Well our media prediction was second - so it's a lot harder now for them to underachieve. Celtic are always the closest challengers. Rangers recently hired Paulo Bento and they aren't expected to finish 2nd now, we are.
I started automatic with Peterhead in the lowest Division. So I think it might have been a 0.5 star. So I've had to work my reputation up and hope I didn't get sacked! I definitely left Peterhead at the right time to avoid that.
I've only ever created one character when I first got the game. I allocated all the points if I remember so my attributes will be high.
Only Rangers and Celtic have ever completed the treble in Scottish football. Ayr United now have the chance to add their name among these two Scottish giants if they can overcome the challenge posed by Motherwell.
Being hosted at Hampden Park, an attendance of 35,000 made the trip to witness what could be a historic day for The Honest Men.
One man looking to spoil the party however is former Ayr man Kevin Waugh. Eventually choosing to leave the Ayrshire club on a free, he’ll be looking to show Moss made an error by not playing him on a regular basis.
Hunting Success, Hunted Down…
With the crowd now settled into their seats, the game kicked off. With Ayr strong favourites Motherwell clearly took the approach of trying to park the bus in this one.
The tactics appeared to be working as Ayr were struggling to create any real clear cut chances despite a number of shots on goal. But when surrendering so much possession and not really causing any problems in attack, the likely outcome is you’ll eventually get punished.
The Motherwell resistance lasted until the 34th minute when the pressure finally told. With the Steelmen defending ever so deep, after working the ball up the pitch for the countless time, Stephen Hunt well positioned outside the 18 yard box hit a curling shot perfectly placed into the bottom right hand corner and outside the reach of the diving Doohan. 1-0 to Ayr.
Motherwell surely had to change their gameplan. With the half-time whistle now blown, would the Motherwell boss change their approach?
Resistance was Futile
Well if they tried, their attempts seemed to fail miserably. The pattern of the game continued on just like the first half.
Continuing to attack the Motherwell goal but again no clear cut chances, it did look like Motherwell were going to at least stay in the game until the 90th minute.
And that they did, with a shot count of 37 to 2 and no clear cut chances from either side, without Hunt’s moment of brilliance the game would have been all square.
But with one further minute into injury time, the game was finally put to bed and the Ayr fans could finally relax!
A throw in from the right hand side went uncontested, with the ball being worked to Ayr’s danger man on the right Stephen Hunt. Renowned for his direct play and dribbling ability, utilised that he did, coasting passed the tired Motherwell defence into their 18 yard box. With no player daring to tackle him inside the box, Hunt hit the ball low and with venom, ending up in the bottom corner to the near post of the goalkeeper who will be disappointed with his effort to not keep it out. 2-0!
And 2-0 it ended – Ayr had achieved what no other Scottish side has done outside of Glasgow, a domestic treble of the Betfred and Scottish Cups, along with a League title.
The travelling Ayr fans went into complete ecstasy at their sides achievement. Moss now undoubtedly has cemented his place as a legend within the club and no one will now want him to leave.
There was also only one player on the pitch today who took all the plaudits – and rightly so. Man of the Match and match winner Stephen Hunt. Moss saw his potential with his wing play attributes and determined character, and he really has done his manager proud over the last few years. At 26 years of age there should still be a few good years left in him.
This win should bring in 5 million plus into the bank. Finances are now in a less than secure predicament and Moss already expects a very low budget going into next season. The challenge now appears to be maintaining that competitiveness, but a real thought for how purchases and investments affects the clubs finances both for continued growth and long-term stability.
Compared to last year, Daniel Bonde certainly had a much quieter year. However he did seem to be angry at me after I fined him for getting dismissed early in on the season.
Why? The kid needs to learn which at the moment he clearly is not. Having 24 yellow cards and 4 red cards this year, it’s going to harm ours and his own future prospects if he doesn’t sort out his discipline.
So irrespective of a highly respectable 7.20 average last season and winning the two young player of the year awards, he fails to get my recognition as a star of the season.
Who does? Here are my top picks:
Eamonn Lynch 7.01 – Another 30 plus goals a season haul, ending with 31. That for me is always a good return and our Irish International has yet another fine season for the club.
Reece MacPherson 7.25 – I’m delighted with Reece this season. As mentioned previously, he had to fight his way passed last year’s captain to get a first team spot. And since he has, he’s been a rock in our back-line and deservedly won Scottish caps for his form.
Stephen Hunt 7.49 – Hunty has been brilliant for us this season. Arce has often been our wing player getting a lot of credit, but after winning up a Cup Final single handedly and scoring some important goals last year he’s my number one player of the season – our fans also agree.
Media Prediction – 2nd
Scottish Premiership – CL Qualification (Winners)
Scottish Cup – Final (Winners)
Betfred Cup – Final (Winners)
Champions League – Group Stages (Achieved)
A season we hit all of our targets. We’re in the position where we can only now go one way – and that’s perform worse than this year. So I can’t expect to do so well next season.
A few players will now have hit their thirties and a good several squad members are expected to leave on free transfers. It’s going to be a big Summer if we are going to continue to remain competitive at the top of Scottish football for not only the next, but several seasons forthcoming.
So with that said, our objectives have to be revised now. It has to be about getting the balance financially right with trying to still do as well as possible. This means making the top 2 and doing well in the domestic cups as every bit of money made is now really important.
That also means my transfer dealings will need to be dealt with much thought. It’s confirmed a 4.5 million budget is available but we’ll fast drop into debt when next season comes around.
So a lot to think about…I’m really not keen to lose any members of our squad and I’ve turned down bids for our Danish Striker Sebastien Anderson. But I may have to think about going down that route by trying to scout cheap potential talent to replace players we can sell for good money.
On a personal note, it was nice to win back the Manager of the Year award from Gary Holt whom won it last year. That makes it five times in six seasons with Ayr.
Just about to kick off the season, and the club are now 3.8 million in debt. However we have 830k left in our transfer budget and our just under our wage budget which is at least one positive.
I have had to purchase a few players simply because we lost so many on free’s not wanting to extend their contracts. So it has been a very tough off-season.
Not renewing his contract at Celtic, I’ve brought in now 34 year old Callum McGregor. He’ll be backup for both central midfield positions. Being an experienced international currently having 90 Scottish caps, hopefully he’ll be able to use his age to do a decent job when required to fill in.
I’ve also gone back to Copenhagen to take another young talent off from them in Pedersen. He’ll be a backup left back and be retrained to play on the right too as he’s good enough to make our bench. Only costing 525k he’s real value for money and also brings good leadership to the pitch.
Our last signing is Martin Wilson. Coming from Dundee at 1.2 million he’s got attributes to be a decent advanced playmaker for us and be good enough to come in for when Bonde is suspended!!
So we’ve replaced two squad midfielders who left and a right back who also left. I have my squad of 25 for the year so at least I have the numbers again. And I’ve only spent 1.7 million so I think I’ve done well there.
Talent does seem to be scarce though when looking for players of a good value. It really does make me doubt how I’m going to go through these financial difficulties.
I’ll definitely need to continually scout through the year and hope that I do stumble into some cheap talent as there doesn’t appear to be any other answer to our problems as things stand.
Media Prediction – 2nd
Scottish Premiership – CL Qualification
Scottish Cup – Final
Betfred Cup – Final
Champions League – Group Stages
Our board have set us the same objectives as last year, so I do have room to do worse and still achieve our targets.
I really do hope I get a decent CL draw for once – I need to at least finish 3rd so that we can gain some income from the European knockout stages.
Its times like these when a club like Celtic who are a financial powerhouse can just keep spending freely and continue to make a profit. We’ve had our period where we had money to spend, but our infrastructure is absolutely killing us now.
Perhaps a new board will be willing to pump in millions one day – here’s hoping!! At least our reputation now makes fine reading. Who knows if this will have us stand out as a club worth investing in…
For the opening seven or so games it looked like it was going to be a three way scrap. Celtic, followed by Rangers and then Ayr were closely contesting top spot.
However Moss’ side then suffered huge injury problems, whilst Rangers’ form was then starting to falter. This led to Celtic creating a five points gap at the top of the Division.
A Real Injury Crisis
Injuries had been suffered to Allen Campbell the Roy Keane of the team. Out for three months it was down to the adaptable midfielder Ferguson to fill in the void.
Soon after Stephen Hunt last year’s fans and manager’s player of the year also fell down to an injury with the duration at least a full three months. It was up to two star man Oliver Wall to replace him. A real hard act to follow.
And now star striker Sebastian Anderson also was put out for two months. With Oli Shaw leaving on a free, it’s down to youth player 18 year old Clan Dempsey to fill in his absence.
Really down to the bare bones, it’s a surprise that after fifteen games The Honest Men are only four points adrift of Celtic – and that’s including the beating of Celtic at Somerset Park in a staggering 6-1 victory. What a performance that was from Moss’ men.
Betfred Cup Final
And this 6-1 victory came just after this year’s Scottish Betfred Cup Final – where the boys from Ayrshire played The Bhoys from Glasgow.
In a bizarre game, in Allen Campbell’s first game back through a lengthy injury he only lasted twenty one minutes, getting his second yellow card of the game so he was off. He must have really been caught off guard with all that playing time missed.
Ten Men Ayr
So down to ten men, surely Celtic would punish Ayr for their ill indiscipline…well it sure was a turn up for the books.
Purchased last season on the cheap from Rangers, not much had been mentioned of him. A player with potential and was then at 20 years old and born from Israel. Guy Abuksis has great agility and acceleration with a good delivery of the ball and a good level of determination. He has similarities to Stephen Hunt, but he’s not the best with dribbling the football.
Finding it hard to get a run out, with an injury to Billy Arce he had his chance to shine and that he did.
A ball played across the box from the right from Hunt’s replacement Oliver Wall saw the Israeli come in late from deep to slot the ball home. 1-0 to Ayr with only ten men – is there a shock now on the cards?
Then in the 41st minute, Ayr decided to double their lead! A cross from Gibbins was met near the far post by Abuksis. Getting his head on target the keeper could only parry, but parry he did straight into the path of Wall who converted the ball towards the net and passed the helpless Farquhar. 2-0 to Ayr! And shortly after the half-time whistle blew.
Celtic Lose the Plot
With the second half under way, Celtic knew they had to continue to push and try find a way back into the game. But in the 50th minute the player count then became all square. A second yellow within three minutes for Zurkowski meant he saw red.
Only three minutes later Celtic then conceded a penalty after Matvienko carelessly took down Oliver Wall in the box with no immediate danger present. Anderson stood up…but hit the shot straight down the middle and saved by the keeper. Could this shake Celtic into top gear?
Five minutes later though all their hopes were dashed by the soon to be MOTM Oliver Wall with an absolutely brilliant finish. A long ball was not dealt with by the Celtic defence which gave Anderson room to work the left flank before crossing the ball far into Wall’s path who with ease hit the ball on the half volley giving the goalie no chance whatsoever. It was a finish of the highest order. A stunning volley.
With no further goals in the game it meant Ayr celebrated their 3rd Betfred Cup win in succession. Another trophy in the club’s cabinet and Moss’ growing CV of successes.
Could things get any more surprising? With such a depleted squad at times and the Champions League to contend with, it looked like another inevitably disappointing season in Europe.
So how did the draw turn out for Ayr this year? Well…. There was Roma, then there was Lyon….and then there was Barca! These were the exact same teams Ayr had to face a couple of seasons ago.
Now this looks like a horrific draw again. Well it could have been a lot easier, but past experiences show Ayr could finish above Roma…and Ayr can get a result against Lyon – and were highly unlucky to not beat them on their own turf last time around.
So this could be a real good test to see how Ayr have developed since that point….
Game 1 – saw Ayr face Roma. After taking the lead Ayr only needed to hold on in injury time…only to see Under score a 94th minute equaliser to ruin Moss’ day. 1-1 the game ended.
Game 2 – saw Lyon travel to Scotland. This time around Lyon took the lead early on. But Billy Arce salvaged a point a little passed the hour mark. The game finished 1-1.
Games 3 & 4 – At home and away to Barca. Just like last time, a close encounter at home which we lost 1-0. We then got a footballing lesson away from home losing 4-0.
Game 5 – What seemed to be a battle for a Euro Cup spot, Ayr had two points with Roma on one. At this time Lyon had 8 points and had to play Barca. Ayr shot into a 3-0 lead with Roma getting a consolation goal. The game ended 3-1 to Ayr! Meanwhile Lyon lost to Barcelona….
So the current state of play meant Ayr had 5 points and Lyon had 8 points. Ayr were travelling to France to face Lyon in the final game. As goal difference has no bearing on the placings, with a draw in the first game between these two sides, if Ayr were to win they would qualify for the Champions League Knockout Stages – that can’t possibly happen right?
Playing for the Knockouts – A War of Attrition - Game 6
With Abuksis establishing himself as the first team left winger and Allen Campbell back playing football, only Stephen Hunt was missing from a strong first XI for Ayr. Perhaps Wall filling in was a good thing….
Minute 13 Ayr took a surprise lead….and it was the Abuksis and Wall combo! Finding space to attack the left flank, Abuksis launched a lofty ball to the far right which met it’s target Oliver Wall who placed an absolutely superb one touch finish to the right of Areola in the Lyon goal. A great start for the Scottish underdogs.
Then only 12 minutes later Ayr doubled their lead! Full back Ecrepont decided to go on the outside of Abuksis, and after receiving the ball he found himself with plenty of time to pinpoint his cross low into the path of Eamonn Lynch who converted clinically. 2-0!
Panic Setting in?
Despite being two goals to the good, it was Lyon who were dominating possession and having more attempted shots on goal. And just before half-time hero Wall turned to villain getting his second bookable offense and being sent to the dressing room. With the half-time whistle blown shortly after, Ayr had to face a Lyon side needing a draw to progress. Could they keep them out for the next forty five?
Still unable to create one single clear cut chance, Lyon kept coming and taking pot shots at goal but to no avail. With the Ayr players now becoming tired Michael Taylor then got his second yellow card of the evening in the 78th minute. Ayr had now gone down to nine men!
With 12 minutes left plus added on time, it was a real backs to the wall job now. Starved of possession and not able to cover much ground defensively Lyon were desperately looking to get the two late goals they needed to stay alive in the competition….
But Ayr defended like heroic Gladiators. Sticking together as a unit and working for each other as one team they thwarted all the attacks being placed upon their goal… and the final whistle was eventually blown – Ayr had for the first time made the Champions League Knockout Stages!!!
A tremendous achievement for the club and everyone involved, Moss went out to celebrate with his players on the pitch on this historic evening.
So the league may be a tough one to bring home this season. But a trophy already in the bag and surpassing expectations hugely in the Champions League, if Ayr can take second spot in the league it will still be seen, by Moss at least, a highly successful season with real progression shown despite the lack of investment made this Summer.
With the festive period over and a two week break before the football season resumes in the second week of January, it’s truly going to be a very happy Xmas for Moss and his Ayr side – whilst giving his wishes to the blue half of Glasgow.
After the last set of games were played on the 27th December, Ayr grinded out a very hard earned win away to local rivals Kilmarnock with Lynch securing the victory deep into injury time.
Meanwhile Celtic had a real blockbuster clash with Old Firm rivals Rangers. Despite leading after scoring a late 84th minute goal, Rangers still ended up having the final say and scored a 93rd minute equaliser.
With Ayr and Celtic level on points going into this round of fixtures but The Bhoys having a far superior goal difference, the late Rangers goal now puts The Honest Men two points clear after having at one point being five points behind.
Ayr are due to face Livingston next in the Scottish Cup fourth round.
In other news, Ayr’s present for knocking Lyon and Roma out the Champions League is a 1st Round knockout Champions League tie against the competition’s most successful club ever, Real Madrid.
No doubt Real Madrid will be huge huge favourites going into this one, and the reality is Ayr really don’t have a chance. But it will be good to see the Spanish giants come over and face a really determined Ayr team with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Moss will most definitely treat this game as a brilliant experience for both himself and the Ayr players. A taste of knockout football in the world’s finest competition is one the Ayr fans can’t wait to be a part of.
As with our games against Real Madrid’s rivals Barcelona, a respectable performance at home was followed by a hammering away.
We have had injury problems this year. Hunt recently returned, but he’s continually taken knocks and not been able to get his match fitness back. But it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in these two legs any way.
The first game was a good performance from us, and we were unlucky to lose at home 2-0. They only made the one clear cut chance all game. Possession was only 51 – 49% in their favour, and we weren’t completely outplayed in every way.
Going into the second leg knowing the tie was already lost, a 4-0 away defeat put to bed the dream of winning the Champions League – no harm in dreaming that! It meant we could turn our attentions domestically…
But it was just nice to see our name with a bunch of top European names.
After nicking top spot off of Celtic before the Xmas break, I’ve kept true to my word and tried to improve our finances. A former player of the year for the club Billy Arce was offered to clubs and sold eventually for a deal that would in total come to around 4 million pounds.
The choice was made when young target for a couple of years Jack Scott who Chelsea initially wanted 120 million for took his price down to 275k! Competing with Crystal Palace for the signature, he decided to join the might Ayr United, giving us a profit of 3.7 million or so pounds from the two deals.
He’ll be backup for our Israeli kid, but he’s got attributes where he can come in and do a job, which is pretty much where Arce was now coming to in his career.
However for the first time I seem to have annoyed our fans. They were devastated at his sale and aren’t at all pleased. But that’s why they are fans and not a manager.
Down to the Wire
It appears the transfer dealings hasn’t had the negative impact the Ayr fans thought it may have. Jack Scott has come in and done a job in Abuksis’ absence.
The two points gap created at Xmas has been maintained, although Celtic actually had been leading for the majority of the time after our brief stint at the top of the tree over Xmas. Celtic also have a superior goal difference to us and it’s not something we’re going to be able to make up.
The Final Five:
Hibernian A
Rangers H
Hearts A
Motherwell H
Celtic H
It’s nice we have 3 home matches out of the 5, and it’s also good news both Rangers and Celtic have to come to our Somerset Park home. It maximises the chances we have of retaining our league title.
What has been worrying is with Hunt not getting into a real rhythm and Eamonn Lynch has been a lot poorer in front of goal this year, games we were winning comfortably last year have been more of a struggle.
Our defence has again though kept us in good stead which is the real reason why we didn’t only have a great Champions League run but it has kept us well in contention domestically.
I think with it being so tight, it looks inevitable that the last game of the season will be a title decider. As long as we aren’t 3 points down on Celtic before the last game, a win in front of our fans will be enough for take home the title...and I'm really confident, because Stephen Hunt is now getting games again and scoring - showing real glimpses of his player of the year form last season that has been sorely missed this year.
After smashing Hibernian 4-1 in the semi’s, Celtic scraped past St Johnstone to have a repeat of the Betfred Cup Final which we won earlier on in the year.
We’ve not done too badly against Celtic at all this season, which will hopefully give our lads the confidence to go out there again and play their game.
The significance of the league and Cup Final this time around, is Celtic on both accounts are trying to prevent us from equalling the feat only they have ever achieved – the double treble.
It’s all still far off to be thinking about such an achievement, but six cup finals do stand between us and matching this amazing achievement that has only ever happened once before in the history of Scottish football….
Thanks mate - but as expected, we took a proper battering in the end! I was just happy to see our names thrown in the hat with a bunch of European giants
What promised to be a thrilling end to a highly competitive title race between The Glasgow and Ayrshire clubs, actually became quite a disappointment.
Ayr’s form was impeccable in the last five games. Winning every single match that included a 4-1 title day drubbing of Motherwell meant it was all too easy for The Honest Men who could afford to relax in the final game at home against Celtic – which Ayr won 3-1.
What went wrong for Celtic? They got to the Euro Cup quarter finals where they got battered by Manchester United 5-0 on aggregate.
Playing midweek, they had little time to recover and were forced to travel to Motherwell in the first of the five games. Losing that game 2-0, the gap then went in Ayr’s favour to 5 points.
They did bounce back in the next two games to beat Hibs and Rangers for once at this time of the season. But then a draw against Hearts in front of their own fans and Ayr’s comfortable win vs Motherwell meant their title challenge had been a disappointing ending.
After playing Ayr 4 times this season, they’ve won once and drawn one losing the other two.
So Ayr do have the edge going into the Scottish Cup Final, but motivation to at least win something and prevent Ayr achieving the double treble is something this Celtic squad will be more than up for.
So this is the game that will be probably Ayr’s best ever chance at emulating the only ever double-treble feat by their opponents Celtic.
A first XI was out for the Honest Men. With over 60,000 fans in attendance, this was probably one of the most packed attendances seen in this Scottish Cup Final for some-time.
Ayr seemed to have settle in the better of the sides, having more shots at the goal than Celtic although the score ended 0-0 at half time.
It took until the hour mark for the deadlock to be broken in this final, and it was none other than poacher supreme Eamonn Lynch who gave Ayr the lead….and it was an absolutely superb team goal from the Ayr bunch!
After some real intricate play that utilised the full size of the pitch, the ball eventually found its way to Lynch who struck the ball ever so sweetly to fly past the helpless dive of Farquhar. Barcelona-esque, well not quite but it really wasn’t that far off!
But Celtic then replied 11 minutes later in a very well worked goal. Working it down to the right flank, the ball got crossed to the near post. The Ayr keeper came out but was beaten to the ball by Jaramillo. He will be disappointed with his effort, and the marvellous goal Ayr scored was wiped out by a keeping error.
Minute 81 then saw a free kick on the left side of the Celtic box. Sometimes simplicity is beauty, and this it was. A cross in from the free kick found Michael Taylor who got ahead of his marker to head down low passed the keeper at the near post. 2-1 to Ayr!
With only 10 or so minutes to hold on, with experienced Internationals in the defensive positions for Ayr Moss was confident his side could hold on…
But only 3 minutes later, some patient build up play had led to Hannes Wolf finding a little space. He then hit a strong strike low from 20 yards out to the bottom right hand corner passed the despairing dive of Pawasa. Moss was fuming at the lead being thrown away twice in this final. The game then finished 2 a piece after 90 minutes with extra time now to be played.
Things like this can really knock the confidence out of you and Moss was worried how this would affect his team with another 30 minutes left on the clock to now play.
But it proved to be a rather uneventful extra time. The odd chance fell to either side, but there was always that feeling that there was a degree of nervousness from both sides.
Celtic known for choking and under pressure to win a trophy. Ayr with history at stake, whilst losing the lead twice does bring doubts mentally.
So after extra-time the game ended being the same score-line after 90 minutes – it would now take penalties to settle the tie….and so happy viewing:
So there it was! Martin Wilson hitting the winning penalty in his first season at Ayr giving Ayr United the double-treble and making their place in the Scottish history book.
It really was not a good day for the heart of Ayr boss Moss. But elation at the end of the day it was as however you win a game of football, it’s only the winning that matters.
Looking at the game as a whole, it looked like Ayr were the side deserving of the victory. With that said, Celtic showed excellent resilience to come back twice in a game and that alone could be argument they did not deserve to lose.
But in any cup final, there can only be one winner – and today it was Ayr’s day.
We overachieved with all our board objectives set this year…I’m still waiting for that bad year. I thought at times this was going to be the one with all our injury worries. But there was some inspired squad performances.
I have to mention both Oliver Wall and Martin Wilson. Because when these guys stepped in, they performed to an exceptional level and we remained consistent throughout the campaign. On the side again it was also nice to notch up another Manager of the Year award
So here’s a run down of my top 3 players who played a big part in us achieving our second treble in a row:
Daniel Bonde 7.42 – Back to his best, scoring the top average of our squad. Although still discipline is a problem, he performed well and played his part in our excellent Champions League run this year.
Guy Abuksis 7.34 – A really good average from the Israeli who rubber stamped his first team spot leading to the sale of Billy Arce, making it feel like he’d never be missed.
Reece MacPherson 7.34 – Really has come on as a centre-back. More international experience has come his way, and his performances were critical in keeping our defensive solidity this season.
On a side note, Eamonn Lynch had a poor season for the club. Well, not as prolific. He only notched 19 goals which compared to his x2 30 plus goals the last couple of years is definitely a down-turn in form.
With that said, he has come in up the big games, notably coming up with a hatrick on Title winning day against Motherwell.
I think there were several reasons why we accomplished what we did this year. Let’s go through some of the reasons why I think we made the double-treble this year:
Daniel Bonde again happy – After a poor season last year being discontent at being fined for poor discipline, Bonde “forgave” me and his form started to pick up. The midfield area is key, especially when playing a 442 you need players working hard. He was back to his best at times this season.
Guy Abuksis’ emergence - With Billy Arce on the decline, the young Israeli kid stepped up and when playing regularly he was performing better than Arce was this year on his decline. He’s also a fully experienced International now having won 36 caps for his country.
Defensive Stability – This was a second season where we had the same back-line as the previous season. Familiar with each other, and a growing number of International caps for keeper Pawasa, MacPherson at CB, and LB Finn Ecrepont meant their increasing experience added to this familiarity.
Stephen Hunt back to form – Although missing a lot of the year and performing poorly as a result, his form was picking up in the final few weeks of the season. Determined to play a part of the team’s success, I’m sure with his determination of 20 he really was up for bringing his part to the table at the backend of the season.
Sebastien Anderson fulfilling potential – Improved even more so than last year and now has 13 full Danish caps to his name. A lot of clubs have been bidding for him throughout the year, and so in his deep-lying forward position he was more of a handful this year.
Martin Wilson a good backup – When Bonde was suspended which again was not a rarity, we had a more natural and better advanced playmaker to come into the team this season. At 1.2 million, his services were a steal.
Celtic self-destructing – Their form just went completely AWOL in the final five games. Only 2 points behind us, they finished 10 points behind in the end. Whatever the reason, they failed when it mattered most… and it seems to be a pattern these last few seasons. Perhaps their players struggle in the bigger games when there is real competition to be faced.
Champions League Performance – Exceeding in such an elite competition was not only a great experience for the players but also a real confidence boost as a whole knowing they can compete and beat some of the best. Taking down Lyon and Roma isn’t an easy task and we got out of a difficult group.
Luck – It did take a penalty shoot-out to win the end of season Scottish Cup. Perhaps we deserved to win it, but nevertheless the shootout is a lottery and we were lucky on the day.
That’s my honest assessment. And it probably helped getting knocked out early in the Champions League because I know how fatigue can effect things when going further into the knockout stages.
6-1 v Celtic - And let’s not forget our 6-1 drubbing of Celtic in front of our home fans. It was actually an even game, but the score-line really does give happy reading and days like this can only bring confidence to the team….so here are the highlights of probably my finest result domestically as an Ayr United boss:
In wonderful long-term news for the club, the new stadium plans have been given the thumbs up. I’m really happy with this, because now I feel I could stay at Ayr for the foreseeable future.
The capacity is due to fit in 22,197 spectators. We now will have undersoil heating too. The estimated completion date is for a little over two years time, which will be 23/6/31.
It appears the financial management this season could well have helped in this decision to go ahead. The cost is going to be about 25.5 million pounds. Securing Champions League football again along with our treble success will surely have aided the decision too.
Most of our signings now don’t have many instalments left to be paid. Only Michael Taylor has two big chunks of 3.1 million remaining to be settled.
We have been given a budget of just over 7 million. The smart thing to do would be to try to spend wisely the next year or two. Looking at the age of my squad, only Allan Campbell in centre midfield now 30 years of age will need to be replaced with someone of sufficient quality. I could also do with a better backup right winger and a adaptable midfielder to replace the now 35 year old free signing McGregor.
I’m hoping not to be able to do another Billy Arce – but it may be a case of selling Campbell to fund my replacements.
Media Prediction – 2nd
Scottish Premiership – 1st
Scottish Cup – Final
Betfred Cup – Final
Champions League – Group Stages
The stature of the club since I have taken over has been a highlight in the board’s eyes. With a 100% rating here, so much has changed since I took over which must now be a good nine years ago now.
The expectations have continued to rise, and although the media predict us to finish behind Celtic this season – our board want us to take the title home.
With that added pressure, I realise the importance of having a squad and first team capable of achieving this. I haven’t spent so long in a Summer window before, and my plans to be careful with our budget has gone a little outstretched for my liking.
Isn’t it funny how football works? Gary Paton our star man a few years back now joined Man City after paying out his release clause.
However his career there appeared to be over. With City not wanting to offer him a contract and allowed me to bid zero for him, I happily took the opportunity to bring back a player I know can put the ball in the back of the net in this Scottish League.
So Gary Paton returns! But his lack of playing time has meant his development has stuttered and he’ll never reach his full potential. He’ll be on our bench this year, but is a definite improvement to our squad.
A Real Steal
A similar situation occurred with 23 year old Danny Quin. A right winger who has been at Arsenal his whole career, the club saw no purpose for him and allowed him to go on a free. Stephen Hunt has been a good signing for us, but this guy has a bit more about him all round and he’ll be slotting straight into our first XI – a real deal this one.
With one of my full-backs leaving on a free I needed to invest. Celtic had a number of decent full-backs available. But one in particular caught my eye in 20 year old David Manson. On Arsenal’s and Tottenham’s radar and a loan bid placed by Killie, I decided to splash 5 million on the kid.
He won’t be a starter, but a year of training and becoming more durable to play on both the left and right sides he’ll be on the bench. It’s just unfortunate I have a real good right back in Matthew Gibbins. But this kid could be a real asset long-term, and 5 million could be a steal so I couldn’t say no with no cheaper alternatives on the market.
A Different Dimension
The same problem here with not finding a good value replacement for the ageing Campbell. A great servant for us, but with his pace diminishing and no longer seen as a top Premiership player I had to splash the cash.
In comes 28 year old American International Tyler Collins. He’s not as combative at all, but he’ll cover more ground and has an eye for a pass too. Technically he is also superior, so we’ll be more fluid with working the ball up this year I expect but may not be so strong on the defensive front.
Bonde to Captain
It will mean Bonde has the next best attributes to be captain, with only one point less in the teamwork attribute. But I know he can really boss a game for us – so I’m hoping he’ll be up to the task, and with the extra responsibility hopefully he may finally learn to not be so reckless on the pitch! Brings memories of Rooney’s early day problems in that department.
Well we’ve done some good business. Everything has been finalised before July, so I’ll have a good amount of time to work with our squad this year.
I hope I haven’t gone overboard on the financial front. But the added pressure for league success against a Celtic side that is capable of having a brilliant season is one I need to be fully prepared for.
Financially at the start of July we’re at 17 million in the bank. I know that will slide, but hopefully after last year we’ll still be in a decent enough position on that front for the next couple of years for when our new stadium will be ready!
Great to see how you've progressed. Solid summer in time for the coming season also. The new stadium should help progress you to the next level too, with the extra gate receipts.
Yeah, it can't come quick enough! Been fortunate with some of the players I've been able to get on the cheap. I'm hoping I can get Ayr into the CL knockouts on a regular basis being my long-term aim. Whether that's unrealistic I don't know, it's what I want to do though!
With the first set of New Years fixtures played the board are showing their dissatisfaction to Ayr boss Moss.
Despite being two points off from Celtic in the league, the board have voiced their views that the club is underachieving and by quite a substantial margin.
Ayr have found goals a lot harder to come by this season. Billy Arce has never truly been replaced when in his prime form, and that’s been evident this year.
Not enough has been contributed from Absuksis who had initially shown much promise last season, and Jack Scott although showing bits of brilliance, he’s not a good enough all round footballer to warrant a starting spot. Moss has used him as an impact player off the bench mostly.
Teams are also parking not just one bus, but two double-decker buses at times in front of their goal which has made things tough.
Celtic on the other hand have been very free-scoring, and it really looks like the four consecutive titles will be broken this season.
What has saved Moss so far this year are the performances in both the Betfred Cup and the Champions League.
An excellent performance from The Honest Men at Hampden Park secured another Betfred Cup success making it four years in a row.
Although the game was even in the first half with the whistle blowing whilst the scores were nil nil, four goals in 13 second half minutes blew The Bhoys literally away…
It began in the 76th minutes when Eamonn Lynch when Anderson played in a tidy through ball, finding a little bit of space Lynch kept his composure to strike well passed the keeper.
The lead was double only three minutes later when Danny Quinn was fouled in a dangerous position on the right side of the box Lynch converted, sending the keeper the wrong way.
With Celtic pushing on to try get back into the game, the high line was exploited with Lynch being played free, to then cross the ball to the left side finding Jack Scott with time to place his finish in the 88th minute.
And then immediately after the kick off with Celtic heads well and truly down, losing the ball cheaply Bonde played a through ball who then got ahead of his opposite man to fire the ball home passed the keeper in a 1v1. 4-0! And another hammering the Ayr lads have dished out on the boys from Glasgow.
[video=youtube;vSJYM6cr0pU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSJYM6cr0pU[/video] Champions League
The competition this year for Moss’ side has been the success story of modern day Scottish football – and in turn alleviated all the pressure off of Moss with Ayr’s domestic league position.
Finally Ayr had a weak 4th side in their group, Ludogrets. The other sides were AS Monaco – and yet again Spaniards Barca.
An Amazing Start
The campaign started away at the Nou Camp Stadium. Although bossing the game and recording 31 shots at the Ayr goal, only one clear cut chance was created – the same number as made by Ayr.
We took a surprise lead through Sebastian Anderson in the 20th minute. But a reply a little over 10 minutes later levelled the game. A dirty game with a lot of bookings totalling 7 for us and a red card! But we held on valiantly and made the trip back to Scotland with an outstanding point gained.
It was then Ludogorets at home for us, and we took this game home 2-1 leaving us with 4 points from our two games played.
A Shock in France
Then we had a tough fixture away against Monaco. If we were going to somehow make the knockout stages, this is the team we would have to target to get a shock result against.
Things did not start so well as they took the lead in the 22nd minute. But a reply from Eamonn Lynch 4 minutes later tied the game going into the break.
In the 51st minute Lynchy bagged his second and gave us a shock lead! And then Tielemans their star man in the middle of the park got himself a red card, and Monaco were down to 10 – it was a brilliant chance to get a result.
And that we did! There were no more goals in the game. We controlled possession well ending up with 54% and had 16 shots to their 10. This result was a real game changer for the whole dynamic of the group – and we’d given ourselves a brilliant chance to progress.
Finishing the Job
We then had Monaco again in the game at home this time. Daniel Bonde was suspended (as always) so in came Martin Wilson. But with home advantage we would be a tougher nut for them to crack…and importantly a win here would already secure our Knockout qualification with an amazing two games left to spare!
The game tight for long long periods…but the breakthrough came through in the 88th minute! The freebie from Arsenal Danny Quin hit a superb volley from a ball launched across from the left side of the pitch passed the helpless keeper.
We held on for the remaining minutes plus injury time. And we had notched up a hugely impressive 10 points from four games with two to play.
Barca next – and we were top of the group for 10 minutes! But they equalised in the 60th minute tieing the game back up at 2-2 which it ended as. 11 points from 5 games but second place in the group on goal difference.
Ludogorets were dispatched at their place with ease 3-0 in the final game to make it 13 points from 5 games…Barca in the mean time also made very light work of Monaco at Camp Nou so they kept their spot as winners in the group.
I have to say I never dreamt of performing so well in our Champions League Group. I was expecting a Euro Cup spot because we haven’t done well against Monaco previously.
But the squad performed heroics in each and every game – and to remain undefeated in a group containing Barca is one immense achievement. I can’t see this ever happening again at Ayr!
Unfortunately we’ll be missing Bonde and Tyler Collins both our first team midfielders in our next CL game. A hard draw, and the tie could immediately be out of reach. Finishing in second, that will likely be the case.
Thanks...I think team's are really starting to play more defensively against us now. Struggling to score this year we're drawing too many games at the moment. Don't really have the players to go so gung-ho which is a bit of a worry!
For those Hulkamaniacs, one might say “Moss know’s best”. Identifying a problem in the first half of the season, the Ayr boss decided to splash the cash on previously scouted Spanish left winger Diego Carmona.
Learning his trade at Valencia as a kid, he’s shown immense promise possessing good all-round attributes, whilst excelling in those needed to be a dangerous winger.
At only 19 years old Moss decided it was worth spending 8 million now on him, believing this kid could be the real deal and a fantastic acquisition for the club.
And at the league split point, he has played 14 games returning with 7 goals and 4 assists. He also tops the average rating in the Ayr squad.
More importantly, where Ayr were struggling to create and score goals as well as previous years, his introduction has resulted in 11 wins and only 2 draws – catapulting Ayr to the top of the Scottish Premiership and now lead Celtic by a solid 5 points. No more draw specialist tag.
Hearts A
Celtic H
Motherwell H
Rangers H
Hibernian A
Moss will no doubt want to clinch his and Ayr’s 5th title in a row at the earliest opportunity. But Hearts away is a tricky game, and a defeat there will really put pressure on the home game with Celtic.
However the form The Honest Men are in, it’s hard to see them not coming up trumps in this year’s title race. Only complacency will threaten to ruin the good work they’ve done this second half of the season so far.
With Ayr’s excellent form this second half of the season, it has seen them defeat Celtic away in the 5th round and defeating all other opposition to make it to another Scottish Cup Final.
Having won the competition 4 times in the last 5 years another date at Hampden Park has been booked. After knocking out the other Glasgow club Rangers in the semi’s, it’s the green of Hibernian who will be the last team left to stop the recent dominance Ayr have had winning this trophy.
Last year it was about the double treble – but this could be a history breaking moment in Scottish football, with Ayr on course to achieve a feat that has never been done before, the treble treble.
Paying the Price
In Champions League news, the Ayr story this year again ends in the 1st round of the Knockout stages. An extremely tough draw meant Ayr had to face Liverpool, and with their attacking talent were always going to pose a huge threat.
The two suspensions in the heart of the Ayr midfield cost the Scottish Champions dearly, with Liverpool bossing the game away from Anfield and scored five times to win the tie 5-3.
The return leg saw a full strength Ayr side take to the pitch, and fans will be left wondering what could have been if everyone was available.
In front of an Anfield crowd, Ayr showed truly what they’re capable of on their day. Daniel Bonde gave The Honest Men the lead just after half an hour gone with an excellent curled strike from 20 yards out.
Then in the 90th minute Eamonn Lynch tucked away a spot kick to give Ayr a 2-0 lead at Anfield…3 minutes to find another goal and put Ayr through????
….Then one minute later straight from the kick, there was a goal….but it was to the Scousers! Almost a miraculous comeback, but it wasn’t to be today.
Nevertheless a valiant effort as it always seems to be from the Ayr bunch when it comes to a European night, and yet another win against a top European side. It’s definitely safe to say Ayr have come on leaps and bounds and no longer can they be seen as little minnows, but a side capable of being a real handful for any top team on their day.
Well, I was very confident coming into this run-in. Celtic’s form has dipped as it always seems to when it’s the important time of the season. And my side haven’t lost a game in a long while.
So going into the Hearts game I was hoping we could come away with the three points so there was less pressure against Celtic next week. However things did not go according to plan.
Deadlock
We had our best team out, but we just couldn’t break them down. Both sides had one clear cut chance each. Possession was fairly even, though we had 3 times as many shots as they did.
It was one of those games that I guess a point wasn’t the worst result as at least we got something, but it meant with Celtic beating Hibs 2-0 at home they were 3 points down – and a better goal difference.
Ayr Resilience
Come the Celtic game, we had our full side out again so I was confident with our home support and us now being a bit of a bogey team for Celtic both in trophies and one-off games we’d take this one home.
But like against Hearts, things didn’t go to script. Six minutes in and The Bhoys took the lead to stun our home fans.
So often I drill my side to be decent at set-pieces given they’re so important in the modern game. But I swallowed some of my own medicine.
An inswinger met the head of Karl De Meyer was what broke us. Great when you score a set piece, but infuriating when you concede one like that. So already we were under pressure.
However we got the perfect response from our lads six minutes later. Quinny who has gotten better throughout the year fed Lynch who from a central position hit a low shot passed the dive of still Celtic keeper Farquhar. Tied at 1-1, I was hoping we could build from here.
Celtic had other plans. As in the 37th minute Paredes smashed the ball into the roof of the net from about 15 yards out – our keeper had no chance with saving that one. 1-2 and again we were under real pressure to get the next goal, with each time Celtic leading they moved to the top of the Premiership on goal difference.
Now half-time, it was a chance to get the players mentally ready for what could be an absolutely critical next forty-five minutes in the title race…
One Team Second Half
Then on 52 minutes, Captain Bonde showed some brilliant footwork from not the best ball played to him, controlled it fantastically well and then got himself in a position to hit a shot with enough pace and placement into the bottom right corner to beat the keeper. 2-2 and we’ve come back yet again.
With the game now in a tense state, the next goal would probably prove the match-winner and with around a quarter of an hour to go the fifth goal of the game came…
And it was a brilliant team goal is what came. Hoofing the ball out of the Celtic danger zone, the ball came back to our ball-playing defender Taylor who set the pace for a patient and lengthy build up.
With good crisp passing and using the full length of the pitch, space then came for Quinn to attack the right flank. Getting into a position to cross the ball, he floated an excellent delivery to the far post giving our Spanish signing Carmona time to judge the flight of the ball and time his jump to perfection – to then nod the ball in from 6 yards out. 3-2 to Ayr with 15 left on the clock.
As in the past, when down Celtic do take risks to get back into the game. But not for the first time our lads punish them brutally – and that we did again.
Provider for the last goal, Danny Quinn took the glory this time. A cross with plenty of height launched from our left back Ecrepont found the former Arsenal man free at the back post to hit a controlled one-touch finish from a few yards out. 4-2 and now in minute 90, that was the game done.
To add further insult to injury, Celtic really lost their composure and conceded a foul from a corner swung into the box. Just needlessly tugging. Lynch happy to oblige would step up and score from the spot to leave the final result a 5-2 win to us.
Although the title wasn’t officially won here, it felt like it was.
The League was Ours
Our next game had Motherwell come to Somerset Park – easing to a 5-0 victory. Really playing superbly and with such a big win last game it felt like winning was a formality. Great to see the lads remain professional and get the job done in this manner.
Which then meant a home win against Rangers in our fourth of the fifth games would clinch the title.
And it was another outstanding attacking performance and defensive one that put the Rangers game to bed after the first half. 4-0 it was at half time, with no further goals coming in the second. Just as well for The Gers or it could really have been an embarrassment.
We lost the last game to our cup final opponents Hibs though! I played a complete second string for this one to ensure none of my first teamers that were not suspended for the final were not injured.
Good decision that was, as two of my players playing suffered 2+ month injuries. But nevertheless, being outplayed and losing to the only team stopping us from doing the treble treble isn’t ideal cup final preparation.
With that 3-1 defeat out the way, we ended the season with 90 points – only 3 points above Celtic. But with those heavy hitting victories against Motherwell and Rangers we ended up with a slightly better goal difference than Celtic overall.
Scottish Cup Final – Was it to be?
This was going to be a real tough game. We had Michael Taylor, Tyler Collins and Diego Carmona all unavailable for selection in this one. That’s our top winger, are defensive central midfielder and our ball-playing defender. All core elements for our side.
So it looks like this was going to be a tight game. We knew they could play after beating our second string last match, and with confidence up and our weakened team there was a real chance for a scoreline that would ruin 2.99 years of perfection.
In came Campbell, Finlayson and Abuksis. All not fully match-fit, I really did not want this match going further than ninety minutes.
Hibs had a lot of the ball in this final, hovering over the 55% mark all game. But we’ve always had a degree of organisation to our 442, and possession won’t always win you games.
A game of cat and mouse in the first half, and also the second half….one clear cut chance came all game long and it came to us.
Decisive Moment
And so came the 80th minute, a free kick on our left hand side was taken by our set piece specialist Daniel Bonde. Bringing up our two centrebacks MacPheron and Finlayson to cause havoc, that they did.
Swung into the near post big MacPherson got his head to the ball, with a glancing header that found his partner Finlayson losing his marker ending up free at the back post to volley the ball home from only a couple of yards out. He’d have done well to have missed that one! So 1-0 up and ten minutes plus injury time to go. All we had to do was hold on.
With the game under control from our starting XI, only Bonde was taken off just after his assist to bring some energy into the centre of the park as he was fatigued.
The minutes then played out very nicely for us, as they didn’t create anything at all….the final whistle then went and the hatrick of trophies and treble treble was ours!
I really had my doubts after the first half of the season, but signing Diego Carmona really was a game changer. Initially a 3 star rated player, he shot up to 4 star and instantly became an integral part of our side.
Yes he didn’t play today, but he got us there, and also overturned our league deficit which at one point was five points even in the second half of the season.
I made sure there were no dodgy clauses in his contract! I’m hoping he’s going to be here for many more years to come.
We’ve had our budget confirmed for the upcoming season of a bit over 18 million – I’m surprised it is that much, but you really do rake money in if you make the CL knockouts.
I’m really looking forward to getting one more season played with Ayr – because the following season we should have our new 20,000 plus capacity stadium ready!
I’m not sure I’m going to need to invest too much either. But if a real quality player is available in the central midfield area and centreback slots that’s where the money will go.
I don’t have a perfect ball playing defender as Taylor is making do there. And with Tyler Collins 29 years old it won’t be long till he will decline just like Campbell. Collins was a bit of a desperate move, but I needed someone to come in and do a job this and next year.
In an amazing season and I believe our best yet, everyone really performed well for us. Only two players were sub 7 in the average ratings, being our goalkeeper and our Summer signing in the centre def mid position Tyler Collins.
But these tend to be positions where these players don’t often get the praise they deserve – unless your team is so bad that the opponents get a dozen shots on target per game.
As mentioned previously, our mid-season signing Carmona probably was our best player in the second half of the season so worth a mention here. But over the long haul, there were four outstanding players and they were all importantly in differing areas of the pitch which is a great thing.
Reece MacPherson 7.29 – He’s been outstanding since he’s been with us now for five years. Still at only 26 years of age he cost us 2.5 million from Aberdeen. Rarely lets the side down and gets his fair share of goals too.
Daniel Bonde 7.37 – His first season as our captain replacing Allan Campbell who was only a squad player this year. Scoring 10 and assisting 20 goals he’s been key to everything we have achieved this season. Only his discipline remains a problem, and that potentially cost us in the game against Liverpool in the 1st Round CL Knockouts.
Danny Quin 7.26 – The freebie from Arsenal. Took a little while to get going but he improved throughout the year, and came up with a number of important goals. Scoring an excellent 17 times and assisting 11 he’s established himself as the first team right winger so there will be no need to invest in this area next year.
Eamonn Lynch 7.04 – Back to his best for us this year after a disappointing goal tally last season. Scoring an impressive 33 times he’s now coming to the peak of his career. 27 years old an with over 50 caps for Ireland he still has a good couple of years at the top of his game left. Hopefully he’ll remain injury free and his form will be key for next season.
Media Prediction – 2nd
Scottish Premiership – 1st (Winners)
Scottish Cup – Final (Winners)
Betfred Cup – Final (Winners)
Champions League – Group Stages (1st Round KO Stage – lost to Liverpool)
The ambitious task the board set of winning the title this year although a struggle at the start, with the recruitment of Carmona we turned things around to achieve the treble treble. Such decisions with concrete results is what brings in Manager of the Year Awards, winning this now seven times in eight years.
It was really pleasing to have the better of Celtic this year. They may still have a couple of stand out players in their ranks that are real Champions League quality, but our team work and cohesion is unrivalled at this time which is why we’ve dominated everything domestically these past three years.
We also don’t have a first XI player over the age of 30. This is really handy as when we may need to invest more to replace ageing players, our new stadium will be built and in the hope we’ll fill out most of our capacity once completed. Finances will be better.
Goodbye Cameron
Only one player will be leaving on a free this Summer, and that’s out backup keeper Cameron Dawson. Fair play to the guy, because when he joined he made the difference in bringing us up to the top level in Scotland. He was our first team keeper the first time we won the Premiership Title and he’ll be forever remembered for the part he played in our rise and success.
So a backup keeper, and if targets are available, a natural ball-playing defender and better suited centre midfield defend player is where I’ll be particularly looking to strengthen – unless there are any wonder-kids that may be lurking about as you can’t ever pass up these sort of opportunities when they arise.
