The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[ComradeDiego]

Thistle -2 is currently 9/1 on William hill,

Printing money.

[ayrunitedfw]

16 hours ago, ayrunitedfw said:

This is probably petty however the #weareunited hashtag just comes across as birthday caird pish. It still very much feels like a us v them atmosphere and anyone who dares criticise the club are usually shot down in flames. 

 

1 hour ago, WATTOO said:

Whatever way you look at it this has been a successful season but some would appear to have personal issues with our ownership and our Management team so irrespective of what happens they'll just be negative and almost take satisfaction when we have a poor result which personally I find totally pathetic.....

I rest my case because I dare criticise the club I know have personal issues with ownership and management team and take satisfaction out poor results.

[Trogdor]

For all the chat of the league standard being worse, I've read that from fans of every club since 2018/19. Every season starts with "This is poorest standard yet, I can believe X or Y is still getting a full time gig at this level..." and yet its always competitive. Its been a long time since there has been a whipping boy like Brechin were.

I think the prospect of 10 full time teams is a different one versus 8 full time teams and 2 part time teams. However, more is made of that than the gap really is. A number of part time teams are really hybrid teams.

In the event that Dundee United, Dunfermline and Falkirk entered the league with Dundee, Cove & Hamilton exiting it. On paper it would be a tougher league but I have no doubt it would still be competitive with anyone capable of beating anyone else.

That is the Scottish Championship for better or worse. It is always competitive.

[Trogdor]

1 minute ago, ayrunitedfw said:

I rest my case because I dare criticise the club I know have personal issues with ownership and management team and take satisfaction out poor results.

Tbf, I expect that was a dig at Itzdrk rather than yourself.

[No_Problemo]

30 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

I was more referencing the "Remember where we were X years ago..." nature of the post I quoted.

For the record - there is no argument that McCall didn't have the same financial resources as Bullen. The chairman is on record saying as saying as much.

McCall probably had a better team though…. obviously the odd one if these broke through at different times. 

Smith/Geggan, Rose, Harvie, Kerr, Moffat, Adams, McCowan, Docherty all walk into our current side with ease. 
 

Then we obviously have the Shankland v Akinyemi debate! 

He obviously built it though. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by No_Problemo

[ayrunitedfw]

3 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Tbf, I expect that was a dig at Itzdrk rather than yourself.

Possibly. I took it being a dig as anyone who took a  has dared criticise. 

[No_Problemo]

15 minutes ago, ComradeDiego said:

Thistle -2 is currently 9/1 on William hill,

Printing money.

Have we lost by more than two goals all season?

[itzdrk]

1 hour ago, D'Jaffo said:

Even McAlear had a good game that night. 
 

I get the impression he thinks he’s better than he is. 

Yeah you can tell how he moves about, he loses every 50/50 because he goes in half hearted and you can see him angry at himself for not winning it despite not actually making any effort to do so.  

Never sprints either, set pieces late on and everyone has bombed up fast into the box and he's toddling over to the side of the park.  

Whether he has the ability to play in a team like ours might be up for debate but he's not giving himself the opportunity to show that he can with his attitude.  

[Trogdor]

1 minute ago, No_Problemo said:

McCall probably had a better team though…. obviously the odd one if these broke through at different times. 

Smith/Geggan, Rose, Harvie, Kerr, Moffat, Adams, McCowan, Docherty all walk into our current side with ease. 

He obviously built it though. 

Agree entirely with that.

He also inhereted our own contingent as well in Forrest, Crawford and McCowan (laterly) coming through to the first team. I have no doubt he made them better players.

It's funny, that team of McCall's undoubtedly under achieved, especially in 2018/19 where we went through a very bad spell and Shankland was injured.

Devil's advocate for a moment. Could it be the case that Bullen is actually extracting the maximum out of this squad? It just so happens that they are largely limited footballers and aren't capable of playing to the intensity we'd all like?

My issue with that argument is that he's signed a lot of them on 2 year contracts (so he's happy with what he sees) and we still look better when we pass and move (playing it on the deck).

[itzdrk]

On 24/01/2023 at 14:18, itzdrk said:

Still think 5th/6th is where we will end up. Chalmers won't be adequately replaced if at all and we were already poor for quite some time with him in the team.  The folk that bought into the promotion stuff will be disappointed but It will be a decent enough finish compared to last year.  

Main focus from now is keeping the goals coming for Dipo as it will affect his value in the summer if it just dries up like it is at the moment.  1 goal in 6, that keeps up and he might be seen as a flash in the pan.  Secondary should be getting some gametime for the younger players who have been on the bench.  

Tapping the sign. 

[No_Problemo]

4 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Agree entirely with that.

He also inhereted our own contingent as well in Forrest, Crawford and McCowan (laterly) coming through to the first team. I have no doubt he made them better players.

It's funny, that team of McCall's undoubtedly under achieved, especially in 2018/19 where we went through a very bad spell and Shankland was injured.

Devil's advocate for a moment. Could it be the case that Bullen is actually extracting the maximum out of this squad? It just so happens that they are largely limited footballers and aren't capable of playing to the intensity we'd all like?

My issue with that argument is that he's signed a lot of them on 2 year contracts (so he's happy with what he sees) and we still look better when we pass and move (playing it on the deck).

How the f**k did I forget about Forrest!!

I think I’ve said it a few times now, but the answer is somewhere in the middle with Bullen. If you look at our starting side yesterday, how many good technical football players that can pick a pass and link up play were there? You could say two at a push, if you include Maguire. Musonda is a better footballer player than the entire midfield. Some of that is on Bullen though, he choose to play wide players that are incredibly limited and choose to play both Dempsey and McAlear over Murdoch who is miles clear of both. 

We had a very good side at the beginning of the season, when Chalmers came in, but with weaknesses in the full backs areas but it is now very average at best IMO. If we are being honest, our starting side yesterday was pretty stinking. 

[Thumper]

21 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Devil's advocate for a moment. Could it be the case that Bullen is actually extracting the maximum out of this squad? It just so happens that they are largely limited footballers and aren't capable of playing to the intensity we'd all like?

This is plainly not the case. Maybe he's the Akinyemi Whisperer and has truly gotten him to a point that surpasses where he'd have been elsewhere, but e.g. Reece McAlear looking dogshit and disinterested is a fairly obvious sign of wasted potential. Then you have O'Connor who has been wasted since the day he arrived, and once again, Sean McGinty was headhunted to join Man U by Alex Ferguson himself and so it is likely that he has a _little_ more in his potential arsenal than four or five goals from corners a season and three hundred aimless punts a week.

Basically Akinyemi and Albinson are the only two players who have come from elsewhere and look better at Ayr. The rest are either treading water, not unleashing their potential, or largely devoid of it.

[rb123!]

Inverness beating us on the last night of the season to overtake us into 4th place sounds like the fairytale ending to the season

[D'Jaffo]

18 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Devil's advocate for a moment. Could it be the case that Bullen is actually extracting the maximum out of this squad? It just so happens that they are largely limited footballers and aren't capable of playing to the intensity we'd all like?

Yes but he’s also not helping himself. I said before the game yesterday that if we don’t win he’ll have a lot to answer for with the team we started with. Mark McKenzie is a very limited footballer but it’s also clear that he can contribute when playing up front with another striker. He does the dirty work and is almost a bit of a distraction that gives space and time to the other forwards. However he contributes nothing when playing out wide. That’s not a criticism of him btw as he still puts the effort in and whenever he gets the ball his first instinct is to get forward but you can see he doesn’t know how to play there. Bullen clearly thinks he does a job there although I’m not entirely sure what that job is. There’s no doubt that it’s not a great squad we have. We have a standout player for a striker and then a handful of good players for this level. Outside that it’s much of a muchness and they probably wouldn’t be missed if they left. 
 

As you said, points wise Bullen has been a success and this season has been a step in the right direction. Ultimately that’s what managers are judged on so provided we finish 4th then he deserves a shot at next season where there will be an expectation that the club actively look to get promoted. That means at least 6 or 7 additions and utilising the money earned from the league position and whatever we get for Dipo wisely. 
 

Whatever folk say, the club has moved in the right direction both on and off the park. However with that comes higher expectations and Bullen won’t get away with a bad start next season nor will he get away with another mid season collapse. I’ll revisit this in a year but my prediction is we’ll finish 4th, go out in the playoffs to QP. Build a new squad, have a slow start and Bullen leaves around November time. I hope he takes us further as he seems like a decent guy and has an enthusiasm for the club but I do think he’s limited and his own overthinking of team lineups has been his undoing. 

[D'Jaffo]

7 minutes ago, Thumper said:

This is plainly not the case. Maybe he's the Akinyemi Whisperer and has truly gotten him to a point that surpasses where he'd have been elsewhere, but e.g. Reece McAlear looking dogshit and disinterested is a fairly obvious sign of wasted potential. Then you have O'Connor who has been wasted since the day he arrived, and once again, Sean McGinty was headhunted to join Man U by Alex Ferguson himself and so it is likely that he has a _little_ more in his potential arsenal than four or five goals from corners a season and three hundred aimless punts a week.

Basically Akinyemi and Albinson are the only two players who have come from elsewhere and look better at Ayr. The rest are either treading water, not unleashing their potential, or largely devoid of it.

McGinty signing for Man United when he was about 18 isn’t an indication of anything. Hundreds of players are signed by these clubs at a young age and end up being utter tripe. 
 

McGinty was a laugh stock at Thistle and Morton and was heading that way at Ayr as well. Under Bullen he’s turned into a semi capable centre back who does the basics well. He’s one of the players who’s improved under the manager. He’s not capable of anymore than what we’re seeing. 

[Mod1967]

10 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Yes but he’s also not helping himself. I said before the game yesterday that if we don’t win he’ll have a lot to answer for with the team we started with. Mark McKenzie is a very limited footballer but it’s also clear that he can contribute when playing up front with another striker. He does the dirty work and is almost a bit of a distraction that gives space and time to the other forwards. However he contributes nothing when playing out wide. That’s not a criticism of him btw as he still puts the effort in and whenever he gets the ball his first instinct is to get forward but you can see he doesn’t know how to play there. Bullen clearly thinks he does a job there although I’m not entirely sure what that job is. There’s no doubt that it’s not a great squad we have. We have a standout player for a striker and then a handful of good players for this level. Outside that it’s much of a muchness and they probably wouldn’t be missed if they left. 
 

As you said, points wise Bullen has been a success and this season has been a step in the right direction. Ultimately that’s what managers are judged on so provided we finish 4th then he deserves a shot at next season where there will be an expectation that the club actively look to get promoted. That means at least 6 or 7 additions and utilising the money earned from the league position and whatever we get for Dipo wisely. 
 

Whatever folk say, the club has moved in the right direction both on and off the park. However with that comes higher expectations and Bullen won’t get away with a bad start next season nor will he get away with another mid season collapse. I’ll revisit this in a year but my prediction is we’ll finish 4th, go out in the playoffs to QP. Build a new squad, have a slow start and Bullen leaves around November time. I hope he takes us further as he seems like a decent guy and has an enthusiasm for the club but I do think he’s limited and his own overthinking of team lineups has been his undoing. 

Just about bang on I'd say, although I think we'll be 5th unfortunately 

[diegomarahenry]

2 hours ago, UpInTheAyr said:

Unusual the type of malaise surrounding everyone considering our league position and what's left to play for. Understandable if we were mid table with nothing to play for and just going through the motions. 

Is anyone genuinely excited or mildly enthused about the rest of the season, or looking forward to a Saturday and not now just going out of habit? 

When you watch Bullens post match interview, all smiles, talking abut character and a hard fought point, We did nothing in the game yesterday to win it, against a team we have beaten already this season. At home. 

Yesterday was realistically our last chance at getting back in to the title race and at the very least, securing a play-off place and we bottled. To see his grinning face in the post match interview annoyed me, he's fucked it but still see's it as a good point, maybe an important point. From that, it is clear that the club had settled on the play-offs some time ago. 

 

[Thereisalight..]

3 hours ago, WATTOO said:

He was the best player on the park 2 weeks ago and in fact looked "a class above" as many on this forum commented at the time.

Tbf to him, he did look good that game. Sadly the only time hes looked a cut above for us 

[OnlyAyrfaninTarbolton]

My quick summary of yesterday's game .

McAllister is the worst full back I've ever seen .....he cost us a goal then almost cost us more not concentrating and had an odd overly friendly relationship with Dougie Imrie constantly chatting and winking at him(possibly had a score draw bet on with him)

We were unlucky not to win it .

Bullen must play O'Connor and JML on the wings for the last four games ....

[Richey Edwards]

32 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

When you watch Bullens post match interview, all smiles, talking abut character and a hard fought point, We did nothing in the game yesterday to win it, against a team we have beaten already this season. At home. 

Yesterday was realistically our last chance at getting back in to the title race and at the very least, securing a play-off place and we bottled. To see his grinning face in the post match interview annoyed me, he's fucked it but still see's it as a good point, maybe an important point. From that, it is clear that the club had settled on the play-offs some time ago. 

 

How many times this season have we bottled the chance to profit from the teams above us slipping up?

Yesterday was yet another missed opportunity. A win would have dragged us back into the title race.