Iain Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Didn't think that was so bad. Especially compared to the three preceding games. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidkennedyshand Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 27 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said: That Ashford sub though. Explain? To plug the huge gap Raith were strolling through easily? That's my guess anyway. He seemed to bring more cover on the left hand side . Didn't do much but Easton seemed to have his service cut a bit after that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUcal Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Iain said: Didn't think that was so bad. Especially compared to the three preceding games. Aye looking back on it, it wasn't great but can't really have too many complaints compared with what's been served up recently. Hopefully find a win somewhere in the next few though to get the confidence going again. Edited February 24, 2023 by AuAl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanayr1987 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 When is bullens contract up? I get we have improved massively from last season. if his contract is up in the summer and this form doesn’t improve I don’t think I’d be renewing his contract 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 14 minutes ago, ryanayr1987 said: When is bullens contract up? I get we have improved massively from last season. if his contract is up in the summer and this form doesn’t improve I don’t think I’d be renewing his contract End of next season I think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxanne's man Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) 33 minutes ago, ryanayr1987 said: When is bullens contract up? I get we have improved massively from last season. if his contract is up in the summer and this form doesn’t improve I don’t think I’d be renewing his contract Bullen genuinely comes across as a nice guy and has taken Ayr from the bottom end to the top end of the championship. Moaning about form at this time of the season, where almost every recent manager, McCall included, has went through a bad spell is harsh imo. We're definitely going places under Bullen, Mathie and Glendinning. I'd rather place my faith in Bullen than some lower league roundabout manager numbskull such as Hopkin, Duffy etc. Edited February 25, 2023 by Roxanne's man Said Duffy, not Bullen f**k being attached to that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpInTheAyr Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 24 minutes ago, ryanayr1987 said: When is bullens contract up? I get we have improved massively from last season. if his contract is up in the summer and this form doesn’t improve I don’t think I’d be renewing his contract I don't think there's any chance of that happening. With us technically safe now surely the worst we could finish is about 6th. The form is a worry and it will be interesting to see when/if it turns. I mean, it has to at some point... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 9 minutes ago, Roxanne's man said: Bullen genuinely comes across as a nice guy and has taken Ayr from the bottom end to the top end of the championship. Moaning about form at this time of the season, where almost every recent manager, McCall included, has went through a bad spell is harsh imo. We're definitely going places under Bullen, Mathie and Glendinning. I'd rather place my faith in Duffy than some lower league roundabout manager numbskull such as Hopkin, Duffy etc. U wot m8 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxanne's man Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said: U wot m8 Meant Bullen It's because I was thinking of Duffy when typing. Actually, I was looking at my thumb, so yeah Edited February 25, 2023 by Roxanne's man 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North British 2 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 55 minutes ago, ryanayr1987 said: When is bullens contract up? I get we have improved massively from last season. if his contract is up in the summer and this form doesn’t improve I don’t think I’d be renewing his contract Your entitled to your opinion m8 but this is madness. It's more likely he gets an extension . 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanayr1987 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) For me it’s just the form and way we have played recently. He doesn’t seem to have anyway to turn it round at the moment. When we were playing terribly and squeezing past teams really papers over the cracks I think he’s a nice guy and a great talker but that only gets you so far. This is our best opportunity to make the playoffs for a while and we are at risk of shitting it up the wall. ETA. I’m not calling for his head just concerned about going forward. I think if his contract was up this summer then we’d have to make a decision Edited February 25, 2023 by ryanayr1987 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgreig Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 10 hours ago, Iain said: Didn't think that was so bad. Especially compared to the three preceding games. It was definitely a big improvement and as everyone else has said we were unlucky to have a penalty saved and then miss an absolute sitter. Raith are an odd team, they move the ball much better than we do in midfield but up front their decision making and finishing are both dire. McGinty did really well again defensively - the number of headers he wins is remarkable - but it is also so frustrating that he chooses to go long so often. It will be interesting to see if Musonda comes back in place of McGinty or Reading. The team with Musonda, Murdoch and Maguire in it will be good to see. Let's hope results go our way today and we don't fall out of the race before they are all playing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 4 minutes ago, North British 2 said: Your entitled to your opinion m8 but this is madness. It's more likely he gets an extension . The bar was set so low by Hopkin and Duffy that almost anything would have been an improvement, especially with the financial backing coming from the board. But that can’t be a blank cheque for Bullen. I agree there’s zero chance of us replacing Bullen, but there are legitimate concerns about our recent regression. Everyone who sees us, be it regular fans or occasional pundits, says the same thing. We are too direct, we don’t build the play through midfield and we are over reliant on Dipo. Concerningly, these things were also true when we were winning games - the difference is Dipo is no longer carrying us. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 I'm firmly on the fence with Bullen tbh. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 At least we reached the 40 points threshold. Given the last couple of seasons, to do that with almost a third of the season left is definitely progress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayr23 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 5 minutes ago, Trogdor said: I'm firmly on the fence with Bullen tbh. I’m the same. He’s talking shite in his post match interview. The instructions have clearly been to play it out to McGinty, to then shell it up to Dipo. That ball worked once last night out of about what seemed to be 1,000 attempts. I genuinely wonder what we work on in training during the week. His stubbornness to stick with the 4-5-1 in December, January and most of February is what has killed the form. Usually, his substitutions either don’t happen, or he makes them too late. On the flip side, look at where we are compared to last season. And of course, who would we get in to get more out of the squad if Bullen was to go? If we don’t finish top 4 then I do think questions would need to be asked. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 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. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanayr1987 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 1 minute ago, Finlay21 said: Cant blame Bullen for everything, last night for example he did not miss a penalty or 2 sitters that would have put us a point behind the leaders , got the team in best position for years , and people are thinking his time could be up , each to their own but would be madness in my option 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 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 Just now, 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 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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