AYR to the Throne or Spinning around in the AYR?

[Lambies Lost Doo]

At the end of every season big teams release loads of young players.  This is when we hoover them up. Remember the promotion team 10 years ago was built on young players released from bigger clubs.  O'Donell (Celtic), Balatoni (Hearts), Welsh (Hibs), Lawless (Motherwell) etc 

[ChiThistle]

3 minutes ago, Lambies Lost Doo said:

At the end of every season big teams release loads of young players.  This is when we hoover them up. Remember the promotion team 10 years ago was built on young players released from bigger clubs.  O'Donell (Celtic), Balatoni (Hearts), Welsh (Hibs), Lawless (Motherwell) etc 

This is where Doolan intrigues me.  With his experience in lower league football, plus his (albeit brief) time with the youth academy, one would imagine he has an eye for young talent and could find some values.

Not to say McCall didn’t, mind.

[Third Lanark]

5 hours ago, Auld Jag said:

I wasn't at Inverness for the game 4 weeks ago but watched on TV. From what i remember Brownlie made the exact same mistake in that game as he did yesterday, both resulting in us conceding a goal. This has cost us a possible 3 points. I know yesterday a number of players were very slack/sloppy with their passing, but surely after his mistake from the Inverness game he would have tried something different, like just booting it up the park. Imo this shows he hasn't learned from his previous error. 

Don’t forget Brownlies spectacular diving header own goal against Ayr either the first time we played them this season.  Again had to be asked what he was playing at then too.

I was delighted when we signed him but he’s been a bit of a liability this season.

im surprised at how many people are criticising Fitzpatrick in this thread - his fitness needs to improve but you could say the exact same thing about Brownlie 

[lady-isobel-barnett]

Brownlie rightly getting pelters for his slack play. We lost a goal thu his error. But we could've also have lost goals from similar errors from Turner, Docherty and Fitzpatrick. Players not getting into position, lack of movement just as guilty. 

[jlsarmy]

1 hour ago, Third Lanark said:

Don’t forget Brownlies spectacular diving header own goal against Ayr either the first time we played them this season.  Again had to be asked what he was playing at then too.

I was delighted when we signed him but he’s been a bit of a liability this season.

im surprised at how many people are criticising Fitzpatrick in this thread - his fitness needs to improve but you could say the exact same thing about Brownlie 

Not sure what aspirations you have/ had for Darren Brownlie who has just came back from a bad injury, think he’s only playing because of injuries to Milne , Mcavoy and even Lee Hodson and he has made crucial mistakes that have cost us points.

Aiden Fitzpatrick should be the first name on the team sheet every week such is his ability, two footed , quick , creative, can score a goal as well , but he’s not because McCall and now Doolan know there is no work ethic there .

Doesn’t track his runners etc , know senior pros like BG have spoken to him about attitude and workrate for the team .Know McCall was exasperated with him , no idea about Doolan’s opinion but it looks the same as Aiden doesn’t get a start .

Just now Aiden Fitzpatrick is cheating PTFC and himself with the ability he has .

Two players who had tons of ability were Kevin Nisbet and Neil McLaughlin 

One of them is playing in the Lowland League for East Kilbride the other sorted themselves out.

Maybe Aiden should give Nissy a call .

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by jlsarmy

[exiledjag]

20 hours ago, Gary Peebles Tackle said:

On our day we are by far the best team in the league. Priority now has to be securing playoff spot, ideally 2nd, but regardless, we need to be in the mix. Do that & we have a chance.

Totally agree with this.

To digress slightly I have been thinking that perhaps some  of the differences Doolan has made, and I mean for the better, has been playing his version of Total Football and the impact of his substitutions.

His comments after the Queens game "we attack as a team and we defend as a team" was seen in the form of Tiffoney harassing the fullback, Holt scoring two goals from within 8 yds of the goaline, Mcmillan crossing from a a few yds from the bye line for our midfielder to score from 2 yds out. At the other end of the park we have we have had our all of our attacking and defensive midfielders winning or helping to regain the ball before the opposition can reach our 18 yd line.

I think Doolan has done well getting the players to buy into this method of play. However to be effective i suspect players need to be a lot fitter than needed to simply play in defined roles such as striker, midfielder or defender. I am sure our pre-season training this coming summer will reflect this.

With regard to substitutions I have been very impressed with the commitment, attitude and effectiveness of our subs and especially Mullan and Fitzpstrick. The formers goals speak for themselves and when he came on against Queens Fitzpatrick was a vonstant threat down the left hand side and clearly had the fullback and the big central defender on toast!

I am disappointed that yesterday he appeared to revert to type, that is  disinterested and lacking commitment and attitude. If that is how Fitzpatrick is going to play then he will have no future St Firhill under Doolan.

Finally perhaps the 10th game of Total football just caught up with the players in terms of fitness. Just a thought.

[Lenziejag]

55 minutes ago, exiledjag said:

Totally agree with this.

To digress slightly I have been thinking that perhaps some  of the differences Doolan has made, and I mean for the better, has been playing his version of Total Football and the impact of his substitutions.

His comments after the Queens game "we attack as a team and we defend as a team" was seen in the form of Tiffoney harassing the fullback, Holt scoring two goals from within 8 yds of the goaline, Mcmillan crossing from a a few yds from the bye line for our midfielder to score from 2 yds out. At the other end of the park we have we have had our all of our attacking and defensive midfielders winning or helping to regain the ball before the opposition can reach our 18 yd line.

I think Doolan has done well getting the players to buy into this method of play. However to be effective i suspect players need to be a lot fitter than needed to simply play in defined roles such as striker, midfielder or defender. I am sure our pre-season training this coming summer will reflect this.

With regard to substitutions I have been very impressed with the commitment, attitude and effectiveness of our subs and especially Mullan and Fitzpstrick. The formers goals speak for themselves and when he came on against Queens Fitzpatrick was a vonstant threat down the left hand side and clearly had the fullback and the big central defender on toast!

I am disappointed that yesterday he appeared to revert to type, that is  disinterested and lacking commitment and attitude. If that is how Fitzpatrick is going to play then he will have no future St Firhill under Doolan.

Finally perhaps the 10th game of Total football just caught up with the players in terms of fitness. Just a thought.

I think your last point is a factor considering TTA’s stat on the over 30’s playing. It was noticeable when Mullen and Dowds came on that we had more about us than we’d had since the 1st quarter of the game. They even brought Fitzpatrick more into it, and we might well have snatched the win at the end.

[Auld Jag]

1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

Brownlie rightly getting pelters for his slack play. We lost a goal thu his error. But we could've also have lost goals from similar errors from Turner, Docherty and Fitzpatrick. Players not getting into position, lack of movement just as guilty. 

You are correct in what you say. For me we stopped playing from about the 20th minute until about the 85th minute. In that time we were very casual and sloppy in our passing and quite easily could have given a goal away long before we did. My point is after doing it against Inverness only a few weeks earlier Brownlie should have been more careful. Again his attempted pass was easily intercepted, he hardly busts a gut to try and get back, leaves a gap in our defence and i think at least one if not two of the Thistle players trying to chase back have already been booked so could not commit a foul.

[Barney Rubble]

3 hours ago, Third Lanark said:

im surprised at how many people are criticising Fitzpatrick in this thread - his fitness needs to improve but you could say the exact same thing about Brownlie 

Fitzpatrick has no excuse. He's underachieving big style. There's no reason for him being unfit given that - as far as I'm aware - he's had no serious injuries since being binned by Norwich.

His commitment to the defensive side of the game is unacceptable. May even have been indirectly responsible for us losing yesterday's goal.

In fairness, he did put two belting balls across the six-yard box late on, but too little too late for me.

[laukat]

Actually thought Muirhead an Brownlie played well yesterday and if Brownlie doesn't have his brain fart then Ayr weren't scoring. They had loads of possession but they never got behind our back 4 or looked capable of opening us up. Akinyemi is a very good striker but he was getting no joy because our back line was solid.

Brownlie is what he has always been. He's very good in the air, strong in the tackle but he has no real pace and is deeply uncomfortable moving forward with the ball at his feet.

Yesterday's error was the perfect example of his main weakness. He had the ball, moving forward into midfield with the aim of trying to play Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick hides behind an Ayr defender and then Brownlie had to come up with another option, panics and passes it straight to an Ayr player. 

Darren was great in league 1 and he's largely been ok in the last few weeks. I could easily see him playing for another championship club and doing well as long as that team don't expect their central defenders to be ball players.

Fitzpatrick is proving to be a real disappointment. The boy has pace and skill but he really has no idea of how to play as part of a team. His part in Brownlie's error was bad but he also tried to back heel in a shot when a right footed shot was much easier. The attempt was ruled out for offside but the idea he thought that was what he should be doing is crazy. I presume Doolan sent him on to get behind the Ayr rightback and try to stop the Ayr rightwing pushing Holt back but he was constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time. We only really got on the attack when Mullin and Dowds came on and did the job Fitzpatrick was meant to do.

Lawless was really good yesterday with some lovely touches and an impressive ability to win the ball in the air. No idea why he was subbed as he was our best player. I would have happily kept Lawless on and taken Fitzpatrick off. No idea how Bannigan got man of the match, he wasn't bad but Lawless, Docherty, Muirhead, McMillan and Holt were all better than him.

[dl1971]

I know that Brownlie was at fault for the Ayr goal, but that is to miss the big picture in that AYR completely outplayed us from minute 20 to 85. I couldn't work out if it was deliberate on our part, or a bit of tactical nous by Ayr. We did look knackered too for some reason. Important to say though that the team form in last 10 games has been excellent, so maybe just a blip....

[lady-isobel-barnett]

13 hours ago, Barney Rubble said:

Fitzpatrick has no excuse. He's underachieving big style. There's no reason for him being unfit given that - as far as I'm aware - he's had no serious injuries since being binned by Norwich.

His commitment to the defensive side of the game is unacceptable. May even have been indirectly responsible for us losing yesterday's goal.

In fairness, he did put two belting balls across the six-yard box late on, but too little too late for me.

Agree with that. If both Tiffoney and Lawless were able to put in a full 90 mins we possibly wouldn't be having this discussion. The very fact that we can't get a full shift out of Tiff and Wee Stevie is ironically partly due to the running they do off the ball, especially tracking back. 

A further irony is the one time Fitzpatrick did carry out his defensive duties was when he played the full 90 mins in our 0-1 home loss to Cove. We were down to ten men that day and Aiden was one player who did get about the pitch. That in itself can be interpreted as damning as it proves he actually can do the work. Perhaps questions attitude more than fitness?

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Aiden is one of the players contracted for next year and I can't see him moving on without it costing us. I therefore expect him to be getting much more game time and a full pre-season to sort out his attitude. I hope he realizes that this will be his final chance to make it as a full time player.

[Lambies Lost Doo]

I thought Graham played fine.  He was not getting the support from other players.  

[Jimbo]

3 minutes ago, Lambies Lost Doo said:

I thought Graham played fine.  He was not getting the support from other players.  

Partly agree with this although I thought it was interesting that BBG wasn't quite as demonstrative as usual when he was substituted. Injured or did he know he wasn't at his best?

In his defence, despite consistently punting balls to him in the 2nd half, we rarely had any player within 10 yards of him despite the ball rarely going more than 4-5 yards back toward our goal, either of him or Musonda's head. The result being Ayr picked up the second ball as they did most if not all the second half.

 

PS we don't half miss Harry Milne

[Third Lanark]

22 hours ago, Barney Rubble said:

Fitzpatrick has no excuse. He's underachieving big style. There's no reason for him being unfit given that - as far as I'm aware - he's had no serious injuries since being binned by Norwich.

His commitment to the defensive side of the game is unacceptable. May even have been indirectly responsible for us losing yesterday's goal.

In fairness, he did put two belting balls across the six-yard box late on, but too little too late for me.

Brownlie was even more responsible for us losing the goal on Saturday and not for the first time recently. 
fitzpatrick missed a lot of the second half of last season with qos through injury though he may have recovered fully from it

Edited April 17, 2023 by Third Lanark

[Third Lanark]

7 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

Aiden is one of the players contracted for next year and I can't see him moving on without it costing us. I therefore expect him to be getting much more game time and a full pre-season to sort out his attitude. I hope he realizes that this will be his final chance to make it as a full time player.

Completely agree - don’t think he had a full pre season with us this year and I hope Doolan can get the best out of him or he will never make it.

maybe even Kevin Nisbet can have a word with him

[dl1971]

Aiden has played 31 games so far this season. I'd suggest he has had ample time to get up to speed.....the pre season issue not an issue

[jagfox]

11 hours ago, dl1971 said:

Aiden has played 31 games so far this season. I'd suggest he has had ample time to get up to speed.....the pre season issue not an issue

How many has he started though? 🤔 

Can't be easy knowing you will be on the bench behind Lawless and Tiffoney every week? 

Either way, it is a mental/ motivational issue with Fitzy, rather than a lack of ability.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

2 hours ago, jagfox said:

How many has he started though? 🤔 

Can't be easy knowing you will be on the bench behind Lawless and Tiffoney every week? 

Either way, it is a mental/ motivational issue with Fitzy, rather than a lack of ability.

That's valid. Can go further and say he has lost out on a lot of first team playing time during his career so far. Obviously no first team experience at Norwich and his loan spells at QoS involved a season where he was routinely used as a late sub. Tending more towards a reason rather than an excuse for any motivational issues he may have. Wonder if things would've been different if Norwich had immediately loaned him out to a lowly local club where he would be a regular starter?  

[Lenziejag]

1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

That's valid. Can go further and say he has lost out on a lot of first team playing time during his career so far. Obviously no first team experience at Norwich and his loan spells at QoS involved a season where he was routinely used as a late sub. Tending more towards a reason rather than an excuse for any motivational issues he may have. Wonder if things would've been different if Norwich had immediately loaned him out to a lowly local club where he would be a regular starter?  

Probably shouldn’t forget that he went to Norwich just before lockdown.That couldn’t have been easy for a 17 year old and getting sent back to QOS would have knocked his confidence.

[jlsarmy]

3 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

That's valid. Can go further and say he has lost out on a lot of first team playing time during his career so far. Obviously no first team experience at Norwich and his loan spells at QoS involved a season where he was routinely used as a late sub. Tending more towards a reason rather than an excuse for any motivational issues he may have. Wonder if things would've been different if Norwich had immediately loaned him out to a lowly local club where he would be a regular starter?  

Respect everyone trying to make a reason for Aiden’s Performances  on the park.

Aiden is now 22yrs old , and has been about first team football for the last 5 years .

When he came back to Firhill , McCall highlighted his fitness as not being what it should be , that shouldn’t be the case now for a 22 yr old .

Senior pros have spoken to him about his work rate and even when Tiff was injured Aiden still didn’t start .

Hopefully he sorts himself out as he is an undoubted talent .

[sandy]

I think if Fitzy stays with us, Dools will get him in shape over the summer.