rgreig
-
Posts
339 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Store
Posts posted by rgreig
-
-
1 hour ago, placidcasual said:
Nick McCallister eh? At least he can stink up multiple positions and tries hard tho.
I'd honestly struggle to tell you three players in that entire squad that I'd want in the first team next season. I thought we were shite today, offered next to nothing and could have still been playing and not scored.
I agree that we didn't trouble their keeper much but I actually thought we did very well when we had 11 players on the park. Up until the sending off, the BBC stats showed that Dundee Utd had only had a single shot on target. For me, today showed the difference that Brown has made in terms of the team shape and tactics. Under Bullen we had massive space in our midfield that Dundee Utd would have exploited ruthlessly but today they really struggled to break us down.
I would have to see the red card incident again to be sure but at the time I could see why the referee sent him off.
I know that Partick will want momentum going into the play-offs but I hope that their players will be holding back a bit to avoid injury at this stage of the season.
1 -
11 hours ago, Finlay21 said:
Shiny new stuff does help with the long term plans of the club and a majority of fans support it , Hub has brought in much needed income , new shop has more than doubled the sales , new hospitality going to bring in over 100% more than old suite , I would hate to think where this club would be without the funds being provided from the shiny new things
I think a good summer in terms of recruitment would to a large extent the concerns that people have expressed. It was pretty depressing last summer to see targets we had gone after end up at other clubs in the same division. It is also very clear to neutrals that we have a general lack of quality throughout the squad - when we were missing any of Murphy, Chalmers or Dowds it was never good to watch.
Budget doesn't solve these things magically (look at Falkirk for the last few years or Aberdeen now) but I don't think Smith will have succeeded in the business side of the rebuilding of the club until we have a squad that is on paper in the top three in the division. At that point whether we achieve the aim of getting promotion will depend on the manager, coaches and players since he will have done his bit.
1 -
3 hours ago, ryanayr1987 said:
Dave smith and mathie have always said get off the park sorted and it will start to show on the park. With the hospitality being doubled it means that we have the opportunity for much higher income than previous and that will hopefully find its way into the playing budget.
Does anyone know how much revenue we can expect to make from the new hospitality and how much that would mean in terms of net income for the club? I don't really have a feel for how significant the revenue will be.
1 -
1 hour ago, No_Problemo said:
I though it was a bit shite tbh, but I think that’s probably a good way to look at it, ultimately this is a huge bit of history for a club that has been passed to most of us through generations.
Yes, I agree. I think it is easy to be a bit cynical but in the context of our club this is a Big Deal. Looking at it now we might dismiss it but looking back people will appreciate it was an important development. I don't know if anything similar was issued at the time floodlights were installed in the early 1970s but if there had been I don't think anyone today who still had it would be thinking "that was a waste of time why did we produce a coin and why did I buy it".
1 -
22 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:
It sounds like we are putting out a similar state of a squad as we did against Airdrie - touching on miracle stuff to get anything tomorrow with that side.
Well, one of the hallmarks of a successful team is that they play with a consistent starting eleven every week...
1 -
Just now, No_Problemo said:
Paddy has mysteriously disappeared without a word, and now Logan too.
I am not surprised about Chalmers, he was obviously injured when he came off on Saturday.
The only optimistic thing I can say is that this is the first time this season those eleven are starting so at least we get to see something new....
0 -
41 minutes ago, muZZa__44 said:
Chalmers was poor but would rather have kept him on then bring McGeady on
I thought he had taken a knock to his ankle just before he came off?
He certainly didn't have much success today, but neither did Murphy. I agree with those who have commented that Willoughby looks hopeless - I don't imagine he will get much more game time. Would bite your hand off for a draw on Tuesday evening.
0 -
37 minutes ago, Nelson said:
Things are just so incredibly marginal that I would like to have seen us add a bit of quality especially given the rangers windfall. Look at last weeks game - Airdrie threw away 2 goals trying to pass out from the back and our third was a generous decision from the referee/naive play from the Airdrie keeper. We got the 3 points but we were poor for large spells with Tomlinson out his depth defensively and Bryden and McKenzie total passengers. Last weeks team minus Murphy and Dowds is pretty honking.
I think you're right. Last week I thought we were very fortunate that Airdrie gifted us two goals and although the finishing was excellent for all three we were definitely riding our luck. I don't really have an expectation of us getting anything today.
0 -
1 hour ago, Hawk89 said:
It is probably fair to say that his time as manager was a case of him being a good guy for the club, unfortunately in the wrong role. Have to agree with you with how much he clearly put in, it must be very difficult to then go cold turkey. I don't mind him commenting it is actually quite refreshing to see a manager leave and not just absolutely slaughter the club. (Looking at Derek Adams just now with his weird stats).
Yes I really can't see why anyone would have an issue with this. There is nothing snide in his comments, and it just shows Bullen as a decent person who genuinely cared about the young players who worked for him. It is not uncommon in other areas of work for people to congratulate former colleagues on promotions or new jobs (typically on LinkedIn) so I don't see this as strange behaviour in any way.
6 -
34 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:
Chat is we’ve spoken to both Courts and Brown. Will also speak to David Gray. Not sure how reliable, but all sound like the profile we’d be going for.
I don't actually know why Courts left Dundee Utd? He hadn't done badly as far as I can see. Then it was a short spell in Hungary where again it didn't seem like he did badly in what was a pretty short spell.
0 -
1 hour ago, UpInTheAyr said:
I think maybe they think the fans are somewhat to blame for his departure.
As others have said, it is quite odd. They made the decision so clearly they have evaluated his performance and I think the vast majority agree with that decision. Some of us would argue that there has been enough data for quite a sustained period of time to show that he was not doing a good enough job, but I really don't see why it was a particularly hard decision to make and the only real debate is whether he was given too much time in the role.
It does sound like Smith and Mathie developed too much of a personal relationship with Bullen, and I am surprised that they allowed themselves to do that because it appears to have clouded their judgements. But I may be wrong in that; we don't ever hear the full picture - who knows what they had been saying to Bullen over the last few months.
Some of the things that Bullen was universally acknowledged to have done well such as the community engagement deserve credit but in the grand scheme of things I think most people would rather have a more tactically aware coach than a community ambassador and you have to decide what is most important.
Other comments about the links with the academy being strengthened are also debatable in terms of what has actually improved here. Looking at the starting 11 on Saturday I think I am right in saying that not a single one of them came through the Academy ranks, and only one Academy graduate came on as a sub (Bryden). That's not really any better than his predecessors.
Finally, I think that arguments about managers' or players' abilities are weakened when they include comments about hair or clothing or other irrelevant things. This isn't unique to Ayr fans though - there is a lot of mention of Dougie Imrie's chinos for example and I personally don't care if our next manager chooses to wear a tracksuit, dark grey morning suit or translucent pink pyjamas.
4 -
1 hour ago, Jeff Venom said:
Fun tidbit about Bowyer, he replaced one David Hopkin as manager of Bradford.
He is also coincidentally 52, so he definitely would not require an assistant.
13 -
43 minutes ago, Trogdor said:
He's deluded. Utterly deluded. No recognition of the fact Arbroath were literally the walking wounded. We should have won that match and he's talking about luck and everything going against us.
Even if you take that point at face value - What about them hitting the post Lee? What about Reading's foul in the box that looked like a penalty (haven't seen it back)? Was that not good luck?
Yes, it's incredible that he wasn't asked about the penalty decision when he started banging on about luck. Arbroath can rightly feel very aggrieved about that. Paddy was asked about it and it's clear from his answer that it should have been a penalty - he said some rubbish about the fact that he slipped, as if that made any difference at all to whether it was a penalty.
I don't understand why Rose started but, even if you accept that, it's impossible to justify allowing him to come back out for the second half.
1 -
Just now, Highland Exile said:
Rose. Yikes
If Bullen doesn't take him off I think I may spontaneously combust.
2 -
4 minutes ago, Oceanlineayr said:
Kerr looked like he wanted Ayr to play in a similar way to McCall. Think he was just too inexperienced at management to convey that over.
Kerr wasn't helped by that transfer window where we got duds like Andre Wright and Dario Zanatta......
I think he started off quite well, but the pivotal moment was that game away to Morton where we were up 2-0 and absolutely cruising, missed a tap in to make it 3-0 and then proceeded to lose three goals in ten minutes. It all seemed to fall apart after than and to be honest I am not really sure why.
His inexperience showed when in the latter stages he was making desperate team selections. I seem to remember in his last game in charge he played Corrie Ndaba in midfield.
I hope he can get his managerial career back on track since I think he did show potential.
3 -
22 minutes ago, Coollestersmoothe said:
Maybe Bangala was the banter case amongst agents. Must’ve been a bonus at Jerry Maguire HQ for the guy that found the biggest sucker that would sign him.
Not only did we sign him, by Paul Hartley actually watched him play against them and concluded he was just the thing he needed for his struggling Cove team and signed him on loan! I think that may actually be even more crazy than our signing him since I doubt Bullen had ever seen him play live.
2 -
1 minute ago, Rb123 said:
There he is, the guy who Bullen replaced to end up relegating Bullen from the championship would be the most Ayr United thing ever
Whatever we think of Bullen, he is Jose Mourinho compared with David Hopkin.
If QP do decide to employ that clown then we have at least avoided automatic relegation.
3 -
2 minutes ago, Thumper said:
If the manager has lost the dressing room then history has ample evidence to suggest you can replace him with a pile of jerseys and get a result in the next home game.
That's a very fair point - if Mathie knows from speaking to some of the senior players that the squad no longer believes in him as manager to the extent that his presence is toxic then there is zero point in delaying the inevitable.
0 -
2 minutes ago, eez-eh said:
Kerr wasn’t Smith’s guy.
Hopkin walked.
Duffy wasn’t Mathie’s guy.
Bullen is both Smith and Mathie’s guy. And they appeared like a happy family at times last season. I wouldn’t be shocked if they hadn’t even considered sacking him.
I think that Smith will see that he (Bullen) is wasting his money and jeopardising his project. Whatever else people may throw at him, he isn't dumb or blind.
I think it's more likely to be a question of timing - would much be achieved by exiting him before Saturday's match given that a caretaker would have not have any time to have any impact. That wouldn't stop them sounding out replacements quietly though.
0 -
51 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:
just read VOR report there and he seems to be playing the “player trading” card.
Smith should be playing the "manager trading" card. Right now.
0 -
1 minute ago, edinburghhonestman said:
Not sure it was a mental collapse. It looked more like we just weren't interested. I wonder what the mood in the dressing room is like.
Hopefully quite upbeat, signing Lee's leaving card and leaving witty messages on it.
1 -
10 hours ago, D'Jaffo said:
Stanger isn’t much better. He’s bigger and more physical but completely shits the bed under pressure and stands off the opposition constantly. Either of them are ok-ish next to McGinty, who must be doing a helluva lot of talking to get them through games, but when together they’re bombscare. Reading and Ahui were back to their worst in the first half as well although I felt they grew into it and Ahui especially was getting forward more to support Chalmers although it’s clear it isn’t his game yet. Again, I don’t mind them but I think they benefit from someone helping them and they didn’t get that today.
I agree with most of what you wrote, but I actually thought that Ahui continued to show improvement yesterday and in the first half was by no means the worst. I don't know why but Young was really poor in the first half and then somehow became a lot better in the second. Apart from the goal, I thought McGeady was awful and kept giving the ball away.
The biggest criticism from yesterday has to be aimed at Mutch. Ridiculous to be beaten at the near post for their second goal and constantly put the defence under immediate pressure with bizarre passes. If I were Albinson and not back on Tuesday I would be raging.
Although I think the team shape is generally better now, Bullen is still out-thought by almost every other manager in the division. Even with a lot of injuries to contend with, McPake put out a team that completely out-played us in the first half and they can feel very unlucky they didn't end the half with a commanding lead.
1 -
38 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:
I think some (not all) of these players need to be seen under a competent manager though, and not completely hung out to dry in that shambolic set up yesterday.
Totally agree with the above. But I actually don't agree with the comment about Bullen being a good coach, I don't see any evidence of that based on the shape of the team. There were times in the first half where there were acres of space between midfield and defence when Dundee Utd had possession.
I do agree that McGinty saved our bacon on numerous occasions, the way we are set up we rely on him.
0 -
10 hours ago, ComradeDiego said:
Hard to imagine anyone appreciating yesterday's performance. The only thing you could say in our favour was that we were unlucky to concede due to an error but overall I thought we looked poor particularly in the first half. Dundee Utd weren't great - so maybe the quote above is actually referring to the reaction of Raith fans thinking about their title chances.
In the first three minutes, Dundee Utd had three corners and a goal chalked off for offside. That set the tone for the first half really, and although I hate to see anyone get injured I was relieved when he went off. After a worrying five minute spell, Ahui did settle down and I think was better than McAllister.
Bullen's subs are very strange and guaranteed to rile the fans. I don't understand how he thought we would get an equaliser with the changes he made, and I would really like Callum to ask him that question instead of the usual "tough one to take, Lee".
I thought despite poor service that Dowds did ok - if he had hit his chance harder after Docherty slipped I reckon it wouldn't have been cleared off the line. In contrast I had forgotten Bryden was even on the pitch most of the time.
2
The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted
I have renewed my season ticket and did not see it at all. I would have gone for it but didn't even know it was an option!