The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[UpInTheAyr]

Massive week for Kerr with QOS, Arbroath & Partick before a two week break. Luckily we're playing two teams in even worse form than us.

[Iain]

We aren’t finishing in the bottom two even if we lose all the rest of our games. Time for the players to relax and enjoy the rest of the season.

[rb123!]

Just watched the highlights from last night and holy f**k we were bad, was literally just viewing 7 and a half minutes of us making mistakes, giving the ball away and Doohan attempting to punch away about three corners which he couldn't successfully do at any of them.

How have we become this bad? Lack of goals is the biggest concern tbh more than the dodgy defence. 

Would be devastating this late in the season to drop out of the play offs when we've spent the whole season in the top 4 but we've got into a bad rut at the wrong time of the season. 

[The Master]

On 10/03/2020 at 16:21, craigkillie said:

Why is Tuesday-Friday vastly different to Saturday-Tuesday or Wednesday-Saturday, which clubs do all the time?

Tuesday-Friday is slightly worse than Saturday-Tuesday, but overall it's a psychological thing I think. It has the feel of being the same midweek rather than midweek and weekend.

If for some reason Inverness or Queen of the South weren't able to play their game until tonight, with Queen of the South v Ayr then on Saturday, I doubt he'd have even consider it a problem.

Yet Wednesday to Saturday (with a 3pm KO) gives a shorter break than Tuesday to Friday (with a 7.05pm KO). 

[North Terrace Gazza]

There’s obvious merit in being a tougher side to beat but it’s come at a price. We’ve struggled to cut sides open for months.

The inclusion of Aaron Drinan has changed the entire set up of the side and it doesn’t always get the best out of us. He works tirelessly, he unsettles defenders and is an ideal option to have, but there needs to be a balance.

Sides hated Moffat, McCowan & Forrest buzzing around the final third being supported by Kelly. It was shifting the ball quickly and getting through sides pulling defenders out of position, now it seems too predictable when they send longer balls to Drinan.

Certain games are perfect for Drinan starting, but for an under confident QOS side away on Fri I’d be going back to what worked previously. Doc or Muirhead protecting a back four, Kelly & Malley supporting a front three of Tiffoney, Moffat & McCowan.

I’d rather see a 3-3 draw instead of a scoreless draw.

Merit to this post but will never happen in a million years. Kerr will stick with the same old.

[rb123!]

Scottish Government saying as of Monday all public events over 500 people will likely be banned.

Looks like the season isn't going to finish when it's supposed to...

[D'Jaffo]

Scottish Government saying as of Monday all public events over 500 people will likely be banned.

Looks like the season isn't going to finish when it's supposed to...

Football won’t last past the weekend imo.

[rb123!]

Football won’t last past the weekend imo.

Not very comforting that the spfl came out yesterday and said there's feck all cash to give to clubs for having no income from games or playing behind closed doors.

Piss poor that there isn't an emergency fund kitty if you ask me

[D'Jaffo]

Not very comforting that the spfl came out yesterday and said there's feck all cash to give to clubs for having no income from games or playing behind closed doors.

Piss poor that there isn't an emergency fund kitty if you ask me

I don’t really see why they’re would be an emergency fund tbh.

It’s unfortunate that clubs will struggle but there’s not much that can be done.

[AYRSHIRE_ANGUS]

32 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Football won’t last past the weekend imo.

Aye, the day after 50000 at an Old Firm game, fancy that. 

[ayrunitedfw]

Given we are in the last quarter of the season surely it’s got to finish even if that meant games being played behind closed doors? 

[Skyline Drifter]

On 10/03/2020 at 14:28, rb123! said:

The BBC rules...

 

On 10/03/2020 at 16:20, eez-eh said:

At the risk of defending BBC Scotland’s tinpot coverage of our league, it’s a bit late in the day to be asking for it to be pushed back. It’s been scheduled for at least a few weeks.

This article is bollocks, or at least a misquote. We never at any stage asked for the game to be moved. We asked for the Inverness game to be played a different midweek and that was rejected. Still with think with all the available midweeks, making us go to Inverness midweek before a Friday game is an absolute nonsense. I accept the coronavirus situation has since overtaken that point though.

[Skyline Drifter]

47 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t really see why they’re would be an emergency fund tbh.

It’s unfortunate that clubs will struggle but there’s not much that can be done.

This. The SPFL is a member's organisation. It has some cash reserves but not many. It pays out its annual profits to its members as prize money. It's not going to have funds to underwrite gate losses for clubs at this scale, and if it did it would only come out of the prize money pot so it's only shuffling it between members in different percentages.

Clubs might find some cover under Business Interruption Insurance but to be honest given the national scale of the problem that's likely to bankrupt insurance companies too. Personally I think it's an over-reaction to something without a particularly significant mortality rate at this stage but I'm not a medical person and if medical people say otherwise then the Govt has to go with that and everyone else will have to do so too. I fully expect there to be no more publicly attended football for at least a month after this weekend. Whether games are postponed altogether at this stage or played behind closed doors is another question. Even that is only likely to last until the first player tests positive in the division though. As soon as that happens then we're quarantining and isolating entire squads and also the squads that played them the week before and games become unplayable.

There's a very real chance the season is ultimately unfinished. It's not the sort of thing you can postpone for a week and get back to it. If games are off they'll be off at least a month. The vast majority of clubs at this level have most of their players out of contract either at the end of May or 9th June. There's a 31st may deadline effectively on completing the season. It may simply prove impossible to finish it if the virus spreads on the scale they are fearing.

[D'Jaffo]

This. The SPFL is a member's organisation. It has some cash reserves but not many. It pays out its annual profits to its members as prize money. It's not going to have funds to underwrite gate losses for clubs at this scale, and if it did it would only come out of the prize money pot so it's only shuffling it between members in different percentages.
Clubs might find some cover under Business Interruption Insurance but to be honest given the national scale of the problem that's likely to bankrupt insurance companies too. Personally I think it's an over-reaction to something without a particularly significant mortality rate at this stage but I'm not a medical person and if medical people say otherwise then the Govt has to go with that and everyone else will have to do so too. I fully expect there to be no more publicly attended football for at least a month after this weekend. Whether games are postponed altogether at this stage or played behind closed doors is another question. Even that is only likely to last until the first player tests positive in the division though. As soon as that happens then we're quarantining and isolating entire squads and also the squads that played them the week before and games become unplayable.
There's a very real chance the season is ultimately unfinished. It's not the sort of thing you can postpone for a week and get back to it. If games are off they'll be off at least a month. The vast majority of clubs at this level have most of their players out of contract either at the end of May or 9th June. There's a 31st may deadline effectively on completing the season. It may simply prove impossible to finish it if the virus spreads on the scale they are fearing.

Wasn’t aware there was an actual deadline to finish the season by but I suppose it makes sense given players will be out of contract and a few of them have already committed to PCA.

If we couldn’t finish the season by that deadline would this season just be a write off? Or is it more likely games will go ahead but behind closed doors.

[Finlay21]

7 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Wasn’t aware there was an actual deadline to finish the season by but I suppose it makes sense given players will be out of contract and a few of them have already committed to PCA.

If we couldn’t finish the season by that deadline would this season just be a write off? Or is it more likely games will go ahead but behind closed doors.

There is some news kicking around that clubs will instruct all players and officials to self isolate for 14 days from next week 

[Skyline Drifter]

23 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Wasn’t aware there was an actual deadline to finish the season by but I suppose it makes sense given players will be out of contract and a few of them have already committed to PCA.

If we couldn’t finish the season by that deadline would this season just be a write off? Or is it more likely games will go ahead but behind closed doors.

To be fair I don't think there is any domestic ruling on the date a season must finish but it's always been an established principle. I remember back in 2008 all the discussions around Rangers fixture pile up as they ran up to the Scottish Cup Final against us with the UEFA Cup Final also and o/s League fixtures. The League were adamant then that the fixtures didn't go beyond 31 May either and Rangers had to work round it. Even if there was a formal ruling, it could easily be amended by a special vote. However in practical terms I'm not sure how easily it could be done. Many players will be out of contract and clubs probably won't be able to afford to extend them with no gate receipts having come in. Some may well not be able to pay them up to the their due date anyway if they run out of cash. Players can't sign for anyone new until the window opens on June 9th so I suppose an extension till June 8th is feasible but players will have holidays booked (if those aren't also cancelled) and top Leagues I think have a cut off point for release for international duty too if Euro 20 is going ahead.

I think it's likely they will try to play closed doors to begin with but we'll see what they say. I guess that will depend on how long the Govt advises gatherings should be banned for. A month might just about be able to be worked around. Extend the season a little, use every midweek in April, etc. At lower divisions it could just about work. It will be a problem for clubs still in Europe (Rangers).  But as I said above, you can only play closed door as long as players themselves haven't got it. First player that tests positive will rule out at least two, maybe three squads for 14 days. 2 or 3 players testing positive there's going to be no games at all for a period.

EDITED to add, if the season isn't finished then I presume they'd have to write it off and start again next season. The fact that everyone and their brother knows Dundee United are going to win this division is irrelevant. You can't promote them without relegating someone. Hearts would reasonably say they might have been able to play their way out of trouble. There's a tight three horse race at the bottom of our division now. Thistle are 2 points behind us with a game in hand. Alloa are just above. We've not even all played the same amount of games. I don't see how you could award any final positions without completing the games. I guess ultimately these kind of things would have to be decided by an extraordinary meeting of members if they can't get the games played. That's why I think they'll try to play as much closed door as they can while they can. I may be wrong though.

15 minutes ago, Robbo63 said:

There is some news kicking around that clubs will instruct all players and officials to self isolate for 14 days from next week 

Hadn't heard that but I'm not sure what that would achieve? Self isolating for 14 days doesn't magically make them immune. They could pick it up as soon as they come back.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[Finlay21]

9 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

To be fair I don't think there is any domestic ruling on the date a season must finish but it's always been an established principle. I remember back in 2008 all the discussions around Rangers fixture pile up as they ran up to the Scottish Cup Final against us with the UEFA Cup Final also and o/s League fixtures. The League were adamant then that the fixtures didn't go beyond 31 May either and Rangers had to work round it. Even if there was a formal ruling, it could easily be amended by a special vote. However in practical terms I'm not sure how easily it could be done. Many players will be out of contract and clubs probably won't be able to afford to extend them with no gate receipts having come in. Some may well not be able to pay them up to the their due date anyway if they run out of cash. Players can't sign for anyone new until the window opens on June 9th so I suppose an extension till June 8th is feasible but players will have holidays booked (if those aren't also cancelled) and top Leagues I think have a cut off point for release for international duty too if Euro 20 is going ahead.

I think it's likely they will try to play closed doors to begin with but we'll see what they say. I guess that will depend on how long the Govt advises gatherings should be banned for. A month might just about be able to be worked around. Extend the season a little, use every midweek in April, etc. At lower divisions it could just about work. It will be a problem for clubs still in Europe (Rangers).  But as I said above, you can only play closed door as long as players themselves haven't got it. First player that tests positive will rule out at least two, maybe three squads for 14 days. 2 or 3 players testing positive there's going to be no games at all for a period.

Hadn't heard that but I'm not sure what that would achieve? Self isolating for 14 days doesn't magically make them immune. They could pick it up as soon as they come back.

Real Madrid players self isolation for 15 days , so what’s that going to achieve , there must be some benefits to it 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Robbo63

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Robbo63 said:

Real Madrid players self isolation for 15 days , so what’s that going to achieve , there must be some benefits to it 

There's confirmed cases in their Basketball team with whom they share the training facilities, so this was seen as a direct risk.

[Guest]

It is a strange one though at our level.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I work in an office with over 1,000 people and have to commute to and from Glasgow each day which I'm sure puts me and others at a much bigger risk than attending an outdoor football match with 1,500 fans (or thereabouts) once a week for 2 hours.

Most schools also have more than 500 pupils yet they've made a decision that they've to stay open.

The Caveat of course is that the 500 figure is only advisory and not a legal requirement (as yet).

[BukyOHare]

45 minutes ago, Robbo63 said:

There is some news kicking around that clubs will instruct all players and officials to self isolate for 14 days from next week 

Plenty in our team have been self isolating for a few weeks now...... 

Edited March 12, 2020 by BukyOHare