The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Jeff Venom]

It was hinted that players on 2 year deals were told they wouldn’t be playing this year and should move themselves on. 
 
Maybe they are waiting to see if Hopkin is still here before the end of the window 

Baird, Reading and Houston were 2 years though, no?
Shows what stage we're at when you're looking at the squad and thinking there surely must be a place for Chalmers, someone who can actually collect a ball and move it around, luxury that he is.

Unless I've completely missed it, I couldn't even tell you the length of contracts the Morton 4 are on.

[D'Jaffo]

Baird, Reading and Houston were 2 years though, no?
Shows what stage we're at when you're looking at the squad and thinking there surely must be a place for Chalmers, someone who can actually collect a ball and move it around, luxury that he is.

Unless I've completely missed it, I couldn't even tell you the length of contracts the Morton 4 are on.

McAdams is on a two year contract and the rest are all on one year deals although I think we’ve got the option to extend McGinty and Fjortoft for another year.

[No_Problemo]

11 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Hopkin gave Moffat a new contract though?

I just think he’s being given as much time as possible to fully recover from COVID. Charlie Adam said he wasn’t right for about 6 weeks and it massively affected his performances.

Good point - I forgot he wasn’t on a two year deal. 

[diegomarahenry]

9 minutes ago, Jeff Venom said:

Baird, Reading and Houston were 2 years though, no?
Shows what stage we're at when you're looking at the squad and thinking there surely must be a place for Chalmers, someone who can actually collect a ball and move it around, luxury that he is.

Unless I've completely missed it, I couldn't even tell you the length of contracts the Morton 4 are on.

Baird, Houston, Reading, Miller, Chalmers, Murdoch were all on 2 year deals, I think most folk were expecting Chalmers, Miller and Baird to leave. 
Baird is the least likely of the 6 to leave currently 

[AUFC 1910]

32 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

I’ve went through the Burley era after McLeod spent all the money when we went full time and paid fees for average players. Results weren’t good and the atmosphere was flat after McLeod but we brought through 2 under 21 centre half’s and signed Duncan George.

I went through the Stainrod era where he signed a tonne of players, ended up signing junior players and had an assistant manager that more or less paid to be there. He nearly took us to rock bottom before finally getting fired

I went through the Daziel era where we spent millions and because of big noses ego, won nothing

i went through the post Daziel Campbell Money era, where we had a fire sale on players to pay our bills, brought through youth because we had no option, players like Stuart Kean and laterally Conway went on to have decent careers.

I went through the Mark Shanks, two Rabs and Neil Watt era when we had no money, signed some of the worst players in the clubs history like David Dunn and Barry John Corr. 

went through the Reid era where we signed decent part time players we could afford and were hard to beat.

I went through the Roberts era where he sent out players tae dae hings and brought through players like Crawford and Forrest. 
 

I went through the McCall era where we went full time, developed players and played good football, signed permanently injured players and had a small squad.

Now the Hopkin era, full time, a squad of close to 20 senior players, dreadful to watch football and even worse results.

This Saturday, for the first time in 35 years I will be in the house with absolutely no good reason not to be at the football other than I can’t be arsed. I have gone to games when we have already been relegated, I have gone to games when I am ill.

I will be in the house this Saturday listening to open all mics….I don’t even want to watch the stream it’s that bad. 

Identical pathway for me, but I need to be there on Saturday.

The itch never gets scratched and I can’t help it. It’s an addiction for me.

I get separation anxiety knowing that I could be there but I’m not.

I missed out on the semi final / final season under Dalziel because of a girlfriend and I won’t let that happen again.

I’ve waited decades to watch us play “them” in the league again, and I’m not going to miss any of that.

(Here comes the birthday caird pish bit)

Its our club.  It’s the fans club. Manager and players will come and go but it is our one and only. One love.

f**k the manager with his hoofball. f**k any of the players who don’t try.  f**k the seagulls for shitting on us. Don’t let any of them keep YOU away from YOUR club.

Remember, we only have so many games left in us at the end of the day.

[AUFC 1910]

Is Houston’s contract not up in January?

[D'Jaffo]

Baird, Houston, Reading, Miller, Chalmers, Murdoch were all on 2 year deals, I think most folk were expecting Chalmers, Miller and Baird to leave. 
Baird is the least likely of the 6 to leave currently 

Houston, Reading, Murdoch and Baird aren’t going to be leaving now imo. There is still a chance that Chalmers and Miller could although Hopkin has had the latter before and used him a lot so I’d be a bit surprised if he went.

I think people are massively overrating how good Chalmers is on the ball. He’s no better than average imo and if another midfielder comes in then I could see him leave.

[eez-eh]

9 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Houston, Reading, Murdoch and Baird aren’t going to be leaving now imo. There is still a chance that Chalmers and Miller could although Hopkin has had the latter before and used him a lot so I’d be a bit surprised if he went.

I think people are massively overrating how good Chalmers is on the ball. He’s no better than average imo and if another midfielder comes in then I could see him leave.

I think his body language on the ball gives people the impression that he’s comfortable and able to spray passes about.

The reality is quite different.

[Guest]

I think we all look at the past with rose tinted specs on at times as I've seen many horrific displays throughout the era's including ones where we played little to no football and also got terrible results into the bargain.

I totally agree that this stuff is poor to watch in relation to us at our best in recent seasons, however even then we had matches where we failed to register shots on goal and looked completely all at sea at the back and just passed the ball sideways with little to no movement and no end product.

Personally I wish we were still in an era where we had individuals who would take the ball, dribble past players and hit a shot or cross a ball for someone else to knock it in but it just seems that players pass the ball for the sake of passing it at times, rather than for any valid reason.

O'Connor is definitely my type of player but I do worry that he'll be of limited value to us through no fault of his own as the style just simply won't suit. I only wish that we had him in the side containing Forrest, Kelly / Crawford, Doc,, Moffat (at his best) and Shankland as think that would have been a real treat for the fans.

I honestly don't know what the answer is, but the bottom line is that results will dictate whether Ayr are successful or not and whether Hopkin keeps his job or not, irrespective of how we wish we were going about it.

I'll be there on Saturday and I'll be following them home and away just the same, call me a happy clapper, call me an idiot, but I'm an Ayr fan and the whole "day out with my mates" is something more than just the 90 mins of Football (however bad it may get), don't get me wrong, I will criticise if I feel it's justified but rightly or wrongly it's my Saturday experience that I love the most. NR at the Golf in the morning followed by 90 minutes of torture in the afternoon (with a couple of Beers in between), yip, I really wouldn't have it any other way.......

[No_Problemo]

11 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Houston, Reading, Murdoch and Baird aren’t going to be leaving now imo. There is still a chance that Chalmers and Miller could although Hopkin has had the latter before and used him a lot so I’d be a bit surprised if he went.

I think people are massively overrating how good Chalmers is on the ball. He’s no better than average imo and if another midfielder comes in then I could see him leave.

He has dictated one game in his time with us - Morton away - in hindsight this is probably to do with Hopkin vacating central midfield for them. He can be half decent on the ball, but there are far too many parts of his game missing to be good at that role. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by No_Problemo

[D'Jaffo]

I think his body language on the ball gives people the impression that he’s comfortable and able to spray passes about.
The reality is quite different.

I’ve always said that left footed players look better on the ball compared to right footed players. It’s clearly absolute nonsense but Chalmers always looks so calm when in possession, looks up to see his passing options and then proceeds to pass the ball to an opposing player or out of play.

[Fitbafollower]

When is Aaron Muirhead’s and Murdoch contracts up

Can players still sign pre contracts in January?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Fitbafollower said:

When is Aaron Muirhead’s and Murdoch contracts up

Can players still sign pre contracts in January?

The jury is still out on Murdoch for me, he hasn't looked the same player since coming back from his injury, however he's been left himself in the middle of the pitch with little to no support most of the time, so it's hard to tell if he's doing well or not as is being swamped, as would any central midfielder who was outnumbered 2-1 and sometimes 3-1.

Muirhead has become possibly our most important player which probably says more about us than him. He gives 100% and gets stuck in but doubt if he's top of many clubs shopping lists.

[TheScarf]

19 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

I think his body language on the ball gives people the impression that he’s comfortable and able to spray passes about.

The reality is quite different.

He can only pass the ball left for some reason.

[HMIP]

Chalmers might be bang average, but bang average would be an upgrade on the midfield that’s started our first 2 league games.  Never though I’d see the day that adding Muirhead to the midfield would give us enough creative edge to change a game.

[diegomarahenry]

59 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I think people are massively overrating how good Chalmers is on the ball. He’s no better than average imo and if another midfielder comes in then I could see him leave.

Chalmers is like Adeloye, Adeloye has scored 3 goals in 5 games, all from a combined distance of 5 feet. 
mot is obvious that he isn’t going to do a lot of heading or running and he hasn’t shown any ability to hold the ball up. But give him a chance in the 6 yard box, he’ll take it.

So why play him as a target man lone striker? 
 

Chalmers isn’t an energetic midfielder or ball winner or disruptive player breaking up moves. He’s a sitting midfielder. He played well at the start of last season and the change to accommodate Walsh and Zanatta seemed to turn him in to a ball watching waste of a jersey. 

So why play a player in a role that doesn’t suit him? I can see patience running out for Adeloye soon as he was signed as a big lump to get us further up the pitch and he isn’t that. He needs to play with a James Grady type that is going to get forward quickly and then look for him going in to space. 
Chalmers is suited to the quarterback role but there is no movement in the team ahead of the defence, we saw that on Saturday where the only out ball was Fjortoft or McGinty who either passed it to each other or lumped it long. You can’t keep putting square pegs in round holes and hope it will eventually work. 

[diegomarahenry]

2 hours ago, AUFC 1910 said:

Identical pathway for me, but I need to be there on Saturday.

The itch never gets scratched and I can’t help it. It’s an addiction for me.

I get separation anxiety knowing that I could be there but I’m not.

I missed out on the semi final / final season under Dalziel because of a girlfriend and I won’t let that happen again.

I’ve waited decades to watch us play “them” in the league again, and I’m not going to miss any of that.

(Here comes the birthday caird pish bit)

Its our club.  It’s the fans club. Manager and players will come and go but it is our one and only. One love.

f**k the manager with his hoofball. f**k any of the players who don’t try.  f**k the seagulls for shitting on us. Don’t let any of them keep YOU away from YOUR club.

Remember, we only have so many games left in us at the end of the day.

I’m not saying I’ll never be back, I have a season ticket. But I don’t want to pay £18 and have another Saturday wasted by watching the worst football I have ever seen.

Watching Hopkin shout micromanaged instructions at a team, watch us make the same errors over and over again, watch a team die because Hopkin would rather have effort over ability. 
I have never got like this in 35 years because there has always been hope or a player that could spark a game. This team is the not the worst team ever assembled at Ayr by a long shot and even still, I don’t want to watch it. They deliberately play in a style that is bloody awful to watch and doesn’t get results.
I thought I was going to explode on Saturday watching it. Watching Fjortoft and McGinty playing short passes to each other for the first half and the rare occasion they managed a forward ball it was to guy next to Adeloye or Salkeld would put it out for a goal kick. 

I’ll go to home league games and that’s it until things improve for the sake of my health. Watching Hopkins team is making me physically ill 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, diegomarahenry said:

Chalmers is like Adeloye, Adeloye has scored 3 goals in 5 games, all from a combined distance of 5 feet. 
mot is obvious that he isn’t going to do a lot of heading or running and he hasn’t shown any ability to hold the ball up. But give him a chance in the 6 yard box, he’ll take it.

So why play him as a target man lone striker? 
 

Chalmers isn’t an energetic midfielder or ball winner or disruptive player breaking up moves. He’s a sitting midfielder. He played well at the start of last season and the change to accommodate Walsh and Zanatta seemed to turn him in to a ball watching waste of a jersey. 

So why play a player in a role that doesn’t suit him? I can see patience running out for Adeloye soon as he was signed as a big lump to get us further up the pitch and he isn’t that. He needs to play with a James Grady type that is going to get forward quickly and then look for him going in to space. 
Chalmers is suited to the quarterback role but there is no movement in the team ahead of the defence, we saw that on Saturday where the only out ball was Fjortoft or McGinty who either passed it to each other or lumped it long. You can’t keep putting square pegs in round holes and hope it will eventually work. 

I must be watching a different guy, i've been very impressed with Adeloye so far and think he's held the ball up pretty well considering he's had high balls punted at him with 3 defenders on him in a flash with little to no support. 

I have also been very impressed with his attitude and work rate and dread to think what kind of state we'd be in without him.

As for Afolabi, on the very little I've seen of him he's failed to impress as doesn't look so interested, doesn't appear to have as good a touch and seems much more awkward generally. I really hope I'm wrong and hope he comes good though as we need two competent strikers up top at the bare minimum.

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

I’m not saying I’ll never be back, I have a season ticket. But I don’t want to pay £18 and have another Saturday wasted by watching the worst football I have ever seen.

Watching Hopkin shout micromanaged instructions at a team, watch us make the same errors over and over again, watch a team die because Hopkin would rather have effort over ability. 
I have never got like this in 35 years because there has always been hope or a player that could spark a game. This team is the not the worst team ever assembled at Ayr by a long shot and even still, I don’t want to watch it. They deliberately play in a style that is bloody awful to watch and doesn’t get results.
I thought I was going to explode on Saturday watching it. Watching Fjortoft and McGinty playing short passes to each other for the first half and the rare occasion they managed a forward ball it was to guy next to Adeloye or Salkeld would put it out for a goal kick. 

I’ll go to home league games and that’s it until things improve for the sake of my health. Watching Hopkins team is making me physically ill 

 

It's only £15 on saturday 

[North British]

40 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

I’m not saying I’ll never be back, I have a season ticket. But I don’t want to pay £18 and have another Saturday wasted by watching the worst football I have ever seen.

Watching Hopkin shout micromanaged instructions at a team, watch us make the same errors over and over again, watch a team die because Hopkin would rather have effort over ability. 
I have never got like this in 35 years because there has always been hope or a player that could spark a game. This team is the not the worst team ever assembled at Ayr by a long shot and even still, I don’t want to watch it. They deliberately play in a style that is bloody awful to watch and doesn’t get results.
I thought I was going to explode on Saturday watching it. Watching Fjortoft and McGinty playing short passes to each other for the first half and the rare occasion they managed a forward ball it was to guy next to Adeloye or Salkeld would put it out for a goal kick. 

I’ll go to home league games and that’s it until things improve for the sake of my health. Watching Hopkins team is making me physically ill 

Mate you seriously need to catch a grip ! You make some good points , Adeloye for instance is no target man but he is clearly a goal scorer , maybe even a chanel runner as well . The irony is he’s the harder to find type striker , a big lump to play beside him in the target role should have been easier to find . Perhaps the Burnley thing can be revived and we can get Harker onboard . The midfield is fucked at the moment , but we’re looking to get somebody in . That’ll let Aero go back to defence and that in turn will probably  see Baird moving on . However for all your good points there is a whiff of of hysteria and agenda against Hopkin , let’s have a look at some facts : 1. We have lost one game in five and that was away from home at the darlings of the media 2. We made it out our LC group , made some prize money and will make some more gate money from our last 16 tie 3.  We have a striker who looks like hitting double figures  4. We have a pretty decent pool of players 5. And of course a Chairman willing to put his hand in his pocket . So I’d say hardly the worst of times , yes room for improvement, but not the time to through the rattle out the pram and desert your team .