The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Panda Pies]

Seriously? For a start:
Not doing his due diligence and missing a bill from the tax man when he took us over. Might have been his dad tbf. Leading to austerity and jobbers from the juniors playing for us and managing us.
Renewing Mark Roberts contract when it was clear he was out of his depth.
Outsourcing the club shop and hospitality.
I could go on... 
As I said, I commend him for keeping us going and out of the hands of charlatans. However, his decision making has always been short term and the club has suffered because of it. 

As far as I'm aware the tax issue was due down to a problem during the Barr era which LC paid off as he had taken on all the debts. I may be wrong though. Dealing with HRMC isn't always straight forward. Also he's based his decisions on the evidence and circumstances at the time. Unfortunately alot of things happen and we don't get the full details of how and why.

[North Terrace Gazza]

Seriously? For a start:
Not doing his due diligence and missing a bill from the tax man when he took us over. Might have been his dad tbf. Leading to austerity and jobbers from the juniors playing for us and managing us.
Renewing Mark Roberts contract when it was clear he was out of his depth.
Outsourcing the club shop and hospitality.
I could go on... 
As I said, I commend him for keeping us going and out of the hands of charlatans. However, his decision making has always been short term and the club has suffered because of it. 

Agree with most of this but outsourcing the shop and catering was surely not a mistake? Didn’t Ronnie and Jimmy do a sterling job?

[rb123!]

Am I the only one who still thinks we're getting pretty poor crowds considering we're top of the second tier of Scottish football and probably have the best team we've had since about 2002.

 

I certainly thought there were more than 2,500 ayr fans there yesterday but when we had 4,000 at the play off final a couple of years ago it makes you wonder where they all are now. Shouldn't just be turning up when there's something up for grabs.

 

I think we should be getting 3,000 Ayr fans to Somerset atm, that's excluding any away support.

 

 

 

[Trogdor]

27 minutes ago, Panda Pies said:

As far as I'm aware the tax issue was due down to a problem during the Barr era which LC paid off as he had taken on all the debts. I may be wrong though. Dealing with HRMC isn't always straight forward. Also he's based his decisions on the evidence and circumstances at the time. Unfortunately alot of things happen and we don't get the full details of how and why.

Hence the due diligence, it shouldn't have come from left field. I do accept HMRC aren't easy to deal with though.

24 minutes ago, North Terrace Gazza said:

Agree with most of this but outsourcing the shop and catering was surely not a mistake? Didn’t Ronnie and Jimmy do a sterling job?

 

I don't disagree, Ronnie & Jimmy did a great job but it cut off a vital revenue stream for the club where we got a fixed amount instead of the profits. Would the club have been able to run either better at the time? I don't know.

In any case, I wasn't wishing to start a debate on the Chairman but was highlighting how we fans can be fickle and giving a gentle reminder of some of his decision making (when asked) and I didn't even mention Heathfield or supporter engagement!

For the record, I didn't think Barr was a good chairman for all the investment there was no legacy.

Maybe I'm just a tough man to please... although Jobby and the boys are keeping me happy! 

[Trogdor]

29 minutes ago, rb123! said:

I think we should be getting 3,000 Ayr fans to Somerset atm, that's excluding any away support.

I agree and I think it will come, there are a lot of lapsed fans and those who became disenchanted with the board. Some we'll win back easily some it will be harder. If we keep this going (ie. Top 4), I firmly believe we'll edge towards 3k home fans (say 2.8k).

[RedEd]

38 minutes ago, Panda Pies said:

49 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Seriously? For a start:
Not doing his due diligence and missing a bill from the tax man when he took us over. Might have been his dad tbf. Leading to austerity and jobbers from the juniors playing for us and managing us.
Renewing Mark Roberts contract when it was clear he was out of his depth.
Outsourcing the club shop and hospitality.
I could go on... 
As I said, I commend him for keeping us going and out of the hands of charlatans. However, his decision making has always been short term and the club has suffered because of it. 

As far as I'm aware the tax issue was due down to a problem during the Barr era which LC paid off as he had taken on all the debts. I may be wrong though. Dealing with HRMC isn't always straight forward. Also he's based his decisions on the evidence and circumstances at the time. Unfortunately alot of things happen and we don't get the full details of how and why.

The club has had issues with HMRC on more than one occasion. The second of which coincided with the sale of the car park. Barr was long gone by then.

[Mgc1910]

1 hour ago, Trogdor said:

Seriously? For a start:

Not doing his due diligence and missing a bill from the tax man when he took us over. Might have been his dad tbf. Leading to austerity and jobbers from the juniors playing for us and managing us.

Renewing Mark Roberts contract when it was clear he was out of his depth.

Outsourcing the club shop and hospitality.

I could go on... 

As I said, I commend him for keeping us going and out of the hands of charlatans. However, his decision making has always been short term and the club has suffered because of it. 

 

1 hour ago, rb123! said:

Am I the only one who still thinks we're getting pretty poor crowds considering we're top of the second tier of Scottish football and probably have the best team we've had since about 2002.

 

I certainly thought there were more than 2,500 ayr fans there yesterday but when we had 4,000 at the play off final a couple of years ago it makes you wonder where they all are now. Shouldn't just be turning up when there's something up for grabs.

 

I think we should be getting 3,000 Ayr fans to Somerset atm, that's excluding any away support.

 

 

 

It’s 30 years + since Ayr were averaging 3000 home fans at Somerset.  The argument historically was that we had a large latent support which was evidenced by the big turnouts for cup games.  However, that latent support has been hugely eroded thanks to decades out of the top division.  It’s sad and frustrating, but the truth is the traditional provincial clubs have all suffered to some extent.  I think we need to accept where we are and that growing our support base will be a slow process.  A couple of years back, we were down to a core of 12-1500, so getting up to 2000-2200 is decent progress.  I do agree though that the official attendance figure yesterday was highly suspect.

[mccurdieboy]

I will be honest and say I havent been to a Ayr game since the league cup semi vs the scum I would love to go back but there are still a few things like the way the club are run which are stopping me coming back in my opinion we need someone to take over from Lachlan

[Honestmen]

3 minutes ago, mccurdieboy said:

I will be honest and say I havent been to a Ayr game since the league cup semi vs the scum I would love to go back but there are still a few things like the way the club are run which are stopping me coming back in my opinion we need someone to take over from Lachlan

Your missing out pal. It doesn't get much better than what we're watching these days. Come along and sample.

[AUcal]

7 minutes ago, mccurdieboy said:

I will be honest and say I havent been to a Ayr game since the league cup semi vs the scum I would love to go back but there are still a few things like the way the club are run which are stopping me coming back in my opinion we need someone to take over from Lachlan

Simply out of intetest, what do you feel is wrong with the running of the club? 

[UpInTheAyr]

12 minutes ago, mccurdieboy said:

I will be honest and say I havent been to a Ayr game since the league cup semi vs the scum I would love to go back but there are still a few things like the way the club are run which are stopping me coming back in my opinion we need someone to take over from Lachlan

I guess your principled stance didn't extend to the killie game.

[diegomarahenry]

During the Kennedy take-over attempt, he said that the Camerons were not continuing in the same spirit as previous owners where the club was bought for a £1 and the debt was then transferred. The Camerons took over from Barr and were obviously not gong to continue the same level of investment. they also had an income tax bill to deal with as well as shedding a full time playing staff.

Selling the catering, hospitality, car park and shop rights may well have been a way to secure quick funding to keep the club running short term. 

Camerons record with managers have been his downfall but McCall has been a masterstroke. He managed Clydebank, Airdrie and Morton through dark days and clearly knows how a football club should be run, McCall taking over and a complete turn-around in the clubs fortunes on and off the park can't be a coincidence, it wasn't run this well when Cameron was here full time. 

I can see McCall running the majority of the club soon along side McTrusty and Miller with guys like Kerr and Higgins being in the dugout. 

[Thumper]

1 hour ago, rb123! said:

Am I the only one who still thinks we're getting pretty poor crowds considering we're top of the second tier of Scottish football and probably have the best team we've had since about 2002.

Home crowds are better than or equivalent to several teams who were in the Premiership this decade.

Ayrshire isn't Fife or Angus. Without sustained competition the Tory-voting, Lodge-visiting denizens will switch back to going to Ibrox, or sitting on their arses vicariously supporting the same, without conscious thought.

It's eight weeks into the season. If by some miracle things still look the same as the weather warms up again next year then the crowds will definitely top those of the last fifteen years.

[1nickydevlin]

18 minutes ago, mccurdieboy said:

I will be honest and say I havent been to a Ayr game since the league cup semi vs the scum I would love to go back but there are still a few things like the way the club are run which are stopping me coming back in my opinion we need someone to take over from Lachlan

Hope that you have a change of heart and pop down and see what all the fuss is about.i know a guy who hadn't been to an ayr game in 20 years and had lost interest. But went too the first game of season and has continued too attend all home games so far .all this positivity around the club at the moment is unbelievable tbh. Compared to our last spell in the championship it's night and day .going full time again has been a blessing.

[mccurdieboy]

I just think Lachlan could do a lot more for the club he has said he will not invest anymore in the club I love Somerset park but it needs more work we should be up near top of championship every season

[mccurdieboy]

And I am hoping to take my son to next home game vs alloa as I follow the scores every week and great too see how great Ayr are doing now.

[D'Jaffo]

I just think Lachlan could do a lot more for the club he has said he will not invest anymore in the club I love Somerset park but it needs more work we should be up near top of championship every season

He doesn’t have an infinite amount of money to give us. He’s done more than enough over the years to keep us up and his decision to keep McCall is probably the best thing he’s ever done.

If you’re staying away from Ayr because of the chairman then I don’t even know how to respond to that. As previously said you’re missing out big time.

[UpInTheAyr]

8 minutes ago, mccurdieboy said:

I just think Lachlan could do a lot more for the club he has said he will not invest anymore in the club I love Somerset park but it needs more work we should be up near top of championship every season

If he was swindling from the club I could understand you staying away but your reasons for not going are pretty vague and minor. Not going because they're not up near the top of the Championship every season makes no  sense and is pretty much the  definition of glory hunting. 

[UpInTheAyr]

39 minutes ago, Thumper said:

Without sustained competition the Tory-voting, Lodge-visiting denizens will switch back to going to Ibrox, or sitting on their arses vicariously supporting the same, without conscious thought.

 

So do you want these people at Somerset or are they to stay away. If it's the former that's  hardly the greatest invitation.

[Mgc1910]

I would criticise Cameron for appointing Roberts as manager and then inexplicably renewing his contract.  Otherwise, he’s done very well for us.  People need to get their heads round 2 simple facts.  First, without Cameron the club would probably have gone bust around 2005.  Second, he has made it clear he will sell the club to someone who believes they can put more money into the club - no such person has ever emerged, only charlatans and con men.