract?

I have heard from 2-3 people now that he wont kick a ball this year and the likelihood is he'll never kick a ball again, he wan't fit at the start of the season, Roberts told him to prove he was fit to win a deal, he signed and hasn't played since. We are basically paying a guy to sit in the house on a Saturday.

If he isn't going to play this season then they should be trying to get him off the wage bill

[diegomarahenry]

ETA: I'd appreciate if you answered my questions too, I genuinely want to know what other folk thought of the stadium thing etc.

The Stadium (version 2.0) was the same as Barr's vision,build a stadium without it costing the club, Sell to Barrat, build a stand, lease out office space and borrow against the income of that to build a second stand. All makes sense

Barratt pull out of the deal at the 11th hour and it all went pear-shaped, personally I am glad it didn't happen, because it would have been a modern stadium with no atmosphere.

I would rather they tried to get grants to start the Catz scheme somewhere else in Ayr, have a fitness complex used by the club and paying members during early mornings/evenings to bring in revenue and pay for the facility ultimately, lease out rooms to physios etc.

If Cameron had got the deal done on the stadium (he said he spent over 100k on the project) then he may have stuck around to oversee it and ran the club a bit more hands on.

I think he lost interest once that died.

Who owns the land now? is it a club asset ? did we ever own it? has it been pawned off ?

[Sloop John B]

Somerset park looked a lot nicer yesterday than in previous visits. Pitch was excellent, is the have the roofs of the terracing been replaced or have they just got rid of the moss?

Character is all well and good but facilities are essential as well.

[paulbrucerick]

Somerset park looked a lot nicer yesterday than in previous visits. Pitch was excellent, is the have the roofs of the terracing been replaced or have they just got rid of the moss?

Character is all well and good but facilities are essential as well.

Woohoo, a positive comment! Cheers sloop john!

[CALDERON]

So we wont be getting a song by Somerset Boab about Roberts any time soon then?

[Sludden123]

Somerset park looked a lot nicer yesterday than in previous visits. Pitch was excellent, is the have the roofs of the terracing been replaced or have they just got rid of the moss?

Character is all well and good but facilities are essential as well.

All the roofs apart from the family stand have been replaced to remove the concrete asbestos. The total cost of the stadium repairs including the new floodlights was almost £300,000

I believe further work has still to be done, hence the reason we have no money to spend on the team.

Here is a link where you can read about it. Ayr United Stadium Repairs

[Honest_Man#1]

So we wont be getting a song by Somerset Boab about Roberts any time soon then?

The only thing more embarrassing than the team is that total clown.

[Meathead]

I have heard from 2-3 people now that he wont kick a ball this year and the likelihood is he'll never kick a ball again, he wan't fit at the start of the season, Roberts told him to prove he was fit to win a deal, he signed and hasn't played since. We are basically paying a guy to sit in the house on a Saturday.

If he isn't going to play this season then they should be trying to get him off the wage bill

If he isn't likely to play again then fair enough. I'm guessing his contract is until the end of the season so I imagine he'll be on our books until then. However if he shows signs of recovery between now and the summer then I think we should definitely keep him around. I can understand wanting to get him off the wage bill but I'd be surprised if he's on massive wages and we'd probably end up having to buy out his contract if we want to release him now anyway.

[Caledonian]

I am unhappy with the way the club is being run, I am also unhappy with the apathetic approach that some supporters wish to take, don't abuse the players as it will effect confidence. I agree with that to a point, and that point is when a player is giving 100% like Ally Brown, but just isn't up to standard.

Some supporters are badly apathetic. They are laid back to the extent that they are virtually neutral. They spout the same old stuff about Mark Roberts doing a good job under difficult circumstances, conveniently forgetting that Roberts is the chief contributor to the difficult circumstances. They praise the team in a way that would give the impression that we are title contenders and condemn supporters such as myself for being critical. Have a look at some of the Ayr United Facebook pages and the casual attitude to this crisis (yes, crisis) would make you puke. I'm sick of being told to "keep a positive attitude and we can get through this together" and "the players are every bit as gutted as the fans". Post any philosophical tripe and you are guaranteed a whole pile of likes. What is it with people? The team is awful but it chokes me even more that they are lazy. I have been preaching this stuff since the first game at Stranraer but there are not enough listeners. 2nd January, 2013, was a stinking day in Ayr United's history and anybody who could take anything from that shambles is a deluded fool.

[boab31]

I witnessed the fine display yesterday by the boys in black and white and was very impressed with the product the great Marko has delivered. As i have stated else where i am praying for a win for Stranraer on Saturday as surely it would bring his tenure to a close, before its too late. Most worrying for me is the total apathy about the club there is no passion from boardroom through to manager through to players and even support, in all my times as an Ayr fan through good and bad have i ever known the fans to be so "cant be arsed" with everything worrying times indeed.

[young buck]

As i have stated else where i am praying for a win for Stranraer on Saturday

as an Ayr fan

you are no fan pal.