The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Thereisalight..]

50 minutes ago, Roxanne's man said:

Think that's one of the main reasons he left Ayr for Partick. Was an hour drive to Somerset or a five minute walk round the corner to Firhill.

The decision to sack him must have been made before this game, as the game itself wasn't bad. Partick are doing shite in the league but did okay today against one of the old firm.

I dunno, surely they wouldnt have sent Archibald to our game yesterday to watch us, if they were planning on sacking them before it?

[Ayr23]

My Thistle supporting mate was saying it was a done deal on Monday night following their defeat to Cove, but the management team didn’t know about it. So Archibald would have been none the wiser yesterday at Somerset.

[rb123!]

31 minutes ago, Ayr23 said:

My Thistle supporting mate was saying it was a done deal on Monday night following their defeat to Cove, but the management team didn’t know about it. So Archibald would have been none the wiser yesterday at Somerset.

If that's the case i doubt McCall will still feel the same way towards Thistle as he did before if they've flung him under the bus like that.

Seems a bit of a dickish move from Thistle IMO

[North British 2]

McCall was the right man for us at the right time.  The partnership worked for both party's.  There is no way he'd have had long term future under Smith or Mathie . The wee red book mentality he had is no longer a thing at Ayr . Hope he gets another job though . Maybe Airdie or even Accies . However Ayr are done with such nonsense...

[itzdrk]

1 hour ago, Trogdor said:

I will always be grateful for McCall who grabbed our club by the scruff of the neck and got us to being an established Championship side after the binfire that was Roberts. The 2017/18 title winning season was awesome. The 2018/19 campaign finishing fourth was great. 2019/20 was going exceptionally well and he bailed on us. Giving the empty platitudes about it being a tough decision all the while he had made his mind up. The way he left really annoyed me. Thanks for the memories Ian but the club has moved on. 

Ultimately that's all he did with Partick too.  

[AyrAtlanta]

Anyone with any hatred towards McCall sounds like a petty child imo. How anyone can kiss Dave Smith’s arse (and rightly so tbf) while simultaneously hating McCall’s guts is quite baffling.

Have no doubts we’d still be part time League 1 shite if he didn’t drag us upto a respectable full time championship level by himself. Like it or not his teams consistently played better football than we’ve ever seen under Bullen also.

Anyone even contemplating bringing him back needs their heads checked however.

[Nelson]

Feel sorry for McCall.  He was brilliant for Ayr in so many ways.  But his entire career seems to be defined by bad choices.  He had everything he wanted at Ayr, and if he had stuck around for another 6 months he would have seen the emergence of a new era under Dave Smith.  But his weird romantic attachment to Partick was too much, and it’s left him on the scrap heap again.  The timing of his sacking seems properly bizarre, but maybe the decision was already made before today’s game.  

[itzdrk]

I don't think I'd lose much sleep if they did approach Bullen, I don't think he would go but even if he actually did he's hardly irreplaceable as manager.  

McCall did a great job as manager for us but the circumstances surrounding his departure were very poor and the fact his time at Partick is mostly a shitshow was pretty pleasing.  Wonder if he fits in anywhere in the structure at Queen's Park.  

[AUcal]

6 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

 Wonder if he fits in anywhere in the structure at Queen's Park.  

Could see him finding a way to fit in quite nicely to that small structure on one side of the pitch at Lesser.

[itzdrk]

Just now, AuAl said:

Could see him finding a way to fit in quite nicely to that small structure on one side of the pitch at Lesser.

Good wee place to have a fag. 

[D'Jaffo]

25 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

Ultimately that's all he did with Partick too.  

He’s ultimately taken them as far as he took us. A very good footballing side that inevitably crumbles after the first quarter or so once injuries kick into a thin squad. There’s an argument to say that if he had a bigger budget he’d win the league but the budget he had at Partick was probably double what he had with us and there’s only so much money you can give a manager before you say “you can’t take us any further”. 

6 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

I don't think I'd lose much sleep if they did approach Bullen, I don't think he would go but even if he actually did he's hardly irreplaceable as manager.  

McCall did a great job as manager for us but the circumstances surrounding his departure were very poor and the fact his time at Partick is mostly a shitshow was pretty pleasing.  Wonder if he fits in anywhere in the structure at Queen's Park.  

We likely agree on this for different reasons. I said a while ago that Bullen leaving us would not be a disaster nor would any manager leaving us be a disaster. We’d have a great deal of continuity through Mathie and I’d trust him to be able to pick another competent head coach to try and achieve our goals. 

As I said earlier McCall will stand by his decision to leave us but in order for the move to be justified then he had to outdo what he did at Ayr and he didn’t do that. 

FWIW I don’t think Bullen will be in their sights nor do I think he’d leave us for them.

[Nelson]

McCall was the best manager Ayr have had since Ally’s final spell in charge.  Now in truth that probably speaks volumes about the parade of consistently dreadful managerial appointments we’ve endured over the last 30 years.  Only Brian Reid can reasonably argue that he overachieved given the minimal resources at his disposal.

 And before the usual apologists pile in, Gordon Dalziel was an abysmal manager who’s only real talent was squandering Bill Barr’s money.  

The fact that McCall is the first Ayr manager since the late 70s to be actively poached by another team should probably tell us something,  

He made his decision though and neither he nor us have flourished as a result.  Such a shame really.  He was really building something at Ayr and that final season when he left saw us playing a style of football I’ve rarely seen at Ayr.  Would I have him back?  Probably not.  But Bullen has a long way to go to replicate some of the good times under McCall. Plenty of good memories, but Paddy Boyle’s last minute winner against Stranraer, Andy Geggan leaping like a salmon against Killie and Shankland scoring 4 at Tannadice are just some of my personal favourites.  We won’t mention the Talbot game though….

[itzdrk]

2 minutes ago, Nelson said:

McCall was the best manager Ayr have had since Ally’s final spell in charge.  Now in truth that probably speaks volumes about the parade of consistently dreadful managerial appointments we’ve endured over the last 30 years.  Only Brian Reid can reasonably argue that he overachieved given the minimal resources at his disposal.

 And before the usual apologists pile in, Gordon Dalziel was an abysmal manager who’s only real talent was squandering Bill Barr’s money.  

The fact that McCall is the first Ayr manager since the late 70s to be actively poached by another team should probably tell us something,  

He made his decision though and neither he nor us have flourished as a result.  Such a shame really.  He was really building something at Ayr and that final season when he left saw us playing a style of football I’ve rarely seen at Ayr.  Would I have him back?  Probably not.  But Bullen has a long way to go to replicate some of the good times under McCall. Plenty of good memories, but Paddy Boyle’s last minute winner against Stranraer, Andy Geggan leaping like a salmon against Killie and Shankland scoring 4 at Tannadice are just some of my personal favourites.  We won’t mention the Talbot game though….

Was considering around 75 minutes yesterday actually if this was worse/same as Talbot given we were at home and getting battered for a second goal that never came .  

[diegomarahenry]

39 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

I don't think I'd lose much sleep if they did approach Bullen, I don't think he would go but even if he actually did he's hardly irreplaceable as manager.  

McCall did a great job as manager for us but the circumstances surrounding his departure were very poor and the fact his time at Partick is mostly a shitshow was pretty pleasing.  Wonder if he fits in anywhere in the structure at Queen's Park.  

The reason Bullen can be replaced is the reason McCall couldn't manage Ayr again. He wouldn't cope with GPS stats and Glendinnings laptop recruitment. 

[D'Jaffo]

Just now, diegomarahenry said:

The reason Bullen can be replaced is the reason McCall couldn't manage Ayr again. He wouldn't cope with GPS stats and Glendinnings laptop recruitment. 

He wouldn’t cope with Mathie being the main voice of the club either. 

[Coollestersmoothe]

I’m half dreading Saturday. I can see a gubbing on the cards. 
 

Despite us challenging at the top there’s never been a game where I thought “aye, we look the part”. We’ve scraped wins and had a decent bit of luck. And also, this is a weak Championship. I fear this is where the season looks a big shoogly. 
 

i get that last year we were pish. And since I’ve been going to Somerset we’ve never finished higher than 3rd. But christ my expectations have been raised from the on paper results haha. 
 

Saturday is crucial. Hope upon hope we do the business. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by CoolLesterSmooth

[Lochwood]

^{I’m thinking he has been approached by a club without telling thistle, and they have found out, after all that’s what he did to get back to thistle.. Sneaky character, and would never work under the Smith/ Mathie regime.}

[Hammer Jag]

5 hours ago, placidcasual said:

Girfuy McCall. Thought he was bigger than Ayr.

He is.

[Kitty_Boy]

1 hour ago, Lochwood said:

^{I’m thinking he has been approached by a club without telling thistle, and they have found out, after all that’s what he did to get back to thistle.. Sneaky character, and would never work under the Smith/ Mathie regime.}

Even if another club was interested in McCall, which I seriously doubt, why would Thistle sack their management team and give up the potential for compensation? 

 

 

[Honestmen]

6 hours ago, Nelson said:

Feel sorry for McCall.  He was brilliant for Ayr in so many ways.  But his entire career seems to be defined by bad choices.  He had everything he wanted at Ayr, and if he had stuck around for another 6 months he would have seen the emergence of a new era under Dave Smith.  But his weird romantic attachment to Partick was too much, and it’s left him on the scrap heap again.  The timing of his sacking seems properly bizarre, but maybe the decision was already made before today’s game.  

It was mentioned on bbc radio a few weeks ago as a rumour that if they failed to win that day he was gone.