Ayr United need to play it out

Oct 30 2009 by Mike Wilson

FRUSTRATED Ayr boss Brian Reid has ordered his players back to basics and told them to play their way out of the current slump.

And he will revert back to the tried and tested 4-4-2 formation which brought them their promotion success last season.

On Saturday, Ayr head to bottom dogs Airdrie United, the scene of their play-off joy in May, desperate to repeat the win that took them into the First Division.

A crushing 5-1 defeat by Inverness last weekend leaves second bottom Ayr only three points ahead of the winless Diamonds and deep in relegation trouble.

Reid roasted his players for schoolboy defending and pledged to step up his search to bring in others on loan.

But on Tuesday, he admitted: “I keep hitting a brick wall. I am relying on other clubs but just when I thought I had a striker, they are reluctant to let him go at present after a training ground injury to another player. But the search goes on.”

An experienced foreign striker, who has played in the SPL but whose last club was abroad, is now on the radar and Reid is waiting to hear back from the player’s agent regarding a short term deal.

Croatian striker Romeo Filipovic, who has been training with Ayr, is still a possible and a bounce game against a junior team may be arranged this week to further assess him.

Reid revealed: “Unfortunately, you can’t play foreign trialists in the Reserve League Cup so that is an obvious blow.”

The return to basics call came after Reid reviewed the wreckage of a season which has brought only one win from 11 games.

He revealed: “We are working on our shape at training and I believe hard work will pull us through. We’ve had success before with a 4-4-2 formation and I’m going to stick with it. The players haven’t adapted to a 4-5-1 the way I wanted so we will revert back.

“We were wide open at times against Inverness and it was nowhere near good enough. We need to stop leaking goals and I would happily grind out a couple of hard fought 1-0 wins.

“We have to defend as a team and then hopefully get a break in front of goal. But we haven’t had a settled back four.

“Getting players in on loan would help but we don’t have an endless pot of gold to get in players who are on £1k a week in the SPL.”

Kevin James, who has missed the last four weeks with achilles trouble, is still rated double for the trip to Airdrie.

Another worry is that Willie Easton has been struggling with a recurring hamstring strain but has been playing on.

Reid revealed: “Willie has not been himself the last couple of weeks but has been playing when he shouldn’t have been because we are down to the bare bones. He feels he has been letting himself down but Willie is one of our most consistent players.

“We now face a big game at Airdrie where we have a good record. We need to turn in a good performance and do the right things.”

Vulcan bus for Airdrie leaves at 1pm. Seats price £7 from John Grigor (tel: 07903 561025). Ship Inn: leaves at 12.30pm, seats £6 from 885766.