That time of year when each paper has a riff on the same theme: "Hibs fans don't need reminding that it's been 110 years since their side won the Scottish Cup."
Well, no. We don't.
Yet everybody does remind us. Constantly.
The scraggy punchline of a 110 year joke. Mostly a joke that bludgeons you about the head with no attempt at subtlety. Or, largely, any attempt at humour.
But you can't point that out. Because it's been 110 years. And that, even in the hands of a bar room bore or a five year old in the playground, is indeed a joke.
1902 and all that. The journey continues.
2012 and all that. A season's journey of some discomfort. Tomorrow Ayr United and a shot at redemption in a tournament that so rarely offers Hibs any succour.
Ayr dumped Colin Calderwood's Hibs out of the cup last season. It's not that many years, but many a manager, since they dumped Franck Sauzee's sorry soldiers out of the league cup at Hampden.
Pat Fenlon will know that you don't need to beat Ayr to enjoy a fruitful reign at Easter Road. But it helps.
It won't be easy. An away tie against a lower division team that have already conquered Inverness, Hearts and St Mirren this season.
Cup assassins, stalking the Brylcreem boys of the SPL.
That's the chosen narrative.
Mind you, Ayr have only won four league games at home this season and lost to Annan Athletic, two divisions below them, at home in the Challenge Cup.
Lies, damned lies and peculiarly ambivalent statistics.
It won't be easy for Hibs. Partly because it's rarely ever easy for Hibs.
And partly because Ayr are a sound team who have been here before. They'll be lying in wait, ready to offer the hand of friendship with a traditional Somerset Park welcome.
Prediction?
Not on your nelly. I wouldn't want to jinx it.
Jinxing things is something I often do.
Last week I wrote a hagiographic appraisal of Celtic's season so far. The very next day they only managed a draw at Aberdeen.
That's the thing about football.
You build up your aura of invincibility, you look like you might finish the season undefeated. But there's always something lurking round the corner ready to bite you on the bum.
Often that something is shaped like a dogged Aberdeen, drilled to within an inch of their lives by a pair of unimpressed curmudgeons like Craig Brown and Archie Knox.
That's the way soccer's cookie crumbles.
But the treble chase is still on, a tricky quarter final trip to Tannadice notwithstanding.
Tricky? United are bubbling along quite the thing, Houdini Houston is fair putting the season's earlier struggles behind him. United are reaching for the European stars.
Unfortunately for United it's Celtic who have the better of these Tannadice tear-ups. And the last time somebody knocked both Rangers and Celtic out of the Scottish Cup Alex Ferguson was using Doug Rougvie as a human gargoyle.
Celtic's dominance at Tannadice has lasted slightly longer than Motherwell's over Aberdeen. It won't feel like that for Craig Brown and Archie Knox.
Since they hot-footed it to the greener pastures of Pittodrie our dynamic duo have seen their current side huff and puff against their former charges with little success.
On one occasion Brown even found time to have actual physical fisticuffs with John Boyle. Really.
Aberdeen look a different proposition now. It's taken longer than he'd have hoped but Brown has located a backbone in his team. They're much harder to beat, if still not exactly licensed purveyors of the beautiful game.
So a better Aberdeen. But Motherwell are better still.
A strange one this for Motherwell. They're now just a few games here and there away from consecutive Scottish Cup finals. And a Champion's League qualifier.
I'm sure Stuart McCall has every confidence in his own ability as a manager but I suspect even he wouldn't have thought this season had the potential to turn out quite as well as it might.
The man with the ginger mane has become the man with the golden touch.
Which just about seamlessly segues to Hearts whose ginger touch in front of goal has hamstrung them in recent weeks.
A five game run that was unrivalled in the league for the paucity of points gathered was finally halted with victory at Ibrox last week.
Whatever the circumstances, victory in Govan should replenish and revitalise like a weekend spa. Hearts need to build on it.
Wins have proved even more elusive for St Mirren. Danny Lennon has built a side that concedes very little and scores not a lot.
The result is the current sequence of low scoring draws. Those of us of a certain age will recall that Lennon's first tentative footballing steps were taken at Easter Road under the dourly defensive tutelage of Alex Miller.
Nobody's ever rocked a sequence of dull draws like mid to late eighties vintage Lexo Miller. The apprentice is paying homage to the master.
St Mirren's last visit to Tynecastle was in January. They conceded in the first minute, were 2-1 up inside 20 and eventually lost 5-2.
The current run is perhaps an antidote - maybe not the most inspiring one - to that sort of result.
Will they be doughty but blunt again tomorrow? Will Hearts be enterprisingly comfortable but toothless?
Eight teams. 90 minutes (or 180 or 200 or 200 plus penalties) away from a Hampden semi-final.
Dreams used to be made of this. It would be nice if this weekend could go some way to proving that they still are.
Heart v St Mirren: Draw
Ayr United v Hibs: No comment
Dundee United v Celtic: Away win
Motherwell v Aberdeen: Home win
Showing posts with label Ayr United. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ayr United. Show all posts
Friday, March 09, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Ayr v Kilmarnock
"No, we're the underdogs."
Ayr v Kilmarnock. An Ayrshire derby in a league cup semi final and nobody wants to be favourites.
No surprise there. Derby games are different. Derby games in cups carry an extra weight. Make it a semi final and you've got a hell of a game on your hands.
Best then to try and reduce expectations, relieve some of the pressure on your players.
Even if it is bollocks. Yes, Ayr have seen off SPL opposition on their march to Glasgow giving Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels the inspiration to mimic the underdog. But it's an unconvincing act.
Top flight football and full time players make this Kilmarnock's to lose.
The problem for them, and the reason behind Shiels' cack-handed mind games, is that these games are actually quite easy to lose.
There's evidence of that in both Ayr's cup run and recent meetings between the two sides.
Add to that the odd inconsistency that often hampers Kilmarnock's progress - illustrated once again in a 3-0 skelping at home to Dunfermline last week - and you've got the potential for unease in the dressing room.
That must be pleasing for an Ayr side who will surely need to play with a battle hardened stubbornness and sniff out any Kilmarnock weaknesses to prosper today.
Does this derby, as some suggest, mean more to lower division Ayr than their opponents?
Not for the fans. That's something the Kilmarnock players would do to well to remember.
Local rivalry does, of course, add interest today. Hampden might not be full but the passion - some of it perhaps a touch politically incorrect - should serve as a timely reminder that Scottish football's heart still beats with old feuds, past grievances and dreams of getting one over on timeless enemies.
Kilmarnock should win. They should. But Ayr shouldn't be at Hampden. Dunfermline shouldn't have beaten Kilmarnock 3-0.
Prediction? At least one red card and Kilmarnock to win 2-1 after being somewhat rocked by a strong Ayr start. A cup tie worthy of the occasion if not chock full of exceptional football.
All of which makes it a bit of shame that the game will be played in Hampden's 1pm graveyard shift, without the exposure of live television.
Not that the winners will care. Losing a semi final derby? Been there, done that. Suffered it.
You wouldn't wish it on anyone. Except, perhaps, your worst enemy.
Like this? Like the Scottish Football Blog on Facebook.
Ayr v Kilmarnock. An Ayrshire derby in a league cup semi final and nobody wants to be favourites.
No surprise there. Derby games are different. Derby games in cups carry an extra weight. Make it a semi final and you've got a hell of a game on your hands.
Best then to try and reduce expectations, relieve some of the pressure on your players.
Even if it is bollocks. Yes, Ayr have seen off SPL opposition on their march to Glasgow giving Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels the inspiration to mimic the underdog. But it's an unconvincing act.
Top flight football and full time players make this Kilmarnock's to lose.
The problem for them, and the reason behind Shiels' cack-handed mind games, is that these games are actually quite easy to lose.
There's evidence of that in both Ayr's cup run and recent meetings between the two sides.
Add to that the odd inconsistency that often hampers Kilmarnock's progress - illustrated once again in a 3-0 skelping at home to Dunfermline last week - and you've got the potential for unease in the dressing room.
That must be pleasing for an Ayr side who will surely need to play with a battle hardened stubbornness and sniff out any Kilmarnock weaknesses to prosper today.
Does this derby, as some suggest, mean more to lower division Ayr than their opponents?
Not for the fans. That's something the Kilmarnock players would do to well to remember.
Local rivalry does, of course, add interest today. Hampden might not be full but the passion - some of it perhaps a touch politically incorrect - should serve as a timely reminder that Scottish football's heart still beats with old feuds, past grievances and dreams of getting one over on timeless enemies.
Kilmarnock should win. They should. But Ayr shouldn't be at Hampden. Dunfermline shouldn't have beaten Kilmarnock 3-0.
Prediction? At least one red card and Kilmarnock to win 2-1 after being somewhat rocked by a strong Ayr start. A cup tie worthy of the occasion if not chock full of exceptional football.
All of which makes it a bit of shame that the game will be played in Hampden's 1pm graveyard shift, without the exposure of live television.
Not that the winners will care. Losing a semi final derby? Been there, done that. Suffered it.
You wouldn't wish it on anyone. Except, perhaps, your worst enemy.
Like this? Like the Scottish Football Blog on Facebook.
Ayr United: Devine Right
A few drinks this evening and the chat got round to the Ayrshire derby being played out at Hampden tomorrow.
Ayr United v Kilmarnock.
An outing of Ayrshire's dirty linen at the national stadium. The Jerry Springer "I Married A Horse" episode writ large. An incestuous family feud settled in a national competition.
I find myself asking what Ayr means to me.
Ayr?
It means Sydney Devine and not a spare seat in the Gaiety Theatre. Can still get them flocking, can Sydney. And, I'm told, he's significantly superior to Daniel O'Donnell.
Ayr?
It means an overrated national bard and ridiculous politicians of all stripes trying to grab a womanising chancer as their own. Surely, if there really was anything about Burns, he'd have written them all off as rogues.
Ayr?
It means a dark night of football. I've watched Scotland fail at many a sport. I've watched Hibs fail in many a game.
But few come close to the misery of watching Ayr United win a Scottish league cup semi final. Franck Sauzee, a hero of heroes, becoming a dead man walking.
Ayr know misery, they know how to heap misery on.
Kilmarnock be warned.
Like this? Like the Scottish Football Blog on Facebook.
Ayr United v Kilmarnock.
An outing of Ayrshire's dirty linen at the national stadium. The Jerry Springer "I Married A Horse" episode writ large. An incestuous family feud settled in a national competition.
I find myself asking what Ayr means to me.
Ayr?
It means Sydney Devine and not a spare seat in the Gaiety Theatre. Can still get them flocking, can Sydney. And, I'm told, he's significantly superior to Daniel O'Donnell.
Ayr?
It means an overrated national bard and ridiculous politicians of all stripes trying to grab a womanising chancer as their own. Surely, if there really was anything about Burns, he'd have written them all off as rogues.
Ayr?
It means a dark night of football. I've watched Scotland fail at many a sport. I've watched Hibs fail in many a game.
But few come close to the misery of watching Ayr United win a Scottish league cup semi final. Franck Sauzee, a hero of heroes, becoming a dead man walking.
Ayr know misery, they know how to heap misery on.
Kilmarnock be warned.
Like this? Like the Scottish Football Blog on Facebook.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Scottish Cup: Celtic Take The Trophy
The curtain comes down on domestic football for another season.
Yesterday's Scottish Cup will not perhaps be long remembered as a classic. Celtic too often seemed unable to click through the gears, that lent long periods of the game a scrappiness that seemed to offer Motherwell their best hope.
A couple of memorable goals though. Ki Sung-Yeung's pearler opened the scoring and Charlie Mulgrew's third was a fine, fine free kick. By that stage the game was over, Mark Wilson's deflected second all but killing off Motherwell's resistance.
For their part Motherwell almost scored one of the all time great Scottish Cup final goals. Almost. Gavin Gunning's shot all but breaking the crossbar but bouncing out to safety.
The reality though was that Gunning's shot was Motherwell's most potent attacking threat on a day when their forwards never got going. A 25 yard effort from a full back is not the sign of a team able to offer a sustained assault on the opposition goal.
Given some of the stories of the season it was probably predictable that referee Calum Murray would have a big role to play. And controversial that role proved.
Daniel Majstorovic and Keith Lasley were both booked early on. If those cards looked fair enough there was perhaps more doubt about the yellows handed out for Ki and Brown seemed a bit more harsh.
There was no doubt, however, about Majstorovic's deliberate handball when the defender seemed to lose the flight of the ball, the position of the nearest Motherwell player and himself all ends up. That should have resulted in a yellow card and a red.
Murray let it go with a warning. Minutes later a similarly exposed Stephen Craigan punched the ball away as he lay on the ground. The referee might not have seen that as a professional foul and a red. But it had, at the very least, to be yellow. Murray somewhat oddly seemed to see it differently.
Not a good day at the office for Mr Murray.
A shame that the romance of the cup should be spoiled by talk of the referee. But there it is.
And one man's romance is another man's slide towards divorce. So while Motherwell were left with broken hearts, Celtic were free to celebrate.
As a neutral observer Motherwell actually offered the more romantic story. Much was made of Celtic's two years without a trophy. Motherwell have gone twenty years without a trophy. That's a drought.
But there was more significance to Celtic's win than just a trophy.
You can like Neil Lennon or you can dislike him. As a football fan that's your right. You can simply find the Celtic manager to be not your cup of tea. That's fair enough.
What's not fair enough is the hate campaign that some lunatics have waged against him this year.
And so, big softie that I am, I did find something heartening about the sight of him with the trophy. And that's from someone who is as bored to back the teeth of Glasgow's big two winning trophies as anyone.
It just struck me as a heartening victory for both his resilience and for the resilience of football.
The BBC made much of Dermot Desmond's pre-match confirmation that Lennon would be staying as Celtic boss.
Personally I don't think there was much doubt about that. Not even the board of a football club could have looked at the scenes at Celtic Park last weekend and decided that they could risk breaking that bond between manager and fans.
Challenges remain. More than anyone else Lennon would have seen yesterday as no more than a consolation, the trophy he most wants having slipped from his grasp.
That's the target for next season. It's one he will relish. And one he should be allowed to strive for in atmosphere of sanity.
> A word for Dundee United. Celtic's win means fourth place in the SPL has been enough to take United back into Europe.
> Congratulations also to Ayr United who will take their place in the First Division after a 3-2 aggregate win over Brechin in the play off. Finely poised after a 1-1 draw in Ayr, Brechin took the lead just before half time today. Ayr stuck at it though and two goals in the last 13 minutes were enough.
> And final congratulations to Albion Rovers who clinched promotion to the Second Division. A 3-1 home win had set Rovers on their way and they increased that advantage in the first half against Annan today. Annan pulled back two second half goals but Rovers held on for the aggregate win.
Yesterday's Scottish Cup will not perhaps be long remembered as a classic. Celtic too often seemed unable to click through the gears, that lent long periods of the game a scrappiness that seemed to offer Motherwell their best hope.
A couple of memorable goals though. Ki Sung-Yeung's pearler opened the scoring and Charlie Mulgrew's third was a fine, fine free kick. By that stage the game was over, Mark Wilson's deflected second all but killing off Motherwell's resistance.
For their part Motherwell almost scored one of the all time great Scottish Cup final goals. Almost. Gavin Gunning's shot all but breaking the crossbar but bouncing out to safety.
The reality though was that Gunning's shot was Motherwell's most potent attacking threat on a day when their forwards never got going. A 25 yard effort from a full back is not the sign of a team able to offer a sustained assault on the opposition goal.
Given some of the stories of the season it was probably predictable that referee Calum Murray would have a big role to play. And controversial that role proved.
Daniel Majstorovic and Keith Lasley were both booked early on. If those cards looked fair enough there was perhaps more doubt about the yellows handed out for Ki and Brown seemed a bit more harsh.
There was no doubt, however, about Majstorovic's deliberate handball when the defender seemed to lose the flight of the ball, the position of the nearest Motherwell player and himself all ends up. That should have resulted in a yellow card and a red.
Murray let it go with a warning. Minutes later a similarly exposed Stephen Craigan punched the ball away as he lay on the ground. The referee might not have seen that as a professional foul and a red. But it had, at the very least, to be yellow. Murray somewhat oddly seemed to see it differently.
Not a good day at the office for Mr Murray.
A shame that the romance of the cup should be spoiled by talk of the referee. But there it is.
And one man's romance is another man's slide towards divorce. So while Motherwell were left with broken hearts, Celtic were free to celebrate.
As a neutral observer Motherwell actually offered the more romantic story. Much was made of Celtic's two years without a trophy. Motherwell have gone twenty years without a trophy. That's a drought.
But there was more significance to Celtic's win than just a trophy.
You can like Neil Lennon or you can dislike him. As a football fan that's your right. You can simply find the Celtic manager to be not your cup of tea. That's fair enough.
What's not fair enough is the hate campaign that some lunatics have waged against him this year.
And so, big softie that I am, I did find something heartening about the sight of him with the trophy. And that's from someone who is as bored to back the teeth of Glasgow's big two winning trophies as anyone.
It just struck me as a heartening victory for both his resilience and for the resilience of football.
The BBC made much of Dermot Desmond's pre-match confirmation that Lennon would be staying as Celtic boss.
Personally I don't think there was much doubt about that. Not even the board of a football club could have looked at the scenes at Celtic Park last weekend and decided that they could risk breaking that bond between manager and fans.
Challenges remain. More than anyone else Lennon would have seen yesterday as no more than a consolation, the trophy he most wants having slipped from his grasp.
That's the target for next season. It's one he will relish. And one he should be allowed to strive for in atmosphere of sanity.
> A word for Dundee United. Celtic's win means fourth place in the SPL has been enough to take United back into Europe.
> Congratulations also to Ayr United who will take their place in the First Division after a 3-2 aggregate win over Brechin in the play off. Finely poised after a 1-1 draw in Ayr, Brechin took the lead just before half time today. Ayr stuck at it though and two goals in the last 13 minutes were enough.
> And final congratulations to Albion Rovers who clinched promotion to the Second Division. A 3-1 home win had set Rovers on their way and they increased that advantage in the first half against Annan today. Annan pulled back two second half goals but Rovers held on for the aggregate win.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Walking In The Ayr
Having fallen into the football supporter's trap of self obsessed navel gazing it's time to redress the balance.
Amid the fun or pain to be had, depending on your persuasion, of watching Hibs suffer a massive, institutional mental breakdown, we shouldn't forget the role that Ayr United played last night.
It was a strong, organised performance. Yes, Hibs had chances but Ayr weathered the storm to emerge victorious after 180 minutes against a side two divisions above them. And they deserved it.
Kudos to to Mark Roberts. A veteran journeyman of the old school who left Ian Murray and Liam Miller, internationals both, with twisted blood in scoring the decisive goal.
Not Just Scottish Football has an appreciation of the evening from an Ayr United perspective. Have a read to remind yourself of the romance of the cup. Not sure the joyous pitch invasions of the past would have required pre-planning on Facebook though.
The Scottish Football Blog News Feed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)