Young Eddie

It's always an exciting time for fans when a manager goes and there is the hope and expectation that we will end up with someone better. As we know from experience the last four appointments haven't been meh and the last appointment I genuinely got excited about was McCall back in 2015. I wanted Bullen to do well as he had a lot of attributes, genuinely seemed a nice guy and was a left field appointment not from the list of usual suspects. But results were just not good enough, and whether that is from coaching, recruitment or a combination of the two ultimately it is the manager/head coach who gets the flak if the system isn't working. While change was necessary I hope the new guy who comes in can recruit a team largely of his own and create a proper footballing side that will encourage punters back. Some of the patter on here about Bullen has been pretty offensive to the guy and cringey. Maybe that's what the club are also alluding to. If you don't like Bullen that's fine but the BGM patter was shite and not even funny the first time it was trotted out. Ultimately if you aren't happy with the job someone is doing, don't have a go at them but take it to their boss. You can't make someone magically morph into a better manager but you can make those who recruit and oversee what is unfolding accountable. It's come later than it should have but finally Smith has acted. Just got to hope the next managerial appointment is a competent one and we still have time to save this season.

Particularly galling is that Raith were coming off the back of the Goodwillie debacle, with fans and sponsors deserting them in droves. Their turnaround within a few months is remarkable whereas we have regressed and show no signs of doing anything about it.

Thanks for posting these mate. My god, it looks fantastic. Fair play to the chairman for what he's done so far. Whatever you think of the guy you can't argue that he's not done more for the club than any other Ayr chairman in living memory.

That's a good point and raises the question of what the club plan to do next summer when LB's contract runs out. With any staff who are performing well there is a desire to get their contract extended but there's been no rumblings about this from the club. Is LB's future dependant on a lowly goal like whether we stay in the championship? Or reach the promotion playoffs? If Smith and Mathie don't see him as a long term option you'd hope they have a hypothetical shortlist already drawn up.

Looking at the pictures of what's been built so far, we've lost quite a few rows of full length terracing to be replaced by a stand with fewer seats. Apart from the hospitality areas with four rows and boxes behind glass the general admission is only two rows of seats which is surprisingly small. I'd guess the overall capacity will be down, perhaps by around 1,000.

The earlier shout for Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls would get my vote. Brilliant song that gets the hairs on the back of your neck up and strikes fear into your opponents. What's not to love?!

Hearing Kris Doolan talk at full time about how they replaced their best players with proven championship players and former winners shows how you can recruit successfully and with minimal risk. We really have had a disastrous transfer window: bringing in substandard replacements and not addressing glaring defensive issues

There are loads of OF fans in South Ayrshire. The place is infested with them. I think the club need to come up with radical ideas to increase attendances. Just hoping that attendances might increase if the team start winning doesn't work. Also as someone said earlier Somerset looks like a prison when you approach from Hawkhill Avenue. Ladies and young families won't dream of going near it and who can blame them.

I think the onus is on the club to grow the fan base. Complaining about the public failing to support the local team is no answer. Other towns with similar or smaller populations have bigger supports, such as Dunfermline and Falkirk, the latter after a number of seasons in L1. I don't know the answer but it's not up to me come up with solutions. The club have enough staff who should be tasked with this.

Yup, it's a shame the club don't have more fans in the town. In the last couple of weeks I've seen plenty of OF tops about town (mostly the blue scum variety) and only one guy in an Ayr Hummel tracky top. I only noticed it as he stood out so much from the usual OF gear. Then to top it all we even have a *** shop in the High Street. Those of us who choose to follow Ayr and stick two fingers up to the OF glory hunters round here are absolute heroes in my mind. Well done the lot of you.

Just a question for @Finlay21, I really appreciate your updates here and sharing inside info without giving too much away but how is it that you seem to know so much about the squad and the transfer targets etc? I get that you probably saw players on a day to day basis and struck up a relationship, hence knowing about Daire's plans for example, but do you also get fed little breadcrumbs, so to speak, about potential signings from Keith Glendinning? Or is it speculation on your part? Genuinely interested, not having a go or anything. Cheers mate

I do remember taking advantage of the student gate for quite some time. My theory was that putting on a high pitched voice and saying "one student please sir" would get me in. To be fair it did until I was about 30! At 22 quid I would have to seriously pick and choose my games and just go occasionally. It's reached the point now where I would vote with my feet and simply refuse to attend any more. It's not so much the actual cost as the lack of value for money. I'd far rather pay 22 quid to go and have a round of golf and do something active than pay that money to passively watch others take part in a crap game of hoofball.

I don't envy the club trying to flog season tickets on the back of an 8-0 hounding that left everyone scunnered at the end of the season. Will be surprised if we sell as many as last year but if we can sign one or two marquee type players you never know.

No offense taken for the red dot mate, all good. I said agenda as there are some folk here who look for the negative in everything Bullen does which is OTT I've been totally underwhelmed by his football style and team selections but I think the only way he's leaving the role is through his own choosing. Next season will be the defining one in the Smith/Mathie/Bullen era so far; do we build on a drastically improved league finish from last season or do an Arbroath? Time will tell.

I can't understand how folk are wetting their knickers at this video. Fans in the hub drowning their sorrows after the game and start a bit of a drunken sing song in which the manager joins in actually makes me respect the guy more. Fair play to him for connecting with the fans in that way. Someone filmed it and uploaded it out of context and now some P&B fans with an agenda get all worked up. There's no story here, Bullen hasn't committed some heinous atrocity (well, apart from the last 2 games and Christmas onwards arguably) and folk need to relax about this daft wee vid.

I hope people aren't serious about wanting McCall back. The guy walked away from the "job for life" at Ayr to take on his dream job at Partick. Then proceeded to weaken us by tapping up our best players to go with him. He should be persona non grata at Somerset.

I think there seems to be quite a few folk who think the North Terrace is becoming an all seated stand. It's the best of both worlds, there will be a roof, hospitality seats, and plenty of standing space too. So don't worry, you can still stand on the NT for many years to come

You know we've put in a stinker of a performance when not even WATTOO or Finlay have been on to say something positive. I agree with the earlier poster who said switch the strategy if we win the coin toss and shoot into the SRE first half. If we can get an early goal or go in at the break 2 up then it's game on. This of course is reliant on Dipo playing and the team defending from the front backwards. Go hard out and leave everything on the park next Friday. COYA

The attendance in the home end next week.

I love Fraser Bryden's reaction at the winning goal, instead of joining in with teammates he makes a beeline at full pelt to embrace the fans behind the goal. As a fan himself we know how much it meant to him too. Beautiful moment

Thought the ref could quite easily have blown for a foul on Musonda in the build up to our winner. Fair play to him for playing advantage. Could have been a sliding doors moment!

Next Saturday Inverness and Falkirk will take the field in the Scottish Cup semi final at Hampden. The contrast between ICT and Ayr is worth highlighting. ICT were outplayed at home in the cup by Queens Park but got a remarkable reprieve through a technicality and a passage into the next round. Boy, did they grab that opportunity with both hands and fair play to them for doing so . Ayr United, on the other hand, got a remarkable reprieve in the form of the easiest Scottish cup draw of all time and still managed to stuff it up. Like a few posters earlier on I've been supporting Ayr for many years and will continue to do so. It's just that this season has somehow just depressed me in a way that few others have. The Falkirk game just being the icing on the cake.

I think O'Connor has been underutilised this season and much prefer him to JML, who is too lightweight and likes a dive which totally puts me off the guy.

I can totally relate to Trogdor being in two minds about renewing a season ticket. And like AUFC 10 I'm not over the Falkirk result either! The fluffed cup run this season has made me me feel like we are destined never to win anything. It makes you feel like what's the point in following them year after year. Eventually the feeling of hope runs out. It's gonna take the club achieving the much talked about "something historic" before I'll start believing again.

Yeah, this is my problem with Bullen too. His interviews come across as if he's the co-commentator or TV anaylser on the game just played - not the actual first team coach responsible for results. You can tell he is in the safest job in Scottish football and knows it. I'm not sure if he has the ambition to drive the players towards the title, or perhaps more likely, realises this squad are nowhere near good enough to win it. Plus we are ahead of schedule in Smith's master plan so there is no pressure on him to get the club promoted this season with the building work happening next year. PS I'm still not over the Falkirk result either! The easiest cup run any club will get, ever, in the history of easy cup runs and we still couldn't make it to Hampden. Results and performances like that make you want to just give up following this club. But not quite, I keep dragging myself back.