SAVE OUR SEASON

Jan 9 2008 Ayrshire Post

DESPERATE Ayr United have only 16 games to save their season.

Or else the back waters of the Third Division could be looming.

What a sorry state for a once proud club which not along ago flirted with the best in the country.

Once the leading part-time team in Scotland, inspired by the inimitable Ally MacLeod who had no bulging cheque book, we took our place in the Premier League and stayed there for three seasons.

How distant these glory days seem now.

Beaten 2-0 by an injury ravaged Cowdenbeath side who flooded their team with kids, Ayr have slumped to second bottom of the Second Division.

Only one win in ten games has sent the club plummeting at an alarming rate.

Quite frankly, it is nowhere near good enough for a town the size of Ayr.

Some sympathy goes to manager Brian Reid who inherited a team on the slide when he took over in late October.

A succession of flop signings by a previous regime have failed to deliver and Reid has been left to clear up the mess and repair a divided dressing room.

However, time is not on his side and he needs wins urgently before it is too late.

Frustration among the loyal, travelling fans who paid hard earned cash to travel in deplorable weather to places such as Cowdenbeath and Brechin, is understandable.

However, throwing abuse at individuals, however tempting that may seem, is not the answer. Ayr, as a club, now has to stand UNITED if it is to battle its way through this catastrophe of a season.

These are harsh times and all at Somerset Park must stand up and be counted.