With the eight point gap going into the second half of the league season, this gap was never surrendered and we ended up winning the league by a large sixteen points. Celtic have certainly dropped their standards of late, as their points tally would normally have been around the mid 80s at least.
This year they came third only notching up 68 points, and it was the other Ayrshire club Kilmarnock who took second spot – trying to mix it and match it with Ayr!
Just about finishing as top scorers, but it was our defensive that was solid only letting in 22 goals this year.
We brought in Brennan at right-back in the second half of the season. I had planned to invest in a right back during the Summer but no one was available at the time. Brennan is only 23 years of age, so he’s got time to improve and is currently at a good level and he played all our games he was available for in the second half of the year.
Being drawn against Bayern did not give us much hope. And although we were one goal away from knocking out the German giants on away goals, we were never actually in the lead at one stage of the tie.
Snatching a last gasp 2-2 draw at home gave us slim hope. But then we went 3-0 down in Germany with only 45 minutes left to find 3 goals – typical that we scored two late goals to give us five minutes to grab a third. But they always had that element of control in the tie.
With that said, the character shown to not throw in the towel and continue to fight back against them did typify our club and we weren’t embarrassed in any way. So it was a valiant effort and for that I was proud.
Scottish Cup Final (Ayr 3 – 1 Celtic)
A midfield crisis with Daniel Bonde and Usalifa Balde out through suspension meant we had a weak duo in the middle of the park for this game.
However with Celtic not being as strong as they once were, when there would be little hope of winning a game of this magnitude at such a handicap there was more belief we could still grind a result out in this final.
And that we did – controlling the game with 57% possession compared to their 43% laid the platform for our offensive players to cause some damage. However it was our star central defender Mastrascusa scoring from two set-pieces in the 46th minute just before half-time and in the 81st minute to give us a 2-0 lead.
Celtic did pull a goal back in the 86th minute to cause some nervous moments for us and our fans, but Diego Carmona put the game to bed in the 92nd minute to give us a well earned 3-1 over our rivals of recent times.
So a clean sweep of domestic trophies with the Euro Super Cup win against Juventus has given us the Quadruple this year. A fantastic end to a fantastic season where we now look forward to moving back to play our games locally at Ayr Stadium with our new 33k capacity.
Coming into the 2033/34 season, a lot of the activity this Summer was tieing up contracts to key players. This we did successfully, especially with our Colombian centre-back Mastrascusa who has had bids rejected from Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal last season.
At 27 years of age he signed a 5 year deal with us, which is brilliant news. He also has shown no discontent at the bids being rejected, so it really does show how much Ayr have improved and are considered in European football.
So our squad is identical to what it was after bringing Brennan in during the Winter window. It’s also still a young squad with no players in the First XI over 27 years of age.
Financially despite large sums of money being spent on increasing our stadium size, we are still in a healthy position with 25 million in the bank.
Our board expectations also remain the same, win everything domestically and reach the ECL group stage – which is already a given after finishing first last year.
It’s a tricky time in how to move forward with Ayr. On the one hand I really want to keep our structure in place by not spending huge sums on one individual player. A club like Ayr although can now accommodate for better quality players demanding a high wage, doing this could ruin our ability to continue to replace players in other positions down the line.
However if Ayr are to ever to make the semi’s in the Champions League, the clubs we are competing against would have a few world class players within their ranks. The only way to compete is to spend huge sums of money on individual talents.
At present we can’t attract them. And if we ever did, spending huge amounts would ruin our structure which is working well.
Considering Ayr will probably never exceed a capacity of the 33k we are at now or not ever by much more, we won’t ever have the funds to bring in those players in without a huge potential detriment as consequence.
Celtic or Rangers?
Both these clubs have the fan base to bring in the numbers that will allow financial stability whilst being able to invest in top talent. Rangers are in the worse situation where they are being starved of competing at Champions League level.
Celtic are still very competitive, and with 3 spots available now to Scottish Clubs in the ECL they are still able to invest well.
Ayr currently have a better European reputation now at a Continental level, with both Rangers and Celtic left slightly behind. But the potential of these clubs would allow greater chance of bringing the Champions League Trophy back to Scotland.
Ayr Attendances
With that said, our attendances did end up eventually hitting the 33,000 mark by end of last season. That will equal what our capacity of Ayr Stadium now holds.
Is their any further potential to grow? I can’t see it in all honesty, but if we were to ever exceed the 40,000 mark… it does give extra thought as to whether Ayr is still the right place to be.
What do Ayr need?
When I look at my squad, I still believe another top quality centre-back is needed. I also believe a real quality right winger would give us real potency on both flanks. Danny Quin is good, but he isn’t quite at the top level.
Looking at last season, Daniel Bonde was the standout performer winning fans player of the year along with our centre-backs. Carmona also assisted really well and is becoming the top quality winger he's capable of being. But the ECL is a different level and the fact Bayern ripped us apart does show we need real quality in the critical defensive areas.
If we also were able to find a world-class goalkeeper, I think them three areas would put us in contention to make the semi-finals. At that point it becomes a lottery who makes it to the final and wins as each team at this stage is more than capable and it all depends on suspensions and performances on the day.
Looking forward to see what you end up deciding. agree that you'll need to jump to one of the old firm though to try and take that extra step financially
Sometimes moving on is the only option. It would be a shame to do but you have broken the dominance of the top 2 teams as you set out to do. Maybe it is time to move on and fight in Europe with the bigger budgets available.
Right on the Summer deadline day, Moss decided to invest in wonderkid centre-back Milovan Jocic. Being pursued by several top European clubs, at only 2.2 million this player could be a real steal. With this position an area Moss was hoping to invest in, it’s possible he could well have his man. And at only 19 years old and a number of International Caps for Serbia this will definitely bring more solidity to an already good back-line at Ayr.
In the Mid-Season window, Spurs transfer listed “world-class midifielder” Vyacheslav Kulish. At only 25 million this in the modern day for a player of this calibre is quite the bargain. A Ukranian International and already with over 60 caps to his name at only 24 years of age, although primarily a deep-lying playmaker he can play an advanced role almost just as well. Given Bonde’s lack of discipline and limited vision, bringing in Kulish is definitely a significant step up and will definitely make Ayr a tougher proposition to play against.
These two signings could well bolster Ayr’s ability to push past their best ever performance in the Champions League being the Quarter Finals stage. And Moss has done well to get them in at a good value with many years of football left in them.
Balancing the Books – A Strategy Found?
Not only were these players snapped up at good value, the sales of 31 year old Matt Gibbins, keeper Pawasa and Dino Vladislav have balanced the books very well. The total nett spend this season has resulted in only a loss of 4 million with a nett profit of these players sold of around 10 million.
Perhaps a strategy of finding cheap young talent as squad players and selling them on is a strategy that could work both in improving Ayr’s first XI by investment whilst remaining competitive by still having a strong squad – and may be the way to prolong Moss’ career at his now beloved Ayr.
More Betfred Success
Another Betfred Cup win for the lads from Ayrshire. This year the challenge in the final came from Ross County.
Fully expected to win this one comfortably, Ayr did not disappoint winning the game 2-0. But credit must go to Ross County as they did fight well in this game and they had their moments threatening The Honest Men’s goal.
Ayr have now won this cup seven times the past eight seasons. It feels like the other clubs don’t take this cup seriously – but Moss sure does.
The challenge to Ayr’s Crown this year has come from Motherwell. Despite not having any known players amongst their ranks, they have shown excellent consistency for the talent they do have and have been pushing Ayr very hard this season.
Despite a large gap now finally emerging after a real close fight, Ayr cannot afford to get sloppy especially with the Champions League still a distraction at this late stage of the season. But eleven points, the title looks like it's only heading one way this year.
A run of eight clean sheets in a row and still counting is a real reason why this gap had emerged.
An abrupt end to Ayr’s run in the Scottish cup came at the hands of Celtic. No doubt Ayr had one eye on the Champions League second leg tie away at Napoli.
It was never going to be an easy game though playing away at Celtic park. With The Bhoys not having the best of league campaigns, The Scottish Cup was a real priority for them this year and this determination helped them to ease to a comfortable 3-0.
One of the worst performances from Ayr in the competition for quite some time. But the last time T|he Honest Men went out this cup at an early stage, they had an excellent run in the Champions League.
Champions League Promise
A Group consisting of Barcelona, Schalke and Red Star was what Ayr had to face this season. Very confident of making it into the Knockout Phase, Moss’ Ayr did not disappoint their fans by finishing very comfortably in second spot behind the mighty Barcelona.
Finishing on twelve points, all four victories came against the two weakest sides in the group, with the two defeats of course against Barca.
However a really nice draw against Napoli in the 1st Round Knockouts was the reward – and Ayr did not throw away this opportunity to make the Quarter Finals.
Winning at home 3-0 in the first leg, the away tie saw Ayr gain a 1-1 draw taking them comfortably through to the Quarters. The draw in this one was against Benfica.
A tricky tie given Ayr’s history against this Portuguese outfit, some fortune shone in the first leg in Scotland. With an early red card given to Benfica in only the 11th minute, it meant Ayr would play most of the first leg against ten men.
With 20 shots to 7, Ayr grabbed an all important goal in the 21st minute through Diego Carmona which was to be the only goal of the game. Would it be enough for the trip to Portugal?
SLB Overcome
A tough game was played here, and SLB took the lead in the 76th minute leaving the tie completely square. Having the better of the game Benfica and their fans would have felt confident squeezing past the Scottish battlers – only for substitute Steve Pooler to score a crucial goal in the 84th minute meaning Benfica needed two more goals in the last 6 minutes plus injury time to go through.
But that they did not achieve, and Ayr played out the last few minutes well to come away with a 1-1 draw. Into the Semi-Finals Ayr come!!
And the Semi Finals Draw is…
The Semi Finals teams left in this year’s Champions League are Ayr, Athletico Madrid who won it last year, Barcelona and Juventus. Over two legs Moss was hoping to draw Juventus, especially knowing Ayr can beat Juve after winning the European Super Cup Final against them previously.
….with the draw made, Ayr got their wish with Juventus confirmed as the club standing in the way of a Champions League Final appearance. The first leg is due to be played ay Ayr Stadium. There will not be an all Spanish final this year.
Thanks for your input guys. Well at the moment neither jobs are available, and I think their lack of success has meant their board seem a little more lenient with their managers. Added to the fact 3 teams now qualify for the ECL, it's easier to stay in the job.
We also seem to keep maxing out our stadium capacity which I find quite amazing now at over 33k. It looks like I'm destined to stay at Ayr at this moment in time, and things are looking up at the moment too. And with our reputation surpassing both Celtic and Rangers attracting talent is getting easier if top players are unsettled. Buying a world-class midfielder and a top wonderkid shows that now.
It is just the money being an issue but I was quite lucky to get Kulishi he was on 110k per week but accepted the 69k I offered! But I can still see further stadium expansion which would mean in-time finances will be as good as it can get.
I think I'm going to end up staying - and see exactly how many fans we can attract to our games as it seems the sky is the limit at this point in time...
With an eleven points gap going into the last five games, Motherwell were hoping Ayr would slip up in one big major way to give them any chance of catching the league leaders.
With Ayr starting their first of the final five games away to Celtic, it was going to be a difficult trip especially given the 3-0 drubbing in their last encounter here.
It promised to be another tough afternoon and in the 67th minute The Bhoys had a perfect opportunity to take the lead from the spot – Robles firmly striking the ball into the bottom right hand corner, an absolutely brilliant save from keeper Phil Short pushed the ball out for a corner.
That proved to be costly with Ayr taking away a valuable point. Motherwell were only able to draw as well with their home game against Rangers. With an 11 points gap maintained and only 12 points available it looked like Ayr would retain the title. The next match was at home – to Motherwell.
…without making a shot on target all game, Motherwell despite having to win chose to do a park the bus job. Unfortunately for them this miserably failed, and it was two first half goals both coming just before the half-hour mark which gave Ayr a comfortable advantage going into half-time.
A Fabulous Nine
There was no change in intent from Motherwell who looked all resigned to fighting for second spot with Celtic now. Ayr ran comfortable winners registering over 25 shots on goal and secured their ninth league title in a row.
It seems that the phrase anything can happen didn’t hold true for Motherwell this year. But their achievement of eventually finishing second was an amazing one and if they had won it would have been a title success to rival that of Leicester City’s under Claudio Ranieri.
The remaining three games Ayr ran out victorious. A 3-1 win vs Rangers, 3-2 vs Aberdeen and an away 2-1 at Hibernian saw Ayr finish the season with 91 points. Motherwell stole second spot from Celtic ending the year with 72 points with Celtic taking the last CL spot on 70 points.
Mid-way through the last five league games saw the rematch of the Euro Super Cup Final which Ayr won 1-0 last season.
With the improvements made in the central of defence and midfield, Moss was confident of doing well in the home tie to give his side a chance of making it into the final with a result in Turin.
Fortune Favours the Scots
And the plan of taking an advantage over to Italy materialised – in part thanks to a reckless challenge from Juventus winger Bianco in the 29th minute. Just like against SLB in the Quarters, Ayr now had a brilliant chance to play the first leg against 10 men for over an hour.
The Italians as they do, chose to then play ultra defensively in this one. It was shot after shot from the Ayr lads but not one single clear cut chance was created. The Honest Men were now running out of ideas and time to gain that all important advantage needed.
But Moss taking a gamble, made a triple substitution in the 77th minute to try and bring that extra energy going late into the game. Knowing Juve must be feeling more fatigued, he was hoping his side could produce a bit of magic late on….
Dramatic Breakthrough
And the breakthrough finally came in minute 87!!! From a throw-in on the right hand side, without any real danger seeming in play, the ball found Steve Pooler’s feet…dribbling away from his tired marker, he created some space for himself to rifle in a shot from just inside the 18 yard box – to fly passed the helpless dive of Pereira in the Juve goal. 1-0 Ayr! And the advantage was now Ayr’s going into the second leg in Turin.
The scene was set with Juventus now forced to come out the blocks with all guns blazing…and unfortunately for Moss’ men that is exactly what they did.
In two minutes in the 34th and 36th minutes Juventus overturned the deficit from the first leg to lead 2-1 and that lead they held going into the break.
Juventus now in control of the game, were looking more comfortable in possession which unlike in the first leg they were bossing at home. Things were not looking at all good for the team from Scotland and it looked like the dream was over.
Looking to spark some energy and give the subs some time to get involved in the game, a gamble in the 71st minute saw three changes made. Could Steve Pooler from the bench yet again grab a late goal?
Within 3 minutes of his introduction a moment of individual genius from Super Sub Pooler gave Ayr an away goal advantage. Receiving the ball and beating his man brilliantly, he held off his chase to get back and smashed the ball passed the keeper.
Fifteen minutes to hold on – could Ayr do it?
Juve Respond
Three minutes later Ayr’s hopes were dashed again with Juventus regaining their two goal advantage on the night which would see them through.
A sickener of a goal it was too from a deep set piece, finding Girones completely unmarked after his run to head passed our keeper. Moss couldn’t believe how shockingly bad that piece of defending was and that seemed to be the game.
…but one phrase Moss likes using and is in belief of is – “you get what you pay for”.
Piling on the pressure in the last few minutes desperately trying to get one goal that at this stage of the game would put Ayr through, a corner was won on the right handside.
Moss’ Signing Comes Good
Carmona swung the ball into the box but the ball was cleared out by a Juve head which came out to the edge of the box. Mid-season signing Kulish outside the box was fully alert to react to the clearance, with his marker sloppily not recognising the danger.
A really difficult bouncing ball to strike, Kulish got the perfect contact and weight onto his shot and on the half volley it flew in with absolute beauty passed the full stretched dive of the Juve keeper and into the top corner of the net…Ayr had done it!!! Away goals advantage….but the official then indicated an extra five minutes of added time.
But the goal really seemed to knock Juventus for six. They won a corner in the 91st minute, but Short commanding in goal dealt with the danger….Ayr held their nerve superbly these last five minutes until the final whistle blew – Ayr United officially in the Champions League Final 2032/33!
The other game saw Barcelona squeeze passed the current holders Athletico Madrid also on away goals. After drawing the game in Madrid 1-1, Barca secured their place in the final drawing the home tie 0-0 which was enough to see them through.
They’ll be delighted at Ayr taking the scalp of Juventus. With Barca doing the double over Ayr in the group stages, they would be odds on favourites to win this one.
But Moss had brought in World-Class Midfielder Kulish who clearly showed his class making the difference against Juve. In a one-off game, could Ayr defeat the odds??
So after notching up our ninth league title in a row, we’ve albeit had a huge lot of luck, made the Champions League Final this year. No doubt our investments in key areas have helped, along with two guys I was also intending to replace have actually performed out of their skin this year, Phil Short and Danny Quin. Did they hear me somehow?
In front of over 85,000 fans at the Puskas Ferenc Stadion in Hungary, this was going to be a daunting place to play for some of our players. Only Celtic games at Celtic Park can compare when performing in front of many spectators, but the magnitude of this game is on a completely different level.
Stinker of a Record
We haven’t faired well at all against Barca. We’ve played them many times in the ECL group stages and have drawn a couple of times at best, but the majority of times we’ve lost quite resoundingly. Our all-time record stands at 10 games played, winning 0, drawing 2, and losing 8. Wouldn’t it be sod’s law to win our first game against them here!
But our team compared to previous meetings is different. We have a commanding centre-back in Mastrascusa, a goalscorer in Borup and danger down the flanks.
Phil Short has been in brilliant form this year, and rather than be a weak spot as I predicted this year, he’s been playing his part well.
We Can Compete
What we have lacked is someone dictating the play from the middle. No doubt Bonde on his day can be a match-winner, but he’s lacked that quality vision and range of passing that truly top players possess. Well we have that now with Kulish so in all areas of the pitch we do have players that can compete at a top level.
Barca may be far superior as a whole, but any side can have an off-day. If we were to win this game, we can’t concede an early goal, we have to play out of our skins, someone is going to have to produce some brilliance in one form or another, and they are going to have to have a bad day in front of goal. A lot to ask yes, but on a neutral venue in Hungary there’s a greater chance of that happening than stadium’s both clubs are used to playing at.
First Half
The game started off with great energy being shown from our lads. Barcelona were playing a 4141 formation going up against our 442.
Barca were quite happy to try and play at a slower tempo using their extra man in the DM slot. We were also quite happy to attack with a purpose whenever an opportunity arose.
The game was very balanced between these two sides and no clear cut chances were being created and opportunities very limited. When reviewing the first half as a whole there really was nothing between these two sides…..
But there were two moments of absolute genius from one player on the park who seemed like a man possessed in this football match that gave his team a crucial 2 goal gap going into the half-time break…and this man happened to be Danish International striker, and also Ayr striker Claus Borup!
Two Wonder Strikes
The first goal came out of absolutely nothing. In the 17th minute, a free kick in our own half involved simple passes up to the central striker. With his back facing his own goal, he simply turned quickly freeing up space whilst cleverly using his strike partner to shield the challenging defender. This gave him just enough time to get his shot away at goal and he could not have hit the ball any better, and from 25 yards out the ball was rifled into the top corner. 1-0 Ayr!
Six minutes later Borup grabbed his second….after a deep nothing long ball played from Carmona, Adeyemo at centrehalf for Barca made a big error and failed to clear the ball. The ball then bounced into the path of Mr Borup who hit a sweet half volley in such a smooth motion he’d have known that ball was hitting the back of the net from the moment he touched it, beautifully dipping just underneath the crossbar with the keeper left completely helpless. 2-0 Ayr and two quick sucker-punches. A real shock was on the cards now.
After those two inspirational strikes, there was only one way this game was now going to go. We just wanted to keep things solid and continue to work our socks off for the second half but even more so, as we knew we were going to get put under the cosh.
Barcelona will no doubt have been told to play their game without fear and continue to attack us, confident if they could get one goal panic would set in and they could come back from the deficit.
And that was how it was going in the second half. With less energy in our legs, our ability to attack with pace and venom was always going to be harder to achieve. Barcelona were really trying to work the flanks and continuing to play patiently in their approach.
Scrambling Defence
However they met the Ayr resistance of Brennan and White at right and left back respectively who both were playing unbelievably well today. Both had brilliant games, and just when you thought they were going to break our defensive line – they kept coming in with last ditch tackles and continuing to frustrate the Barca offense.
This prevented Barca from still creating any clear cut chances, and their frustrations were then clear to see getting a couple of bookings after the hour mark.
Despite continuing to try and play their game and press us, their shots on target were all from outside the box or from free kicks…which weren’t flying into the top corner and being saved by our keeper.
On another day they may have striked those balls better, but today it really did not look like it was going to be Barca’s day. They had been met by an inspired Ayr United team looking to write their own history and not let this opportunity go by.
Written in the Stars...
Looking to maintain the excellent work-rate the Ayr side had been putting in to keep Barca at bay, we made subs to achieve that and disrupt the game at critical points. Unable to pierce the Ayr line, despite having never lost to Ayr in all their previous meetings, it was in the stars that it was to be Ayr’s day today.
The final whistle then blew in the 94th minute, and it was a heroic performance from all the Ayr players along with two moments of brilliance that decided this cup final and brought the Champions League back to Scottish football, Ayr United, and into the hands of Moss the boss.
Ayr may not be remembered for producing the most exhilarating and easy on the eye football purists want to see, but the teamwork and work-rate of every individual player is what makes this team collective tick, having that ability to grind out a result, and it is what has brought this prestigious trophy to Ayrshire.
Ayr United then are crowned Champions League Winners 2033/34 – remember that date!
Even more good news for those associated with Ayr. The original 3,000 capacity extension has been increased to an additional 10,000. The building work will now be extended to finish end of 2034, but this will see the stadium have an official capacity of 43,295.
The cost however is huge coming in at 36 million. But with the successful Champions League campaign had this year, hopefully there will still be funds to invest in areas for next season.
Ever since moving to Ayr, it's been variants of playing the simple 442 that has brought about our rise and success at all levels and making sure each signing was the right one. And more recently, it's been a more offensive, quicker tempo and attack minded game that would be well suited to the British game.
However with the club's infrastructure that much better, and our reputation now at "Worldwide" status following our Champions League triumph, it's time I get to play the sort of football I really want to see any of my teams playing on the football pitch.
High pressing, controlled possession, technique, flair, creativity is the true Moss philosophy. I have a good number of players that now fit the bill, and so rather than grinding out results in the British way, I'm going to try and make Ayr more of a footballing team in the way they go about their business. Risky yes, but attractive, easy on the eye, and mesmeric it is. So Barca, next time - be prepared to be out Barca'd!
After achieving the un-achievable, there were perhaps four real standout players this year that deserve their mention.
Claus Borup – Scoring those two world-class strikes in such a big stage in the ECL final gave us this trophy. But not only did he achieve that for us, his 43 goals this season meant he surpassed Eamonn Lynch’s club record be quite a considerable margin of goals in a season.
His consistency and a notable improvement in taking spot-kicks has led to him being a real key goalscorer for our side. Claus came 3rd best in the ECL player of the year award this season.
Diego Carmona – The wizard down our left wing continues to assist and score big goals for us. Now given the set piece responsibilities since Bonde is now longer our first team central midfielder, he’s taken this one fantastically well scoring from several free kicks and providing quality set-piece deliveries for our players to attack. He also won the ECL midfield player of the year this season.
Danny Quin – The ageing Danny Quin has again won the fans player of the year vote and he’s contributed again magnificently well for us this year. He many not have many years left in him and I thought he’d fail to make the cut for us this year. But he proved me wrong and I couldn’t be happier he did just that. He also came second behind team-mate Carmona in the midfielder ECL award.
Phil Short – Another guy who proved me wrong. Never going to be a match winner, but it’s his reliability that really is an excellent attribute of his. He’s also come up with some penalty saves this year in addition to him being commanding in the air from set-pieces. At times when we’ve been under the cosh, he’s been there to steady the ship. He also won the ECL goalkeeper award this season.
The awards won and players coming in the top three of the ECL awards have shown our success in the end was no fluke. Players gaining this sort of recognition on this stage does show they have the talent to compete with the world’s best players and as a result meant Ayr were a force in Europe this year.
Despite the successes Ayr have had of recent times, Moss has decided to bring a new football philosophy to the club. After proving he can succeed and coach the basics of the 442 well, he’s decided to revert to a rather unique 3412 formation.
It’s not a system used by clubs in the modern day, and without any full-backs no doubt this is a real weakness of the new system.
It will require players of good technical and passing ability especially with the midfield trio. The central defenders will also need to be of excellent quality to make-up for no full-backs in the system.
Players will need good work-rate with the immediate pressing from the front, and being a possession based game good composure is extremely useful given other teams will look to disrupt our short controlled passing game.
Transfers
Players leaving the club this Summer occupy all the full-back slots. This includes those that played so well in the CL final White and Brennan. Peterson and Manson the back-ups also leave the club.
Forward Dempsey was also sold. Being the 4th striker and a promising player in McIntyre in our youth team/
These deals were needed to reduce both the wages and bring in funds to invest in the AMC slot which Ayr currently have no-one available to play this position.
Celtic Left Fuming
Only three players came in this Summer, and all were in this AMC slot. Roddy Slaven comes in from Hamilton for a small 1.5 million fee. Expected to be third choice, he does have some useful attributes which will make him a decent choice for this task.
21 year old Shadow Striker Fresnel Simakala came in from Genk. Already with over 40 International caps to his name, he’ll be retrained to be more the AP(A) Moss utilises behind the two strikers. Good attributes, with a bit of training he’ll be an excellent backup.
And that is for the real steal. Celtic were left fuming their talented 20 year old Dutch International Bob Visser was poached from rivals Ayr. For 25 million, Ayr took advantage of the release clause in his contract. Over 20 International Caps to his name and already a leading player in the league, he’s got great potential and will already be a pivotal figure in the new Ayr. Naturally suited into the position, Moss is hoping he’ll hit the ground running.
The board as of the past few seasons now want the domestic treble each and every year. But there is added pressure, as with our success in the Champions League and our reputation boost to Worldwide, the First Round Knockouts has become a must for Ayr.
Failure to achieve will certainly then put real pressure on Moss. With the new system in place too, not only will it take a while to bring in, but with the reliance of quality players for this to work and less emphasis on being solid, Ayr could easily come unstuck in such a competitive competition.
On the contrary, with the superior players Ayr have domestically many believe that winning the league especially with Celtic’s demise of late, is a forgone conclusion with Ayr’s opponents not going to have sufficient quality to punish Ayr’s high defensive line game.
New Objectives
My own personal objectives for this save is to continue to compete at the top CL level playing my style of football. This isn’t that easy to achieve, because it demands world-class players to really succeed.
So continuing to perform well, investing correctly, and building Ayr to be as big as possible will be needed to achieve this.
Additionally, the World Club Championship is the last remaining trophy not on my CV and in Ayr’s trophy cabinet. I’ll be taking that very seriously this year and I hope we can bring this trophy home.
Lastly, becoming the number one in the Scottish Hall of Fame will be my ultimate goal. I’m currently 4th on the list, but still quite a long way behind Willie Maley who’s first. He has 2,190 points and I currently have 1,563.
It was always going to be an impossible task to repeat last year’s feat. And there was no such luck this year.
Topping the ECL Group via the head to head results again Real Madrid, things were looking really good at this stage.
A 1st Round Knockout tie against Man Utd was the reward. Losing the first leg at Old Trafford 2-1, it looked like it was going to be tough to overcome the Red Devils. But at our 43k+ stadium, our fans helped takes us through this tie smashing United 4-0 in the second leg to take Ayr back to the Quarter Final Stages.
However Ayr then faced the solid and well drilled outfit also from Madrid, Athletico. Despite having the better of the first leg, Athletico’s sturdy defence kept Ayr out at Ayr Stadium with the game ending 0-0.
With Ayr having to score in the second leg against a mean Athletico defence, it was a tough ask…and too tough this time around.
A close 1-0 defeat in the second leg saw Athletico squeeze passed. A valiant effort, but it was a taste of Moss’ old medicine where hard work and organisation triumphed over an attempt to play the beautiful game as it should be played.
Domestic Treble Winners yet Again
Where we unsurprisingly fell short in Europe this year, we dominated all things domestically.
The first half of the season was superb in the league. We went on a 51 unbeaten match run to finally be stopped away at Aberdeen. By this point we had a twelve point gap in the league over the half-way point and there was no competition since.
Our form did drop as teams seemed to be playing a lot more defensively and we did find it harder to break them down. But our awesome first half season form was more than good enough to see out a very comfortable title win this season.
A performance that had control with 70% possession and clinical finishing saw our lads completely blitz the Aberdeen resistance.
Three goals in the first half hour saw the game already well and truly over, with a fourth added just before the break.
The goals didn’t stop there. Quin and Andersen decided to get in on the act making the score-line an embarrassing 6-0 to Ayr United….but Aberdeen stole Ayr’s clean sheet at the death in the 91st minute.
So the new system in place was looking good on the domestic front making it 8 out of the last 9 Betfred Cup wins for Ayr.
Below is the goal-fest that took place in this year's Betfred Final.
Ayr’s second domestic cup final came against Hibs, who clearly turned up to try and frustrate The Honest Men.
Well their plan had worked well the first half with the game going in 0-0 at half-time. Ayr having all the ball, but Hibs holding firm with the second half to play.
However their resistance finally broke down in the 72nd minute when Claus Borup our scoring machine finally broke the deadlock. It actually came from a swift counter-attack from an attacking Hibs set-piece situation. Anderson lofting an excellent looping curled ball over the back-line to leave Borup free to convert the ball passed the keeper in a one on one.
The game was then secured in the 94th minute from Danny Quin – with a truly great move that started all the way from the back. Involving a patient buildup, the ball founds its way to Quin to fire passed the keeper to make it 2-0. Game set and match to Ayr – and that’s the sort of football I want to see played!
World Club Championship Final (Ayr United 1 – 0 Atlanta United – aet)
Atlanta really did run us close in this one. Not creating any clear cut chances, but their 4411 formation really was a tough nut to crack.
Goalless for the first 90 minutes, I was hoping that our possession based football would finally break down a tiring Atalanta defensive unit in Extra Time rather than go through the nerves of a penalty shootout. I doubt I’d ever get a chance to win this trophy again!
Then came the 96th minute when Super Sub Pooler grabbed the first and only goal of the game.
Continually booting the ball up the pitch, Atalanta were now failing to put pressure higher up the pitch, and so the deadlock was eventually broken. Working the ball back into the danger area, Pooler was on hand to find himself a bit of space in the box to then convert Scott’s ball into him into the back of the net.
They had nothing left to cause us any trouble with, and we saw out the remainder of the game to secure the last trophy missing from Ayr’s cabinet and my CV, with Ayr now officially crowned World Club Champions.
I was really happy with the progress made this year. A brand new way of playing, with a developing AMC in Bob Visser being relied upon to make the team tick. Taking this into account we’ve had an excellent year.
I may look to tweak things slightly in the midfield. Although it’s great to play everything on the deck in a patient manner, the later part of the season did see us struggle to break teams down a little. So rather than having a central midfielder holding his position the whole time, I’m going to experiment with a BBM which will lead to a little more directness in our offensive play.
There were games we’d have 80% percent possession the max being 83% in one of the games. So I think we can control the game well enough to try and bring about that additional offensive movement to threaten the opponents box thus being a tad less predictable.
Consortium Takeover
In brilliant news for the club, new owners are now in place at Ayr, and with a willingness to secure the club’s long-term financial future and invest further into the club.
A transfer budget of just under 50 million has been announced for the upcoming year. We had been in substantial debt by the end of this season and that’s despite a good run in the CL and our domestic successes. The expansion of the stadium really did hit a dent in our finances along with the investment of our world-class midfielder last year with payments due across 3 years.
This is much needed, as areas of our squad will soon need to be reinvested in. Some players are ageing, and it’s at the point whether I decide to try and cash in and replace them best I can, or hold onto them a little longer.
At Ayr, the former is probably the best option. But this is something I’ll ponder on in the Summer.
In what was a transition season with our football style, it was our Colombian centre-back who took home the fans player of the year Mastrascusa. An integral part of our side for a number of years now, he’s probably finally got the credit he deserves.
Claus Borup again had another prolific season scoring 34 times this year for us. And Danny Quin although almost hitting 30 years of age, he’s still providing the team with a lot of quality in his game topping our assists chart with 15 for the season.
We weren’t the heaviest scoring team this year, but I guess that is due to us controlling the game a lot better. Defensively though we were very sound and credit has to go to all our back-line this year.
Talking about an overhaul with our takeover giving us a much needed financial boost, it’s generally been a really productive off-season. Only finding a left-winger has been a bit of a struggle, simply because there only seem to be two classy wingers available and interested.
Carmona will always be our first choice left winger, but it would have been good to find a decent backup. Jack Scott although has served us well, he’s declined and not at the desired level.
I have brought in a few guys on a free one of whom I’m planning to train up to play on the left, being Ivan Djoric snapped up from PSG. He’s got potential to be that good squad winger I need.
Long-Term Servants Depart
Romario from Sporting also came on a free. A top quality striker so a real bargain here, and he’ll be partnering Borup up front this season. This has led to long-term servant Anderson parting the club. He hasn’t been at the level I was hoping he’d perform at the last couple of years, so it was a good move to sell him whilst I could still make some money off of him, which came to 16.75mil. Not bad for a guy purchased at 2 million only.
Bonde is another player who I’ve decided to part with. He’s done a good job for us and has had a great career. Now at 29, again I thought to best make some money from him as I’ve been able to bring in another centre mid in on the free who is about on par skillwise being Tejada from Basel.
Another player who has left is Paraguayan international Perriera at centre-back. Only being a squad player the last couple of seasons, I received 27 million for him and there was also a good Brazilian CB on the market for 38 million. So he effectively funded the purchase of Mahseredjan from Liverpool. At only 23 years old, he has time to improve although technically he is lacking for my side at present. He'll also make our first team this year.
Moss’ Gem
The real star and the best ever player I will ever have had the opportunity to work with is Jannik Bruckner. Over 90 caps for Germany and only 25 years old, the advanced playmaker will take the duties from Bob Visser who I bought for 25 million last year.
This guy cost 60 million but he really is the real deal with Real Madrid also interested in his services. I think he’ll really be at the forefront of everything we do this year, and a player of this quality will really fit into this new system well.
I can’t wait to get the next season under-way. It’s a chance to see whether my tweak to our midfield will work well, whilst the investments make our first XI a little stronger and being more capable to play my football.
Domestic treble, first round ECL. It’s become the norm for now, and with the squad we have I’d be disappointed to not win 2 out of 3 trophies and make the CL quarters.
However the weak area is at left wing backup. Any long-term injury to Carmona and it does promise to be a challenging season.
Financially we are now also limited. Spending 54 million nett whilst now well beyond our wage budget, it means we really do need to perform well in our competitions this year for much needed prize money.
The option to further expand our stadium hasn’t appeared despite us hitting maximum attendances on a highly regular basis. With that said, it looks like our current 43,295 capacity will be the maximum we’ll be able to achieve at Ayr.
With the final five league games straight in sight, Ayr are fighting on all fronts with the possibility of going one step better than the treble.
There is great optimism amongst both squad and the fans. A fine performance in the Champions League Group Stages saw Ayr United top the group ahead of The Red Devils from Manchester.
Qualification wasn’t in doubt with the competition coming in the form of Rosenborg and Krasnodar from Russia.
It did however require late drama away in Norway to come from behind to beat Rosenborg 2-1. Dropped points here and United would have topped the group via better goal difference.
Winning the group saw Ayr rewarded with a first leg away tie against Italian giants AC Milan. The first game saw Ayr go down 2-1 despite taking the lead in the first half. Not a great result, but an away goal could still have proved useful.
However an excellent performance saw Ayr overturn the deficit to win 2-0 at Ayr Stadium. It was though a very nerve wracking finish, with Milan really pushing on those last ten minutes for an equaliser.
Several highlights saw last gasp challenges and headed clearances out of our box. Keeper Short made a crucial save to keep the lead intact…and fortunately my Ayr hung on to book a Quarter Final spot.
Quarter Final
It was Portuguese outfit FC Porto in the way of the Semi-Finals. A solid defensive display and possession based game saw us looking comfortable in this one. Porto clearly came to give themselves a chance to win on their home turf in the second leg.
This they did, with Ayr only able to conjure up one goal. An advantage yes, but very slim. The Honest Men really needed to score away for the best chance of going through.
The second leg started off perfectly as a 1-0 advantage on the night was made by Claus Borup scoring in the 31st minute. It meant Porto would need 3 goals to go through.
Always in Control
They did score two goals on the night, but by that time Ayr had restored their one goal lead prior to their second. The Scotsmen then added a third with ten minutes to go, giving Ayr a 3-2 win and a 4-2 victory on aggregate. Ayr again amongst the top 4 teams in Europe!
The draw saw Ayr avoid Real Madrid and Chelsea, with a tie against Germans Die Bayern to come. The first leg is due at Ayr Stadium.
Premiership Title Defence
In the league, Ayr’s title defence is going strong. With only the final five games remaining the advantage is a good eight points. Only a capitulation would see Celtic claim the title. But with the ECL a distraction, Ayr need to ensure they take each game as it comes.
A key game came as soon as game-week 32 where Ayr travelled to Celtic Park. In a very tight affair, it was the men from Ayrshire who got the only goal of the game with Romario scoring in those legs eleventh minute.
Celtic had a few chances in the last ten minutes of the game as they really were pushing for an equaliser. But poor finishing and good defending meant The Honest Men took a vital victory that created the eight point cushion before the last give games.
The first cup final of the year saw regular final attendants Ayr come up against local rivals Kilmarnock.
Any chance of a closely contested final ended in the 38th minute when Nigel Hassell of Killie got himself a straight red. Three minutes later saw a bullet from Borup give Ayr the lead with Romario then adding a quick fire second right on the stroke of half-time following an inswinging set-piece.
It then became a case of trying to not be embarrassed against an Ayr side well suited to make good use of the extra man. A third goal came in the 82nd minute with Borup claiming his second of the match from six yards out which was enough to give him the MOTM award.
The 3-0 win makes the trophy Ayr’s for the ninth time in ten seasons, with neither Celtic no Rangers making the final in the last four finals.
I’m really pleased with how the season’s going so far. Bringing in real quality in that AMC spot, improving our central defence and the tactical tweak in the central midfield area is giving us more goals with an improved defence compared to last year, although possession has fallen slightly but as expected.
This has meant we have done better in the ECL this year passing the Quarter Final stages of last year. We have had a nice draw so far, and even the Semi Final draw vs Bayern it is probably the preferred choice out of the other two sides left in the competition.
Training up Djoric to play on the left flank has helped as when he’s stepped in he’s doing a decent job. Danny Quin even at 30 has continued to perform really well and if he continues to perform along with the rest of the squad, I’m confident we can make our second CL final appearance. It would be great to win the trophy playing the way I want to play, so let’s see where the rest of this season takes us!
With everyone fully fit and available for this one Moss was confident his side could gain an advantage heading into the second leg over in Germany.
Ayr took the lead in the 24th minute when the pretender to the real Romario converted in a cross from Carmona on the left flank after catching the Bayern defence unawares on a counter-attack.
The question was would Bayern try to push for an away goal in this tie? Well they kept to their 4141 formation designed to keep the score down.
Ayr continued to control the game ending up with 76% possession and having 10 shots to Bayern’s 3 all game, but the score remained 1-0 until the full-time whistle.
A good performance giving Ayr a decent chance in the second leg. Much like against Porto, an away goal could really hammer home this 1-0 advantage via away goals but the tie was still well and truly in the balance…
Boring for some
Surprisingly even playing in Germany, Bayern kept their 4141 formation. Expecting it to be a more aggressive formation, whether it was too defensive or whether Ayr’s well drilled outfit failed to let Bayern express themselves offensively it’s hard to tell, probably a bit of both.
The game followed the pattern of the first game, although with home advantage Bayern were registering more attempts at goal. However with 72% possession, for large parts of the game it stifled Bayern’s ability to really put Ayr under the cosh for any prolonged period.
But with a hard working pressing game and remaining solid from the 5 corners Bayern earned, both sides registered only two shots on target…but importantly, neither side were able to make a breakthrough in the game.
Time continued to run out for Die Bayern all the way until the final whistle – Ayr then through to their second CL final with a 1-0 Aggregate win!
Mastrascusa continues to be immense at the back for The Honest Men, picking up another MOTM award and epitomising the strong defence Moss has created at Ayr – proving possession and no full-backs can be utilised to remain solid at the back.
Real Madrid in the other Semi-Final fell away against the Blues of Chelski. So an all British Champions League tie awaits due to be held at the Metrolpolitano de Madrid the home of Athletico Madrid.
Two to Go – League Secured
The eight points gap created after game thirty three remained fully intact for the remainder of the season.
Winning away to Celtic in the first of the final five games meant the gap increased to 11 points with only 12 remaining. A home victory against Hearts was all that was required.
And that it was, in front of the home fans they were treated to a goal feast with The Honest Men smashing five points Hearts who showed no heart for their shirt.
That made it eleven league titles in a row. However that’s still a number behind Celtic’s record 14 league title wins on the bounce that occurred between 2011/12 to 2024/25.
So that’s another benchmark that is there up for grabs which I’m sure everyone associated with Ayr will want to see happen.
A poor run of form did happen though after securing the title, but it’s not easy to keep motivated in such a scenario. The next big game to look forward to was the Scottish Cup Final where Ayr knocked out Raith Rovers and Hearts in the Quarters / Semi Finals respectively – the team being faced Glasgow Rangers.
A week before Ayr’s big date against Chelsea sees the Scottish Cup Final host Ayr and Rangers.
It’s been a while since Rangers have had any real domestic success and it was a chance for them to relive the old days – but against Ayr it would be a mammoth task for The Gers.
And it was proving to be too much for them. A goal from Romario gave Ayr the lead after 38 minutes with Borup only two minutes later scoring a second making it 2-0 to Ayr. At this point you’d think the game was a done deal.
But Josh Crompton seemed to have other plans, keeping his composure well to give Rangers hope just before half-time scoring again only two-minutes after Ayr went two nil up. Moss was fuming his side fell asleep before the break.
However it wasn’t to matter in the end. World class AMC Jannik Bruckner got Ayr’s third goal to restore the two goal cushion they had earlier now 3-1. With a little under 20 minutes left it would need a miraculous come-back from Rangers…
But starved of having any real possession to threaten the Ayr goal, Ayr continued to control the football and played the remaining time out well, easing to another Scottish Cup Final win and retain the trophy after last year’s success. The Treble again was Ayr’s.
The MOTM in this one was the 60 million pounds man Jannick Bruckner.
With the stadium packed out filling up all 60,000 seats, the lads and myself were really up for this game.
The team now with my identity to it, I was hoping to see Ayr play the football we are fully capable of on this huge day for the club. Could we make history and win all major trophies in a single year?
It wasn’t going to be easy, and with Chelsea playing a 4231 they would most certainly have a fair share of the ball in this one and would be favourites with some of their players going up to double the value of our top player. It was imperative we made a good start.
And it didn’t take long for this cup final to see the first goal and the perfect start for Ayr. We took the lead after only 10 minutes played with our Brazilian Romario who smashed the ball with ferocity passed the Chelski keeper.
Against Barca in our first ever CL win this early goal seemed to cause them to panic and they conceded a second not too long after.
Chelsea Resolute
Unfortunately for us, our early goal seemed to kick Chelski right into gear and within five minutes they grabbed the equaliser with Moreira finding space in the box to place it low passed Short. 1-1.
Then in the 30th minute things got worse…an unbelievable bullet of a volley from Octavio gave Short no chance…and I myself was absolutely stunned at this finish. Sometimes you just have to applaud a world-class goal.
Ayr Bite Back
The next goal would be crucial in this one which was fast becoming a match full of goals. Thankfully our lads bit back with a vengeance only four minutes later with Claus Borup finishing from close range after a right wing cross from club legend Quin….
And then minute 39 Borup grabbed his second and restored Ayr’s lead! Diego Carmona this time crossing the ball in from the left flank with Borup striking the ball cleanly on the volley from six or so yards out. 3-2 to Ayr at half-time.
Carmona Red
Into the second half after a really good performance where I do think we deserved to be leading, we got back into our groove..until Diego Carmona stupidly got his second bookable offence getting sent off in the 55th minute.
Chelsea had shown in patches in this game that they can pass and create well just like us, so I was quite worried now forced down to 10 men. Romario was the man to be sacrificed to bring on Djoric to fill in on the left wing. A tough ask for Borup up by himself, but he’s a top striker and fully capable.
But as expected, Chelsea were now having the better of the game. We still had energy to compete and pass our way out, but it wouldn’t be long before we would start to get tired so subs were going to be important.
To bring some fresh legs and work-rate into the middle off came BBM Balde replaced by our Croatian International Galic – and what a sub that was to be!
With the game coming into the final stages it was the two subs coming on who combined to get us our fourth. Djoric playing a ball into Galic who got into the box and struck the ball passed the keeper. 4-2 Ayr!
Tense Finish
All we had to do now was keep our composure remain solid and hold on with Visser now coming on for Bruckner in the middle for more fresh legs to last the game…but to my anger Chelski responded only 1 minute later…the defence just went to sleep and a precisely well weighted ball saw Moreira in space behind our defensive line to put it passed Short in minute 84.
The last 10 minutes were tough where four additional minutes had been added on. Chelski kept coming with last ditch challenges, aerial headers clearing the box, and a fantastic save from Short kept our lead in tact right in the 90th minute.
At this point we were struggling to play the ball out and it truly was a backs to the wall job…..but lumping the ball up to their side of the pitch for the last time saw us home with the referee blowing the full time whistle before they could launch another attack…Ayr then win 4-3 and have brought back the Champions League to Scotland, a second time in 3 years!
Absolutely ecstatic we’ve won this Trophy in the right manner. And despite going down to 10 men, we continued to play our game probably up until the 85th minute when it was a case of holding on. But our game was rewarded with our fourth goal where we played some good football to get us into the position for Galic to strike home.
We were the better team with 11 men, and only a wonder goal from them at that time gave them the 2-1 lead. The resilience shown to come back and take a 3-2 half-time lead shows what our team is made of.
We’ve got some guys at the 30 year old mark, so some thinking to do how to proceed for next year. I’ve got a few players also coming on free transfers all of good quality with something to offer.
I’m now third in the hall of fame. The quadruple has been completed, and only one trophy objective now remains – to surpass Celtic’s 14 league titles in a row.
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