The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[UpInTheAyr]

6 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

A new contract is hard to justify but technically finishing in the top 4 is huge progress from last season so it might be on the cards. If we finish below fourth then I’d hold off on a new deal. 
 

I think there’s still a lot of learning to be done by Bullen especially when it comes to playing teams post Christmas when everyone has largely worked out how you’re going to play. There was definitely a surprise factor with Dipo at the start of the season where he wasn’t marked anymore than most and we took advantage of that. I think things have gone a bit stale now and the team isn’t actually good enough to adapt in game and try different things. For me the priority should always be getting the ball wide and putting crosses in the box. Mullin did well in that respect last night but nothing came off for us. 
 

I’m struggling to work out how we’re going to accommodate everyone once Murdoch is back tbh. I think Maguire will be handy but I don’t know if you can play him in a 4-3-3 without the left hand side being very narrow and Reading being left exposed. 

I don't think accommodating everyone will be that much of an issue tbh with next months schedule. He will have to rotate players and who knows what injuries we will come out with by end of March 

[Finlay21]

2 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t really think there was an alternative last night. I don’t think it’s getting through to people that this team aren’t equipped to play the way that Raith played last night. It’s never been that way all season barring a second half display against a rancid Cove side. 
 

The harsh reality is that is Dipo plays like he did last night then we’ll struggle massively. There isn’t an alternative striker waiting to come on that’ll make a huge difference so we just have to persevere with it and hope he gets back into form. 

If Bryden was available he would certainly have replaced Dipo for last 20 minutes I would have thought , yes we played a lot of long balls last night but the control by some players was very poor 

[Richey Edwards]

6 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

There is a certainly an arguement to be had  on whether Bullen should continue next season if we were to miss out on the playoffs given we’ve been top 3 for vast majority of season and it would mean we have bottled it completely.

There is no doubt we have improved massively under Bullen but the alternatives were Bullen, Duffy and to a lesser extent Kerr who most fans have would say we’re up there as our worst ever managers. We have also been financially backed this season and fair play to Smith for that. I reckon we’ll have a bigger budget than Arbroath, Cove, Raith, Morton, Hamilton and given their financial issues possibly even ICT so given that factor we’ve probably currently only over achieving by one position.

Fingers crossed something clicks in the remaining games and we can do something special because given the quality of the league this season this is the best chance we’ll have in years. The league will be stronger next season, of that there is little doubt. 
 

 

I actually felt really bad for Kerr tbh. I can't say the same about many of our former managers who were sacked.

[UpInTheAyr]

Obviously it is far too early to be having this type of chat and it is best suited for end of season, and Bullen at least deserves that. But a bad March with the games coming thick and fast I can see the potential for fans starting to ask questions 

[Roxanne's man]

8 minutes ago, ryanayr1987 said:

But you can blame him for setting the team to play in certain ways and for team selection. Last night we were unlucky but when it was plain to see that dipo wasnt at the races and we needed something else or to change the way we were playing he didn’t really do it. Continued to play it long 

I agree with the longball tactic being a pain in the Arse. Ayr have good technical players in the middle of the field that have to watch the ball sail over the top of them week after week and it's frustrating as a fan to watch every week. Play the ball on the ground and watch opposition teams falter. Dipo, Dempsey, Maguire, McKenzie etc.... All play better with a ball on the ground instead of picking it out the air against possibly stronger players.

It's the defence launching the ball away at any opportunity that annoys me the most. 

[No_Problemo]

Talk of Bullen going is absolutely wild. 
 

Whatever you think of the style of play, and no one was complaining about the exact same style at the start of the season, he has us above every single team of a similar budget. 

 

[ayrunitedfw]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Talk of Bullen going is absolutely wild. 
 

Whatever you think of the style of play, and no one was complaining about the exact same style at the start of the season, he has us above every single team of a similar budget. 

 

Again, I don’t think anyone has said he should go right now however if we miss out on the playoffs there is a certainly an arguement to be had. 

[Finlay21]

3 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Talk of Bullen going is absolutely wild. 
 

Whatever you think of the style of play, and no one was complaining about the exact same style at the start of the season, he has us above every single team of a similar budget. 

 

My thoughts are we are struggling recently down mainly to injuries , O’Connor , Murdoch , Musonda all being injured around the same time , most teams who lose 3 decent players at the same time seem to struggle , up until these injuries happened we were playing decent football 

[Finlay21]

3 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

Again, I don’t think anyone has said he should go right now however if we miss out on the playoffs there is a certainly an arguement to be had. 

I agree it should be end of season decision , but a number of fans on here have certainly already stated they don’t think we will reach play offs , I personally think that’s mental as our injured players look as if they will all be back after 1 more league game which is certainly going to strengthen the team considerably 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Finlay21

[North British 2]

23 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t really think there was an alternative last night. I don’t think it’s getting through to people that this team aren’t equipped to play the way that Raith played last night. It’s never been that way all season barring a second half display against a rancid Cove side. 

This in a nutshell.  We don't have the players to play the way Rovers do. So we'll fight and battle in every game . Some well win some we won't.  We're asking a lot of Dipo in his first full-time season in a few years.  The guy is knackered. 

We are in the Continuous Improvement phase of our development plan , probably not ready for a title challenge,  our two centre backs going out at the same time in December probably killed us in terms of the title . However the playoffs are a realistic goal as is a Scottish Cup semi final . Achieve that and our summer transfer kitty might just be topped up from the pools win a semi final would be . As long as we continue to move forward Bully will be as safe as houses and rightly so . 

[No_Problemo]

11 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

Again, I don’t think anyone has said he should go right now however if we miss out on the playoffs there is a certainly an arguement to be had. 

Is there though? 

It would absolutely be disappointing and I’m definitely not of the happy clapper style but it’s still a huge improvement on last season.

If the performances of the last few weeks continue until the end of the season and we barely win a game then I would agree it would be up for discussion. 

As much as I was negative as f**k last week, last night helped a little and I think with the return of Murdoch and Musonda we’ll be okay. We are a completely different proposition with those two. 

Edited February 25, 2023 by No_Problemo

[honestly united]

With a midfield of Mullin, Dempsey, McAlear and O'Connor the only reasons we are playing hoofball is the defenders cant pass or the tactics. To be fair a lot of the long balls were clearances and at least we didnt relaly lool like conceeding

[ayrunitedfw]

Just now, No_Problemo said:

Is there though? 

It would absolutely be disappointing and I’m definitely not of the happy clapper style but it’s still a huge improvement on last season.

If the performances of the last few weeks continue until the end of the season and we barely win a game then I would agree it would be up for discussion. 

As much as I was negative as f**k last week, last night helped a little and I think with the return of Murdoch and Musonda we’ll be okay. 

I’d say so as it would represent a collapse given we have been top 3 for majority of season. I’m not saying he should defo be sacked but there would need to be discussions around why it happend and if that can be fixed. Far too easy to simply blame injuries. 

[Nelson]

35 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t really think there was an alternative last night. I don’t think it’s getting through to people that this team aren’t equipped to play the way that Raith played last night. It’s never been that way all season barring a second half display against a rancid Cove side. 
 

The harsh reality is that is Dipo plays like he did last night then we’ll struggle massively. There isn’t an alternative striker waiting to come on that’ll make a huge difference so we just have to persevere with it and hope he gets back into form. 

Struggling to see this.   The argument seems to be that we have no option but to shell the ball long because our midfield isn’t capable of doing anything but scrap and work hard.  But The midfield 4 we had last night are all well capable of passing the ball, retaining possession and building attacks.  We just make no effort to do it.  

And it’s the same story whatever midfield formation we attempt or personnel we pick.  Swap in Murdoch, Chalmers, Smith, Hewitt, Mitchell Lawson…. The net outcome is the same - McGinty hoofing the ball early in the general direction of Dipo.  Are all of the midfielder we have just not capable of playing football?  The common denominator is Bullen - he coaches the team and is either telling them to play this way or is failing to get them to play in the way he actually wants.  It’s not great either way.

[AUcal]

I've mellowed out quite a lot from the anger I had after recent games, after coming to some realisations. Our start to the season clouded expectations, I think, certainly for me. We have been playing mostly the same way all season. It worked in the first half because we had a striker who was on excellent form. It's not working just now for the exact opposite reason. 

What's frustrating is the lack of any other options / ways of playing. However, last night made me realise that this squad just isn't suited to much else, and any players who are capable of a slotting into a different style are currently injured. Can't be too angry about that I guess. 

The form isn't great but as others have pointed out, overall the season is better than anything we've experienced recently. I'd have killed for something resembling last night's performance in the previous two seasons tbh. I think this squad of players are probably a mid to lower championship level team, the fact that we are currently sitting where we are is probably worthy of praise - something that I probably haven't given enough of so far.

Hopefully with our injured players back we can regain enough form to hold onto a spot in the top four. If we achieve that, then Bullen will have done a good job.

Edited February 25, 2023 by AuAl

[Richey Edwards]

13 minutes ago, AuAl said:

I've mellowed out quite a lot from the anger I had after recent games, after coming to some realisations. Our start to the season clouded expectations, I think, certainly for me. We have been playing mostly the same way all season. It worked in the first half because we had a striker who was on excellent form. It's not working just now for the exact opposite reason. 

What's frustrating is the lack of any other options / ways of playing. However, last night made me realise that this squad just isn't suited to much else, and any players who are capable of a slotting into a different style are currently injured. Can't be too angry about that I guess. 

The form isn't great but as others have pointed out, overall the season is better than anything we've experienced recently. I'd have killed for something resembling last night's performance in the previous two seasons tbh. I think this squad of players are probably a mid to lower championship level team, the fact that we are currently sitting where we are is probably worthy of praise - something that I probably haven't given enough of so far.

Hopefully with our injured players back we can regain enough form to hold onto a spot in the top four. If we achieve that, then Bullen will have done a good job.

I think a lot of us got carried away after the early season form (myself included tbh) but if we think back to the start of the season then a lot of us would have been happy with being far away from the relegation zone and a mid-table finish - especially after the diabolically bad League Cup campaign.

[UpInTheAyr]

Did Dipo not have orange boots on last night? 

 

[AUcal]

1 minute ago, Richey Edwards said:

I think a lot of us got carried away after the early season form (myself included tbh) but if we think back to the start of the season then a lot of us would have been happy with being far away from the relegation zone and a mid-table finish - especially after the diabolically bad League Cup campaign.

I was fully expecting another relegation battle tbh. 

[Richey Edwards]

Just now, AuAl said:

I was fully expecting another relegation battle tbh. 

So was I tbh. The League Cup campaign looked like Bullen had made us worse than last season.

[edinburghhonestman]

1 hour ago, Finlay21 said:

My thoughts are we are struggling recently down mainly to injuries , O’Connor , Murdoch , Musonda all being injured around the same time , most teams who lose 3 decent players at the same time seem to struggle , up until these injuries happened we were playing decent football 

No doubt Murdoch and Musonda coming back will strengthen the team hugely. Murdoch in particular provides the balance in the midfield.

Seems to me though, that the long ball must be a tactic as even Kirk seems to have adopted it a bit more. He's generally a bit more accurate than McGinty but earlier in the season he has looking for a pass in to midfield more often.