North British 2 Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 I guess it's all about expectations, some on here are blazing because we drew at home to Morton and in doing that blew another title shot . My opinion is that our title shot collapsed in December with defeats to Thistle and Dundee . From that point onwards it was all about finishing as high as possible and banking as much as possible. We are still in a play off position, so it's still in our hands , it's gonna be a tough few weeks but hopefully Mullin will return to bolster ourcchances . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUFC 1910 Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 We don’t have a championship winning squad - I think that is being fair and pretty obvious to see. The tough part this season, however, is that we have had plenty of opportunities to actually WIN the bloody thing! As a supporter it has been absolute torture at times, being so close and then seeing it slip away. For me, our whole season can be summed up in the Falkirk game. Then you add in the fact we have a rookie manager, a left field choice, lauded as being far from the merry-go-round of dirge that exists in every bookies list of potential candidates for vacancies in Scotland. I cannot think of any manager out there that I would want to be in that dugout that we would realistically have a chance of getting - and that is scary. That doesn’t mean that I think Bullen is the right choice for us - I think I’m trying to say that we NEED to give him into next season to see how the squad and he improves. As hard as it pains me sometimes, and I agree that the football can be insipid, I think we need to stick with it for now. P.S. I’m still not over the Falkirk game! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thereisalight.. Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 1 hour ago, North British 2 said: I guess it's all about expectations, some on here are blazing because we drew at home to Morton and in doing that blew another title shot . My opinion is that our title shot collapsed in December with defeats to Thistle and Dundee . From that point onwards it was all about finishing as high as possible and banking as much as possible. We are still in a play off position, so it's still in our hands , it's gonna be a tough few weeks but hopefully Mullin will return to bolster ourcchances . Agree with pretty much all of this. The banking as much as possible part is a bit of an anomaly considering we spunked a cup semi final windfall up the wall. Yes I'm still extremely bitter about that Anything less than the play offs is a disaster considering we've been top 4 for pretty much all season 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 2 hours ago, AUFC 1910 said: I cannot think of any manager out there that I would want to be in that dugout that we would realistically have a chance of getting - and that is scary. Bring him home. Spoiler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 3 hours ago, AUFC 1910 said: I cannot think of any manager out there that I would want to be in that dugout that we would realistically have a chance of getting - and that is scary. Ayr haven't been in the top flight for forty years and despite the rapid positive change in the financial situation are categorically not going to throw money at managers. Despite that, Ayr are basically in no different a managerial situation from, to be quite honest, every other team in Scotland except the old firm. Every one! Even your Heartses and your Aberdeens have to resort to panic-signings of former players or whoever last fell off the merry-go-round, and usually it doesn't work. Bullen was a bold choice and to be perfectly fair to both him and the board, it's worked out better than a lot of left-field choices at this level of late (Falkirk being the most obvious examples before they eventually resorted to MyGlynn as a steady hand). He's an excellent communicator and by absolutely all accounts is a lovely guy. Who knows why he's persisted with tactics and selections that basically everyone can see through, but I don't think there are many people who wouldn't wish for him to get it right. The 3-1 win against Dundee is the sort of night when his mantra about fighting for every ball worked out perfectly. The problem is that determination alone will not win many football matches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 Not sure 'lovely' would be high on my list of desired characteristics in a manager. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 (edited) 1 minute ago, Iain said: Not sure 'lovely' would be high on my list of desired characteristics in a manager. Aye, folk are talking like he's the new guy in admin. Bit useless but absolutely lovely guy. Edited April 9, 2023 by itzdrk 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 Neilson in at the end of the season? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 29 minutes ago, Iain said: Not sure 'lovely' would be high on my list of desired characteristics in a manager. I'd rather have a horrible c**t who spat in people's faces and shat on the carpet but got good results. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEHonestman1910 Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said: Neilson in at the end of the season? Comes across as an arrogant p***k but I think we can do with him, I very much doubt he'll be looking at us though. He would also want a massive transfer budget and something we probably couldn't afford anyway. Edited April 9, 2023 by THEHonestman1910 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 56 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said: Neilson in at the end of the season? Misread that for a moment. I am available though… 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Eddie Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 8 hours 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. Yeah, this is my problem with Bullen too. His interviews come across as if he's the co-commentator or TV anaylser on the game just played - not the actual first team coach responsible for results. You can tell he is in the safest job in Scottish football and knows it. I'm not sure if he has the ambition to drive the players towards the title, or perhaps more likely, realises this squad are nowhere near good enough to win it. Plus we are ahead of schedule in Smith's master plan so there is no pressure on him to get the club promoted this season with the building work happening next year. PS I'm still not over the Falkirk result either! The easiest cup run any club will get, ever, in the history of easy cup runs and we still couldn't make it to Hampden. Results and performances like that make you want to just give up following this club. But not quite, I keep dragging myself back. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 Just now, Young Eddie said: Yeah, this is my problem with Bullen too. His interviews come across as if he's the co-commentator or TV anaylser on the game just played - not the actual first team coach responsible for results. You can tell he is in the safest job in Scottish football and knows it. I'm not sure if he has the ambition to drive the players towards the title, or perhaps more likely, realises this squad are nowhere near good enough to win it. Plus we are ahead of schedule in Smith's master plan so there is no pressure on him to get the club promoted this season with the building work happening next year. PS I'm still not over the Falkirk result either! The easiest cup run any club will get, ever, in the history of easy cup runs and we still couldn't make it to Hampden. Results and performances like that make you want to just give up following this club. But not quite, I keep dragging myself back. He has about as much ability to influence a game as a co-commentator or TV analyst. Maybe someone should tell him that he can actually make decisions during a game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 3 hours ago, D'Jaffo said: Neilson in at the end of the season? Eye-bleedingly bad football, underachieving, and embarrassing cup exits to lower leagues is on the _other_ list. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 5 minutes ago, Thumper said: Eye-bleedingly bad football, underachieving, and embarrassing cup exits to lower leagues is on the _other_ list. Would you take Neilson though? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 2 hours ago, Young Eddie said: Results and performances like that make you want to just give up following this club. But not quite, I keep dragging myself back. The life of us Ayr fans... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thereisalight.. Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 Neilson would never join us. More chance of me being next Ayr manager 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 It would actually be very funny if Hearts made overtures towards Bullen given that his media coverage remains overwhelmingly positive and how utterly insular the Scottish merry-go-round is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North British 2 Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 6 hours ago, Thumper said: It would actually be very funny if Hearts made overtures towards Bullen given that his media coverage remains overwhelmingly positive and how utterly insular the Scottish merry-go-round is. Bullen will be at Ayr United next season and the season after that . This fanciful idea that he won't be around for the medium to long term is bonkers . He is in with the bricks as they say . Anybody who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgreig Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 17 minutes ago, North British 2 said: Bullen will be at Ayr United next season and the season after that . This fanciful idea that he won't be around for the medium to long term is bonkers . He is in with the bricks as they say . Anybody who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention. I certainly agree he is going to be here next season. If I were evaluating him I objectively I would look at two key things: 1 - achieving targets set at start of the season. None of knows for sure what his targets were but I would hazard a guess that mid-table was the minimum and play-off spot was the stretch. If we manage to finish in fourth (big if) then Bullen can comfortably mark that as complete. 2 - budget compared to peers, and league position compared with that. I think that Dundee, Partick and QP will all have had significantly higher player budgets than us. But Raith, Morton and Inverness are likely to have similar budgets to us and on that basis Bullen has done well to finish above them (again, assuming Inverness don't overtake us which is certainly possible). Bullen can make the case that he done well with the budget he has been given. In terms of player development, which is clearly a lot more subjective, I think it's much less positive. McKenzie may have improved a bit but we have others who are arguably worse - Reading and Houston for example - and some who haven't held down a place in the first team (Smith, Ecrepont). The players who arguably made the biggest difference were brought in on loan (Mullin and Chalmers). This is where, if I were on the board, I would be asking questions of Bullen in terms of the plan for next season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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