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...Division One is Upside down,
We're going up with the Brechin,
And Inverness are going down.
That's to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In" by the way. Been a bad day for Ayr fans. Defeat at St Mirren (4-1) means we'll almost certainly be relegated to the Second Division this time. Reflecting on my Ayr research it seems I overestimated a few players, so I've gone back and revised some numbers. Here are the runners and riders CA & PA (taking the value 90 to represent a good First Division player):
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Player Pos Age CA PAAaron Black SW/D C 19 50 70Graeme Brown S C 22 63 91Robert Burgess D C 18 20 50Mark Campbell D C 25 41 50Scott Chaplain M C 19 35 55Chris Clark D RL 18 11 30Craig Clark F RC 19 11 20Craig Conway F RC 18 21 45David Craig D C 34 48 60Stephen Crawford M LC 16 22 25Jamie Doyle AM C 18 51 60Mick Dunlop D/DM LC 20 50 55Andy Ferguson S C 18 51 60Steve Ferguson M C 26 50 55Iain Fulton D RLC 18 20 20Lee Hardy AM L 21 54 65John Hillcoat GK 32 40 40Roddy Hunter DM RC 18 31 35Darren Johnson GK 17 31 40Gerard Joyce SW/D C 19 27 28Stewart Kean S C 20 40 60Daniel Kerr S C 18 10 15James Latta AM RC 18 26 35Willie Lyle D/DM R 19 45 55Mark McColl F RC 18 35 45Stuart McGrady DM/F RL 18 35 50Steven Miller M RC 19 61 70Boyd Mullen AM RC 17 20 25Dougie Ramsay M RC 24 51 60Ludo Roy GK 25 90 100Marc Smyth D/DM RC 20 40 50Jordan Tait D/F RC 23 51 55Paul Templeton M C 17 22 25</pre>
I believe these ratings more accurately represent the current ability of the Ayr United squad and will now proceed to try and keep them in the division, limiting myself to the 3-5-2, 3-5-2 sweeper and 4-4-2 formations used by Ayr this season in real life. This may also give you a sneak preview of how it will be to manage Ayr in Football Manager when it is released!
GK: Ludovic Roy - Ludo is our best player by some distance, the one guy of genuine First Division quality and a lot of our hopes this season rest on him.
SW:Aaron Black - As a midfielder Aaron was pretty poor, but since moving to the sweeper role has looked servicable.
DC: Mark Campbell - Marko is a big galut. Previously class, but since returning from a cruciate injury has been rubbish. Big earner too.
DC: Davie Craig - David is a model pro and a shining example to young players, he has been ever since arriving in 1998. Still the top defender at the club.
DMR: Willie Lyle - Wullie just beats out Marc Smyth here on endeavour. Really not the best player in the world and can't cross a ball to save his life.
DML: Lee Hardy - Lee has all the tools to be good, but can't produce the goods in matchday situations. Ideally a left winger as his defensive skills are sadly lacking, but forced to work hard in this formation.
MC: Dougie Ramsay - Dougie played for Motherwell last season and is about the pick of our midfield crop. Reasonable passing, works hard.
MC: Steve Ferguson - Steve missed this season IRL through injury, but promises to be a driving force for my team in the engine room. Is a baldy.
MC: Scott Chaplain - Cannae tackle, cannae pass, cannae score. Scott easily beats out his other competitors though because I like him.
FC: Graeme Brown - Broonie is set to find stardom with indie band Mydas, but still devotes time to playing for Ayr and being a trainee lawyer. Like a cooler version of me really.
FC: Stewart Kean - Keano will run himself into the ground for the team, but he can't shoot straight. Early favourite to be top scorer.
After a couple of decent performances against SPL sides in pre-season we came into competitive action with a Challenge Cup tie in Arbroath. We lost 2-0 and never competed, bringing back haunting memories of our real life collapse at home to Stirling Albion. Our first league match brought another case of deja vu as we faced St Mirren and were reduced to ten men before taking the lead. Saints equalised, but defeat was not forthcoming and we nicked a point. From then on we didn't score another goal all month, though performances improved, losing 3-0 at home to Brechin, 2-0 at Queen of the South and 1-0 at St Johnstone. I added three players on loan for the season, Andy Dowie of Rangers, Les Byle and Paul Mortimer, both of whom were struggling for a game at East Fife. All three have the combative qualities I'm looking for and will hopefully help in defence where Marko Campbell has been a disgrace.
@ Arbroath2 August 2003
Roy (c) 7; Black 7; Campbell 5 (Smyth, 75 6); Craig 5; Lyle 7; Hardy 7; Ramsay 7; Ferguson 7; Chaplain 6; Brown 4 (Ferguson, 75 6); Kean 5 Goals: none
v St Mirren9 August 2003
Roy (c) 7; Black 3 (s/o 20); Dowie 4 (Dunlop, 76 6); Craig 5; Lyle 7; Hardy 5 (Miller, 76 6); Ramsay 7; Ferguson 7; Chaplain 7; Brown 7*; Kean 5 (Smyth, 20 6) Goals: Brown 65"
v Brechin16 August 2003
Roy (c) 5; Smyth 6; Dowie 7; Craig 5; Lyle 7; Hardy 7; Ramsay 7; Ferguson 7; Chaplain 6; Brown 6; Kean 1 (!!) Goals: none
@ Queen of the South23 August 2003
Roy (c) 8; Black 6; Dowie 4; Craig 7; Tait 4 (Smyth, 76 7); Dunlop 8; Ramsay 7; Miller 7; Hardy 6; Brown 4; Ferguson 2 (Kean, 76 5, s/o 83) Goals: none
@ St Johnstone30 August 2003
Roy (c) 9*; Black 5; Byle 6; Craig 5; Tait 7; Dunlop 7; Ramsay 5 (Doyle, 87 6); Miller 6; Hardy 7; Brown 6 (McColl, 87 6); Ferguson 7 Goals: none
An extra time defeat against Hamilton in the League Cup was disappointing, but the bigger worry came from an injury to Ludovic Roy, which tests after the game showed to be a thigh strain, and despite lasting only six minutes of this match, he should not miss any further action. We were competitive at Falkirk on the Saturday, but never good enough, and the 4-2 defeat was not too disappointing. The visit of Ross County was a game we deserved to take something from, but a second half penalty, awarded in controversial circumstances and converted by alleged racist Callum McHattie saw us beaten 1-0. The month ended at Raith where we did well for 45 minutes to go in at 0-0, but collapsed after the break to a 5-0 defeat. A bad month all told.
@ Hamilton2 September 2003
Roy 5 (Hillcoat (c), 6 8); Black 5; Byle 7; Craig 5 (Smyth, 90 7); Tait 7; Dunlop 7; Ramsay 7; Miller 7; Hardy 4 (Ferguson, 90 6); Brown 7; Ferguson 7 Goals: Brown 14"
@ Falkirk13 September 2003
Roy (c) 7; Black 6; Mortimer 5 (Smyth, 82 6); Craig 6; Tait 5; Dunlop 4 (McGrady, 82 6); S.Ferguson 7; Miller 6; Hardy 4 (Doyle, 82 6); Brown 6; A.Ferguson 8 Goals: A.Ferguson 45", Brown 75"
v Ross County20 September 2003
Roy (c) 5; Black 7; Smyth 7; Craig 6 (Mortimer, 82 6); Tait 5 (Dunlop, 82 6); McGrady 7; S.Ferguson 7; Miller 7; Ramsay 7; Brown 6 (McColl, 82 6); A.Ferguson 7 Goals: none
@ Raith Rovers27 September 2003
Roy (c) 6; Black 3; Smyth 6; Craig 5; Lyle 5; McGrady 5; S.Ferguson 6; Miller 4; Ramsay 6; Brown 3; Ferguson 3 Goals: none
Away from home we're hopeless, but at Somerset we've been competitive and when Inverness were reduced to ten men in the second half of our match and David Craig curled home the free kick we looked good for our first win of the season. Caley weren't done though and scrambled a leveller, but the point was more than welcome. Away to Clyde we ran into a team that was simply better than we were and took a bad beating, Roy picking the ball out of his net seven times whilst we failed to threaten Mark Peat's goal. We pulled off a bit of a coup in the week following, bringing in former Scotland player Stephen Wright on a 1-year deal and he started at Brechin. An early penalty kick gave Lee Hardy the chance to put us ahead, and he duly obliged giving us our first away lead of the season. Within 40 seconds Brechin were level though and Stuart McGrady was sent off for a kick after eight minutes. At that stage I felt like going home, but to give my team credit they didn't let their heads go down and took the game in at half time tied 1-1. Further good play after the break kept us level into the final ten minutes, but Brechin are a hard working team who never give up and we knew we had to play for ninety minutes. Ludo Roy in goals was having a great day and the defence in front of him was doing a good job restricting City to long range efforts, with the woodwork serving us well also. As the final whistle signified our first away point of the season the players and fans celebrated as if we'd won the league. It had been a good day.
Pushing my wage budget to its extreme limit I added Gary Bowman in the week. Some would say it's a wasted signing as we're strong in midfield, but my hope is that he can deputise at left wing back and in fact he started there days later as we welcomed Queen of the South to Somerset. We showed up pretty well in a scoreless second half and there were thoughts of our first win, but a superb double save from Roy early in the half served to remind us that our first priority was to avoid defeat. Stewart Kean did have a marvellous chance to steal the points in the 89th minute, but he didn't take it and we got the point we just about earned. It had been a superb month as we quadrupled our points tally and experienced just one defeat.
v Inverness4 October 2003
Roy (c) 7; Black 7; Smyth 7; Craig 7; Lyle 7; McGrady 8*; S.Ferguson 7; Miller 8; Ramsay 7; Brown 7; A.Ferguson 5 (Kean, 45 7) Goals: Craig 49"
@ Clyde15 October 2003
Roy (c) 6; Black 4; Smyth 5; Craig 5; Lyle 6; McGrady 6; S.Ferguson 5; Miller 6; Ramsay 5 (Hardy, 45 6); Brown 6; A.Ferguson 5 Goals: none
@ Brechin18 October 2003
Roy (c) 10*; Black 6; Smyth 7; Wright 6; Lyle 7; McGrady 4 (s/o 8); Hardy 7 (Chaplain, 82 7); Miller 7; Ramsay 7; Brown 3 (Ferguson, 82 6); Kean 5 (Dunlop, 8 6) Goals: Hardy 3" pen
v Queen of the South25 October 2003
Roy (c) 8*; Black 7; Smyth 6; Wright 5; Lyle 6; Bowman 7; Hardy 7; Miller 7; Ramsay 7; Brown 6; Kean 4 Goals: none
After losing 2-0 to St Mirren, St Johnstone and Falkirk we broke the trend with a 4-1 loss at Ross County, Graeme Brown grabbing our goal. We played 4-4-2 for the last three games, but a switch back to the sweeper system for December seems to be inevitable as we seek our first league win of the campaign.
@ St Mirren1 November 2003
Roy (c) 6; Black 4; Smyth 6; Wright 7; Lyle 7; Bowman 8; Hardy 5 (Chaplain, 78 6); Miller 6; Ramsay 6; Brown 7; Kean 4 (Ferguson, 78 6) Goals: none
v St Johnstone8 November 2003
Roy (c) 6; Lyle 7; Bowman 7; Smyth 7; Wright 6; Ramsay 4 (Tait, 45 7); Hardy 7; Miller 7; Chaplain 4 (Dunlop, 45 7); Brown 4 (Ferguson, 45 7); Kean 6 Goals: none
v Falkirk22 November 2003
Roy (c) 5; Lyle 7; Bowman 5 (Dunlop, 86 6); Smyth 7; Wright 8; Ramsay 7; Hardy 6; Miller 7; S.Ferguson 7; Brown 4 (A.Ferguson 86, 6); Kean 7 Goals: none
@ Ross County29 November 2003
Roy (c) 7; Lyle 5 (Tait, 58 6); Bowman 5; Smyth 5; Wright 6; Ramsay 6; Hardy 6; Miller 4 (Chaplain, 58 6); S.Ferguson 5 (Dunlop, 58 6); Brown 7; Kean 7 Goals: Brown 52"
A 1-0 defeat at home to Raith wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that we didn't generate a single shot on goal in the 90 minutes, but we hoped to rectify that as Clyde visites, and did as a goalkeeping error allowed Graeme Brown to give us a third minute lead. We held the advantage for almost a quarter of an hour before Clyde broke through to level, but they wasted no time in scoring a second and we once again faced a defecit. A third goal with twenty-five minutes to go killed us off, though we did grab a second of our own thanks to a deflected Steven Miller free kick with eight minutes to go. Some improvement on 7-0 it has to be said. We got a major boost in the week as the draw for the Third Round sent us to Ibrox, meaning January at least had some promise.
In the meantime a trip to Inverness would normally mean defeat, but despite losing an own goal after just two minutes we had some pride to play for. A minute later it was 2-0 and we were starting to get worried down on the bench. It was three before even quarter of an hour had been played and only a brilliant save prevented a quick fourth. A 22nd minute penalty took the tally to four as we visibly imploded, but did hold out then until the break. We only lost one in the second half, but in injury time Willie Lyle missed a great chance to atone for his og, but his shot was saved and the match was over. Wholesale changes on the advice of my assistant Peter Leonard ensued for the home game with Brechin, but as ever we seemed bent on self-destruction giving up a goal on a 11th minute penalty kick. A red card for McGrady as the first half ended killed any thoughts of a comeback, a second Brechin goal with less than twenty minutes to go only serving to confirm that. The game eventually ended 4-0, which was harsh, but shows that we simply aren't good enough at this level.
v Raith Rovers6 December 2003
Roy (c) 8; Black 4; Smyth 6; Wright 6; Lyle 5; McGrady 7; Ramsay 7; Ferguson 6; Bowman 7; Brown 7; Kean 3 Goals: none
v Clyde13 December 2003
Roy (c) 8; Black 4; Smyth 7; Wright 7; Lyle 8; McGrady 7; Ramsay 7; S.Ferguson 5 (Miller, 59 7); Bowman 7; Brown 8; A.Ferguson 7 Goals: Brown 3", Miller 82"
@ Inverness20 December 2003
Roy (c) 5; Black 6; Smyth 5; Wright 6; Lyle 5; McGrady 6; Ramsay 4; S.Ferguson 5 (Miller, 60 6); Bowman 4 (Hardy, 60 6); Brown 3 (Kean, 45 6); A.Ferguson 4 (s/o 90) Goals: none
v Brechin26 December 2003
Roy (c) 6; Dowie 5; Smyth 6; Dunlop 5 (Craig, 31 5); Lyle 6; Bowman 4 (Hardy, 74 6); Miller 5; Chaplain 6; Mortimer 6; Tait 4 (Brown, 45 4); McGrady 3 (s/o 45) Goals: none
Division One Is Upside Down 
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