League Cup Group E

[AyrTroopMajor]

What a load of patronising nonsense. 

Ehm, whit? Settle doon runner up.

[haufdaft]

We didn't really have another credible opportunity after Osadolor wildly fired a very presentable chance over the bar at 2-1.

I think you forgot the 2 on 1 when Gormley choose to run the ball out of play rather than play the ball a couple of yards to Wright who was free bearing in on goal.

In saying that, Currie's overall performance troubled me (poor at the 2nd and then the 4th as well, I think) and those full backs are nowhere near good enough.

Currie has not impressed me at all up to now. He seems to be rooted to the spot too often as the ball heads into the net. The second goal in particular was a case in point.

From the first match I saw Home play, it was obvious that he seriously lacks pace. His opponents find it incredibly easy to go past him. Teams will find it very easy to get behind us.

Wilson is no full back. He looked like a centre half playing out of position. His confidence seemed to collapse the longer the second half went on.

We need Nicol back desperately in defence. Someone needs to take control and organise. The number of times the ball bounced in the box was shocking as well as the defence falling asleep at short corners and quicky taken free kicks.

Midfield-
Flynn was anonymous...again.
Miller had a poor game. I think we need to keep him on the park as much as we can for his corners of nothing else.
Cuddihy and Wright were okay without standing out.
The midfield offered very little protection in front of the defence.

Osadolor and Goodwillie worked very well together. Its good to see an attacking partnership developing between them.

If like to see more of Burbidge. One good run and an excellent cross that almost lead to a goal. We should get the ball to him more.

Let's hope the defence gets sorted and we'll do week this season.

[callum-ayr]

Shout out to that Clyde fans losing the rag at an Ayr ball boy 

[BullyWeeLad]

Didn't fancy our chances today at all then seeing that there was no Breslin or Nicol I knew we were doomed  Ayr are a crackin team and wish them all the best in the cup and league.

Now time for us to get focused and aim for the Play-offs 

[athletic 1]

A lot of that matches up with what I've seen at the two home games. Said in an earlier post that Chapman already has them looking like a team.

Probably because they practically came as a team already

[Sao Paulo]

Chiming with what I wrote above about this match above, it really must be remembered that we were playing an exceptionally well equipped and familiar full-time team, on their patch, on a weeknight before which they'd a week's rest and we'd only a few days.

I was and remain happy with the approach Chapman took: fresh legs up-top, accept you'll concede and don't play to keep it tight. If Nicoll, Breslin and Ramsay were fit and I really fancied nicking a win, I'd have played them. That's all I'd have changed.

The lad who deputised for Stewart played very poorly: he was ran-on successfully for two of Ayr's goals among other things. But I would not write him off altogether. He was up against a very good, quick and tricky player.

McNiff was as culpable as he typically is. I expect my opinion of him will become the consensus before long. That said, between him, Bradley and Home there wasn't much they could've done differently to keep the score down. All three can be faulted severally. But there's an egregious comment written above about Home ("[he] would be a very weak link in our strongest XI"). He certainly would not be. He wins almost everything he competes for in the air, he's aggressive, strong and he plays with an experience which McNiff never will and which Breslin is yet to acquire. His pace is limiting, of course, but we've already saw, particularly against Dumbarton, how wisely he makes up for it. Not only that, but for my money he held-up well in his corner tonight, particularly given the work-rate and speed of his opponents. Why anyone would single him out for flack based on this evening's showing, is difficult to understand.

If you really wanted to pick faults you'd have to begin with how little we resisted Ayr in midfield. We just need to accept that we're weak there and move on. Move on meaning: sign some more players or accept the consequences. It won't take a team as good as Ayr to dominate us in there.

Currie was a little hasty in moving play on, for my liking. I couldn't make out how well or not he done at the goals but we've more to worry about. Otherwise, I'd forget this one. We deliberately pulled our punches in how we lined-up and had the odds stacked heavily against us in any case. Move on.

Ideal world: another centre-half and two really good centre midfielders - one boss, one carrier - will see us compete for a play-off no danger, providing we keep Goodwillie, of course.
 

[David W]

I fear that there's not a good defence amongst that group of players.

Fair enough, today was probably a game too far against an improved full-time team, with us missing a fair few players. However, setting up 442 v 442 was mental. Some of the errors over the past four games (and I'd include the friendlies) are not going to go away against poorer teams, or over time. Home will still be slow on the turn, and hopeless in possession. Badly at fault for the equaliser today. Bradley will not win a single thing in the air and will get beaten by quick feet. Breslin will get spun, misjudge the flight of the ball, not win a header against a taller striker (the fact he's got MotM points in all three of his games is one of the funniest Clyde-related things I've heard in a while). Nicoll will organise but have us defending too deep. McNiff will look fine in the main and then throw in a mistake. The biggest worry is that Annan were exactly the same. Stewart might be okay.

I'm not going to have a go at Currie for not diving for shots he's not going to save. We're giving up free shots time and time again from the edge of the box and they'll always end up as goals against decent sides.

Flynn was played out of position on the left but was completely anonymous. Miller not anonymous but gave it away constantly. Cuddihy wasn't bad in the main but was at fault for one of the goals after a poor pass. Wright has some nice touches but needs to contribute more. Midfield will be okay in general this season I reckon but today they were outplayed.

Front two did okay. Smart obviously tired late on. Again, that area of the team will be competitive.

I think we'll be okay this season in terms of relegation as we'll probably score a decent amount of goals but I'd quite happily bin the majority of that back-line and we'd be better for it. They've somehow actually been worse than last season's shambles. 

Ayr played well. Totally different circumstances of course but they looked a better side than Raith.

[Sao Paulo]

I find what's being written here very harsh and very hasty. And I can't believe it's me that's saying it.

[wuffster]

** video in highlights thread **

[Bully Wee Villa]

Great run and cross from Osadolor, and an excellent finish from Goodwillie, it would have been easy to miss from there.

I didn't bother watching the rest so that means we won one-nil. Na na na naa na.

[the_bully_wee]

39 minutes ago, Sao Paulo said:

But there's an egregious comment written above about Home ("[he] would be a very weak link in our strongest XI"). He certainly would not be. He wins almost everything he competes for in the air, he's aggressive, strong and he plays with an experience which McNiff never will and which Breslin is yet to acquire. His pace is limiting, of course, but we've already saw, particularly against Dumbarton, how wisely he makes up for it. Not only that, but for my money he held-up well in his corner tonight, particularly given the work-rate and speed of his opponents. Why anyone would single him out for flack based on this evening's showing, is difficult to understand.

Of the players starting tonight that you'd expect would also start against Berwick next Saturday, Home was the poorest for me, thereby making him a weak link. Any winger with pace and a smidgen of trickery/a motoring full-back on the overlap/a combination of the aforementioned will cause him a world of trouble due to his physical ineptitude. His positioning and one-on-one defending isn't sharp enough to compensate for how clunky he is. Unfortunately, I look for a bit more from a full-back than aerial proficiency, which is why seeing him being ghosted past time and again (granted, not every direct opponent of his will be of such high quality) - and then, when in possession, displaying poor ball control with sub-standard distribution - is such a worry. That's before we take into account his dreadful error for Ayr's equaliser, which Chapman suitably berated him for. A marked downgrade on Ewan McNeil; a back-up player at best, and we should be striving for much better there. Based on tonight's showing, right back and centre back would be my first ports of call in terms of improving the squad, closely followed by either a creative or defensive central midfielder. Hopefully the unbudgeted £4k prize money from this competition and any money from this new 200 Fund initiative can help us recruit some quality to mount a promotion push. 

[BWC14]

Sandcastle building b*****ds. 

[paulbrucerick]

1 minute ago, BWC14 said:

Sandcastle building b*****ds. 

Thanks for your £12!

[AyrTroopMajor]

Whilst we could have had more goals in that game during the last 20 mins, I don't think Clyde were as bad as the scoreline would suggest. Goodwillie is an exceptional player to have at that level and the golden chance you had at 2-1 was a big moment which, if he'd buried it, could have changed things. Clyde's left back had a shitemare though.

We're looking in good shape for the season ahead, it's been a while since I actually enjoyed watching Ayr United play football but at times tonight, I got this weird feeling that that was exactly what I was doing.

[callum-ayr]

6 minutes ago, BWC14 said:

Sandcastle building b*****ds. 

Imagine square going a 10 year old ball boy.

[Sao Paulo]

31 minutes ago, the_bully_wee said:

Of the players starting tonight that you'd expect would also start against Berwick next Saturday, Home was the poorest for me, thereby making him a weak link. Any winger with pace and a smidgen of trickery/a motoring full-back on the overlap/a combination of the aforementioned will cause him a world of trouble due to his physical ineptitude. His positioning and one-on-one defending isn't sharp enough to compensate for how clunky he is. Unfortunately, I look for a bit more from a full-back than aerial proficiency, which is why seeing him being ghosted past time and again (granted, not every direct opponent of his will be of such high quality) - and then, when in possession, displaying poor ball control with sub-standard distribution - is such a worry. That's before we take into account his dreadful error for Ayr's equaliser, which Chapman suitably berated him for. A marked downgrade on Ewan McNeil; a back-up player at best, and we should be striving for much better there. Based on tonight's showing, right back and centre back would be my first ports of call in terms of improving the squad, closely followed by either a creative or defensive central midfielder. Hopefully the unbudgeted £4k prize money from this competition and any money from this new 200 Fund initiative can help us recruit some quality to mount a promotion push. 

Happily, Ayr do a great highlights package. So we don't need to talk opinions so much. Yes: a better defender would've steamed in to win the header he missed and from which Ayr equalised. That's indisputable. However, if we chalked off defenders for every one like that they'd missed - and in Home's case it was just the one - we'd never find any good enough. Calling it dreadful doesn't magic it so. It really wasn't, by the standards of this match. I'd look more to the utterly feeble attempts to fend Ayr off on the left hand side and in midfield prior to the cross if I was desperate to attribute culpability. If you want dreadful, look at three four and five for the utterly weak defending on show from McNiff and Wilson which, I'm glad to find, Home is incapable of. He at least makes a strong jump if he misses a header. If you're going slam Home for Ayr's equaliser, you've got to absolute lick, paste and slam McNiff and Wilson. To say that Home was worse than those two is an opinion, sure. However, anyone watching the highlights will go first to word 'wrong'.

His ball control isn't poor. That's fiction. Nor is his distribution. If he'd anything decent to hit inside of him, he'd hit it. As it was, he was hitting diagonals and clearing his lines if he was doing anything with the ball. More importantly, that's precisely what Chapman and Joyce had asked for: hit Goodie and Smart directly.

Again, the highlights confirm which side most traffic went down. That was jointly the consequence of Ayr's best winger being on Wilson's side and Home being as sturdy as he was on his.

If you'd watched the Dumbarton game, you'd know that he faced-off against a quick, nippy winger and contained him very comfortably. He wasn't that good a player, IMO, but still. I'd fancy Home to keep it decent against the better wingers in our league if he isn't having the midfield give the ball away in front of him like they did for the 4th/5th tonight.

I've already said he's poorer than McNeil. Good luck coming up with a guy that's that good. Anyone hating on Home should hate on big Michael McGowan ex-Albion. Exactly the same flaws, really. But Mr Consistent at this level.
 

[the_bully_wee]

2 minutes ago, Sao Paulo said:

Happily, Ayr do a great highlights package. So we don't need to talk opinions so much. Yes: a better defender would've steamed in to win the header he missed and from which Ayr equalised. That's indisputable. However, if we chalked off defenders for every one like that they'd missed - and in Home's case it was just the one - we'd never find any good enough. Calling it dreadful doesn't magic it so. It really wasn't, by the standards of this match. I'd look more to the utterly feeble attempts to fend Ayr off on the left hand side and in midfield prior to the cross if I was desperate to attribute culpability. If you want dreadful, look at three four and five for the utterly weak defending on show from McNiff which, I'm glad to find, Home is incapable of. He at least makes a strong jump if he misses a header. If you're going slam Home for Ayr's equaliser, you've got to absolute lick, paste and slam McNiff and Wilson. To say that Home was worse than those two is an opinion, sure. However, anyone watching the highlights will go first to word 'wrong'.

His ball control isn't poor. That's fiction. Nor is his distribution. If he'd anything decent to hit inside of him, he'd hit it. As it was, he was hitting diagonals and clearing his lines if he was doing anything with the ball. More importantly, that's precisely what Chapman and Joyce had asked for: hit Goodie and Smart directly.

If you'd watched the Dumbarton game, you'd know that he faced-off against a quick, nippy winger and contained him very comfortably. He wasn't that good a player, IMO, but still. I'd fancy Home to keep it decent against the better wingers in our league if he isn't having the midfield give the ball away in front of him like they did for the 4th/5th tonight.

I've already said he's poorer than McNeil. Good luck coming up with a guy that's that good, by the way. Anyone hating on Home should hate on big Michael McGowan ex-Albion. Exactly the same flaws, really. But Mr Consistent at this level.
 

There's little to be gained from critiquing McNiff when we're all already acutely aware of how poor he is; even the most wishful of thinkers hoping that Chapman would transform him into a solid, consistent centre half must now resign themselves to his guff-ness. In Bradley there's at least a bit of potential and perhaps being either at full back or next to an experienced head in Nicoll will bring out the best in him, despite the fact he's not the best in the air. McNiff is a bit less of a liability on the left of a three so I'd be inclined to mitigate against the duo's relative weaknesses by flanking Nicoll with them. Despite having only seen highlights of Breslin, there appears to be significant room for improvement there, to put it diplomatically. 

Hopefully I'm wrong on Home and, against lesser opposition, he does a more than adequate job for us. I'd be lying if I said I was anywhere near impressed with him tonight, though. The worry for me with Ayr's equaliser was that, in going for that header, he switched off and completely neglected the man at the back post, which was unfortunately a recurring theme in the second half with our left back. On Home's distribution, I'm aware of what he was (supposed to be) doing - but he wasn't doing it very well at all. Numerous well-overcooked and seemingly aimless launches up the park where others were finding channels and hitting their men. Finally, regarding his ball control, there was one notable occasion on which a dreadful attempt to trap the ball gifted possession to Ayr in a dangerous area. Give him Sir Phillip Johnston's recovery pace and agility - then we'll have a player on our hands.

[dafcburty]

BetFred Cup - Match Day 4 Review

https://jordanburtfootball.com/2017/07/26/betfred-cup-match-day-4-review/

[Poet of the Macabre]

So Killie have to thump Dumbarton and hope Ayr shit the bed at Annan?

[Estragon]

2 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

So Killie have to thump Dumbarton and hope Ayr shit the bed at Annan?

Yeah, alternatively wins for Kilmarnock and Hearts would put us through so long as Albion Rovers don't win in Dumfries.......I think...