The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[Ayr23]

1 hour ago, WATTOO said:

I don't agree that Ashford is anywhere near as bad as people are making out as we've had some very good team performances when Ashford has played and his work rate can't be questioned, however there's no doubt that he's suffering from a severe lack of confidence just now and some of his misses this season (and end of last) beggar belief.

That said, there is no doubt though that we're at our most dangerous when when we go with Mullan right, Chalmers left (with both interchanging) and Dipo through the middle with either McKenzie or Young just behind. That gives us multiple goal threats and excellent deliveries from both sides of the park, Yes, it perhaps leaves our Midfield 2 a little light but you can't have everything and the threat that we have up top and from the flanks outweighs any sort of downside I'd say.

We can only hope that Kirk's injury is not as bad as it looked and that Frankie will be back sooner rather than later, however if the worst comes to the worst I'm sure we'll manage to bring one or two in on loan, especially given our lofty position and good publicity that we've been getting.

Anyway, a good point up at Inverness, our recent unbeaten run intact, still clear at the top and a wee break from league duty until early December, so really it's all pretty good.......

Just back from the game, and I thought Ashford offered zero. I really want him to do well, but it’s just not happening. When McKenzie and Young came on the game changed completely. 

The first half was criminal, and at HT I’d have bitten your hand off for a draw. However I’m gutted to only get a point. Over the piece a draw is probably fair, but when you’re 10 minutes from victory it’s gutting. We sat back and the inevitable happened. I was convinced that Chalmer’s chance at the death was curling in. The only time I didn’t go to Inverness was when we won, and for a time towards the end I thought I might see that first victory up there. 

I’m delighted that Chalmer’s injury wasn’t a head injury as first thought, because he was brilliant in the second half, not so much the first half though.

I’m glad we’re getting a break from the league next weekend, and hopefully we can get a comfortable win over Pollok and reset for Raith, who got pumped by QP who we’ve beaten twice this season.

Ultimately the January window will decide who wins this league, and If think we’ll have the cash to spend, and the backroom staff to sign the right players.

[UpInTheAyr]

43 minutes ago, Thumper said:

Think the stat is two clean sheets all season, and two failures to score all season? If nothing else it's seldom boring even if it is often quite poor.

Very reminiscent of McCall's they score three we'll score four motto. Are the midfield not giving the defence enough protection, because Kirk and Musonda are solid, so if it's not them then it's the full backs, and it's not Albinson. Regardless, we aren't going to get too far if we don't start tightening up at the back.

God forbid Dipo gets injured at some stage, then we're really in bother.

[No_Problemo]

54 minutes ago, rb123! said:

Although it's disappointing to draw a game we've gone into the last 5 leading 2-1, i'll take the point. Considering all the times we've come back down from Inverness with f**k all a point is better than nothing.

Looks like we may need to invest if January if we're serious about staying where we are, Defence needs looked at aswell as a Docherty/Adams type of midfielder missing IMO, Murdoch nor Dempsey don't really have the dirty side of work in their game which makes us iffy at times. Still unsure if the Dempsey/Murdoch pairing really works in the middle of the park tbh.

Defence is a big concern now with Kirk possibly out long term and Musonda not fit yet, leaves us with BIG SEAN only CB (God help us).... If Bangala doesn't get a start next week against Pollok he's never gonna get one. 

Also McKenzie should be starting upfront again with Dipo, he's been chipping in with a few goals off the bench lately and has warranted being back in the starting 11 IMO.

Onwards and upwards to a massive banana skin game a week on Monday night (*laughs nervously*)

Murdoch and Dempsey don’t do the dirty side of the game - really? Their work rate is phonemenal and neither shirk a challenge either. Murdoch and Dempsey are both better versions of Docherty. Most games they are playing 2 v 3 in central midfield. 

[rb123!]

12 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said:

Very reminiscent of McCall's they score three we'll score four motto. Are the midfield not giving the defence enough protection, because Kirk and Musonda are solid, so if it's not them then it's the full backs, and it's not Albinson. Regardless, we aren't going to get too far if we don't start tightening up at the back.

God forbid Dipo gets injured at some stage, then we're really in bother.

I don't think they do, any game i've been to this season there's been occasions in all games where opposition midfield are in behind Murdoch/Dempsey bearing down on the defence who are really exposed. 

As i mentioned early we've not got that Kerr/Docherty/Adams type of player that can protect the back four. 

[rb123!]

1 minute ago, No_Problemo said:

Murdoch and Dempsey don’t do the dirty side of the game - really? Their work rate is phonemenal and neither shirk a challenge either. Murdoch and Dempsey are both better versions of Docherty. Most games they are playing 2 v 3 in central midfield. 

I would say the issue is more positioning, both get quite high up the pitch which as i've said can lead to times where there seems to be big gaps in behind in the middle of the pitch for opposition midfield to get into. 

Home game against Partick i thought that was evident quite a few times. 

[No_Problemo]

27 minutes ago, rb123! said:

I would say the issue is more positioning, both get quite high up the pitch which as i've said can lead to times where there seems to be big gaps in behind in the middle of the pitch for opposition midfield to get into. 

Home game against Partick i thought that was evident quite a few times. 

It’s evident in every single game, but I don’t think it’s anything to do with positioning. We don’t tend to control games, so our games tend to be incredibly end to end so players are often caught too high up the park. 

[Thumper]

In the latter half of his time playing with the club Moffat was superb at dropping deep to pick the ball up and then linking up with his striking partner. Sorely missed.

[diegomarahenry]

I thought the first half was going to be a repeat of the Partick game, they go direct and score a goal, we shite ourselves and defend deep. Fortunately, Inverness looked slightly shocked at how easy we were making it and didn't take advantage. Mullen was dreadful, O'Conner looked better but we didn't try and play him in anywhere near enough. Ashford did plenty of running and put pressure on the Inverness back line but he didn't force any mistakes. 

Second half, Chalmers woke us up, we looked a better team going forward and that took the pressure off of our defence and midfield and we grew in to the game. 

With our history, a draw is a good result with Inverness and we are still top. Morton and Dundee played two of the three outliers in the division and picked up wins as expected and to be honest, when you see the form and injuries Inverness had, you kind of knew, at the very most, we drawing this one. 

Still top, Diop still scoring goals. 

[Nelson]

10 hours ago, No_Problemo said:

Murdoch and Dempsey don’t do the dirty side of the game - really? Their work rate is phonemenal and neither shirk a challenge either. Murdoch and Dempsey are both better versions of Docherty. Most games they are playing 2 v 3 in central midfield. 

That’s it exactly.  Murdoch and Dempsey work incredibly hard and cover an incredible amount of ground.  Doing the dirty work isn’t an issue for us.  

But neither of them are particularly comfortable on the ball or pass the ball well.  We desperately need a Mark Kerr type who can bring a bit more quality, experience and intelligence to our midfield.  The tactic of going early and direct to Dipo is pretty tiresome at times and certainly doesn’t help to bring the midfield into the game - O’Connor and Mullin didn’t get a kick in the first half.  

Dare I say it, but Robbie Crawford would have helped us control possession a bit more, but I guess we’d already gambled a contract on Bangala, who is obviously an absolute dud.

[D'Jaffo]

It’s evident in every single game, but I don’t think it’s anything to do with positioning. We don’t tend to control games, so our games tend to be incredibly end to end so players are often caught too high up the park. 

Aye it’s not through the fault of Murdoch and Dempsey. They do a power of work on and off the ball. Think it’s more down to the fact that we aren’t capable of slowing the game down and dictating it. The amount of times we’ve went ahead in matches and get pegged back a few minutes later is incredibly annoying. Partick, Cove, Hamilton and Morton at home and then Hamilton and Caley away. Of all those games we’ve only ended up winning two of them. Had we been able to manage the game better and slow it down we’d probably have turned quite a lot of those draws into wins.

Not sure what the solution is though? Drop a striker and play 4-3-3? We saw last week that Dipo suffers when he’s played as a lone striker and no one gets near him.

[Trogdor]

Game management - we need to get better at that.

Retaining possession - we should do more of it.

Shelling it long - we need to do less of that.

Simples. Make it so Bullen.

[diegomarahenry]

I watched the stream yesterday and listened to the radio Scotland commentary. It was interesting listening to Willie Millers take on Dipo at the end.

He said that in the first half he was playing close to the defenders and initiating contact, trying to get in to a physical battle with them. They handled it pretty well. 
The second half he said he looked to use his brain more, drifting off his man, finding space and making runs. He was much better in the second half and wondered if that was his instructions in the first half. 

[AuAl]

I find the comments about a potential Akinyemi sale from the usual suspects in the media to be absolutely incredible. It's nothing new, but it's mad how out of touch everyone seems to be to everything outside of the big two in Glasgow.

Comments about Premiership teams picking up Akinyemi for buttons in January to bolster the second half of their season. Have any of them actually looked into the situation to see the contract status or looked at what kind of fee has been paid previously for a player on the form that Akinyemi is? The expectation that any championship club would just accept the first offer, no matter how low the fee, without any consideration of what said player could contribute to their own season in the long run.

Dafties man.

Edited November 20, 2022 by AuAl

[No_Problemo]

1 hour ago, D'Jaffo said:

Aye it’s not through the fault of Murdoch and Dempsey. They do a power of work on and off the ball. Think it’s more down to the fact that we aren’t capable of slowing the game down and dictating it. The amount of times we’ve went ahead in matches and get pegged back a few minutes later is incredibly annoying. Partick, Cove, Hamilton and Morton at home and then Hamilton and Caley away. Of all those games we’ve only ended up winning two of them. Had we been able to manage the game better and slow it down we’d probably have turned quite a lot of those draws into wins.

Not sure what the solution is though? Drop a striker and play 4-3-3? We saw last week that Dipo suffers when he’s played as a lone striker and no one gets near him.

It’s a really difficult one, we all want more control of games but ultimately the current strategy is working and we tend to create more chances than the opposition. 

I completely agree that we need to be able to slow games down at times though - but as you said the extra midfielder didn’t work against Hamilton. I think we just need the right type of signing in central midfield though - either the Mark Kerr style player who anchors things and allows Chalmers and Mullin to get close to Akinyemi or a McInroy style player who can drop deeper when needed but can also take turns with Dempsey to play off of Akinyemi with the wide players. 
 

As we discussed last week I would love to get Lawson from Hamilton, but he probably doesn’t fit our model in that we would need to pay a fee, and that he doesn’t really have any resell value at his age. 

[No_Problemo]

1 hour ago, Nelson said:

That’s it exactly.  Murdoch and Dempsey work incredibly hard and cover an incredible amount of ground.  Doing the dirty work isn’t an issue for us.  

But neither of them are particularly comfortable on the ball or pass the ball well.  We desperately need a Mark Kerr type who can bring a bit more quality, experience and intelligence to our midfield.  The tactic of going early and direct to Dipo is pretty tiresome at times and certainly doesn’t help to bring the midfield into the game - O’Connor and Mullin didn’t get a kick in the first half.  

Dare I say it, but Robbie Crawford would have helped us control possession a bit more, but I guess we’d already gambled a contract on Bangala, who is obviously an absolute dud.

I wouldn’t say either are poor on the ball tbf, I actually think both are decent but they certainly aren’t Mark Kerr level. 
 

Yeah - I do wish Crawford had came back. 

[Trogdor]

23 minutes ago, AuAl said:

I find the comments about a potential Akinyemi sale from the usual suspects in the media to be absolutely incredible. It's nothing new, but it's mad how out of touch everyone seems to be to everything outside of the big two in Glasgow.

Comments about Premiership teams picking up Akinyemi for buttons in January to bolster the second half of their season. Have any of them actually looked into the situation to see the contract status or looked at what kind of fee has been paid previously for a player on the form that Akinyemi is? The expectation that any championship club would just accept the first offer, no matter how low the fee, without any consideration of what said player could contribute to their own season in the long run.

Dafties man.

This is the reason I rarely listen to or watch any Scottish football reporting. They don't have a fucking clue. Aside from AVFTT, and I don't watch all of those either.

They broadly don't know about the lower leagues and I have no doubt that they have no idea about Dipo's contract length. They'll be assuming two things:

1) He's only on a 1 year deal (admittedly, not unusual at this level)

2) Plucky Ayr will accept any offer that we graciously receive from our betters in the Premiership.

They can all bile their heids. The suggestion he is worth <£100k is also laughable.

[JohnGAYR]

42 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

 

They can all bile their heids. The suggestion he is worth <£100k is also laughable.

I don’t think there is a club in Scotland who could/would pay the money Ayr would want to get Dipo at the break.

[WATTOO]

1 hour ago, AuAl said:

I find the comments about a potential Akinyemi sale from the usual suspects in the media to be absolutely incredible. It's nothing new, but it's mad how out of touch everyone seems to be to everything outside of the big two in Glasgow.

Comments about Premiership teams picking up Akinyemi for buttons in January to bolster the second half of their season. Have any of them actually looked into the situation to see the contract status or looked at what kind of fee has been paid previously for a player on the form that Akinyemi is? The expectation that any championship club would just accept the first offer, no matter how low the fee, without any consideration of what said player could contribute to their own season in the long run.

Dafties man.

Yes, they were insinuating that the likes of a Motherwell / St Johnstone / Ross County etc would more or less be doing us a favour by "taking a chance on him" in January.

As you say, cloud cuckoo land stuff.

[WATTOO]

1 hour ago, No_Problemo said:

It’s a really difficult one, we all want more control of games but ultimately the current strategy is working and we tend to create more chances than the opposition. 

I completely agree that we need to be able to slow games down at times though - but as you said the extra midfielder didn’t work against Hamilton. I think we just need the right type of signing in central midfield though - either the Mark Kerr style player who anchors things and allows Chalmers and Mullin to get close to Akinyemi or a McInroy style player who can drop deeper when needed but can also take turns with Dempsey to play off of Akinyemi with the wide players. 
 

As we discussed last week I would love to get Lawson from Hamilton, but he probably doesn’t fit our model in that we would need to pay a fee, and that he doesn’t really have any resell value at his age. 

This in a nutshell.

We look like scoring in every single game, we've competed in every single game and ultimately we've only lost 3 of our 16 games so far and those were all close affairs where we were in with every chance of taking at least a point.

The style of play won't suit everyone but it's working and that is the main thing.

The squad is strong in most areas and apart from Dipo we've got McKenzie and Young contributing goals when they play and Mullen, Chalmers, JML all serious threats with even Murdoch and Dempsey getting forward and adding a few goals themselves.  Apart from this we now look a threat from set pieces with McGinty and Kirk both adding goals also and of course getting quality deliveries from both sides via Chalmers and Mullin is a huge reason for this.

Things aren't perfect but they never are, however unlike the Uncle Ian times, I really feel that we are capable of staying where we are at the top of this league, although much will depend on the extent of Kirk's injury and the Musonda situation and whether or not we manage to get in a couple of quality players in the right positions in January and of course whether they integrate as hoped.

Irrespective, it looks like the Cup weekend has come at the right time for us and Pollok should also be the ideal tie to rest a couple of players while still showing them respect and fielding a good enough side to see us through....

[AuAl]

Lawson would be an excellent signing. Would love to see that kind of addition.

Might be a bit of an exaggeration, but a signing like that could easily have the kind of impact that bringing in Steven Bell in the 17/18 title winning season did, imo.

But as mentioned, I don't think he's someone we would be able to pay for/bring in.