AUcal Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) St Johnstone - Obvious favourites being the prem side. Will Steven MacLean side cruise to the knockout stages? Or will they make a meal of it like they did under Callum Davidson's stewardship last year. Ayr - On paper we should be looking to run St Johnstone close, but last year's League cup performances were an absolute shambles, so f**k knows how Bullen prepares this time round. Still quite a bit of uncertainty about the squad, but there's time. Alloa - Finished last season strongly and made the league 1 play offs. A huge collapse against accies cost them the chance at promotion. Probably fancy their chances at play-offs again in L1 this term, so will we see a good start in the cup to set them off? Stirling - a very successful season last time round, returning to the 3rd tier after an 8 year hiatus. Which coincidentally was the last time our sides met, I think. Will they take points from the 'bigger' boys, or will a win against local rivals Alloa be suffice ahead of the league campaign. Stenhousemuir - Seem to have recruited fairly well so far and looking at the squads in league 2, you have to fancy them to be up the top end of that league this season. Will they be the surprise package of the group? An interesting group with a couple of tasty local derbies for the L1/2 sides. Not sure what games I would prefer to be at home / away. Form / league position does tend to go out the window in these groups so will be interesting to see how it pans out. May the best team win. Edited June 8, 2023 by AuAl 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Think we will be home* to Alloa and Stenny and away to Stirling and St Jonhstone. *Who knows where we will be playing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 I am confident that we will rinse this group after last seasons disaster. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUcal Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) Ah yes a good point, there's a good chance our "home" games won't be Somerset. New pitch being put down. Edited June 8, 2023 by AuAl 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayrfix Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Can only hope someone tells Bullen that these are NOT pre-season friendlies. Also hope he gets decent players in and not dross like McAlear and many others. We can and should run St Johnstone close. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartyMac Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Happy enough with that group. We seem to like this competition, have been a bawhair from qualifying the last 2 seasons. Probably be shite this year, mind. Not been to Perth or Ayr for a while, so either away day suits. And Alloa. Not played them in years, and thats at least 5 games against them now this season, making up for lost time. Don't really want to see Andy Graham in an Alloa shirt against us though (if he's still playing) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 There’s a good opportunity there to at the very least finish as one of the best runners ups. Need to make sure we do the business against the lower league sides which was something we struggled with last season. We’re probably 7 signings away from a completed squad but I’d be hoping 4 or 5 of those are made before these games start. We need a right back, a midfielder, a winger, an attacking midfielder and a striker to give ourselves the best chance of getting through. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 Given template used, Saints will be at home to Ayr and Stirling Albion, away to Alloa and Stenhousemuir. Two of our last three attempts at the group stage have been shambolic, including defeats to Montrose, Forfar, Annan and Queen of the South. Yet the lowest moment was the final game of last year against Ayr. We scored after a minute then as we approached final quarter, Callum Davidson clearly wasn't aware that scoring again put us in a position to qualify. Amateur hour. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 19 hours ago, StewartyMac said: Happy enough with that group. We seem to like this competition, have been a bawhair from qualifying the last 2 seasons. Probably be shite this year, mind. Not been to Perth or Ayr for a while, so either away day suits. And Alloa. Not played them in years, and thats at least 5 games against them now this season, making up for lost time. Don't really want to see Andy Graham in an Alloa shirt against us though (if he's still playing) He's been signed as a player again this season. That will be his eighth season with us. Not sure how much he'll feature this year, but bound to get some game time; turns forty in September. He's been nothing short of sensational in his time at the Indodrill. Total leader. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 Those away days are perfect for some juvenile tomfoolery. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUcal Posted June 9, 2023 Author Share Posted June 9, 2023 Due to the renovation of the pitch at Somerset Park, Ayr United v Stenhousemuir on Tues 18th July (7:45) will be played at Townhead Park, Cumnock. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartyMac Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 4 hours ago, printer said: He's been signed as a player again this season. That will be his eighth season with us. Not sure how much he'll feature this year, but bound to get some game time; turns forty in September. He's been nothing short of sensational in his time at the Indodrill. Total leader. Very few players who have been total legends at both clubs I would wager. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 2 hours ago, StewartyMac said: Very few players who have been total legends at both clubs I would wager. Indeed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 Ayr again a bit boring, but itll be nice to see a Steven MacLean side against a Callum Davidson-esque outfit. Hopefully Akinyemi is gone by then, or too busy trailing around English clubs looking for a buyer. Alloa = Scougall so happy to play them. They seem to have lost a lot of their team but zero idea if its starters or not, so not a clue how that goes. Sammon has always given me the fear so would rather hes also out. Stirling are going to be a bit of a dodgy one, but thats lessened by it being at home on the final game. Away in the first wouldve been a full on banana skin. Most folk i see seem to think Stenhousemuir have a very strong squad which just hasnt performed as well as it shouldve last season. Matty Aitken is a very decent striker when his confidence is up. We should qualify, with Ayr being the main problem. As its effectively a mid-table Championship side and 3 L1 sides, but we're probably going to have some experimenting with the relatively new manager wanting younger players given a chance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 Our game a week on Saturday at Forthbank likely to be PATG or ticket? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callum-ayr Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Not particularity optimistic for this game on Saturday. Thought we looked better in the second half on Saturday with the "weaker" 11 that played. Dipo starts his two match ban so we'll have to see who starts through the middle, would imagine McKenzie. 1-1 with Stirling winning on penalties. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hard Graft Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 The big question is will be playing this as a friendly style match or being competitive? There has been a tendency to use these games as final preparations for the league. Can feel a bit of a rip off to pay good money for what in effect could be a training style match. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 On 12/07/2023 at 07:15, Hard Graft said: The big question is will be playing this as a friendly style match or being competitive? There has been a tendency to use these games as final preparations for the league. Can feel a bit of a rip off to pay good money for what in effect could be a training style match. Our manager says he'll take it seriously, but ultimately our squad situation as it stands means we'll be giving younger ones a chance to impress at points. Think our starting line up v East Fife is what we'll start with v Stenhousemuir Sinclair McGowan - Gordon - Considine - Gallacher Wright - Kucheriavyi - MacPherson - Ballantyne - Carey May As its about the strongest 11 we can play, but i dunno, they were poor v East Fife so it might change. Kucheriavyi out for Alex Ferguson feels an obvious one, while other changes depend on players fitness. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 Think Stirling will be winning 2-0 on Saturday. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 20 hours ago, itzdrk said: Think Stirling will be winning 2-0 on Saturday. Dale Carrick hat-trick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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