The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Iain]

Mr Mathie, would you agree that sometimes it is necessary to take a step back in order to take two steps forward?

[Rb123]

Q1. Why has Bullen not been sacked yet?

Mathie - "Yeah we won't answer that one"

[WalkerMcCollsAvenue]

For me, it's less about whether Bullen can turn this around than can these players do it.

The signings should/could have been the perfect balance of an offensive force for this season. The maturity and undoubted skill, nous and awareness of McGeady and Murphy, the unpredictable, bums-off-seats trickery of Chalmers, the raw speed and youthful fearlessness of Amartey and a young hungry guy with an eye for a goal of Rose. We needed it to click and meld, coupled with a key midfield missing link to supplement Dempsey and Murdoch.....but on paper, it should have been a shrewd set of acquisitions.

But all was thrown into the air with Murphy's (not unexpected) injury, McGeady's bafflingly poor form and of course, the two long-term injuries. We assembled a bunch of inexperienced firefighters and the question is, can anyone, Bullen or otherwise, make a cohesive unit out of this lot?

For me, the jury is out. Saw flashes of grit and potential in Syla (and piss poor decision-making for his yellows), plenty to get excited about with Young and thought that as the game went on, Ahui seemed to unshackle his Bambiesque nervousness to make me think that in 3 years, he'd easily make the Whitletts Victoria first team.

But a massive amount now rests on whether Murphy can continue his scoring streak from the cup games but more importantly, can McGeady shake off his rustiness and actually be the player he's still capable of.

The toxicity around Somerset is worse than I can ever remember so it just makes a very tough task that much harder though.

[No_Problemo]

14 minutes ago, WalkerMcCollsAvenue said:

For me, it's less about whether Bullen can turn this around than can these players do it.

The signings should/could have been the perfect balance of an offensive force for this season. The maturity and undoubted skill, nous and awareness of McGeady and Murphy, the unpredictable, bums-off-seats trickery of Chalmers, the raw speed and youthful fearlessness of Amartey and a young hungry guy with an eye for a goal of Rose. We needed it to click and meld, coupled with a key midfield missing link to supplement Dempsey and Murdoch.....but on paper, it should have been a shrewd set of acquisitions.

But all was thrown into the air with Murphy's (not unexpected) injury, McGeady's bafflingly poor form and of course, the two long-term injuries. We assembled a bunch of inexperienced firefighters and the question is, can anyone, Bullen or otherwise, make a cohesive unit out of this lot?

For me, the jury is out. Saw flashes of grit and potential in Syla (and piss poor decision-making for his yellows), plenty to get excited about with Young and thought that as the game went on, Ahui seemed to unshackle his Bambiesque nervousness to make me think that in 3 years, he'd easily make the Whitletts Victoria first team.

But a massive amount now rests on whether Murphy can continue his scoring streak from the cup games but more importantly, can McGeady shake off his rustiness and actually be the player he's still capable of.

The toxicity around Somerset is worse than I can ever remember so it just makes a very tough task that much harder though.

Obviously missed chances against Arbroath aside, I genuinely don’t know what people expect from McGeady when he only ever receives the ball thirty yards from his own goal. You can see he still has that little burst of pace and trickery when we get him one v one high up the park, but it rarely happens. 

I think it’s one of those situations where everyone looks terrible as the system and makeup of the team is just so inadequate and highlights the weaknesses of every player. 

Murphy, McGeady and Chalmers together might make a difference, but I don’t think it’ll be a big enough one due to the other deficiencies.

Edited September 7, 2023 by No_Problemo

[Thereisalight..]

Stuff your Netflix or TV shows, the Mathie online Q&A could be the viewing highlight of the year! Get the popcorn in lads 

...also why is the recruitment so shit? Mostly English youths/non league duds or well past it stalwarts. Very little in between 

[D'Jaffo]

Submitted my questions. Two related to recruitment and one related to relegation should it happen. 

[Hawk89]

6 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Submitted my questions. Two related to recruitment and one related to relegation should it happen. 

I feel like you'll get some sort of embittered response to the latter, given two fingered salute in response to the question about bringing in an assistant at the previous Q&A. 

[D'Jaffo]

8 minutes ago, Hawk89 said:

I feel like you'll get some sort of embittered response to the latter, given two fingered salute in response to the question about bringing in an assistant at the previous Q&A. 

I mean given out start it’s definitely not an unreasonable question and I’m not saying it will happen but it’s more to see how Mathie reacts to it. If he gives a bit of a snide response then I’ll take it to mean that the club are so arrogant that they believe they wouldn’t be under threat of relegation. If he takes it seriously then I live in hope that the club will have a point where they know they need to make a change to stay up. 

[ComradeDiego]

1 hour ago, Iain said:

This can only go well

 

https://x.com/ayrunitedfc/status/1699742742027317277?s=46&t=Gx-nKQBLBMge12dZ1sBJfA

[UpInTheAyr]

34 minutes ago, Thereisalight.. said:

Stuff your Netflix or TV shows, the Mathie online Q&A could be the viewing highlight of the year! Get the popcorn in lads 

...also why is the recruitment so shit? Mostly English youths/non league duds or well past it stalwarts. Very little in between 

Doubt it with having to submit them beforehand, they can just cherry pick the ones he wants to answer or just softball any others. He's pretty good at that.

[Hazbart]

If nothing else, this is an opportunity for the fans to voice their discontent.

I doubt any of the tough questions will make the Final Cut….

[Hawk89]

1 minute ago, Hazbart said:

If nothing else, this is an opportunity for the fans to voice their discontent.

I doubt any of the tough questions will make the Final Cut….

I've asked if there will be any provision to allow the transfer of fans between the SRE and Railway end this season once the main works are completed, and next season once the new stand is open. Should atleast give them an easy opener.

[ryanayr1987]

3 minutes ago, Hazbart said:

If nothing else, this is an opportunity for the fans to voice their discontent.

I doubt any of the tough questions will make the Final Cut….

You have just convinced me to ask a question lol  

Edited September 7, 2023 by ryanayr1987

[Nelson]

43 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Obviously missed chances against Arbroath aside, I genuinely don’t know what people expect from McGeady when he only ever receives the ball thirty yards from his own goal. You can see he still has that little burst of pace and trickery when we get him one v one high up the park, but it rarely happens. 

I think it’s one of those situations where everyone looks terrible as the system and makeup of the team is just so inadequate and highlights the weaknesses of every player. 

Murphy, McGeady and Chalmers together might make a difference, but I don’t think it’ll be a big enough one due to the other deficiencies.

He’s had no influence whatsoever in the attacking third of the pitch.  Little touches and flashes aren’t enough.  You can certainly argue that he’s still trying to find match fitness after a long term injury, but it’s hard to shake off the suspicion that he is basically done.

[Roxanne's man]

2 hours ago, diegomarahenry said:

Looking at the players available, Steven Fletcher is the standout. Proven goal scorer, experience that could help Bryden. 
 

Downside, he's not kicked a ball since May, he's old and unlikely to want to travel to Ayr every day for training. He complained about a 2 hour commute to Dundee as a factor for him quitting United. Unless he can train with someone down south and travel up a couple of days a week, but would it be worth it for both parties?

Other than that, we are looking at an under 21 player on loan to help solve the issue of scoring goals. 

Is Jakubiak away elsewhere? Honestly I'd rather him than Fletcher.

[AUFC 1910]

28 minutes ago, Nelson said:

He’s had no influence whatsoever in the attacking third of the pitch.  Little touches and flashes aren’t enough.  You can certainly argue that he’s still trying to find match fitness after a long term injury, but it’s hard to shake off the suspicion that he is basically done.

He missed at least 2 sitters in front of goal at Arbroath - kicked the ball like he was wearing slippers!!

[No_Problemo]

36 minutes ago, Nelson said:

He’s had no influence whatsoever in the attacking third of the pitch.  Little touches and flashes aren’t enough.  You can certainly argue that he’s still trying to find match fitness after a long term injury, but it’s hard to shake off the suspicion that he is basically done.

I know he hasn’t, that’s literally my entire point - how many times has he been given the ball in the final third? 

He has to drop so deep to get on the ball he inevitably gets it thirty yards from his own goal - what exactly are we expecting him to do from there…

The being done thing is just a lazy jump to make tbh, he still has a decent burst of pace. 

ETA, we will be saying the same thing about Chalmers in a couple of weeks if this style continues. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by No_Problemo

[No_Problemo]

You all seem to have recruitment covered so I just went for this - a very important issue IMO that we don’t want to get lost amongst the current shitshow. 
 

“I appreciate our community work in terms of tickets etc is much improved, but several other clubs now have free season ticket initiatives for children. What are the clubs future plans in terms of our engagement with younger people in the community and encouraging them to attend - are we going to look to do something similar? Further to this, how is the pricing of £15 as soon as someone turns 13 reasonable? Any child without parental support would be unable to attend at that price point.”

[United1973]

1 hour ago, No_Problemo said:

I’m sure there will be plenty on recruitment, think I’ll ask about our plans for increasing attendance of kids - particularly given what the likes of Raith are doing. While we charge FIFTEEN fucking pounds for a thirteen year old to attend. 

I do agree but would you subject you're kid to with this shit 

[No_Problemo]

Just now, United1973 said:

I do agree but would you subject you're kid to with this shit 

Haha, fair point - but let’s be hopeful and imagine a world where we scrape survival this year, have a shiny new stand and a fantastic footballing team ready to go next year to get our free season ticket kids hooked for life…