The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[GaryMc93]

13 hours ago, diegomarahenry said:

Bullen lucked out with Akinyemi. When teams shut him out, we are clueless, when he was missing against Thistle we were hopeless. If Dipo had a spell out injured for a couple of months we could have been in a relegation fight. 

He is a bit like Roberts, Moffats goals kept him in a job. Bullen has more to him than Roberts but he has been very lucky with Dipo's consistency. 

Manager change or not, we need a better playing style next season. Not sure how people would describe Bullen's current style. Run in straight lines and work hard.

We don't have full backs that can defend or attack, a central midfield that dictates play, wingers that cross often enough and took until Feb for a link up striker to be signed.

Hopefully the summer recruitment can solve some of those issues.

[Nelson]

The chat about Bullen leaving seems to be based on extremely vague rumours, but if he does decide to move on, Peter Murphy would surely be an obvious candidate.  

[AyrExile]

11 hours ago, Jeff Venom said:

McCall had a rotten season with a very good Thistle squad. Shankland also said on Open Goal podcast that McCall isn't a tactical manager, which has been levelled at Bullen on here frequently. Time to move on lads. 

Thistle were a bit like Inverness this season in that their results matched the length of their injury list. I would take McCall back as a manger but certainly not in a head coach role. He seemed very good at bringing in players but it wouldn't work for us now having moved to a panel based decision

[AyrExile]

11 hours ago, Finlay21 said:

I believe most of the credit for McCalls success at Ayr was Scally and Stewart they took 99% of the training and were major players in the tactical side 

Is that not the sign of a good manager though. Identifying capable people and letting them get on with their job? It does raise the question though that if Scally and Stewart were that good then why not give them the job instead of gambling on the laptop guy coming good 

Edited May 26, 2023 by AyrExile

[itzdrk]

1 hour ago, Nelson said:

The chat about Bullen leaving seems to be based on extremely vague rumours, but if he does decide to move on, Peter Murphy would surely be an obvious candidate.  

All rumours are vague.  I live in hope I was told correctly.  

[BukyOHare]

2 hours ago, GaryMc93 said:

Manager change or not, we need a better playing style next season.

Define better though.

Its all about results, I don't really care how we get them.

 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Define better though.

Its all about results, I don't really care how we get them.

 

I think we were spoiled with the couple of seasons that we had Shankland banging in goals with Moff pulling the strings along with Kerr starting off moves from the back with Doc alongside and silky footballers such as Forrest and McCowan and even wildcards like McDaid kicking around. Rose and Harvie were also way above average for the normal quality in this league and as such got great moves off the back of their performances.

I'm not saying it CAN'T be replicated but I've not seen quality football played like that by anyone in Scotland since (apart from Celtic) so the reality is that no Manager we get in is likely to be able to bring back that sort of exciting and great Football but I suppose we could always try.

[GaryMc93]

30 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Define better though.

Its all about results, I don't really care how we get them.

Better would be watching players that look competent in their position and who have been selected by the manager because they can positively impact the game and not just been selected to make up the numbers because they run fast.

Not really a high bar. I think we need to take a step back though in order to make the next step up. Currently the gap between top end Championship and top flight seems too big for us without an overhaul.

[Iain]

52 minutes ago, BukyOHare said:

Define better though.

Its all about results, I don't really care how we get them.

 

If it was all about results you'd be as well watching the games on ceefax!

[Iain]

2 minutes ago, GaryMc93 said:

I think we need to take a step back though in order to make the next step up. Currently the gap between top end Championship and top flight seems too big for us without an overhaul.

Realistically, I don't think it's possible to build a premier league team without a premier league budget. We're never going to go up with a team already equipped to compete in the next league.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Iain

[GaryMc93]

10 minutes ago, Iain said:

Realistically, I don't think it's possible to build a premier league team without a premier league budget. We're never going to go up with a team already equipped to compete in the next league.

True but realistically how many of the current squad would we think could make the step up. Some might surprise but I think if we got promoted this season we'd have struggled.

It's less about signing 11 Premiership players for the Championship and more about trying to bridge the gap gradually with good recruitment by signing guys with potential to step up.

Obviously that's easier said than given all the unknowns in football.

[Coollestersmoothe]

Any update on the amount of home tickets sold for tonight?

[D'Jaffo]

3 minutes ago, GaryMc93 said:

True but realistically how many of the current squad would we think could make the step up. Some might surprise but I think if we got promoted this season we'd have struggled.

It's less about signing 11 Premiership players for the Championship and more about trying to bridge the gap gradually with good recruitment by signing guys with potential to step up.

Obviously that's easier said than given all the unknowns in football.

In terms of the current squad I think you’re talking about Akinyemi and maybe Albinson being able to step up and that’s about it. Kirk could probably do it as well actually.

[Thumper]

1 hour ago, BukyOHare said:

Define better though.

Its all about results, I don't really care how we get them.

Considering that the club finished second and that if there is a particularly pestilent case of diarrhoea in the Thistle camp tonight might even still be in for a shout of promotion, you'd think that if most people only cared about results then the mood here would be a bit more chipper. You would certainly think that rumours (baseless or not) of the manager leaving would be treated with something more than total indifference.

35 minutes ago, GaryMc93 said:

True but realistically how many of the current squad would we think could make the step up.

Akinyemi, Albinson, Mullin, Dempsey, Murdoch, and probably the centre halves. The rest of them are barely good enough for the Championship.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Thumper

[Buckfast]

45 minutes ago, Coollestersmoothe said:

Any update on the amount of home tickets sold for tonight?

3200

[callum-ayr]

2 minutes ago, Buckfast said:

3200

If that's true then that is some going all things considering 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, D'Jaffo said:

In terms of the current squad I think you’re talking about Akinyemi and maybe Albinson being able to step up and that’s about it. Kirk could probably do it as well actually.

How many Dundee players this season were "Premier" class and how many Killie players last season ?

The bottom line is that the level of investment required to almost "guarantee" promotion just isn't worth it and as both Dunfermline and Fakirk have found out in recent years, having a big squad full of supposed good quality players guarantees nothing and in fact can even lead to disaster.

Personally I think our current business model is definitely the way to go and it's also sustainable if you're bringing in a few decent sums every couple of years through player sales (and even future sell ons) as it should enable us to attract the right sort of ambitious players and also give us fans something to look forward to, especially if that means us consolidating as a top half club where promotion is an ongoing realistic possibility.

Expectations have most certainly changed where we can now go to places like Cappielow, Starks Park and even Inverness knowing we have a good chance as opposed to going and more or less expecting a good caning and that in itself is a big move forward from where we've been in recent years.

All in all, I'm looking for a few exciting signings over the Summer, a bit more ball retention and control of games and some good flowing passing moves and if we can get all that plus a another top 4 finish while looking competitive throughout the year, then that's good enough for me and anything else is a bonus.

[Finlay21]

42 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

If that's true then that is some going all things considering 

It’s actually more than that currently 

[callum-ayr]

5 minutes ago, Finlay21 said:

It’s actually more than that currently 

That's really good then surprised at that!

[No_Problemo]

I’m surprised at us selling that amount too, given the circumstances - at least everyone will be going expecting disappointment this time though.