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The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread


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What about someone who got Falkirk promoted to the Premier,, took hibs to Europe and won the Scottish Cup with Inverness. Who was also club captain ad lead the team out at its only cup final?

For every good thing you can credit a manager with there’s going to be stuff you can mark him down for as well.

For Hughes it’s obviously his recruitment at ICT, his massive ego which saw him mess things up at Raith and also eventually at Falkirk.

He’s still most likely our best bet. Neil McCann I don’t think is interested in management at the minute.
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I bear no ill will to David Hopkin, he presumably did his best, which was clearly not good enough, but he's done the right thing in the interests of the club and resigned, so fair play to him for that. Some of the personal comments on here about him are cringeworthy and people making jokes about or reference to the colour of his hair is no better than joking about the colour of someone's skin.

Fair play to David Smith for taking action quickly and not letting the problems fester in the way Lachlan did with Mark Roberts. I'm pleased to hear Smith say they will take their time and not rush into an appointment. It's crucial we get this one right after the last two appointments.

I think a new manager needs to create a buzz and get the support excited again. McCall had the masterstroke of holding his fans Q&A session which was like a rallying call and instantly got a lot of fans onside. Hopkin and Kerr didn't have the personalities to raise the club's PR profile. I think we need a big name (in Scottish football terms) that makes people take notice, and can spur the club on to greater things. It won't happen but someone like McCoist, or to a lesser extent McFadden, would fit this.

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4 hours ago, Young Eddie said:

I bear no ill will to David Hopkin, he presumably did his best, which was clearly not good enough, but he's done the right thing in the interests of the club and resigned, so fair play to him for that. Some of the personal comments on here about him are cringeworthy and people making jokes about or reference to the colour of his hair is no better than joking about the colour of someone's skin.

Fair play to David Smith for taking action quickly and not letting the problems fester in the way Lachlan did with Mark Roberts. I'm pleased to hear Smith say they will take their time and not rush into an appointment. It's crucial we get this one right after the last two appointments.

I think a new manager needs to create a buzz and get the support excited again. McCall had the masterstroke of holding his fans Q&A session which was like a rallying call and instantly got a lot of fans onside. Hopkin and Kerr didn't have the personalities to raise the club's PR profile. I think we need a big name (in Scottish football terms) that makes people take notice, and can spur the club on to greater things. It won't happen but someone like McCoist, or to a lesser extent McFadden, would fit this.

I think the nail in the coffin would have been, if true, his family being escorted out by security from the stand 🤔. I'm not a fan of Hopkin and will fully admit that right now, I'm far too bitter to wish him well just yet 😐. Though it takes a Man to run a Football team and a GENTLEMAN to put his family first.

Obviously as fans, we may not have known who his family were but, they certainly wouldn't have liked hearing the abuse Hopkin was receiving and may have spoken to him with concern.

He has left before things got too messy and the season out of reach, Credit to him for not prolonging it too long.

I hope David Smith does take his time in choosing a replacement. Some of the names mentioned on here are great and others not so much 😅. it's all about finding a balance. We also desperately need fan interaction again, as the silence recently has been almost terrifying. Hoping that Smith isn't mesmerized by someone who is shit hot at interviews, who then goes on to piss it up a rope. 

McFadden would be a shout as he genuinely looks like an honest guy on the BBC (and the only pundit recently who doesn't seem too biast) and it would give him a door into football management. A tried and tested manager may be preferred first.

I personally think Yogi.

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5 hours ago, Young Eddie said:

I bear no ill will to David Hopkin, he presumably did his best, which was clearly not good enough, but he's done the right thing in the interests of the club and resigned, so fair play to him for that. Some of the personal comments on here about him are cringeworthy and people making jokes about or reference to the colour of his hair is no better than joking about the colour of someone's skin.

Fair play to David Smith for taking action quickly and not letting the problems fester in the way Lachlan did with Mark Roberts. I'm pleased to hear Smith say they will take their time and not rush into an appointment. It's crucial we get this one right after the last two appointments.

I think a new manager needs to create a buzz and get the support excited again. McCall had the masterstroke of holding his fans Q&A session which was like a rallying call and instantly got a lot of fans onside. Hopkin and Kerr didn't have the personalities to raise the club's PR profile. I think we need a big name (in Scottish football terms) that makes people take notice, and can spur the club on to greater things. It won't happen but someone like McCoist, or to a lesser extent McFadden, would fit this.

The personal stuff probably is too much, but joking about the colour of someone’s hair could not be less comparable to joking about the colour of someone’s skin. 

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1 hour ago, Roxanne's man said:

I think the nail in the coffin would have been, if true, his family being escorted out by security from the stand 🤔. I'm not a fan of Hopkin and will fully admit that right now, I'm far too bitter to wish him well just yet 😐. Though it takes a Man to run a Football team and a GENTLEMAN to put his family first.

Obviously as fans, we may not have known who his family were but, they certainly wouldn't have liked hearing the abuse Hopkin was receiving and may have spoken to him with concern.

He has left before things got too messy and the season out of reach, Credit to him for not prolonging it too long.

I hope David Smith does take his time in choosing a replacement. Some of the names mentioned on here are great and others not so much 😅. it's all about finding a balance. We also desperately need fan interaction again, as the silence recently has been almost terrifying. Hoping that Smith isn't mesmerized by someone who is shit hot at interviews, who then goes on to piss it up a rope. 

McFadden would be a shout as he genuinely looks like an honest guy on the BBC (and the only pundit recently who doesn't seem too biast) and it would give him a door into football management. A tried and tested manager may be preferred first.

I personally think Yogi.

Yet another miscalculation by the man himself, given the dugmeat he’s served up was he expecting roses and a standing ovation in front of the family?

Edited by bazka6
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10 hours ago, PB1994 said:

If Neil McCann had any interest in a managers job he’d still be up in Inverness.

Yep, he literally said he didn't want to be a manager and does something else now.  Can't remember what.

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3 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

Rangers TV? 

He works for a sports agency now.  Don't think he's an actual agent.  He has been on Sportscene recently, which is basically Rangers TV.

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11 hours ago, Finlay21 said:

Totally different role , he was coaching players to his managers instructions , that’s not to say he agrees with the formation , Hopkin too narrow minded and stubborn to change 

I get that to a point but you look at what Joe Savage and Graeme Mathie do in a director of football type role. They sign players of a certain pedigree, age range, trying to sign players with potential and resale value but all to fit into a style of play and ultimately bring results at the same time. 

I just don't see someone like Jim Duffy having the required skills and mindset to be able to do anything remotely similar, even at our level. 

 

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8 hours ago, D'Jaffo said:


For every good thing you can credit a manager with there’s going to be stuff you can mark him down for as well.

For Hughes it’s obviously his recruitment at ICT, his massive ego which saw him mess things up at Raith and also eventually at Falkirk.

He’s still most likely our best bet. Neil McCann I don’t think is interested in management at the minute.

Bit puzzled by your comment that Hughes messed up at Falkirk.  I accept he got them promoted with McCall’s team, but he did subsequently keep Falkirk in the premier league for 4 seasons as well as reaching a cup final.  I really can’t remember now if Falkirk booted him or Hibs poached him, but either way every manager tends to have a shelf life where they eventually run out of ideas.  But it’s hard to argue that he didn’t deliver a period of sustained success for them.

The attitude of Inverness fans puzzles me as well, and is probably evidence of a support enjoying a period of unprecedented success, then getting a wee bit above themselves and assuming it would always be that way.  I mean the guy took them to a Scottish Cup win, 3rd place in the premier league and qualification for Europe, and yet there’s Inverness fans on here who don’t seem to have a good word to say about him.  

I suppose the only concern you might have is that his successful years weren’t very recent, but he certainly lifted Ross County off the canvas last season.  I personally don’t worry too much about the Raith debacle - he inherited a mess and couldn’t fix it, with his assessment of the players who let Raith down that season proven to be not too far wide of the mark.

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Looking at who’s all in a job at the moment and in that youngish type category who would maybe benefit with a Duffy type of DOF, what about Kevin Rutkiewicz at Stirling. Seems to have started the season well. Ian Murray at Airdrie might be looking for another crack higher up the leagues, done something right before to get the St Mirren gig, although not started great this season. Petrie will be mentioned again, but not looking at going full time or maybe even be one Dunfermline could be looking at. Annoying Sheerin is at Falkirk now, was one I wanted previously and seems to have them playing some decent football. Also interesting to note that Peter Murphy is the 4th longest serving manager in Scottish football at the moment, although that probably says more about the shite that’s stinking up most clubs. 

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Bit puzzled by your comment that Hughes messed up at Falkirk.  I accept he got them promoted with McCall’s team, but he did subsequently keep Falkirk in the premier league for 4 seasons as well as reaching a cup final.  I really can’t remember now if Falkirk booted him or Hibs poached him, but either way every manager tends to have a shelf life where they eventually run out of ideas.  But it’s hard to argue that he didn’t deliver a period of sustained success for them.
The attitude of Inverness fans puzzles me as well, and is probably evidence of a support enjoying a period of unprecedented success, then getting a wee bit above themselves and assuming it would always be that way.  I mean the guy took them to a Scottish Cup win, 3rd place in the premier league and qualification for Europe, and yet there’s Inverness fans on here who don’t seem to have a good word to say about him.  

I suppose the only concern you might have is that his successful years weren’t very recent, but he certainly lifted Ross County off the canvas last season.  I personally don’t worry too much about the Raith debacle - he inherited a mess and couldn’t fix it, with his assessment of the players who let Raith down that season proven to be not too far wide of the mark.

I went on the Falkirk thread and the general consensus seemed to be that he did very well up until his last season when he massively overpaid for older players and nearly got them relegated.

The view that ICT fans have is perfectly valid. From memory they already had a very decent side from Terry Butcher and John Hughes just took them that wee bit further. Winning a major cup with ICT is obviously a massive achievement but it’s still fair to say that his overall recruitment was atrocious. He obviously won’t have the budget with us that he did then so that might make a difference but considering one our main criticisms of Hopkin was his recruitment, I think it’s valid to ask if Hughes is that much of an upgrade in that regard.
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Paul Lovering my god go and watch him in a game, the guys gonna have a heart attack with his rantings, I went to see Troon v benburb there was a guy ranting through the whole game, I thought it was a deranged fan, turned out it was Lovering, he was suspended not for the first time, yet continued to shout and coach the team from the side which is not allowed.

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On the abuse front, did anyone actually hear abuse being directed at Hopkin's family? In his post match interview he was stating that it was unfair to abuse the players, but it was fine to have a go at him. From what I've been told 95% of the shouts/chants were directed at him and not the players. I get a feeling, unless people know otherwise, that they may have been asked/told to leave due to the hostile atmosphere against Hopkin rather than them. Which was probably the right call as it can't have been easy to watch as family. 

McCall said after our title win that he was reluctant to let his son come to the game, as if it went wrong the atmosphere could have turned toxic. If McCall had that foresight for a team going for the title, it makes me wonder why Hopkin decided it would be a great idea to bring his family along in the first place for a team heavily misfiring. In no way am I saying it is correct to abuse someone or trying to victim blame, but we all know exactly what it is like when things aren't going well, so just feels odd they would be there.

If they have received abuse directly in the stand then the people who are involved should be utterly ashamed and I hope the club identify the perpetrators. 

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2 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:


I went on the Falkirk thread and the general consensus seemed to be that he did very well up until his last season when he massively overpaid for older players and nearly got them relegated.

The view that ICT fans have is perfectly valid. From memory they already had a very decent side from Terry Butcher and John Hughes just took them that wee bit further. Winning a major cup with ICT is obviously a massive achievement but it’s still fair to say that his overall recruitment was atrocious. He obviously won’t have the budget with us that he did then so that might make a difference but considering one our main criticisms of Hopkin was his recruitment, I think it’s valid to ask if Hughes is that much of an upgrade in that regard.

I don’t know enough about the history of his time at either club, but you could also point to huge mistakes made by McCall in his recruitment (he would have had no complaints if we’d binned him after the Gary Harkins season).  At our level, managers are only ever 2 or 3 bad signings away from disaster (ask Mark Kerr).  

In the end, I don’t think John Hughes is Jurgen Klopp, but like McCall, he has a track record of delivery at clubs at our level, even if there have been bumps along the way.  I strongly suspect that the “atrocious recruitment” line has a high element of hyperbole about it - I mean, it’s not like fans on pie and bovril don’t exist in a permanent state of elation or misery!

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