Are the kids alright?

Looking at the progress of Ayr United’s young players under Mark Roberts

When Mark Roberts was appointed manager of Ayr United in May 2012 it was intended to herald a change in direction for club.  Chairman Lachlan Cameron, in announcing the departure of Brian Reid and the promotion of Roberts, stated that the club wished to place greater emphasis on the ‘youth pathway to the first team’ and talked of the ‘bubbling pool of talent’ within the Academy, now in its 8^th year. There was to be a greater emphasis on young, home-grown talent.

With Roberts under increasing pressure, fairly or otherwise, after a sporadic series of heavy defeats and disappointing performances it seems an appropriate juncture to consider this area of his remit, particularly with rumours that Mark Shankland – one of the Academy’s brightest prospects – has asked to leave the club (Roberts has subsequently quashed the rumour, indicating the 18 year-old forward ‘needs to do better’ and ‘earn the right’).

Shankland, and others, may have justification for their frustrations. In 58 league matches in charge, Mark Roberts has fielded on average just one Academy player per game*. Taking account of the fact that Robbie Crawford was almost an ever present last season, making 33 league starts, it would appear that first-team opportunities are as limited for Academy prospects under Roberts as they were under Brian Reid, despite the initial rhetoric.

In Reid’s final season in charge, nine Academy players were used (taking account of league games only), amassing a total of 4207 minutes playing time, albeit over half of these can be attributed to Jonathan Tiffoney. This total is only 488 minutes less than Roberts’s first season in charge.  Yet, at the end of last season Roberts disingenuously claimed: “our remit at the start of the season was to bring through the kids and in that aspect we have done brilliantly”.  The claim doesn’t hold water. Robbie Crawford’s obvious talent demanded he became a first team regular: Roberts’s first choice midfield pairing at the start of the season was David Sinclair and Ryan McStay. Otherwise, Ross Robertson was Roberts’s first choice as strike partner for Michael Moffat at the start of the season, but was quickly withdrawn from the first team (and eventually sent on loan to Glenafton).  Mark Shankland also started the season, playing on the left and scoring against East Stirlingshire, but he too was dropped, only returning after a spell on trial with Birmingham (during which time Roberts seemingly discovered the player was a striker).  Wylie, Longridge, Wardrope, Nisbet all were given just few minutes at the end of the season. 

Even fewer Academy players have been selected by Roberts so far this season.  In 22 league matches, Academy players account for just 6.85% of total playing time.  Robbie Crawford has been in the starting line-up on 10 occasions, Alan Forrest 4 times (in addition to 10 substitute appearances) but beyond this, appearances for Aaron Wylie (who has subsequently left the club), Jackson Longridge, Mick Wardrope and Mark Shankland have been restricted to just a handful of substitute appearances, totalling little over 100 minutes. 

Beyond examining quantitative data concerning appearances and playing time, further evidence of Roberts’s reluctance to play Academy players is demonstrated in his selections in defence.  When Gordon Pope was suspended after picking up a red card against Airdrie United in August, it appeared to be the ideal opportunity to give Jackson Longridge a run in the team.  Instead, Roberts chose to play Michael Donald at left-back. The loss of Donald’s presence in midfield was keenly felt and United drew both games during Pope’s ban, including against 10 man Brechin City, despite taking a two-goal lead.  On the two occasions when injuries led Roberts to play Gordon Pope at centre-back, again Donald and not Longridge was used at left-back; Ayr lost 5-1 away to Dunfermline and 3-6 at home to Stranraer.

Ayr have been short defensively all season, with Martyn Campbell injury woes continuing which has highlighted the absence of another youngster (albeit not one who has come through the Academy) Josh McArthur, which is approaching something of a mystery.  McArthur started Ayr’s opening game of the season at Arbroath and looked competent alongside Alan Lithgow in what was an easy victory for the Honest Men.  His withdrawal after an hour, with the game won, seemed to make little sense.  McArthur has played just once more this season, as a 20^th minute replacement for Campbell in Ayr’s narrow defeat at Partick Thistle in the League Cup. He hasn’t even been named on the subs bench since the start of December.

The fate of Longridge, McArthur and many others follows a fairly familiar pattern.  Glimpses of early promise – Longridge was named man of the match on his debut at home to Dundee back in April 2012 – followed by long spells of inactivity as far as the first team is concerned, with Roberts often preferring to pick square pegs in round holes.  There seems little prospect of 17 year-old McArthur making an appearance any time soon, despite United’s enduring search for a centre-back: “I’m looking everywhere for a central defender. I need someone who has played a lot of first team games and is an organiser”.  Roberts has also talked of the need for another striker in light of Michael Moffat’s impending suspension, despite Shankland champing at the bit for game time.

Of course, the young players on the fringes of the Ayr United first team may simply not be good enough. Roberts’s priority first and foremost is to win football matches and to do this he needs the strongest team possible.  He trains with these young players, regularly plays alongside them in Reserve game so is perhaps is the best person to judge whether they are ready for first team football. Conversely, there must be a case that young players require a run of games to assimilate themselves with the endeavours of senior football and opportunity to learn from mistakes.  A player can only prove they ready for first team football if they are given the opportunity to do so and at present only Alan Forrest and Crawford (slowly returning from illness) are being afforded this chance.

Introducing young players into first team football is not straightforward.  While it has borne dividends at Dundee United, Hamilton, Falkirk, Kilmarnock and other clubs, it can be a gamble.  And Mark Roberts may feel he is able to take what he perceives to be a risk.  Almost from day one, Ayr’s Challenge Cup defeat to East Stirlingshire in his first game in charge, Roberts has been under pressure. After just four months he admitted his job was at stake and since December 2012 the calls for Roberts to be sacked have never really gone away.  Can the manager trust youngsters like Shankland (who demonstrated his value when coming off the bench with his goal and performance against Partick Thistle in August), Longridge (who could do a job on the left when Michael Donald is flagging), McArthur or even Wardrope, Nisbet and others when they could make a mistake that might cost the side vital points? 

Or the other way of looking at is: ‘what has he got to lose?’  Senior players are equally capable of making mistakes, as evidenced at Stenhousemuir on Saturday.  Signings such as Kevin Kyle, culpable for a glaring miss at the end of the game, may be a ‘safe bet’ for Roberts but, in restricting the opportunities for others, (particularly in this case Shankland, a player who has previously attracted the attention of Liverpool, Rangers, Celtic and a number of English Championship sides) demonstrates the short-termism that has blighted Ayr’s on-field fortunes for too long. If Roberts had afforded Shankland the same patience as Kyle you suspect he may have had greater slack from United’s ever demanding support. As it is, fewer and fewer of those supporters appear convinced of Roberts‘s aptitude for the job.

Playing young players may cost Mark Roberts his job – it is difficult to envisage how he could continue in his role beyond the summer if the Honest Men fail to make the promotion play-offs at least. At the same time, Roberts was mandated to give Academy players the opportunity of first team football and this is not happening. Roberts’s apparent failure, so far, to integrate more younger, home grown, players into the team – or at least give them a fair chance – must be seen as another of his shortcomings.

League appearances by Ayr United Football Academy players

Season 2012/13 (Brian Reid)

	Apps	Sub off	Sub not used	Mins
Aaron Wyllie	0+(1)	0	0	11
Darren McGill	1	1	0	66
Gareth Armstrong	2+(2)	1	13	196
Jackson Longridge	1+(1)	0	0	161
Jonathan Tiffoney	30+(2)	2	1	2536
Robbie Crawford	1	0	1	90
Roddy Paterson	1+(1)	1	1	80
Ross Robertson	9+(11)	1	13	895
Steven Hutchinson	1+(1)	0	2	172
				4207

Season 2012/13 (Mark Roberts)

	Apps	Sub off	Sub not used	Mins
Aaron Wyllie	5+(4)	2	12	446
Darren McGill	2+(1)	2	1	186
Jackson Longridge	2+(1)	0	0	195
Mark Shankland	5+(8)	5	8	467
Michael Wardrope	0+(2)	0	0	46
Robbie Crawford	33+(2)	6	0	2970
Ross Robertson	3+(10)	3	5	354
Ryan Nisbet	0+(1)	0	0	31
				4695

Season 2013/14 – after 22 games

	Apps	Sub off	Sub not used	Mins
Aaron Wyllie	0+(1)	0	7	18
Alan Forrest	4+(10)	3	3	545
Jackson Longridge	0+(2)	0	13	46
Mark Shankland	0+(5)	0	12	42
Michael Wardrope	0+(1)	0	8	1
Robbie Crawford	10+(3)	5	4	839
				1491

Source: andysstats.co.uk

* 58 league games equals 57420 minutes playing time (58 games x 11 players x 90 minutes). The aggregate playing time of AUFA players has been 6186 mins, which works out at 10.77% of total minutes. One player playing 90 minutes in all games (58 x 90 = 5220 mins) would represent 9.09% of total minutes.

Five things learnt from pre-season

Pre-season. Every year I resolve not to bother. Somerset Park can seem a long way and £10 can seem a lot of money to see a kick about. The resolve never lasts, however, and the pre-season optimism and intrigue over new players takes over. Managers will tell you that pre-season games are not about results and all about match fitness but new gaffer Mark Roberts was also keen to use the series of five games to work on the team’s shape and style of play, which has already seen a radical overhaul.

It can be dangerous to read too much into pre-season but the Honest Men can be reasonably pleased with their endeavours, drawing one-each with Queen’s Park, a full strength Bolton Wanderers side and Irish hatchetmen Glentoran. A thumping 4-0 win over Champions League-bound Motherwell had heads turning while a 4-1 defeat versus Partick Thistle reflected the number of youngsters and trialists on show, with Roberts resting most of his main men.

Notwithstanding (well, ignoring) the main caveats: what did we learn from United’s pre-season?:

Starting XI

Unlike pre-seasons of the recent past, United have fielded a fairly settled line-up and used only a limited number of trialists, with the exception of the Partick Thistle game. Goalkeeper Ally Brown and the Jonathan Tiffoney were the only players not involved in the opening fixture at Lesser Hampden. Former Stenhousemuir goalkeeper Brown featured as a second-half substitute in Ayr’s second game against Motherwell and has kept the No. 1 jersey since (and subsequently signed) while Tiffoney returned to action in the penultimate game versus Bolton.

This continuity of selection should stand the side in good stead when the action starts for real on Saturday. Barring injury the side to face East Stirlingshire is likely to line-up:

Brown

Tiffoney   J. Robertson   Brownlie  McCann

Merenghi   Sinclair   McStay   Shankland

R. Robertson   Moffat

Otherwise, Martyn Campbell has the biggest claim to be involved in place of Brownlie but Ochilview’s artificial surface may be the deciding factor in Marko’s decision. Also, there is some confusion regarding Tiffoney’s future. Dundee, apparently, remain interested but unwilling to pay a fee for the 20 year-old. It may be that John Robertson plays at right-back with Campbell and Brownlie pairing up in the centre.

Squad

Beyond the starting eleven, pre-season has shown Ayr’s squad to be fairly limited in numbers. Add Martyn Campbell and the manager himself to the eleven listed above and that’s it in terms of ‘senior’ squad members. Roddy Paterson and Robbie Crawford head the list of U19s that can be expected to be involved, while defender Alan Murdoch has also featured.

Of the trialists used but not signed, David Winters, Paul Harkins and Grant Mosson were given limited game time and mostly failed to impress. Unfortunately for Micheal McGowan, and for Ayr, his appearance as a trialist lasted only 5 minutes before he succumbed to a reoccurrence of the knee injury picked up at the end of last season. McGowan has claimed it not to be serious – and he scored in a ‘Reserve’ game against Cumnock on Wednesday night – but Mark Roberts cannot afford to offer the winger a deal until he’s certain he’s fully fit.

Congolese-born forward Joel Kasubandi remains an option but injury prevented him taking part in the final pre-season game. Somewhat of a wildcard, the speedy19 year-old and could be utilised on the left or up-front thus providing cover for Moffat and Shankland but this would seem to knock Roddy Paterson down the pecking order. Roberts will have to be sure Kasubandi will: a) fit into his vision for the side and b) provides something he doesn’t already posses amongst the U19 squad before gambling on the player released by Morton.

The financial uncertainly following the ongoing fallout from the Rangers saga may have lead to the re-evaluation of Roberts’ budget or Marko could be playing the waiting game to see who he can pick up in August and September but it seems certain that some reinforcements will be required.

Style

It has been clear from the off that Roberts wants his side to play a different way than under Brian Reid. This is also reflected in the players who he has brought to the club. Reid favoured a fairly defensive back-four where the full-backs we’re encouraged to get forward and in midfield the emphasis was primarily on carrying the ball forward, with the likes of McGowan, Trouten, Geggan and the out-of-position Moffat preferring to run with the ball rather than pass it.

The new look Honest Men have instead looked, first and foremost, to pass the ball, short and at speed. New midfielders David Sinclair, Ryan McStay and Antony Merenghi all look comfortable with the ball at feet with Sinclair adopting the ‘quarterback’ role of taking the ball deep from the defence and distributing it forward. With a relatively narrow midfield – there are no natural wingers – the full-backs have been encouraged to push forward, with the nominal left and right midfielders providing cover. This was shown to good effect with Tiffoney’s role in the equaliser against Bolton, where, receiving the ball from Roberts he burst past the Bolton full-back and defender to cross the ball to Roberts around the penalty spot.

Up front, Roberts has returned Micheal Moffat to his rightful position and put his faith in Ross Robertson. Brian Reid saw Robertson as a centre-back, used him there and in midfield but Marko has seen enough to convince him the 21 year-old can lead the attack. While it may take time for ‘Rossco’ to adjust to the role, what he lacks in touch he more than makes up for in his ability to occupy defences with his strength and aerial prowess. Too often in recent seasons opposition defenders have been given an easy time of it by Ayr’s attack and hopefully Robertson can address this. Robertson provides the ‘big man up front’ option missing from Ayr teams for a long time but I don’t expect Marko will be keen to see long balls being played from back to front. As a target man, however, there are signs that Robertson could prove a useful foil for a hopefully rejuvenated Moffat.

Going from ‘up against it’ in the First Division to among the title favourites in the Second was always going to necessitate a switch in approach that would see Ayr more comfortable on the front foot. Under Reid, last time out in the Second Division, United never looked to be comfortable favourites and rarely dominated games. Hopefully playing a more possession oriented game will prove not only more effective but also more attractive on the eye. The key to turning possession in to goals will be using Moffat’s pace to run at defenders and to exploit space behind opposition defences.

Shankland

 

The highlight of pre-season has been the emergence of Mark Shankland. Roberts has talked up the Mauchline kid almost since the day he took over and the youngster – who only turned 17 two weeks ago – is sure to play a big part this season on the evidence of pre-season.

 

Used primarily on the left of midfield, Shankland also played behind a front two (Moffat and Roberts) in the Queen’s Park game and Roberts has stated he can play anywhere across midfield or up-front. Shankland possesses fantastic technique and composure on the ball. His weight of pass is exquisite and he isn’t afraid to take on his man or to take a shot.

 

Why we didn’t see more of Shankland under Reid remains a mystery but this could now be his time to shine.

 

Suspect

 

(OK, I was struggling for a fifth ‘S’…) The biggest cause for concern on the park has been the number of free headers given up at corners and free-kicks. This very specific thing has been a long-running Achilles heal of United. There has been much debate surrounding Campbell at the start of what will be his seventh season at Somerset Park. Campbell’s strengths and weaknesses are fairly plain to see. He isn’t going to look comfortable with the goalkeeper rolling the ball out to him short, but at the same time up against a burly target man, few get the better of the now 31-year old defender as evidenced by his performances against Motherwell’s Michael Higdon and England International Kevin Davies. Then there are the inevitable question marks over his fitness. ‘Bobo’ managed only 15 appearances last season and Ayr had a fairly rotten record when he did start.

 

The jury is still out on keeper Ally Brown also. He doesn’t come with glowing recommendations from supporters of previous clubs and in pre-season has looked unsure when going for balls played into the box. If the defence can prove itself to be be solid and reliable then the side should have an excellent platform for playing the type of game Roberts wants.

 

To finish on a negative would be entirely inconsistent with the overall feeling around club about the new season. Fairly natural at the start of any season you could say, but in Mark Roberts we have a manger committed to entertaining the supporters with attacking and attractive football and that is to be welcomed. As usual, I’m sure it will be a rollercoaster season.