Roxanne's man Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I quite enjoy the idea of talent coming from the lower English leagues and doing well at Somerset. Some can make the step up, others cannot but Ayr are at least willing to give them the chance to prove themselves. Who could have predicted how good Dipo would be? I think the scouting team is doing a wonderful job. There's always excitement regarding a signing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMc93 Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 1 hour ago, WATTOO said: Why do people keep talking down the English National league as if it's an amateur league completely full of diddy's etc ? Dipo ? Tommi ? I'm pretty sure most of us would be overjoyed to find another guy similar to that !! Was less a dig about the talent in the lower leagues and more a joke in reference to our next signings seemingly being from down south and the open day being on Saturday so I doubt it would be a secret for long even if we tried to announce someone that day who nobody's heard of. Lower leagues in England is probably similar to the old juniors here where players stick to a safety zone and don't take many risks. Most youth players we released went to Ayrshire clubs for various reasons rather than an Albion Rovers or Dumbarton type. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 32 minutes ago, WATTOO said: Gondoh was low risk, Kenyon was only signed for experience / dressing room on a short term deal, Maguire was a gamble but apparently low cost due to his predicament and both McAlear and Young were Loans that we know can go any way. Ultimately we stayed in the league the first year and finished 2nd the following year, so from a purely statistically perspective you'd have to say we've done ok in the transfer market. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Are we honestly counting Chris Maguire (full Scotland international with 100+ SPL appearances including a half-season as a DKB) and Reece McAlear (28 pretty good appearances in this very league a whole season ago) as "lower league English signings"? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted June 22, 2023 Author Share Posted June 22, 2023 8 minutes ago, Thumper said: Are we honestly counting Chris Maguire (full Scotland international with 100+ SPL appearances including a half-season as a DKB) and Reece McAlear (28 pretty good appearances in this very league a whole season ago) as "lower league English signings"? Aye it’s nonsense. Even Ashford and JML don’t really count. They were signed from actual football league teams. The only ones who’ve come from outwith that are Tomi, Dipo and Gondoh. I still maintain that Young was a decent signing and would’ve been an asset had he been able to stay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpInTheAyr Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Makes sense Kenyon was signed for his off field input, because he wasn't signed for his input on it. and whoever thought it a good idea to sign a clearly overweight player should be talked too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ghost of B A R P Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 2 hours ago, WATTOO said: Scottish Championship stars such as, Cameron Salkeld Green dot for making me spaff my tea all over the living room… Quality. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEd Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 48 minutes ago, Thumper said: Are we honestly counting Chris Maguire (full Scotland international with 100+ SPL appearances including a half-season as a DKB) and Reece McAlear (28 pretty good appearances in this very league a whole season ago) as "lower league English signings"? Yes because they were from the bottom two divisions in the EFL, often referred to as the lower leagues. Dipo, on the other hand, was signed from non-league football. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 My main gripe with the signings from down south is we're far too reliant as a signing model so much so that we on the whole seem to ignore the Scottish market. It screams of cheap option to be honest, rather than get established Scottish championship players we'd rather hope for a few gems from down south. Giving the lack of signings I can only assume our budget isn't as big as most hoped giving our 2nd place finish and cup run. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hursty Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Are there any realistic 'types' of signing that folk wouldn't complain about? Genuine question. So far there's been complaints / criticisms about: Scottish League 1 players - risky as not proven at Championship Scottish Premier / Ex International - risky as 34 year old and possibly past it Young loans from England - might not settle like Brad Young Scottish guys we've heard of from English lower league- could be like Maguire / McAleer English non league players we've never heard of - could be more Gondoh than Dipo. Average / poor but at least known Championship players - like Salkeld etc. Most folk would presumably be happy if we were signing the likes of Turner / Doc / Holt from Partick or Grimshaw from Morton but sadly it's madness to expect us to be out-bidding the likes of Ross County / Dundee Utd for these proven top end Championship players. Extra risk with there guys is if you chase them all summer then they decide against signing then you are left panicking a bit. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegomarahenry Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 2 hours ago, eez-eh said: Yeah, all good signings, but if we were shopping exclusively in Scotland we would still have a mixed bag, as we’d be taking punts on lesser fancied players up here rather than punts on lower league English players. I'd like us to have more of a mix. There has been maybe half a dozen players released that would make our squad better that we could realistically have signed and we haven't signed any of them. some have gone to the league below which makes me think that we didn't fancy them. Maybe 1-2 wildcards from down south on permanent deals and low risk loans coming up as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Machina Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Just now, ayrunitedfw said: My main gripe with the signings from down south is we're far too reliant as a signing model so much so that we on the whole seem to ignore the Scottish market. It screams of cheap option to be honest, rather than get established Scottish championship players we'd rather hope for a few gems from down south. Giving the lack of signings I can only assume our budget isn't as big as most hoped giving our 2nd place finish and cup run. Surely this can't be the viewpoint of your supporters - your three signings to date this window are from Scotland? If you're attempting to ignore the Scottish market, you're not doing a very good job of it. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 3 minutes ago, Hursty said: Most folk would presumably be happy if we were signing the likes of Turner / Doc / Holt from Partick or Grimshaw from Morton but sadly it's madness to expect us to be out-bidding the likes of Ross County / Dundee Utd for these proven top end Championship players. Extra risk with there guys is if you chase them all summer then they decide against signing then you are left panicking a bit. Need to be careful with these types. If they sign players that are too good they might promote too soon or play football that's too attractive. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hursty Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Just now, Iain said: Need to be careful with these types. If they sign players that are too good they might promote too soon or play football that's too attractive. I'll stick to my seemingly wild theory that these guys would have chosen the likes of Dundee Utd or Ross County over Ayr even if we did try and sign them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegomarahenry Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 2 hours ago, WATTOO said: I'd actually argue the opposite as not knowing anything about them is exciting in itself, where as signing someone who's been kicking around Raith / Morton / Hamilton / Arbroath etc, etc brings very little excitement as we're already aware of what these guys bring and ultimately if they had done that well they wouldn't be going to Ayr, they'd be stepping up to the Premier or heading to L2 / L1 in England. That works both ways, Dipo was a freak in the nicest possible sense, huge, scored all sorts of goals and defenders struggled to manhandle him. JML, swatted off the ball with minimum effort to the point he made easy passes then hid. If they are a genuine talent, they will perform. Brian Graham has played in Scotland for almost 20 years and still makes an arse of half the defences in the Championship. I don't think our batting average is high enough in terms of these types of signings to continue with the level we have been. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegomarahenry Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 9 minutes ago, Hursty said: Extra risk with there guys is if you chase them all summer then they decide against signing then you are left panicking a bit. It would be a short phone call, We can offer you this - That is less than I was on and I am being offered almost twice that from Dundee United/Ross County These guys will have known there were better offers out there before rejecting Thistles offer. Ayr, if they had done their homework on the players, probably would have known back in Feb/March time that these guys were maybe available and what they would be looking for if Thistle didn't go up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 29 minutes ago, Ex Machina said: Surely this can't be the viewpoint of your supporters - your three signings to date this window are from Scotland? If you're attempting to ignore the Scottish market, you're not doing a very good job of it. Decent of you to just completely ignore my next point about not getting established championship players. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 4 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said: Decent of you to just completely ignore my next point about not getting established championship players. Established championship players tend to be so for a reason. Look at Partick. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrAtlanta Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 3 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said: Decent of you to just completely ignore my next point about not getting established championship players. What is an established championship player? If they look good in the championship then their next move will not be Ayr United. If they look bang average then what’s your big obsession over signing them? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Btw any of the Ayr fans that stand next to me at Hampden on here, Hiya pals. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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