Trogdor Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 4 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said: I must admit I was concerned in pre season that McCall might be underestimating the quality of teams in this league but both he and Kerr were right. There’s clearly a step up from League 1 but the teams aren’t massively better. ^Likewise, I was for gutting the squad when we got promoted. I remember saying I would keep one of Kerr, Adams & Docherty. More fool me! I think the key factors to our success compared to last time in the Championship: We have a core of players who have played together and matured in the last 2/3 seasons. We are full time We won League One so we had a bounce when we started the campaign 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrmad Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) 5 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said: I wasn’t surprised at our fast start this season as I had a feeling the way we play would surprise teams but I thought after 3 or 4 games teams would wise up to it. I think managers now know we’re not going away but if you constantly play the way we’re playing with high intensity then it becomes very hard to stop. Couple that with 11 players every week who are desperate to win and you’ve got a recipe for success. Make that any 14 and I'd agree with you. Edited October 30, 2018 by ayrmad 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 2 minutes ago, ayrmad said: We ain't getting £300k/£400k in January when we put out a figure of £250k in the summer. I wouldnt take £400k, let his contract run out. It's really not worth it especially if we are still in the hunt for the league. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Make that any 14 and I'd agree with you.Very trueLooking through that squad though every player is playing for McCall because of the faith he placed in them after they were either told they weren’t good enough or they were finished at this level at previous clubs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mgc1910 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Just now, ayrmad said: We ain't getting £300k/£400k in January when we put out a figure of £250k in the summer. We never put out a figure of 250k in the Summer. And we might get a significant bid if there is strong interest from a number of clubs and someone is desperate enough to want him in January. Worth remembering we got 400k for Gary Teale and that was more than a decade and a half ago. Most likely he’ll go under freedom of contract, but my point was that we could offer him to, say, Sunderland for 100k but on condition he is loaned back to us. Gets us a fee of some kind and ensures he sees out the season with us which is really what we want. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 The number of people on this thread who would take the deeds to a car park over Premiership football for the first time in two generations is quite something. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrmad Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 7 minutes ago, Mgc1910 said: We never put out a figure of 250k in the Summer. And we might get a significant bid if there is strong interest from a number of clubs and someone is desperate enough to want him in January. Worth remembering we got 400k for Gary Teale and that was more than a decade and a half ago. Most likely he’ll go under freedom of contract, but my point was that we could offer him to, say, Sunderland for 100k but on condition he is loaned back to us. Gets us a fee of some kind and ensures he sees out the season with us which is really what we want. I don't want us taking a penny and I'm sure the club would rather see him go for nowt as well, what is the point of folk like Lachlan investing their hard-earned if it's not to see us in the top league. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 If we’re in this position come January then it’ll be players coming into the club that we’ll be focused on. Can’t see anyone especially our best player being let go. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placidcasual Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 1 hour ago, Mgc1910 said: Smart thing for Ayr to do would be to drop the asking price for Shankland in January but make it a condition that he is loaned back to us for the remainder of the season. Totally implausible. I'm sure any club can sign him on a pre-contract in January anyway so why would anyone pay a fee to let him stay with us for 6 months? If anything we'd get a development fee which would be buttons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 8 hours ago, placidcasual said: Totally implausible. I'm sure any club can sign him on a pre-contract in January anyway so why would anyone pay a fee to let him stay with us for 6 months? If anything we'd get a development fee which would be buttons. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42769118 Not like it hasn't happened before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrTroopMajor Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 What kind of football fan would rather take the money than see the club challenge for the top tier for the first time in a generation? No point in even being a football fan in that case. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 21 minutes ago, AyrTroopMajor said: What kind of football fan would rather take the money than see the club challenge for the top tier for the first time in a generation? No point in even being a football fan in that case. I get your point, but if taking money (and I mean £350k +) was going to be used to sign up our entire squad longer term, then it may be worth the sacrifice. Let's face it, it's pretty much assured that Shankland will be leaving in the Summer whatever happens, so if getting a big cash injection could secure our existing squad for another season or two and also having a few quid left over to sign someone else, then surely this has to be looked at ?? The worry for me is that if scouts are watching Shankland, then they're undoubtedly taking an interest in the likes of Rose, Smith, Harvie etc also and as I said earlier, the worst nightmare for me would be finish 3rd or 4th in the league, lose half our squad and then struggle to stay up the following season. Of course Shankland himself will have the final say in whether he stays until the Summer or not, so I suppose it's pointless us all even speculating. Que sera sera 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finlay21 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 (edited) On the other hand , why would a team pay lots of cash for a player they know they can get for nothing on a pre contract thus giving the player a great singing on fee , I truly believe Shankland will show appreciation to Ayr by staying to end of season , can’t see Ayr forcing through a transfer , the money we get for finishing in top four would compensate for a transfer fee Edited October 31, 2018 by Robbo63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGAYR Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 On the other hand , why would a team pay lots of cash for a player they know they can get for nothing on a pre contract Because English football even at lower levels as awash with money. £250k is nothing to some teams to secure a player for next season and stop other teams getting him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 30 minutes ago, JohnGAYR said: Because English football even at lower levels as awash with money. £250k is nothing to some teams to secure a player for next season and stop other teams getting him. That's true, even that non league bunch of jokers were offering us £150k+, so I'm sure the likes of a Swansea with their muti millions parachute payments wouldn't think twice about paying a few hundred grand if it meant securing a target. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mgc1910 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 40 minutes ago, JohnGAYR said: Because English football even at lower levels as awash with money. £250k is nothing to some teams to secure a player for next season and stop other teams getting him. That’s the point. If there are multiple clubs in for Shankland, we can effectively offer someone the chance of preferred bidder status for a relatively low cost which allows us to hang on to the player for the rest of the season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superhursty7 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 I want Shankland to stay for as long as possible sadly that's probably the end of the season, it's not just the prize money for finishing higher in the the league it's the season ticket sales next season more sponsorships, good press and they way we treat players to get more gems like Smith Hardie and Murdock in the club,these players talk and if we have a rep for developing players and not holding them back when better opportunities come we will bring in a better type of player no short term gain of a few hundred thousand is going to beat that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 55 minutes ago, Superhursy7 said: I want Shankland to stay for as long as possible sadly that's probably the end of the season, it's not just the prize money for finishing higher in the the league it's the season ticket sales next season more sponsorships, good press and they way we treat players to get more gems like Smith Hardie and Murdock in the club,these players talk and if we have a rep for developing players and not holding them back when better opportunities come we will bring in a better type of player no short term gain of a few hundred thousand is going to beat that. Agree with this but by the same token if we did use that "few hundred k" to tie up the rest of our squad then we'd either have an excellent team for the next few years or alternatively we'd rake in the cash in transfer fees if anyone wanted these guys which would allow us to consolidate and keep moving forward. I also totally get that it's about having your best team to get you the best results and to entertain the fans, but I'm just thinking longer term here than a 1 season wonder. Please note that all the above is with the caveat of any transfer fees being reinvested in the playing squad where possible, which of course is far from guaranteed and possibly just a pipedream.......... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb123! Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 I heard last night from people in the know that Somerset is ready to be allowed into the premiership if required. All would be needed would either be undersoil heating or specific Spfl approved frost covers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftk Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 I heard last night from people in the know that Somerset is ready to be allowed into the premiership if required. All would be needed would either be undersoil heating or specific Spfl approved frost covers. That is pretty much common knowledge. Rules were changed a few years back. Everybody loves terracing so hopefully get decent away crowds if promoted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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