The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Ayrutd1910]

11 hours ago, Young Eddie said:

While not excusing Nick McAllister's pass on halfway being poor and intercepted, it's a bit OTT to claim he gifted them a goal - in the end it was a great strike against probably the shortest goalie in scottish football. Interesting that no-one seems to have mentioned Livvy gifting Ayr a goal when their keeper pawed a header directly to an unmarked McLennan a few yards out. Probably because they ended up winning the game so no-one really cares about a goal that didn't influence the final result.

Wouldn't have got the magnificent strike if McCalister hadn't assisted him.As for there second goal, the midget was weak again coming out,same happened at Falkirk. 

[Coollestersmoothe]

Mcallister’s mistake lost us a goal on Saturday. Aside from that he’s been otherwise ok the last few weeks. He's the fifth choice centre half, and probably the third choice right back. I’d expect a mistake. 

But he seems to be getting a level of criticism thrown at him which seems a bit OTT. McMann, Musonda and Devlin being injured has got nothing to do with him. He doesn’t pick the team or decide who’s going to be gubbed for the week. 

[Thumper]

14 hours ago, Only me... said:

The rapid rotation of keepers combined with the injury list and strategic selections by Brown has left us unsettled and losing our identity a bit. Last week we looked more like we should be, apart from the obvious f**kups in the 1st half. If we can get a settled defence and keeper to build on, the midfield and front line can be tinkered with each game.

It's the strategy (or more specifically the outlandish selections) that worries me. I'm not surprised he's going through players quickly - the one thing he definitely has the right to do is demand excellence from his players as he gave it himself. Ayr are never going to be looking at a home game against Barcelona and actually expecting to win it, like the teams he captained, but they have to give their all and that doesn't just mean running about a lot in training.

But selections-wise he's just making it difficult for himself. What wins this league is consistency and clarity. Putting players in brand new positions every week might be great in training but especially against Falkirk they barely knew what way they were facing. The injuries list is dire but Ayr are far from the only team of late who couldn't even fill their bench and being able to piss with the cock you've got is part and parcel of managing at this level.

17 minutes ago, Coollestersmoothe said:

But he seems to be getting a level of criticism thrown at him which seems a bit OTT. McMann, Musonda and Devlin being injured has got nothing to do with him. He doesn’t pick the team or decide who’s going to be gubbed for the week. 

He still makes far too many basic errors and the only reason he's even still on the team sheet is due to long lists of injuries and an attempt by Bullen to replace him that was almost as funny as the Bangala situation. I will give that he's very vocal but that normally instills discipline and coherence to a back line and it doesn't seem to be happening.

Edited Tuesday at 10:31 by Thumper

[Coollestersmoothe]

2 hours ago, Thumper said:

He still makes far too many basic errors and the only reason he's even still on the team sheet is due to long lists of injuries and an attempt by Bullen to replace him that was almost as funny as the Bangala situation. I will give that he's very vocal but that normally instills discipline and coherence to a back line and it doesn't seem to be happening.

Agree with you there. Him playing is entirely symptomatic of an injury crisis. But that context is never brought up in the criticism of him. And the pelters he gets (save the stinker at the weekend) seem a bit extreme….It’s that he’s just straight up shite and therefore to blame for every mediocre performance we’ve had in the last few weeks. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 12:57 by Coollestersmoothe

[Only me...]

14 minutes ago, Thumper said:

But selections-wise he's just making it difficult for himself. What wins this league is consistency and clarity. Putting players in brand new positions every week might be great in training but especially against Falkirk they barely knew what way they were facing. 

His 2 players for every position mantra is a good theory, but the reality that we have is way short in quality. Every player is going to have an off day, but if this means being dropped and replaced by a McAllister or Walker out of position, then results are only going to go one way. We'll see in the coming weeks what he's all about now we have a full (ish) squad , and if he can put some consistency together. I agree with you about him making it difficult for himself, I just don't see him changing from this. Need to remember he is still a relatively new manager and forget about the experienced player, he is going to make mistakes, maybe he could be dropped for a week and Whittaker takes the reigns? 

[Nelson]

Recruitment remains a major Achilles heel for us, and has been since McCall was in charge.  Difficult to know why as it spans 3 or 4 different managers and I don’t think it’s because we aren’t spending the money which you could at least offer as a defence for the likes of Brian Reid or Mark Roberts.

 We basically went into the season with 2 recognised forwards in Dowds and Oakley - if any one of them got hurt, we’ve literally nothing to fall back on bar a boy from Aberdeen who is, being charitable, not ready for championship football and Mark McKenzie who averages about 2 league goals a season.  Replacing Murdoch should have been a priority too if we had concluded he was struggling to come back off his injury.  Add to that Brown’s evident lack of confidence in Syla and it’s hard to understand why we only ended up signing Howley, who will doubtless be quietly returned to Coventry in January.  What we do when Dempsey inevitably misses games I’ve no idea.  I spoke to an Accies fan at work who said Hastie was too slow for them at League 1 level last season, and yet we convinced ourselves he could do a job in the championship.  That he’s miles off the pace should come as no surprise.  It was also our decision to give a contract to Devlin despite his deplorable injury record over the last 4/5 years.  That he’s played 14 minutes of football since signing in July really isn’t that big a surprise either.  The goalkeeping situation is a right old mess as well - 4 keepers on our books and none of them seem up to much (Stone is probably the best of a bad bunch).

He hasn’t a great 2/3 weeks, but I still think Brown can deliver for us.  But whoever is in charge, we need to get to the bottom of why we keep signing so many absolute turkeys.  Looking at the bench on Saturday, we had Hastie, Walker, Syla, Bavidge and Howley, who are basically not good enough.  Add in McAllister and McKenzie,  in the starting lineup (both of whom should have been released ages ago) and you realise we still have a road to travel quality wise.

In summary, it really isn’t all Nick McAllister’s fault.

[No_Problemo]

23 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Recruitment remains a major Achilles heel for us, and has been since McCall was in charge.  Difficult to know why as it spans 3 or 4 different managers and I don’t think it’s because we aren’t spending the money which you could at least offer as a defence for the likes of Brian Reid or Mark Roberts.

 We basically went into the season with 2 recognised forwards in Dowds and Oakley - if any one of them got hurt, we’ve literally nothing to fall back on bar a boy from Aberdeen who is, being charitable, not ready for championship football and Mark McKenzie who averages about 2 league goals a season.  Replacing Murdoch should have been a priority too if we had concluded he was struggling to come back off his injury.  Add to that Brown’s evident lack of confidence in Syla and it’s hard to understand why we only ended up signing Howley, who will doubtless be quietly returned to Coventry in January.  What we do when Dempsey inevitably misses games I’ve no idea.  I spoke to an Accies fan at work who said Hastie was too slow for them at League 1 level last season, and yet we convinced ourselves he could do a job in the championship.  That he’s miles off the pace should come as no surprise.  It was also our decision to give a contract to Devlin despite his deplorable injury record over the last 4/5 years.  That he’s played 14 minutes of football since signing in July really isn’t that big a surprise either.  The goalkeeping situation is a right old mess as well - 4 keepers on our books and none of them seem up to much (Stone is probably the best of a bad bunch).

He hasn’t a great 2/3 weeks, but I still think Brown can deliver for us.  But whoever is in charge, we need to get to the bottom of why we keep signing so many absolute turkeys.  Looking at the bench on Saturday, we had Hastie, Walker, Syla, Bavidge and Howley, who are basically not good enough.  Add in McAllister and McKenzie,  in the starting lineup (both of whom should have been released ages ago) and you realise we still have a road to travel quality wise.

In summary, it really isn’t all Nick McAllister’s fault.

Devlin played 35 games last season, so I’m assuming we thought his injury issues were over as the two seasons before that he barely played. Hopefully he is now available for most of the rest of the season. 

Still think there is something there with Bavidge in flashes, it just isn’t as the focal point of the team. Falkirk fans also said he caused them issues while playing out wide last season. That obviously goes back to not having the right style of back up forward. 

We have Dempsey, Rus, Howley and Syla for the central midfield positions - we didn’t replace Murdoch very well but we absolutely have enough players in that position. 

I think you are right in that we will be looking to get rid of at the very least - Howley and Hastie in January. 

 

[AUFC 1910]

25 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Recruitment remains a major Achilles heel for us, and has been since McCall was in charge.  Difficult to know why as it spans 3 or 4 different managers and I don’t think it’s because we aren’t spending the money which you could at least offer as a defence for the likes of Brian Reid or Mark Roberts.

 We basically went into the season with 2 recognised forwards in Dowds and Oakley - if any one of them got hurt, we’ve literally nothing to fall back on bar a boy from Aberdeen who is, being charitable, not ready for championship football and Mark McKenzie who averages about 2 league goals a season.  Replacing Murdoch should have been a priority too if we had concluded he was struggling to come back off his injury.  Add to that Brown’s evident lack of confidence in Syla and it’s hard to understand why we only ended up signing Howley, who will doubtless be quietly returned to Coventry in January.  What we do when Dempsey inevitably misses games I’ve no idea.  I spoke to an Accies fan at work who said Hastie was too slow for them at League 1 level last season, and yet we convinced ourselves he could do a job in the championship.  That he’s miles off the pace should come as no surprise.  It was also our decision to give a contract to Devlin despite his deplorable injury record over the last 4/5 years.  That he’s played 14 minutes of football since signing in July really isn’t that big a surprise either.  The goalkeeping situation is a right old mess as well - 4 keepers on our books and none of them seem up to much (Stone is probably the best of a bad bunch).

He hasn’t a great 2/3 weeks, but I still think Brown can deliver for us.  But whoever is in charge, we need to get to the bottom of why we keep signing so many absolute turkeys.  Looking at the bench on Saturday, we had Hastie, Walker, Syla, Bavidge and Howley, who are basically not good enough.  Add in McAllister and McKenzie,  in the starting lineup (both of whom should have been released ages ago) and you realise we still have a road to travel quality wise.

In summary, it really isn’t all Nick McAllister’s fault.

I think one of the issues we are finding out on recruitment is going from the biggest and most attractive part time outfit in the country, to starting to compete from the bottom end up on the full time front.

We have been trying to live within our means, while trying to build that up too, but invariably have been left with who we can afford.

Rarely have we had a marquee signing that would be the envy of the league simply because we couldn’t afford the tried and tested of these types.

When we are competing in a division - even now - where we have one of the lower home attendances / season ticket sales, we can only recruit who we can afford.

Maybe the scatter-gun approach is going to come to an end, as our income increases off the pitch, and we might be able to afford those 1 or 2 very talented individuals that will almost guarantee you performance after performance - pay them the money required to come to Ayr - give them the 3 year deals - and properly build quality squads.

The caveat to all of this is the (realistically and statistically correct) only 1 real promotion spot available - it is simply not enough, and clubs are spending hand over foot just to end up a top championship club with nowhere to go.

[eez-eh]

Backup players are backup for a reason. McAllister is playing because of an injury crisis. Bavidge was signed with the intention of being third choice striker. You aren’t going to get many first team quality players happy to sit on the bench most weeks.

[Scott-ish]

30 minutes ago, AUFC 1910 said:

The caveat to all of this is the (realistically and statistically correct) only 1 real promotion spot available - it is simply not enough, and clubs are spending hand over foot just to end up a top championship club with nowhere to go.

Absolutely right. The entire league structure needs to change. It's hindering every team outside of Celtic at the minute. 

Almost every game being a 6 pointer means teams won't risk youngsters and average players end up coming in from abroad.

The national team is certainty struggling because of this. Not much chance of change while the TV companies pull the strings for their minimum 4 OF games a season and the SPL self preservation society get to decide.

[No_Problemo]

For those that have done the hospitality this season: 

What’s the script with alcoholic drinks? Is it now the case that you cant have a drink in between KO and Full Time, even when you aren’t in view of the pitch…

[callum-ayr]

3 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

For those that have done the hospitality this season: 

What’s the script with alcoholic drinks? Is it now the case that you cant have a drink in between KO and Full Time, even when you aren’t in view of the pitch…

I am there in December for the Falkirk game.  Hope this isn't the case as I doubt I will be watching much of the match.

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

I am there in December for the Falkirk game.  Hope this isn't the case as I doubt I will be watching much of the match.

That could be a cracker of a match tbf, if we pick up a little… 

I’m there for the Morton game, which you already know will be awful. 

[Scott-ish]

18 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

For those that have done the hospitality this season: 

What’s the script with alcoholic drinks? Is it now the case that you cant have a drink in between KO and Full Time, even when you aren’t in view of the pitch…

You can drink right up to KO. They take a drink order and payment pre-match and your pint is waiting for you at your table at half time as don't think they can sell drink during the game.

Thought the Hospitality was first class when I went.

[Ayrutd1910]

Have they done away with the fridge full of drinks when on full package 

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, Scott-ish said:

You can drink right up to KO. They take a drink order and payment pre-match and your pint is waiting for you at your table at half time as don't think they can sell drink during the game.

Thought the Hospitality was first class when I went.

Perfect - I had heard from someone that hospitality rules now meant you couldn’t even get a drink at HT. 

[callum-ayr]

11 minutes ago, Ayrutd1910 said:

Have they done away with the fridge full of drinks when on full package 

I believe that you get that in the Club 1910 suite, but I don't think you can pay for it, that's where folk who have the season tickets for hospitality are.

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

I believe that you get that in the Club 1910 suite, but I don't think you can pay for it, that's where folk who have the season tickets for hospitality are.

For the Super Ayr package it says you get £40 per person inclusive drinks, but don’t know what that actually involves…

[railwayend]

If you have a drink left on your table pre match then nothing to stop you having a wee swig when your on a trip to the gents . 
There is generally no shortage of booze , the waitresses work the tables constantly! You’ll have a great day ….

[AyrExile]

6 hours ago, Coollestersmoothe said:

Mcallister’s mistake lost us a goal on Saturday. Aside from that he’s been otherwise ok the last few weeks. He's the fifth choice centre half, and probably the third choice right back. I’d expect a mistake. 

But he seems to be getting a level of criticism thrown at him which seems a bit OTT. McMann, Musonda and Devlin being injured has got nothing to do with him. He doesn’t pick the team or decide who’s going to be gubbed for the week. 

Alongside Reading there is a very low tolerance level for any mistakes being made before the boot goes in. Not a massive fan of McAllister but as a squad player he may do a job. Think it was the Queens Park game his two last ditch headers stopped goals when others were posted missing. At the time i didn't remember him getting much credit in the bank. Perhaps the manager needs to manage the risk though and avoid starting him against the top teams if there are other options available.