Cool heads and it will be McCall right
Ian McCall was calm from day one when the new season kicked off for Ayr United.
Right from when the first blow was struck he preached that it would be an up and down season for the Honest Men.
When things went well, he vowed he wouldn’t get carried away.
And when results weren’t going to plan, he wouldn’t be pressing the panic button.
McCall argued it would be a season for cool heads. And so it proved when Ayr lost their opening three league games – 2- 0 at home to Raith, 4- 1 away to Queen of the South and 3- 0 away to Dundee United.
The Betfred Cup form was good. Ayr beat Premiership side Hamilton 2- 1 on the opening day and topped their section to book a plum home tie against Aberdeen.
Ayr were 2- 0 down before Alan Forrest pulled one back but they were far from outplayed and the signs looked encouraging.
The league form was steadied with a 1- 1 draw at home to St Mirren but it was two points dropped after the Saints equalised in the dying minutes with a cheap goal conceded from a throw in.
Ayr soon found their feet in the Championship and a run of only one defeat in nine games saw them climb to sixth in the table.
The signings of Premiership duo Conrad Balatoni and Gary Harkins were inspired and their experience helped star youngsters Craig McGuffie and Alan Forrest to continue their progress.
However, lack of firepower was to prove Ayr’s achilles and McCall identified the addition of a striker as crucial during the January transfer window.
The loss of Craig Moore with concussion after a head knock sustained in a cup tie against St Mirren in July hit Ayr hard.
McCall remained adamant that the on loan Motherwell striker would have scored a bundle of goals before Christmas.
He is due to return to Ayr on January 16. That day can’t come soon enough.