The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[D'Jaffo]

4 minutes ago, Nelson said:

I don’t think that’s true.  McCall had strong contacts at Rangers at the time who seemed to give him a heads up on Kelly’s quality and availability.  It was still a gamble I accept, but he was being blended into a significantly better team than the one we have just now.  The concern now is that we’re just signing complete randoms like Ahui and Young and throwing them into a team where they’re expected to deliver and perform from day one.  

They aren’t “randoms” though. We aren’t just picking names out of a hat and going with it. Are you genuinely trying to tell me that you don’t think we have any prior knowledge of these players before we sign them? You may not rate them and they may not be who you want but people need to lose the idea that our signing of players from England is some sort of scattergun and teams tend to look more closely at players before signing them. Unless you’re Paul Hartley or David Hopkin of course. 
 

They won’t always work out but that’s the risk you take with any signing. All the club can do is do their homework on a player, have a couple of conversations with him and hope that the data they’ve seen is going to lend itself to them being good enough when they get up here. If we had signed a player on loan from the OF with the same amount of games I guarantee that there wouldn’t be the same amount of comments made about him. 

[1nickydevlin]

22 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

Arguably better than Kyogo? 

Maybe not but I'm sure he wasn't far away from same amount scored last season. 

[Nelson]

Just now, D'Jaffo said:

They aren’t “randoms” though. We aren’t just picking names out of a hat and going with it. Are you genuinely trying to tell me that you don’t think we have any prior knowledge of these players before we sign them? You may not rate them and they may not be who you want but people need to lose the idea that our signing of players from England is some sort of scattergun and teams tend to look more closely at players before signing them. Unless you’re Paul Hartley or David Hopkin of course. 
 

They won’t always work out but that’s the risk you take with any signing. All the club can do is do their homework on a player, have a couple of conversations with him and hope that the data they’ve seen is going to lend itself to them being good enough when they get up here. If we had signed a player on loan from the OF with the same amount of games I guarantee that there wouldn’t be the same amount of comments made about him. 

I think we have very little first hand knowledge of many of these players.  Bangala didn’t even look like a professional football player to me.  Gondoh, Kenyon, Ashford and JML were total dross as well.  But clearly Dipo and Adeloye demonstrate there is quality to be found in the lower English leagues.  Difficult to judge Rose so far, but Amartey looks decent.  Not sure about Pendlebury - if I’m honest, he looks really one paced, but maybe we can come up with a formation that plays to his strengths.  Overall,  I’d much rather those gambles were being stitched into a core of players who know the Scottish game and can be somewhat relied on.  Getting a doing off a Morton team with Gillespie and Crawford in midfield was pretty sobering stuff.  

[BukyOHare]

17 minutes ago, Nelson said:

A truly tiresome attitude.  We have very well paid staff who’s actual job it is to improve us as a football team.  There’s something not right though when our own manager says explicitly we need to put more leadership and experience into the spine of the team, we sign 8/9 players over the Summer and we’re still saying the exactly same thing.  

You could've saved yourself so much time and effort by saying I don't know of anybody.

 

[BukyOHare]

19 minutes ago, Nelson said:

We have very well paid staff who’s actual job it is to improve us as a football team.

Ps how do you know how much people get paid?

 

[Hazbart]

44 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Because for all the back room wage bill has ballooned, I see little evidence on the park that it’s making us a better team, either in terms of recruitment or coaching.

Explain how it has ballooned? 
 

What positions due you feel are unnecessary?

We finished 2nd on the 2nd tier for the first time in 20 Years, in what world is the new model not working??

 

[BukyOHare]

5 minutes ago, Hazbart said:

We finished 2nd on the 2nd tier for the first time in 20 Years, in what world is the new model not working??

Yeah but we should've been 5th, yeah but we had a generational striker, yeah but we were a lucky team in a poor league.

 

[AUFC 1910]

Well, I’m buzzing for the game today.

Lunch at Lido, Prestwick - hub - game.

Sun is shining and a big crowd.

Some in the flesh construction porn.

Hopefully a decent game and result.

 

[AnonGuy7991]

The reality is the vast vast majority of signings from down south are going to be a lucky dip. I say vast vast majority as you will get lucky every now and then with a Dipo type signings. However let it be known, any player who signs up for Ayr / other championship squads for low couple of hundred quid is unfortunately here as a last resort due to lack of options in England or else following a girlfriend who’s Scotland up here.  

[Hazbart]

8 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Yeah but we should've been 5th, yeah but we had a generational striker, yeah but we were a lucky team in a poor league.

 

Could’ve been 5th, we were lucky etc etc. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sustainably progress takes time.

 

 

[D'Jaffo]

8 minutes ago, AnonGuy7991 said:

The reality is the vast vast majority of signings from down south are going to be a lucky dip. I say vast vast majority as you will get lucky every now and then with a Dipo type signings. However let it be known, any player who signs up for Ayr / other championship squads for low couple of hundred quid is unfortunately here as a last resort due to lack of options in England or else following a girlfriend who’s Scotland up here.  

There won’t be a player in our squad who’s come up from England who’s earning a couple hundred quid a week. 

[No_Problemo]

7 minutes ago, AnonGuy7991 said:

The reality is the vast vast majority of signings from down south are going to be a lucky dip. I say vast vast majority as you will get lucky every now and then with a Dipo type signings. However let it be known, any player who signs up for Ayr / other championship squads for low couple of hundred quid is unfortunately here as a last resort due to lack of options in England or else following a girlfriend who’s Scotland up here.  

Not really, they are data lead signings - with the right input they shouldn’t be a lucky dip. 

It absolutely isn’t a last resort either - a lot of these guys are playing part time and come here to showcase themselves. 

[Nelson]

11 minutes ago, Hazbart said:

Explain how it has ballooned? 
 

What positions due you feel are unnecessary?

We finished 2nd on the 2nd tier for the first time in 20 Years, in what world is the new model not working??

 

The world in which we don’t have an outstanding centre forward to carry an otherwise mediocre team.   I’m really not sure if the lack of shape and direction on the park is a product of a scattergun recruitment strategy or the lack of direction on the park from Bullen means we don’t really know what we’re trying to recruit.  
 

 

[BukyOHare]

5 minutes ago, Hazbart said:

Could’ve been 5th, we were lucky etc etc. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sustainably progress takes time.

 

 

You're a brave person saying things like that on here.

Incoming! 

[No_Problemo]

Robert Snodgrass is one of the experienced players available, who can play the deep lying playmaker style role. 

I imagine his wages at Hearts will have been relatively similar to McGeady’s at Hibs. All depends if he wants to continue playing and if he would drop down for far less money if nothing else materialises - could still play in the top flight pretty easily I would imagine. 

[diegomarahenry]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Robert Snodgrass is one of the experienced players available, who can play the deep lying playmaker style role. 

I imagine his wages at Hearts will have been relatively similar to McGeady’s at Hibs. All depends if he wants to continue playing and if he would drop down for far less money if nothing else materialises - could still play in the top flight pretty easily I would imagine. 

We got McGeady because the move suited his development pathway in to club management rather than team management. I don't think that Ayr are an appealing club to the other experienced free agents kicking about. Maybe McGeady will change that opinion of some players but I don't see any players busting a gut to sign for us, on the money we pay when they could earn the same from teams closer to their doorstep and earn a couple of hundred a week more.   

[AnonGuy7991]

14 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

There won’t be a player in our squad who’s come up from England who’s earning a couple hundred quid a week. 

Without the obvious of not disclosing figures on a public forum, do you really think these guys are on anything more than a low couple of hundred quid a week, win bonuses and shared accommodation?

[eez-eh]

1 hour ago, Nelson said:

Getting a doing off a Morton team with Gillespie and Crawford in midfield was pretty sobering stuff.  

They’ve been doing that to teams fairly regularly since Imrie arrived. We should be doing better but it’s not a massive shock.

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

We got McGeady because the move suited his development pathway in to club management rather than team management. I don't think that Ayr are an appealing club to the other experienced free agents kicking about. Maybe McGeady will change that opinion of some players but I don't see any players busting a gut to sign for us, on the money we pay when they could earn the same from teams closer to their doorstep and earn a couple of hundred a week more.   

Yeah, I know - I would be surprised but like I said you never know if he gets no other offers and wants to continue playing. 

[AnonGuy7991]

1 minute ago, diegomarahenry said:

We got McGeady because the move suited his development pathway in to club management rather than team management. I don't think that Ayr are an appealing club to the other experienced free agents kicking about. Maybe McGeady will change that opinion of some players but I don't see any players busting a gut to sign for us, on the money we pay when they could earn the same from teams closer to their doorstep and earn a couple of hundred a week more.   

Would second this. McGeady’s biggest carrot for signing for us was the opportunity off the pitch, not on the pitch. 

Additionally, it has to be said free agents at this stage in the window are free agents for a reason - they’re unwanted or have very unrealistic wage demands. Would be cautious at throwing £££ at more Chris Maguire type signings..