Jump to content

The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread


Recommended Posts

57 minutes ago, HMIP said:

Basically the same argument as when we went to an “elite’ 10 team premier league in the 70s.  If we give a handful of teams all the money and power, Scottish football will soar like an eagle.  Shutting out wee clubs like Ayr was a price worth paying.  The same mentality has now been applied to youth development with elite academies now having all the power and money.  Once again, it is not delivering.  I wonder how many other Shanklands have given up on the game at 17/18/19 because they were tied to these white elephant academies but couldn’t get near a first team game.

Surely the parents of talented kids should be moving heaven and earth not to let them be hoovered up by the bigger academies. 

Like Rose, Shankland and before them Conway, if the kids are good enough then they'll get a really decent move at the right time for them and their career. 

I appreciate some communities out there have huge persuasions towards either side of the Old Firm and that might be a massive attraction but bar the cosmetics of a dedicated training centre is there a huge difference in the levels of training provided by us, on and off the pitch, in comparison to SPL clubs? Genuinely interested because I don't know. 

I would imagine our Academy must be doing somethings very very well. 

Edited by BukyOHare
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/01/2020 at 17:28, BukyOHare said:

But you'd like to think a youth academy funded to the tune of £2m a year would produce talented players. 

Ipswich have a fine record at producing talented home grown players. Hopefully that is the case with Drinan, though no guarantees. 

 

12 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Surely the parents of talented kids should be moving heaven and earth not to let them be hoovered up by the bigger academies. 

Like Rose, Shankland and before them Conway, if the kids are good enough then they'll get a really decent move at the right time for them and their career. 

I appreciate some communities out there have huge persuasions towards either side of the Old Firm and that might be a massive attraction but bar the cosmetics of a dedicated training centre is there a huge difference in the levels of training provided by us, on and off the pitch, in comparison to SPL clubs? Genuinely interested because I don't know. 

I would imagine our Academy must be doing somethings very very well. 

You certainly thought so last week :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HMIP said:

Basically the same argument as when we went to an “elite’ 10 team premier league in the 70s.  If we give a handful of teams all the money and power, Scottish football will soar like an eagle.  Shutting out wee clubs like Ayr was a price worth paying.  The same mentality has now been applied to youth development with elite academies now having all the power and money.  Once again, it is not delivering.  I wonder how many other Shanklands have given up on the game at 17/18/19 because they were tied to these white elephant academies but couldn’t get near a first team game.

How do you know whether it is delivering or not, we are slightly over two years from the grades being announced (or one full season since) youth players just aren't created in a season.

https://ayrunitedfc.co.uk/project-brave-statement/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Mr X said:

 

You certainly thought so last week :rolleyes:

Point taken, slight differences in your argument but generally its called playing devil's advocate. 😂😂

I'm simply asking a rhetorical question if the bigger clubs are doing things differently to us or any other provincial club with regards to the level of training we provide in comparison to SPL clubs.... 

The bigger clubs might have 10 times the staff but the quality of actual training might not differ that much. 

My point last week was to give the boy a chance due to the English Academy he was coming to us from. By all accounts he did well. 🤗

If you check my previous posts I've already mentioned that the bigger Scottish clubs should be doing better with the youth players they produce., but appreciating that they need match ready players and ultimately results, consistently. 

Clubs like us need to play the longer game, where possible, and accept flaws in the rough diamonds. 

 

 

Edited by BukyOHare
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say our academy is working there is lots of talented young players coming threw and hopefully more local kids will see that we have one playing in the national team and lots of others getting selected to attend the performance schools that they will chose to stay at there local team rather than go else where 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my lifetime I'd probably say that the two real stand out youth academy's were St Mirren and Hibs although both of them also raided local boys club setups at some point or another, as have most, including ourselves.

There's no doubt that the bigger clubs have access to more talent, money, resources and even coaching talent, however it's never as simple as as that as there's also lots of factors at play including peer pressure, influence of parents, general timing and the attitude of the individual. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

On the flip side, there's boys who are rejected / thrown out by bigger clubs who then end up at a smaller clubs youth setups where they find more personal one to one treatment which can bring them on hugely, as opposed to being stifled as just another one of a big crowd.

Personally I think we're doing pretty well with our youth setup with the now departed Crawford, Forrest and McCowan obviously being stand outs and McGuffie & McKenzie looking good enough to be squad players at a minimum, we also need to be doing this as a business model and either selling them on receiving a development fee at worst or alternatively have them as integral parts of our team........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Saturday the AU500 made an amazing donation to the Player Fund of £10,000.
 
This presentation was made by Fraser Wason to Alan Murray (Director) who recently became a member of the AU500 Committee.
 
This now brings this season’s total to a fantastic £25,700 so far.
 
All donations go directly to the Manager for the Player Fund to help strengthen the squad.
 
Anyone wishing to join the AU500 or make a one off donation can do so by collecting a joining form in the club shop or by emailing them at iinfo@au500fund.com
 
 
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, edwardo said:

I would say our academy is working there is lots of talented young players coming threw and hopefully more local kids will see that we have one playing in the national team and lots of others getting selected to attend the performance schools that they will chose to stay at there local team rather than go else where 

 

Plenty of talented players at the academy who I believe will be first team players here , the issue was previously ( especially last 5 years ) our management team were not interested in academy players , never went to games and very rarely attended a reserve/ academy game , that has all changed in a short period of time under new management team , our management know all the players in the reserve teams names , attend all their games , attend a number of the training sessions and has the academy coaches attend the senior games , the future looks good , even though I will take a couple of years before we see the benefits 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Robbo63 said:

Plenty of talented players at the academy who I believe will be first team players here , the issue was previously ( especially last 5 years ) our management team were not interested in academy players , never went to games and very rarely attended a reserve/ academy game , that has all changed in a short period of time under new management team , our management know all the players in the reserve teams names , attend all their games , attend a number of the training sessions and has the academy coaches attend the senior games , the future looks good , even though I will take a couple of years before we see the benefits 

Great to hear and has been mentioned previously if kids (and their parents) see a clear pathway to the Reserve and 1st team then it surely bodes well in them committing to the Academy and then hopefully the club. 

Just out of interest why weren't the previous management team committed and / or interested in our Academy, extremely short sighted. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Great to hear and has been mentioned previously if kids (and their parents) see a clear pathway to the Reserve and 1st team then it surely bodes well in them committing to the Academy and then hopefully the club. 

Just out of interest why weren't the previous management team committed and / or interested in our Academy, extremely short sighted. 

 

They just did not take much interest in it and saw it as a separate part of the club ( which in real terms it is , it is not funded by the club) my understanding was that part of the criteria for our new manager he/she had to commit to working with academy team to develop players through our team , it seems to be working 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Robbo63 said:

They just did not take much interest in it and saw it as a separate part of the club ( which in real terms it is , it is not funded by the club) my understanding was that part of the criteria for our new manager he/she had to commit to working with academy team to develop players through our team , it seems to be working 

It disappoints me that any manager at our level of the game would choose not to take much interest in our academy and the players it produces. 

There would appear no  point in ploughing Colin Weir's money into the Thistle academy then.

Just throw it into the 1st team playing budget and stick enough on a Sports Direct gift card to get a new tracksuit, bodywarmer and beanie hat. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

News from Ayrshire Post: Craig Moore out for two months and Andy Geggan out for three. Kerr now thinks he’ll need to do more business in January than first expected due to this. He will meet with board this week. 

Jordan Houston expected to sign a two year deal(I’m presuming it will be an eighteen month deal) this week. Deal for Brett McGavin is not yet dead. 

He’s not giving up hope of retaining Alan Forrest and Daniel Harvie. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

News from Ayrshire Post: Craig Moore out for two months and Andy Geggan out for three. Kerr now thinks he’ll need to do more business in January than first expected due to this. He will meet with board this week. 
Jordan Houston expected to sign a two year deal(I’m presuming it will be an eighteen month deal) this week. Deal for Brett McGavin is not yet dead. 
He’s not giving up hope of retaining Alan Forrest and Daniel Harvie. 

So a fair mix of shite news and good news. I think McGavin will come in if our first options for midfield don’t sign. It would’ve been easy enough to do the deal at the same time as Drinan but Kerr maybe feels he can do better.

I can’t see us bringing in another striker so Doolan will most likely stay but maybe another player to replace Geggan. I still think we’ll see another 3 signings not including Houston before the deadline.

I’m not even addressing that last point as I’m only going to get my hopes up.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

News from Ayrshire Post: Craig Moore out for two months and Andy Geggan out for three. Kerr now thinks he’ll need to do more business in January than first expected due to this. He will meet with board this week. 

Jordan Houston expected to sign a two year deal(I’m presuming it will be an eighteen month deal) this week. Deal for Brett McGavin is not yet dead. 

He’s not giving up hope of retaining Alan Forrest and Daniel Harvie. 

Do u work for the post??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, ayrunitedfw said:

I don’t but giving the fact of that the people of Maybole are ahead of the times we get the Ayrshire Post delivered a day early. 

Exiles don't even get it and the news doesn't even reach the Daily Record website at all now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Robbo63 said:

Plenty of talented players at the academy who I believe will be first team players here , the issue was previously ( especially last 5 years ) our management team were not interested in academy players , never went to games and very rarely attended a reserve/ academy game , that has all changed in a short period of time under new management team , our management know all the players in the reserve teams names , attend all their games , attend a number of the training sessions and has the academy coaches attend the senior games , the future looks good , even though I will take a couple of years before we see the benefits 

Did we not turn full time during the last five years which in turn would have offered more of our young players a better pathway to the first team? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:


So a fair mix of shite news and good news. I think McGavin will come in if our first options for midfield don’t sign. It would’ve been easy enough to do the deal at the same time as Drinan but Kerr maybe feels he can do better.

I can’t see us bringing in another striker so Doolan will most likely stay but maybe another player to replace Geggan. I still think we’ll see another 3 signings not including Houston before the deadline.

I’m not even addressing that last point as I’m only going to get my hopes up.

Do you think he means until the end of the season or extending their contracts? 

I'd reckon they won't be going anywhere until the close season. £40k from next cup game maybe allows more wiggle room for the manager and won't be inclined to accept any nominal release compensation.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you think he means until the end of the season or extending their contracts? 
I'd reckon they won't be going anywhere until the close season. £40k from next cup game maybe allows more wiggle room for the manager and won't be inclined to accept any nominal release compensation.
 

He means extending their contracts.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...