The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[itzdrk]

26 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

Money is certainly not an issue with Smith. His business is very successful 

Successful businessman, Dave Smith. 

[TheScarf]

5 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Because Hopkin has overpaid his jobbers from Morton. I perish to think how much McGinty is pocketing. 

The fact Smith allowed it is most baffling.

Right so money is no issue so he let him sign shite from Morton instead of the calibre of players Killie/The Caley/Raith signed?

[diegomarahenry]

3 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

I don't see what changing the manager achieves, Duffy might well be a shite manager but he's working with one of the worst football squads I have ever seen.  If we sack him we are effectively saying that someone must be able to get a tune out of these guys*.  

He won't be anywhere until he gets a chance to get rid of some and recruit, if it's still no working (it won't) then he'll go.  

  Hide contents

*Dunno if anyone heard Smith on the Spiers podcast a while back but he was crying like Ann Budge about how the squad wax expensive, basically both suggesting money = guaranteed good.  So maybe he will think differently. 

 

The last 2 games have shown that the players don’t care and Duffy doesn’t either. He knows where he’ll be next year and it doesn’t matter a f**k to him where Ayr are. it’s not going to blot his CV when he’s down the bowling club 3 days a week. 
If Duffy was hoping to get to January and then strengthen, there would be more fight in him and this team, there would be a more obvious desire to get it right. 

if it costs less to go down than it will to fix it, we’ll replace Falkirk as the worst run full time team in Scotland. 
 

He said tonight that he needs to find the right formula. He’s done the same thing for weeks so I don’t think he’s looking to hard. 

[itzdrk]

Just now, TheScarf said:

Right so money is no issue so he let him sign shite from Morton instead of the calibre of players Killie/The Caley/Raith signed?

Aye, as @virginton suggested Hopkin loves chucking large contracts at these absolute wasters.  

[eez-eh]

9 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

I don't see what changing the manager achieves, Duffy might well be a shite manager but he's working with one of the worst football squads I have ever seen.  If we sack him we are effectively saying that someone must be able to get a tune out of these guys*.  

He won't be anywhere until he gets a chance to get rid of some and recruit, if it's still no working (it won't) then he'll go.  

  Hide contents

*Dunno if anyone heard Smith on the Spiers podcast a while back but he was crying like Ann Budge about how the squad wax expensive, basically both suggesting money = guaranteed good.  So maybe he will think differently. 

 

It might not achieve much in the next month or so but as you allude to I don’t think anyone trusts Duffy to improve the squad given his recent record. He’ll end up punting Moff and signing Ross Forbes or something.

We need someone who can improve the squad in January otherwise we’re fucked.

[Trogdor]

5 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Right so money is no issue so he let him sign shite from Morton instead of the calibre of players Killie/The Caley/Raith signed?

Not sure why you find it so hard to grasp tbh. The chairman is on record as saying this is our most expensive squad assembled in the last few years. Ergo we are paying Hopkin's jobbers too much. The chairman also has deep pockets so funds should be made available in January. Not quite sure why you are getting worked up about it. It's our problem.

Edit to add - FWIW No-one said money was no issue. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by Trogdor

[D'Jaffo]

2 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Right so money is no issue so he let him sign shite from Morton instead of the calibre of players Killie/The Caley/Raith signed?

Yes 100%

Smith hired Hopkin, so therefore he has to back his man accordingly. If he doesn't and starts telling Hopkin he can't sign such and such a player then that relationship breaks down a lot quicker than it did. The real mistake was panicking after we sacked Kerr and hiring a manager without looking into his recent recruitment record at Morton. Smith is either arrogant for thinking he knows better, naive for not doing a thorough check of his record or deluded that he thought giving him a big budget would lead to guaranteed success. 

[TheScarf]

Just now, Trogdor said:

Not sure why you find it so hard to grasp tbh. The chairman is on record as saying this is our most expensive squad assembled in the last few years. Ergo we are paying Hopkin's jobbers too much. The chairman also has deep pockets so funds should be made available in January. Not quite sure why you are getting worked up about it. It's our problem.

What I’m finding hard to grasp is if money is no issue why don’t Gardyne/McKay/Polworth/Robinson/Todorov play for Ayr United?

[diegomarahenry]

2 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Right so money is no issue so he let him sign shite from Morton instead of the calibre of players Killie/The Caley/Raith signed?

He pissed off for 2 weeks of the close season and we were told he was working hard, he was also working from home during the close season. He then went on holiday again after signing some Morton players, Todorov signed for Dunfermline the day before he came back. 
He then panic bought some more Morton players and played half a dozen trialists, while  we were being told his recruitment process was high quality and stringent. 
 

if he didn’t pay a fortune for the Morton players then we would have the same squad minus 4 players because he was obviously clueless at finding players 

[Trogdor]

Just now, TheScarf said:

What I’m finding hard to grasp is if money is no issue why don’t Gardyne/McKay/Polworth/Robinson/Todorov play for Ayr United?

No-one said money is no issue. You've just made that up.

You'd have to ask David Hopkin why he paid so much for the players he signed.

Also pretty sure we agreed a deal for Todorov and he opted for Dunfermline because of geography. As I recall that also seemed to irk you for some unknown reason.

[AyrExile]

10 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

It is absolute parody that Smith appears to have sat back as McGinty, Salkeld, Fjortoft and McAllister have seemingly been signed on very good contracts and not wondered what was going on. None of them are good enough to be starting for a side in the championship. 

Not sure i'd want a club where the chairman is telling the manager who to sign. McGinty aside i' don't think many here were too critical when they signed. Seem to remember Fjortoft and McAllister being viewed highly at the time 

[TheScarf]

Just now, Trogdor said:

No-one said money is no issue. You've just made that up.

You'd have to ask David Hopkin why he paid so much for the players he signed.

Also pretty sure we agreed a deal for Todorov and he opted for Dunfermline because of geography. As I recall that also seemed to irk you for some unknown reason.

You literally said it you fucking dafty.

[D'Jaffo]

1 minute ago, TheScarf said:

What I’m finding hard to grasp is if money is no issue why don’t Gardyne/McKay/Polworth/Robinson/Todorov play for Ayr United?

I'd imagine location has played a big part in Gardyne and McKay moving to ICT. I'm not knocking Caley, but the pair of them have been up in that neck of the woods for a while so it makes sense for them to go to a club where they don't need to relocate. As much as we might have a big budget we won't be able to offer what Kilmarnock will be offering Polworth and Robinson. Even if we were, they were favourites for the league and if you want to be playing in the Premiership then you'd pick Killie over ourselves. The Todorov debacle has been done to death and the simple fact is that we apparently made a pretty good offer but the Pars simply offered more which they were able to do after selling Declan McManus. 

 

It doesn't change the point that Hopkin appears to enjoy his transfer policy of avoiding signing good players. 

[vikingTON]

8 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Not sure why you find it so hard to grasp tbh. The chairman is on record as saying this is our most expensive squad assembled in the last few years. Ergo we are paying Hopkin's jobbers too much. The chairman also has deep pockets so funds should be made available in January. Not quite sure why you are getting worked up about it. It's our problem.

 

7 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Yes 100%

Smith hired Hopkin, so therefore he has to back his man accordingly. If he doesn't and starts telling Hopkin he can't sign such and such a player then that relationship breaks down a lot quicker than it did. 

Both of these posts seem to overlook the concept that a club would set a budget at the start of a season and then simply ask all subsequent managers to do their job within it. I see no reason why 'Dave Smith' is now suddenly going to fork out extra money that he will never get back in January, on top of what you already accept to be 'the most expensive squad assembled in years'. If it was deemed sufficient for Ayr to compete in July at this level then it is sufficient now as well. 

I'd expect Ayr to shift a couple of players in and out in January, just as Morton and Queens will. Hamilton are an unknown quantity, but all will probably be relying on effective loans to make the difference rather than any major squad investment. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by vikingTON

[itzdrk]

Canny beat @TheScarf coming on to do their I'm so clever routine but never having a clue what they are talking about tbf

[Trogdor]

1 minute ago, TheScarf said:

You literally said it you fucking dafty.

Have you been drinking? Or still on a high from your win last night.

Money being no issue is the equivalent of saying there is no limit. You can spend whatever.

I said funds should be made available and the chairman has deep pockets. I'm not claiming he's Uncle Roy at Ross County. 

Again, not quite sure why this has you frothing at the mouth.

[eez-eh]

3 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

You literally said it you fucking dafty.

@Trogdor literally didn’t say that you fucking dafty.

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, AyrExile said:

Not sure i'd want a club where the chairman is telling the manager who to sign. McGinty aside i' don't think many here were too critical when they signed. Seem to remember Fjortoft and McAllister being viewed highly at the time 

I want a club where questions are asked if a manager tries to sign players who are clearly dreadful, on decent wages. Everyone knew Salkeld was an utter heap of shit too. Both caused alarm bells to ring. 

I have absolutely no idea why some Morton fans thought Fjortoft was decent, as he isn’t up to being a starter at this level and is technically woeful. 

McAllister and Fjortoft can at least be argued otherwise, but everyone knew about the other two. 

[rb123!]

8 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

What I’m finding hard to grasp is if money is no issue why don’t Gardyne/McKay/Polworth/Robinson/Todorov play for Ayr United?

David Hopkin

Anyone with a brain wouldn't want to sign for him

[D'Jaffo]

1 minute ago, virginton said:

 

Both of these posts seem to overlook the concept that a club would set a budget at the start of a season and then simply ask all subsequent managers to do their job within it. I see no reason why 'Dave Smith' is now suddenly going to fork out extra money that he will never get back in January, on top of what you already accept to be 'the most expensive squad assembled in years'. If it was sufficient to compete in July at this level then it is sufficient now as well. 

I'd expect Ayr to shift a couple of players in and out, just as Morton and Queens will. Hamilton are an unknown quantity, but all will probably be relying on effective loans to make the difference rather than any major squad investment. 

I don't fully buy that Smith will spend a fortune FWIW. I agree that we'll likely punt 2 or 3 guys and bring 2 or 3 guys in. Smith might put some cash in but I doubt we're going for the same kind of squad turnover that Falkirk attempted under McKinnon. 

In an ideal world Smith would've sacked Hopkin on the spot at the mere suggestion of us signing Sean McGinty but unfortunately it doesn't work like that so he has to let him spunk a bit of money up the wall first.