FMT19
Leagues: Scottish Premier – Division 2
Experience – Automatic
The Aim
With Steven Gerrard joining Rangers and Brendan Rogers achieving feats that will not be repeated with Celtic, Scottish football is again on the up and the once famous yearly rivalry between these two clubs again looks to be on horizon for the foreseeable future.
My aim is to bring a third party into the mix, and so trying to make life not so easy for these two giants of Scottish football. But not being a professional footballer, journey into management is not something given to you, and so my starting club will be in the lowest playable Scottish tier, Scottish Ladbrokes Division 2.
My team of choice are nicknamed the Blue Toon and based in Aberdeenshire in Scotland, their sole honour in the Scottish Leagues is a Championship in the Scottish League 2.
Founded in 1891, the club has been around a long time. A stadium capacity at a mere 3,150 will likely hinder any long-term progression. With that said, they have grafted in a record 4,855 spectators before so there is potential for a little further growth.
It’s a club I hope I can fulfil their potential with. A reasonable aim would be to reach the Ladbrokes Championship, but I’m going to go with the mentality that the sky is the limit before I re-evaluate my position.
It would be great if I could create a side here to compete with Rangers and Celtic. But it may end up being a club as a stepping stone to find a more established club with the infrastructure to compete with these two giants.
Board and Personal Objectives
Media Prediction – 1st Position
Scottish Cup – 4th Round
IRN Bru Cup – 2nd Round
Betfred Cup – Be Competitive
A lot of pressure is already on me from the off. So it’s important that I treat the cups seriously this year if things failed in the league.
Looking at my squad, there appears to be a number of ageing players that also appear to be the team’s better players. This is a worry having the knowledge they’ll need to be replaced very soon.
A budget of only 20k to spend is going to make things tricky this year. I’ll need to search players that I can get on a free to bolster our numbers. As things stand, any injury crisis and our season could be ruined, along with my tenure.
Important Players
Derek Lyle our target man is now 37, with his strike partner Rory McAllister 31. Our back-line looks suspect, but we have a decent goalkeeper in Greg Fleming who will hopefully compensate for this.
We also have a winger Ryan Dow on loan but will play an important part if we’re going to push for automatic promotion this year.
Our centre midfield area is looking weak with no depth to it. This is the area I’ll need to improve before the season starts. If we can find a good player to fill this area up, we should then have a decent spine to our first XI which will give us a chance.
Our best centre-backs are also aged 35 and 36. I'm happy to keep Mick Dunlop in the side as he has decent leadership qualities, but will pair him with one of our younger centre-backs who appear to have room for development, unless I can find a good solid partner for him on the cheap.
Well the news headline certainly summed the transfer window up for us. A total of 13 incoming signings, I’m hoping it won’t turn out to be an unlucky number. We've got the numbers, but I was unable to improve our weak areas. There just weren't the players available.
You can see the issues we have with our squad both with quality and age. I’ve no idea how the media have predicted us to take top spot. You really need players with 3 Stars to be competitive, but you can see a number don’t meet this level of quality.
With no good centre-back and no star in centre of midfield, our outfield spine is practically non-existent and I’m quite certain we will be leaking goals this year.
In addition, the old guard will decline very quickly, and even some of the free transfers I’ve had to bring in are at that point of their careers as well. On the positive, the younger players do have the time to develop.
Am I happy with the squad? Not at all, I think it may be a poisoned chalice job just like the England one. But we’ll see how the season pans out. I’ll be happy to still be in the job by the end of the year.
Half a season gone and we are well off meeting the board set objective of automatic promotion. Currently we are in 5th spot just outside the playoffs and eleven points off the leaders Annan who are running away with it.
I’m definitely under the weather at the moment. Not overly free-scoring and as predicted we have a back-line like a sieve, so there has not been any consistency to the results. I've already been on the verge of the sack, and a fortunate 1-0 win at home to Berwick has delayed the finger being pointed, just for now...
Winger Dow has also had his loan ended, so we now have a big vacancy at right wing to fill. And in honesty, I’ve had no idea who to play at centre of defence because they’re all as bad as each other.
Despite doing well in all of the cups we’ve competed in and exceeding expectations, it’s not been enough to satisfy the board and their unrealistic expectations.
On the plus side I have been able to snap up a couple of wingers that will now go straight into the first team. A couple of our younger players also appear to be developing and they’ll also now be regular starters. And with this I am confident we can turn things around.
Top spot is no longer a possibility. But we can still sneak into the playoffs which will still give us the chance of going up. And with a clearer idea of who will be starters for the remainder of the year, if we can get some form and our winter signings settle in quickly we can give it a good shot – assuming I’m not sacked by then.
Here is our new squad following the Mid-Season deadline, and you'll be able to see some new players.
Notably Logan Martin and Chris Johnson have come in down both flanks. Jack Leitch has improved, as has Scott Brown and our back-line. I just need to try and survive, but time is already running out...
So goes the saying a game of two halves, but for us it was definitely a season of two. Or for those Wu Tang Clan fans, it was definitely back back, and forth and forth…(I sure did feel like I was in a pit half the time!)
After really struggling for form in the first half of the season which almost saw me lose my job, the contribution of younger players improving and mid-season recruitment helped turn our season around.
Despite only coming in 3rd spot we were able to pinch a promotion spot – albeit with a heck of a lot of luck and penalty skills – we won a shootout 17-16 in a cup game earlier on in the year!
Well you can clearly see our first half and second half season form. Although you could argue where results weren’t quite going our way in the first part, they did in the second as goal differences were almost the same on each.
There were no serious injuries derailed our push, and a penalty shootout win away vs Edinburgh City in the Semi-Finals playoff led us to a two tie game vs Clyde.
Despite winning away at their place 3-1, a dreadful home performance at our Balmoor Stadium home led to a 4-2 home defeat. Lucky for us no away goals counted.
After a tense affair in extra time, the game went to penalties – with our left back Paddy Boyle scoring the decisive kick that took us up straight into League 1.
Media Prediction – 1st Position (3rd, Promoted Playoffs)
Scottish Cup – 4th Round (5th Round, lost 1-4 Motherwell)
IRN Bru Cup – 2nd Round (4th Round, lost 0-2 Abroath)
Betfred Cup – Be Competitive (KO Group Stage, Achieved)
Our cup runs certainly helped to keep my employment status alive. I really thought I was a goner, as there were so many frustrating performances both offensively and defensively.
It really does go to show how important the spine of the team is, and if you’re severely lacking in the central areas then you just aren’t going to cut it. And I was very lucky to find the two wing players during the Mid-Season market and the improvement of some younger players that coincided with our upturn in form.
I can only hope that the board will set some more realistic expectations for next season. I guess I’ll find this out in due course…
Season 2 “The Board are @ it Again”
So into my second season with Peterhead… Well it hasn’t been the worst pre-season. Let’s say it’s better than last year’s that for sure. We’ve spent just under the 100k mark, with our most costly being a right back in Chris O’ Neil at 79k.
We had real problems in that area last year in the sense both full-backs really didn’t fit the role in my system. When you get someone half decent come about that you believe will fix a problem, you can’t miss the opportunity.
I’ve been able to bring in 18 year old Innes Cameron on loan from Kilmarnock too. Unfortunately a lot is going to be depended on him this year. I tried to get a decent target man to replace the now 38 year old and finished Derek Lyle, but no-one was interested.
Finances are really starting to be a problem already too with wage budgets. A number of players weren’t interested in joining simply because they didn’t feel the club had the wages to provide a reasonable contract offer.
So in the main part I’ve been trying to scrounge for cheap players that fall in-line with our wage structure. An emphasis has been made to improve our central defence with that above. But the real steal was signing Chris Humphrey from East Kilbride for £160!!! Although 31 now, he's seen as our best player so I should get a good couple of years out of him.
Here are my transfers in full and our squad ready to fight in Ladbrokes League 1. You’ll notice a complete new back four, with investments in the centre mid and striker slots.
But Rory McAllister our goal getter last year keeps his place in the side. However now at 32, it’s likely to be his last year at a good level of performance before he starts to decline.
League 1 – Reach Playoffs
Scottish Cup – 4th Round
IRN Bru Cup – 2nd Round
Betfred Cup – Be Competitive
So the board have decided to employ the unrealistic expectations tactic to get the most out the squad and the manager.
I’m not sure how they’ve considered playoffs a realistic target. If we had wages and money to buy high quality players it would be understandable. Another pressure cooker of a year it is going to be.
We’ve had a lot of changes all around the squad, so it’s going to take time to gel. It would be brilliant if we can try and hit mid-table by the end of the year. But taking this and an inexperienced kid being forced to play an important role in the side up top, ensuring we stay up will be my ultimate aim. Do I think we can do it? Yes I do.
The cup objectives seem to be the same as last year, and I’ll need to treat them with the same importance as I did then.
I have to admit at this point, knowing how our board is functioning and the restrictions being placed with our wage structure Peterhead F.C. is going to have to be a stepping stone club. With a stadium capacity at 3,150, my initial analysis of establishing this club in the Championship may have been a little wayward.
If I can continue to prove I can handle the pressure being placed on me, I can only hope a club at a higher level will be interested in taking me on down the line.
I couldn’t have wished for any more with half of the season gone. Our players have been absolutely fantastic so far. Laying in top spot on goal difference and defensively solid, life is currently great.
The summer investments have really gelled well together, and in comparison to the players I had last year, this bunch is a lot more suited to my style of Hoofball that I’ve created on this FM.
We are much more solid at the back. The two new full-backs have been protecting the flanks very well and our new centre-back pairing although not the tallest, have been immense together at the back.
I’ve been delighted with the 18 year old kid Cameron stepping into Lyle’s shoes too, more prolific than our poacher McAllister so far.
We must not afford to take our foot off the pedal though. We’ve been in great form undefeated in eleven to this point, but confidence is such a big thing in football and it can very easily go pear shaped.
One area I have looked to improve during the course of the year is our backroom staff. All at two stars before, I’ve been able to hire a better scouting team, physio department, and an assistant manager to work closely with me John Rankin.
He’s determined, disciplined, and good with man management and motivating. It was a no brainer bringing him on board.
Confidence is really brimming at the moment, and for once I seem to actually be pleasing our board. (Hoorah!).
However there is a major downside. Unfortunately our finances are “perilous” so it has been described. We are in debt, and there have been many talks of a takeover occurring. Nothing has yet materialised.
I really could do with being lucky because it’s a club I’m starting to really warm to managing now as I have a good side together and loving my hoofball. But the only way things can progress is if we have the funds to continue to invest and hope that we can gain more local support to really fill out our stadium each week.
For now, we just have to ignore the clubs problems and keep plugging away and try our best to achieve the playoff spot the board expect of us this year.
My first trophy and Peterhead’s first League 1 success was secured on the final day of the season.
Our run of eleven games unbeaten at the half-way point ended on the 18th games with a 1-0 defeat away to Dumbarton. At this point the gap had stretched to what seemed an unassailable lead of eight.
But our form suddenly became patchy, and despite a 4-1 win at home to closely chasing Morton, it was Dunfermline who ended the team pushing us right to the wire...
Under Pressure
Two games to go and only a one point gap in hand, we had an away trip to guess who, Dunfermline. We were 1-0 up until the 81st minute when they equalised with a 25 yarder. Then it was all hands to the pump, they pushed and pushed, but we held on and got that vital draw, which in the end proved decisive.
Both us and Dunfermline slipped up on the final day – probably the pressure! Thank goodness for that I thought, and we scraped through as Champions.
Notably our right winger Humphries was on the decline for the later part of the season as well as our central defensive midfielder Blair Yule, who was the weakest link initially in our side not having the best defensive attributes for the role. Fortunately we just about had enough to get over the line.
What may have helped our charge this year was existing early in all the domestic cups. But we had tough draws losing against Dundee and Partick Thistle, which I think ended up being a blessing in disguise. A failure yes, but I guess as with most clubs, the league achievement will always take precedence.
Scott Brown was voted player of the year playing a pivotal role in the AMC support position, both assisting and scoring some important goals. His averaging rating was miles above the rest of the squad, notching just over 7.2 which was excellent.
Cameron and McAllister up top continued to perform well, getting us enough goals throughout the year. But it was defensively where we triumphed as you can tell from the league table.
No need for luck in the playoffs this year. The board were also delighted with how we have pulled ourselves out of debt and into the green. The success this year has given me that much needed reputation boost. After failed applications for Ladbrokes Championship sides, I’ll now certainly be looking to keep my options open and I'll have a better chance at making that step up.
With some key players ageing and the worry the club will never have the structure to meet my ambitions I think I’ve done my time here, making history with a Ladbrokes League 1 title and bringing them out of debt is a job well done.
A couple of jobs are of interest and my reputation now meets the club rep. Queen of the South have just been relegated from the Scottish Premiership, and Ayr United have just been promoted as Champions from the Scottish Championship. Queen of the South seem to have better facilities, but Ayr have a greater stadium capacity. Their squad also seems it'll need a bit of smart investment to stand a chance of staying up.
I'm not sure what I prefer, but with any luck one of these clubs may be interested in speaking to me. We shall see….
After guiding Peterhead to two successive promotions, both Queen of the South and Ayr United were after the Blue Toon boss.
Speaking to both parties, it became a choice between Ayr United who had just won the Ladbrokes Championship and a larger stadium, or Queen of the South who just got relegated from the top tier but with greater training facilities.
Both squads needed investment in key areas, but the lure of jumping straight into the Premiership was too much to resist.
Finances were classified as okay with both clubs. But now it is time for Moss to get accustomed to his new surroundings and players at his disposal.
Nicknamed “The Honest Men”, located in South Ayrshire and formed in 1910, Ayr are predicted to finish eleventh this year which would mean fighting relegation via the playoffs. The ground is named “Somerset Park” and holds 10,185 people at its maximum.
They've never won Ladbrokes League 2, because they probably haven’t been there much. Their history stands at 3 Ladbrokes League 1 titles, and including last year's success now 7 Ladbrokes Championship wins.
Ayr have also tasted success in the IRN BRU cup winning the trophy once, but no glory as yet in the Scottish cup nor Scottish Premiership.
Initial Squad Impression
There seems to be a lack of players down the flanks of sufficient quality. However we do have a good player Alan Forest who although primarily is a shadow striker, is also a natural down the right.
We have a poacher up top in Jake Pickard. At only 23 he has a lot of years ahead of him and has room to further improve. I can see him grabbing a good number of goals for us this year.
We’ve got two good BBMs, but with my system both will need to adapt to a central defend and advanced playmaker role. Fortunately both have decent enough attributes to be able to undertake these tasks at a decent level. They both are hard workers too which is great in my 442.
Defensively we seem a little suspect. A couple of the old guard won’t be good enough this year. I would say one centre-back seems capable enough, so I’ll definitely need at least one but ideally two new players in this area.
We don’t have the best goalkeeper in the world too, but at least he is on the younger side for a player between the sticks at 27. He could improve slightly.
Optimism
What I do like with the squad is exactly that, generally quite young apart from a few old guys all at the back. If we can invest well this Summer and defy the media odds by staying up this season, with prize money that much greater in the Premiership I am hopeful we can start to create a team that can establish themselves as a Scottish Premiership club.
I'm very happy this opportunity came up and I can't wait to get to work here. Come support the honest men!
With the season about to kick off, we’ve done all our transfer business with our spending totalling 225K.
The plus side was we were able to strengthen the weak areas identified within our First XI at the time of taking over. Dolly Menga has been brought in to take up the starting left wing attack position, with Cieran Dunne a youngster with decent potential costing 3 times as much but will provide excellent backup.
Declan McDaid coming in at 50k will be the understudy to Alan Forest who will be our first team right winger this year.
We snapped up Danny Devine at centre-back from the club I almost took over Queen of the South. He looks like a solid reliable player and will be coming in to replace the ageing Frenchman M’voto.
Unfortunately after drafting these guys in, that’s when our financial restrictions kicked in. You can see we’re around 250k in the red just before we’re about to kick off our year.
The negatives from this are that I don’t have a decent backup keeper at all, and I would say even our first team keeper based on his stats will be a major concern. We also weren’t able to get a good bencher at centre-back in so we are thin on the ground there too.
By the end our budget came to zero, I had no right back and only three forwards - so it was a move of desperation to bring in two players in on the free. They’ll certainly be used as a last resort, and their signings epitomise exactly how our pre-season dealings ended. I tried like **** to find a keeper on a free, but there was not any one worth snapping up.
I do think in general when you look at my squad, we have a decent first team that in my opinion does have a chance of staying up. However when you take injuries into account that will happen over the course of the year, our spine will become weak and that is what could cost us our Premiership status.
So yes, that’s where the frustration comes in. It’s going to take an immense effort from every squad member each and every week if we’re going to stay up.
Scottish Premiership – Avoid Relegation (Predicted 11th)
Scottish Cup – 5th Round
Betfred Cup – 2nd Round
You’ll see we’re predicted to finish in eleventh although our odds are identical to Hamilton and Inverness. That immediately tells me it’s going to be an intense three way battle down at the bottom. I can only hope that St Johnstone and Livingston have a bad year and may get drawn into the fight which will at least increase the odds of staying afloat.
The other clubs are what I’d consider established names in the league, and I can’t really see any of them having to claw their way out of any trouble.
The prize money is around double and a bit from the Championship to the Premiership. So every objective I’m setting this year is completely financial. We need to stay up and get as far in the cups as we can no excuses.
In turn, a good season I hope will gauge some greater local interest in our team. It would be of real help if we can increase the number of fans coming to our games.
Celebrating my 100th game in management, hoping it would go better than my 99th game which happened to be my first in the Scottish Premiership. We were kindly handed an away trip to Celtic, with a nice introduction to the league losing heavily 1-5.
Fortunately the lads decided to give me a nice present to celebrate this occasion. It was an excellent 1-0 home win against the orange Motherwell outfit.
I know my best 11, and it It was a promising result to give us an important 3 points. It will give us a belief that we have the personnel to compete and stay in this division.
Ayr United boss Moss has reportedly gone absolutely ape after hearing the news the board did transfer business behind his back right at the death in the mid-season transfer deadline day.
Star striker Jake Pickard was sold to fellow Premiership outfit Hearts in a 600k move. His record with The Honest Men was 9 goals in 26 games, and was one of the reasons Ayr were maintaining a position consistently 5 points above 11th and 12th spots.
Result following Pickard’s departure do not sit pretty reading.
With one single victory in the last 7 games and greatly struggling for goals, Ayr United have ended up falling down to their predicted 11th spot in the table after 33 games played. Three teams in fact are tied with 30 points, but goal difference is not in Ayr’s favour.
Fortunately for Moss, the league is split into two with the top and bottom sides facing each other playing an additional 5 games to determine the fate of those clubs involved.
In Ayr’s case, Livingston, St Johnstone, Hamilton, Motherwell and Inverness are the teams fighting it out.
But it was after the departure of Pickard and the lack of form and goals up top, I thought to myself we’re going to go down if I don’t change anything for these playoff games.
I saw a youth kid who has decent finishing attributes and also really top leadership abilities even at only 18. He’s a natural poacher which suited the system. I didn’t have anything to lose, and with him bringing an X-Factor for the last 5 games and sure he’ll need to motivation to showcase what he has I started him in 4 of our 5 cup finals.
How did he repay me? 3 goals in the 4 games. Our results against our fellow strugglers were fantastic, winning 3 drawing 1 and losing just the 1. From 11th we climbed up to a respectable 9th steering ourselves clear in the process – with a 1.574 million reward for our efforts and clearing all our debts.
The kid, Greg Doolan. Here’s a screenshot of our end of season difference maker along with our latest financial position and our slump to 11th place prior to my gamble:
The Blue Toon’s first season without Moss at the helm saw them embarrassingly relegated from the Ladbrokes Championship.
Securing an abject 13 points all year long, scoring 19 and conceding 69 being the worst in the league on both accounts, it didn’t take long before the board have re-started their search for another manager.
With only 3 wins all season, relegation hit them very early this year with nothing left to play for in the remaining months.
It would appear Moss saw the potential problems at the club and made a smart choice to move onto pastures new when he did.
Scottish Premiership – Avoid Relegation (Achieved – 9th position)
Scottish Cup – 5th Round (Achieved – lost to Celtic 5th Round)
Betfred Cup – 2nd Round (Achieved – lost to Hamilton in Qtr Final)
It was an excellent season overall. There were times the board made their insecurities known, ironically since the point our form went to pot with them selling our star striker behind my back.
That certainly did wind me up, more the timing of it all. It begs the question if my ambitions are to build a side that is of a European standard each and every year, is this the club for me?
However in the knowledge we now have 1.5 million in the bank, I’m going to see how willing the board are to invest in players this forthcoming year. This will determine pretty much whether I feel I can build something here, or if a club with a better infrastructure with an ambition to suit is what I’ll need to look for down the line.
To end off the season's post, here are our two goals that kept us up in the division. Enjoy!
Giving the board a chance as promised, I’ve not been left disappointed. A budget of 1.34 million has been made available to invest, so it’s a great opportunity to replace what was taken away from us last year and really try to improve the squad.
The media predicts us to finish in 11th spot the same as last year. I can only assume all the other squads have invested like us meaning we’re still likely to be in a relegation dogfight.
However, I think we’ve invested as well as we possibly could have over the Summer, and I believe we have the depth to avoid a real nerve wracking end to the year this time around.
Key Signings in Big Positions
Ryan Hardie was snapped up from Hibs after being put on the list. He’s the replacement for Pickard sold last year.
We’ve also done well to bring in want-away Aberdeen midfielder Bryn Morris. Costing 550k, he’s given us that little bit extra in the centre of the park.
My other noteworthy signing was Jordan McGhee, brought in from Falkirk to play as centre-back.
Notice all 3 big signings have come in to improve the spine of the side. We also invested in goalkeeper Liam Kelly too, who although not quite appearing as capable as last season’s keeper (whose abilities had improved really well through the year), he’s more a Keeper Sweeper which is what I need in my system. He also has room for potential to improve at only 25 years old.
Here's my squad and transfers done so far this year:
Scottish Premiership – Avoid Relegation
Scottish Cup – 5th Round
Betfred Cup – 2nd Round
As with the media prediction, our board have set us the same objectives in my second year at the club.
Last year’s aim was to try and get as far as we could with an eye on our financial position. I guess without European football, the aim has to be the same – but with a mindset of going to achieve as much as we possibly can.
Our average attendance last year was just under 5,500 – which was around a 1,000 increase on the previous year when the previous manager steered Ayr to promotion.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the numbers, hoping we can attract more fans to try and eventually fill out our 10,185 stadium capacity. I’m sure this will be a long while yet though!
A really good year would be to comfortably avoid a relegation battle and have a good cup run in one of the competitions. So let’s see what my squad can achieve this time around.
Just caught up on all this. Living the save especially since I'm from Ayr. But got to say as a Killie fan I have to say I hope they get relegated as there is only one team in Ayrshire
And there I thought I may have a fan For now maybe....haven't managed in Scotland before it's quite fun. However I only just realised the last team to win the title that was not Rangers or Celtic appears to be Aberdeen back in 1984. Never realised it was that long ago...
Hitting the half-way point we are surpassing media expectations and are nicely positioned to try and secure safety well before the season ends. Just what I was calling for at the start of the year.
Despite having a bad start to the campaign, some good patches of form and some excellent results have led us to a well earned 8th position.
Signing Ryan Hardie has been a brilliant acquisition up top, and towering Jordan McGhee has been solid at the back, chipping in with a few set piece goals too.
The only negative was not passing the 2nd round of the Betfred cup, but we’ve met our expectations. I’d much prefer to avoid a scrap this year than have a great cup run at the expense of our league form.
I’d have to say our highlight performance has to be the 2-0 away win against Rangers. Beating one of the two big sides on their own patch is a great achievement. With that said, breaking my record of the biggest win as manager of 7-0 was just as satisfying.
It’s going to take an almighty collapse if we’re going to struggle to stay out the bottom two. We had 30 points after the 32 games before the league split. 22 points from 19 games means we should comfortably hit the 30 by the same point this time around – so I would like to think!
A strong second half of the season led us to holding onto the 6th place after the 33 game season. A draw away to Hibernian placed 1 point below us on this final match day meant we could no longer finish lower than the sixth spot.
So there was no pressure in the last five games. We weren’t close enough to try and sneak a Europeans spot from rivals Killie. A defeat at the back-end of the main league season ruined any hopes of gazumping them at the death.
Irrespective of that, we’ve far surpassed the media and even my expectations. Brendan Rogers got manager of the year, but coming in third place won’t do any harm to my personal reputation.
Our finish meant we received 2.14 million which is a much needed financial boost. We also increased our attendance average to just over 6,000 which is also slight progress.
It was good to see our players kept on performing throughout the year following our good first half. It makes it a little trickier deciding where to invest in the Summer. Our budget although wage-wise has increased, the default transfer budget is around 750k. So investment this time around will be less most likely.
The smart thing to do would probably try and find one or two players that improve the first XI directly and keep the main squad together. Hopefully there will be some players available that fit the bill.
There are currently rumours of a board takeover, so if anything occurs here I’ll have to see how this impacts things. But following the investment previous year and the players I have, I’m happy to give another full year to the club.
But I’ll keep my eyes open for a club that fits the bill from a long-term perspective that can try and steal the title away from Rangers and Celtic. Clubs capable are likely Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs as they have the best stadiums and fan-backing.
Players
Worthy mentions this year are McGhee at centre-back. Seen as the signing of the season, he was solid all year round and always a danger at set plays.
Ryan Hardie has successfully replaced our old striker sold last season Pickard. Scoring 18 times he’s proven he can put the ball in the back of the net.
And our player of the year Ian McShane. Not yet been mentioned, but he’s one of those playmakers that keeps the team ticking doing his work quietly but so effectively. He’s been excellent in the middle of the park and deservedly was voted the number one man by our fans. He also got the most assists for us this year.
The obvious target to improve upon is our defence. We were third highest scorers in the league but we weren’t near the third best defence.
We do have good centre-backs and fullbacks for a club of our stature. The place for investment if possible will be to find a really top goalkeeper. That in itself will guarantee a defensive improvement, and then see if there are any other funds to invest in one other signing that would be of a reasonable transfer deal.
I may try and see if the board will upgrade our training facilities too. Currently they are considered below average. If I'm able to try and develop our players to the maximum, we at least need decent facilities. Top sides don't have poor facilities.
A good Summer I would say. No unwanted departures, two players with good potential also joining us from the big two clubs Rangers and Celtic.
Anthony Ralston came in from Celtic at 450k at 23 years of age. We already have a great right back, but this guy is that tad little bit better. Glen Middleton came from Rangers to take our left wing spot and is aged 22. This will be a great long-term signing, and especially when our current left winger Dolly Menga only resigned for us because of a contract clause. He did cost a whopping 950k though.
The fact they were interested tells me that our best way of making headway is to target those players that are discontent with their current clubs. You can only pick eleven players at the end of the day, and we’ve profited here.
We did need to break the bank on the wage front – but we were fortunate a board takeover did take place. Where I mentioned our transfer budget was 750k, this raised to just over 1.2 million with a larger wage budget too.
So this is definitely a step forward for the club which I’m delighted with. My only worry is a couple of players last year have declined according to our assistant report. But perhaps the introduction of these guys will help to compensate – and quietly hoping they may just give us a chance of sneaking into Europe somehow. A big ask though I know.
What was a shame was there was not one keeper on the market of quality that would enhance our first eleven. But if there was I would have missed out on one of those players above. Our current keeper Liam Kelly does still have time to improve slightly so it’s not the worst negative that could have occurred.
Board and Personal Objectives
Media Prediction – 9th
Scottish Premiership – Mid-Table
Scottish Cup – Qtr Finals
Betfred Cup – Qtr Finals
Yeps, our odds from 1000-1 the last two years have slashed to 350-1 to win the title! We are predicted by the media to come in ninth this year. They aren’t often too wrong, but we did defy their prediction last time around.
Our board want us to finish mid-table this year. That’s certainly a jump too. I’d like to think we have enough to try and compete for another sixth spot finish or at the very least hit their expectation. But a long-term injury to a key player especially up front would make life very difficult to achieve this.
After two disappointing cup runs last year the board want us to make the Quarter Finals in both the Scottish and Betfred cups. This will not be easy either.
So it appears this board are quite ambitious. Willing to spend a bit more, but want rewards on the pitch for doing so. I can’t really complain at that, so I just have to hope our players can pull together again this year and we can achieve our mid-table objective set.
What I was a bit unimpressed with though was dismissing my request to upgrade our training facilities. It wasn’t a case of finances, but they simply didn’t think they needed to be improved. Not very smart to say the very least, but perhaps I’ll try my luck again asking them next time around.
That's what I'm hoping for! With a bit of luck keeping our big players fit I'm hoping we can squeeze into 5th somehow. But the teams that did poorly last year you would expect to do better Hibs n Motherwell in particular.
With half a season gone, Moss’ Ayr still have everything to gain and it looks like nothing to lose. Twelve points off eleventh place there again doesn’t seem to be any danger of being dragged into a relegation scrap.
Unfortunately whereas last year a couple of big teams were underachieving, all seem to be doing fairly well, so it would appear the best Ayr could hope for is sixth spot. With that said, the gap isn’t huge. If form does go a little haywire from the teams above and Ayr continue to perform consistently then there is no reason why we can’t steal fifth spot.
However form at times has been patchy, and at one stage going seven games without a victory. You’ll see we started off well but have faded slumping into sixth.
And as you know, football is a game of minuscules. When players make simple errors, it costs you dearly…as you can see here. I've really no idea what my keeper was thinking. I did identify I needed someone better between the sticks. Oh well...
There was however heartbreak in the Betfred Semi final against Rangers. After going one up, fans player of the last year Ian McShane got himself a red. This result in Rangers winning the game in extra time 3-1.
We don’t do too bad against Rangers so we thought there could be a shock on the cards. But ten men against that outfit we were never then going to prevail.
Let's hope luck will be on our side in the run-in to the end of season. I'm not giving up on our European dream just yet...
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