Thumper Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 minutes ago, No_Problemo said: I don’t think there is any questioning of the actual academy, there definitely should be questions about the pathway once they leave the academy and are signed to the first team though… I am fairly sure that what players do following their graduation is outside of the remit of AUFA and thus Davie White. Who has repeatedly stated that his periods as interim manager have been a matter of duty to the club and that the academy is still his actual job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Problemo Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 minutes ago, Thumper said: I am fairly sure that what players do following their graduation is outside of the remit of AUFA and thus Davie White. Who has repeatedly stated that his periods as interim manager have been a matter of duty to the club and that the academy is still his actual job. Outside the remit of the academy absolutely, but given Davie White is also part of the first team staff then it wouldn’t be outwith his. I definitely don’t think it would be his specific responsibility, but I imagine given his knowledge of the players he will give his input on loan moves or staying with the first team etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 5 hours ago, Coollestersmoothe said: I’d rather not have any more turgid fitba and have a product that justifies the 3hr round trip and £20 ticket. Aye, this for me. I'm similar with the round trip for home games and the last four/five years of home performances has largely been a chore tbh with the turgid football. That's why my heart longs for Uncle Ian. However, my head says Bowyer or Courts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 (edited) 3 hours ago, Richey Edwards said: The notion that BR was a shitfester is unfair tbh. BRs teams played some entertaining attacking football at times. The 2008/09 season in particular was good to watch. I'll be honest, I don't really care about the "style" of football. I'd rather we just won games - wanky football hipster concepts like "playing football the right way" can get in the bin. 2008/09 was most enjoyable we routinely gave the opposition a two goal lead and won 4-2; 5-2 etc. That's one of my favourite seasons. No matter the score we were in every game and capable of winning. Did we not go unbeaten at home for the whole league season as well? I may have made that up but I had some memory of that. Good times. Edited January 17 by Trogdor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 16 minutes ago, Trogdor said: 2008/09 was most enjoyable we routinely gave the opposition a two goal lead and won 4-2; 5-2 etc. That's one of my favourite seasons. No matter the score we were in every game and capable of winning. Did we not go unbeaten at home for the whole league season as well? I may have made that up but I had some memory of that. Good times. That team never knew when it was beaten. It was one of my favourite seasons as well - the first one in a long time that I could expect an Ayr win most weeks. BR doesn't get the respect he deserves for turning the club around after being a joke for most of the decade. He did a great job on a limited budget. We did indeed go unbeaten at home in the league all season. Our only home loss all season was against Aberdeen in the League Cup. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazka6 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Happy to be proven wrong and pure gut feel on my part but I don’t see Bowyer coming to Ayr, Courts more realistic. Could only see Bowyer going to a recently relegated prem team or above again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanayr1987 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 3 hours ago, bazka6 said: Happy to be proven wrong and pure gut feel on my part but I don’t see Bowyer coming to Ayr, Courts more realistic. Could only see Bowyer going to a recently relegated prem team or above again. He is supposedly interested in the job and was interested in the QP job too 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshirepud Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 8 hours ago, ayrunitedfw said: Babylon is a class song tbf That's today's earworm sorted. Cheers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finlay21 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 9 hours ago, Finlay21 said: And Jamie Hyslop at 16 in the Scotland squad regularly along with playing for the Ayr United U18s , a real prospect , Max Guthrie also a great prospect , coming back from a bad injury and will be an asset to us Just remembered Jack Allan also who has just been selected for the Scotland U18s squad 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMc93 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 9 hours ago, Finlay21 said: To be fair , not many clubs in the Championship are playing 16 year old players Recruitment point was more that the current first teamers on 2 years deals have no real value and are likely to end the same way as Mitchell-Lawson rather than Dipo . Certainly encouraging to see Hislop at 15 take part in the warm up earlier in the season so hopefully we can get a contract sorted in the summer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BukyOHare Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 We're into the last 8 of the Youth Cup (still sponsored by BP?!) and in addition to those already mentioned don't forget Ben Doak was with us at one point too before leaving. Imagine he'd stayed and made the first team? That could've been a game changer on and off the pitch I think in the circumstances we do as well as any of our peers in producing our own players. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUFC 1910 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 This might go against the grain, but one thing you miss by having such a small league are games where you can blood in youngsters. Having only 1 team out of 10 with nothing to play for right up to the death is exciting, but does nothing with regards to planning or trying out players in first team competitive action. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Armour Appreciation Society Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 19 minutes ago, AUFC 1910 said: This might go against the grain, but one thing you miss by having such a small league are games where you can blood in youngsters. Having only 1 team out of 10 with nothing to play for right up to the death is exciting, but does nothing with regards to planning or trying out players in first team competitive action. Exactly this. Has been discussed many times at Hampden, but whilst we continue to run cap in hand to the TV companies we will have to live with small leagues. Serial Diddy European Adventure Clubs also continue to purchase anonymous 'world' talent with the above revenue, therefore providing NO benefit to the Scottish game. Ayr United Football Academy - UEFA Award 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, BukyOHare said: We're into the last 8 of the Youth Cup (still sponsored by BP?!) and in addition to those already mentioned don't forget Ben Doak was with us at one point too before leaving. Imagine he'd stayed and made the first team? That could've been a game changer on and off the pitch I think in the circumstances we do as well as any of our peers in producing our own players. Was Doak not about 11 when he left Ayr? Pushing it a bit to say we played any real roll in his development. Unfortunately such obviously talented players are never going to stay at clubs like Ayr and will be poached away by the big elite academies,. Our track record of developing our own players is really very weak - McCowan, Crawford, and Forrest are the only 3 over the last decade, though Jackson Longridge was pushed out because Mark Roberts was an imbecile. I suppose you could make the case for Craig McGuffie, but he never showed any more than brief flashes of talent. Ultimately, doing well at youth levels is meaningless if players don’t develop and transition into professional football. I think McCall had the right idea - focusing on players like Harvie, Rose and Shankland who fall out of so called elite academies having not quite made the grade, but still have bags of potential at our level. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 2 hours ago, BukyOHare said: We're into the last 8 of the Youth Cup (still sponsored by BP?!) and in addition to those already mentioned don't forget Ben Doak was with us at one point too before leaving. Imagine he'd stayed and made the first team? That could've been a game changer on and off the pitch I think in the circumstances we do as well as any of our peers in producing our own players. Siriki Dembele (currently playing in the Championship with Birmingham City) was with us as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 The academy wiki lists 36 academy graduates who have played in the first team since 2006. Unfortunately it is only our first team it tracks so e.g. if we had never signed Muirhead it would be 35. Also the last entry is Paul Smith so it isn't up to date beyond the Mark Kerr COVID season. Even at that, that 36 is two new names a season on average and it'll be higher yet once updated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 20 minutes ago, Nelson said: Was Doak not about 11 when he left Ayr? Pushing it a bit to say we played any real roll in his development. Unfortunately such obviously talented players are never going to stay at clubs like Ayr and will be poached away by the big elite academies,. Our track record of developing our own players is really very weak - McCowan, Crawford, and Forrest are the only 3 over the last decade, though Jackson Longridge was pushed out because Mark Roberts was an imbecile. I suppose you could make the case for Craig McGuffie, but he never showed any more than brief flashes of talent. Ultimately, doing well at youth levels is meaningless if players don’t develop and transition into professional football. I think McCall had the right idea - focusing on players like Harvie, Rose and Shankland who fall out of so called elite academies having not quite made the grade, but still have bags of potential at our level. I think we do well considering the obvious limitations/hurdles we have. 4 teams within a 30 mile radius of us are in the Premiership (Celtic/Rangers/St Mirren/Killie) and add to that you have Thistle and Queens Park that play at a similar level to us. It can be hard to attract and keep the best youth players. Like has been said, we seem to have a good group at the moment who are getting Scotland Youth call ups. Ecrepont, Watret, Holding, Hyslop, Tomlinson, Allan all seem to be players we can may be get to see come through the ranks over the next 2/3 years. With White in charge this week, I am hoping to see at least Watret and Tomlinson get some game time v Kelty Hearts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Also, with Reading being our only left back at the moment, surely there is a case for bringing Holding back from his loan? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryMc93 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 46 minutes ago, itzdrk said: The academy wiki lists 36 academy graduates who have played in the first team since 2006. Unfortunately it is only our first team it tracks so e.g. if we had never signed Muirhead it would be 35. Also the last entry is Paul Smith so it isn't up to date beyond the Mark Kerr COVID season. Even at that, that 36 is two new names a season on average and it'll be higher yet once updated. My bad I created the list but couldn't be bothered to keep it up to date. Might need to revisit it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 4 minutes ago, GaryMc93 said: My bad I created the list but couldn't be bothered to keep it up to date. Might need to revisit it. Sorry, I did not mean to abuse you. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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