Ayr v St Mirren (the big one)

[Shuggie_Murray7]

I shudder to think the position we'd be in had we not had Sutton and Morgan all season.

[AyrExile]

8 hours ago, ayrmad said:

 

We had 2 points more after 25 games in 2009/10 and we had taken 12 points from our previous 6 games.

We had 5 points more after 25 games in 2011/12 and we had taken 8 points from our previous 6 games.

We've taken 3 points from our last 6.

McCall has been an unmitigated disaster so far this season, almost every game I've attended has been a turgid pile of shite, he doesn't even have the ability to field a team that are capable of throwing the kitchen sink at the opposition for a 20 minute period when we're trailing at home.

As the total points earned aren't too dissimilar therefore McCall has been an unmitigated disaster because of the last six games form? Can we also compare number of teams built in a season and good players chased away because of ego problems. I always thought you held Reid in high regard so are you admitting now he was woeful also? I will give McCall a season to make a mess of it before the boot gets put in. Recent form has been pish however still time to turn it around. 

[pandarilla]

I agree wholeheartedly, Ayr fans are willing to put up with some amount of pish, if pressure is not exerted on players, managers and directors they usually pish all over you.

Nonsense.

You only have to look at England as they perfect example. Look at their rage every two years when they 'underperform'. Absolute scenes, from all corners. And yet nothing. The pressure just makes it worse.

Rangers are another good example.

[Jimmy85]

22 minutes ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

I shudder to think the position we'd be in had we not had Sutton and Morgan all season.

 

10th. 

[young buck]

Reid had two shots at it did he not? 

Macall got us here and has improved us, maybe not a lot but has progressed the club. Phrases like unmitigated disaster etc are totally unjustified. I assume people saw the playoffs? They were 2 of the most depressing games of football I have seen but got us up. I thought the fans were united in if we can manage to stay up it will be a success? Now we've seen our manager fail to sign several players because we can't attract them and are left with what we could attract. It's not great is it but he's still within his remit and the cup games although we struggled through we got through. You can't sack a man for that. 

[Jan Vojáček]

8 hours ago, wuffster said:

 

Ayr were rank rotten against us last week as well (until our team violently soiled themselves in injury time), but those highlights have given me the fear about St Mirren going on a wee run. It's like common sense has finally prevailed, John Sutton is playing regularly (and therefore scoring), McGinn is too good for this league, and Mallan can kill teams when he plays centrally. Combine all that with the fact you now seem to have a decent 'keeper and a far more solid defence (Davis and Eckersley v Webster and Irvine at the start of the season is a massive upgrade) and suddenly I can see the gap closing right down.

Who did Ayr have on the left in the first-half? The first three minutes of highlights seemed to consist exclusively of Demetriou getting the ball in acres of space and crossing it in.

[No_Problemo]

Ayr were rank rotten against us last week as well (until our team violently soiled themselves in injury time), but those highlights have given me the fear about St Mirren going on a wee run. It's like common sense has finally prevailed, John Sutton is playing regularly (and therefore scoring), McGinn is too good for this league, and Mallan can kill teams when he plays centrally. Combine all that with the fact you now seem to have a decent 'keeper and a far more solid defence (Davis and Eckersley v Webster and Irvine at the start of the season is a massive upgrade) and suddenly I can see the gap closing right down.
Who did Ayr have on the left in the first-half? The first three minutes of highlights seemed to consist exclusively of Demetriou getting the ball in acres of space and crossing it in.

We played a 3-5-2 so no one. We then played Harkins out there second half so again no one.

[Shibuya]

Some shout [emoji57]

I'm nothing if not optimistic.

[young buck]

33 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

I agree wholeheartedly, Ayr fans are willing to put up with some amount of pish, if pressure is not exerted on players, managers and directors they usually pish all over you.

My god!  you know you've chucked the towel in on life when you're agreeing with the troll who is trolling you ffs

 

[Mgc1910]

It's noticeable how deep Ayr are defending from an early part of the game.  Playing without a recognised forward all season has drained the life out of us and it seems like Farid and Moore might be too little too late. St Mirren have clearly improved, but that in no way explains how a team that won at Easter road earlier in the season could be that bad.

[Shibuya]

Does anybody know what Harkins best position actually is?

Killie and Dundee especially got the best out of him... Why can't we?

[itzdrk]

12 minutes ago, Sonsteam of 08 said:

Ayr were rank rotten against us last week as well (until our team violently soiled themselves in injury time), but those highlights have given me the fear about St Mirren going on a wee run. It's like common sense has finally prevailed, John Sutton is playing regularly (and therefore scoring), McGinn is too good for this league, and Mallan can kill teams when he plays centrally. Combine all that with the fact you now seem to have a decent 'keeper and a far more solid defence (Davis and Eckersley v Webster and Irvine at the start of the season is a massive upgrade) and suddenly I can see the gap closing right down.

Who did Ayr have on the left in the first-half? The first three minutes of highlights seemed to consist exclusively of Demetriou getting the ball in acres of space and crossing it in.

Paddy Boyle was out left in the first half, his only contribution was miscontrolling a crossfield pass to lose a throw in. Absolutely nowhere near his man at any point. 

[itzdrk]

2 minutes ago, Shibuya said:

Does anybody know what Harkins best position actually is?

Killie and Dundee especially got the best out of him... Why can't we?

Better players around him. 

[young buck]

1 minute ago, itzdrk said:

Better players around him. 

This is the exact answer. He's not good enough to carry a team. He's a good passer of the ball although that seems to have eluded him 

[The Moonster]

Has Farid fired Ayr to safety yet?

[squeezeboxson]

16 minutes ago, Sonsteam of 08 said:

Ayr were rank rotten against us last week as well (until our team violently soiled themselves in injury time), but those highlights have given me the fear about St Mirren going on a wee run. It's like common sense has finally prevailed, John Sutton is playing regularly (and therefore scoring), McGinn is too good for this league, and Mallan can kill teams when he plays centrally. Combine all that with the fact you now seem to have a decent 'keeper and a far more solid defence (Davis and Eckersley v Webster and Irvine at the start of the season is a massive upgrade) and suddenly I can see the gap closing right down.

Who did Ayr have on the left in the first-half? The first three minutes of highlights seemed to consist exclusively of Demetriou getting the ball in acres of space and crossing it in.

I think St Mirren are probably very close to ourselves in that we have had games where we created lots of chances when they play well (like they did yesterday). But like us, they only scored 2 when they probably should have had 3 or 4. The main reason they should have scored so many goals and strolled through the game is because Ayr are so bad. I also think they will continue to struggle against better teams in this league, even after picking up quite a bit.

I'm not worried yet, but if they were to pick up 5/6 points from the next 3 or 4 games then it would increase pressure on ourselves and Raith, unless of course we match them in picking up the same amount of points to maintain the gap that is currently there.

[itzdrk]

9 minutes ago, Mgc1910 said:

It's noticeable how deep Ayr are defending from an early part of the game.  Playing without a recognised forward all season has drained the life out of us and it seems like Farid and Moore might be too little too late. St Mirren have clearly improved, but that in no way explains how a team that won at Easter road earlier in the season could be that bad.

It was hardly a classic performance that day so I'm not sure what you mean.   

[djchapsticks]

1 minute ago, squeezeboxson said:

I think St Mirren are probably very close to ourselves in that we have had games where we created lots of chances when they play well (like they did yesterday). But like us, they only scored 2 when they probably should have had 3 or 4. The main reason they should have scored so many goals and strolled through the game is because Ayr are so bad. I also think they will continue to struggle against better teams in this league, even after picking up quite a bit.

I'm not worried yet, but if they were to pick up 5/6 points from the next 3 or 4 games then it would increase pressure on ourselves and Raith, unless of course we match them in picking up the same amount of points to maintain the gap that is currently there.

To be fair, I don't think we're looking further than chasing down Ayr at present. 

[squeezeboxson]

3 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

To be fair, I don't think we're looking further than chasing down Ayr at present. 

That's fair enough and is 100% what I expect St Mirren to be doing. But my reply was to S08 where he said he had the fear about St Mirren, so in a way I am kinda making the same point as you.

[Jordo1872]

At the moment Ayr and Raith look in a far worse state than both ourselves and St Mirren, but we're in no way safe. Had we held on to win last week against ayr I'd have been saying we were a knitter win away from being safe of bottom place. We're close but still work to do.

For what it's worth I'd expect the Saints to kick on from this. It's a massive blow to Ayr's morale.