Mark Kerr: Last News

Ayr squad has what it takes to turn the tide on their poor form.A run of one win in nine games has hauled United towards the foot of the Championship.But Kerr, who admits the team now finds itself in a "horrible" position, says they can get moving again.He told the Ayrshire Post: "There’s no doubt that with the players we have, we are underachieving to be in the position we are.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at your fingertips 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories while you can customise your page with the sections that matter to you.The Ayrshire Live app is available to

Ayr boss Mark Kerr tonight admitted his side have been left in a "horrible position" after slumping to second bottom in the Championship.Goals in either half from Dan MacKay and Shane Sutherland sealed a first win in seven for Inverness.And United boss Kerr says his troops must show a more ruthless side in front of goal if they want to get out of trouble.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at your fingertips 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories while you can customise your page with the sections that matter to you.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now on iOS and

Ayr United must be up for the test of 13 huge games as the Championship run-in gathers pace.The fiercely competitive nature of this season’s league means United sit three points off the play-offs at either end of the table.And Kerr knows there is little margin for error as his troops enter the final furlong.Ayr welcome Inverness to Somerset this Saturday with John Robertson’s Highlanders playing catch-up on the rest of the division.And Kerr said: “A lot of us are in the same boat, being desperate to play regularly again."Hopefully we should be okay now in terms of the weather and we can get a clear run of games from here.“We had the suspicion at the start of the season that it would be a strange league and it’s panning out that

Robbie Neilson’s touchline behaviour after Hearts ended Ayr’s unbeaten home run thanks to a dubious second half penalty.Neilson was booked by Steven McLean for mouthing off at fourth official Matthew MacDermid in the first half and was seen in the ref’s ear as he made his way off at half time.Moments into the second half his side were awarded a spot kick when Ayr skipper Jack Baird was adjudged to have handled inside the box.Replays showed Baird sliced the ball onto his own hand - something which, under the new handball laws, does not constitute a foul.But Liam Boyce smashed home the spot kick to secure three points that sends Hearts 12 clear at the top and ends Ayr’s unbeaten home record.Afterwards Kerr said: “I have only seen it quickly

iOS and Android.Walsh, who has missed most of the campaign with hamstring and calf injuries, said: “It’s been frustrating.“When you come to a new club you want to play as many games as you can and show what you can do.“So you have to be patient but the gaffer has been brilliant with me while I’ve been out.“Hopefully I’m repaying him with my last couple of performances and I feel fit now.”Ayr proved clinical in front of goal as they maintained their unbeaten home record.And Walsh says the team will take huge confidence ahead of games with Hearts and Dundee.He said: “Any win in this league is good but when you score four and it’s emphatic it’s great.“But we’ve got good players and we know that.“We’ll take one game at a time, we’re not even

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterAyr boss Mark Kerr is backing David Smith to lead a Somerset Park revolution.The player-manager reckons Smith’s takeover will signal a bold new way of doing things in Tryfield Place.Kerr said: “David has been a breath of fresh air since joining the Board and has been brilliant to work with.“Both he and Lachlan have been very supportive of myself and Mick (McArdle) and it’s positive news to see this being done.“When you’re going through a sticky spell like we are just now, it’s obviously my job to get that turned around.“Everybody has them in football and it’s our spell just now.“But David sees how hard we’re working and his support is

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterFurious Mark Kerr laid into his side as Ayr crumbled to a last ditch defeat in Dumfries.United looked to have salvaged a point in the last minute after Gregor Buchanan's own goal.But they conceded a winner within 60 seconds of the restart as Queens hit back for all three points.A livid Kerr said afterwards: "We've thrown that game away."It's a lack of basic defending that's costing us...teams aren't even cutting us open."We had three or four good chances to go in 2-0 ahead and be comfortable at half time."But we've gone and conceded soft goals."Then we fight for 45 minutes to get a draw...and to go and lose it is sickening."We've done enough

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterFour goals in 13 minutes killed off Ayr's hopes of a famous Tynecastle win as Hearts' ruthless comeback cost United dear in the capital.The Honest Men had gone 2-1 in front shortly after the restart through strikes from Cammy Smith and Luke McCowan.But they were overwhelmed by a Jambos onslaught that left boss Mark Kerr cutting a frustrated figure.He said: "I can't fault most of the boys for their effort or application today."But we need to use our heads better and learn how to shut out a game for a period of time."Sometimes it's just a case of using the ball well to get yourself up the pitch."We knew we were going to face a challenge even

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.Mark Kerr hailed his players for bouncing back in style as Ayr secured three points at Alloa.Goals in either half from Luke McCowan and Andy Murdoch sealed a welcome return to form for United on the back of their Betfred Cup thrashing at Livi last week.And it was the manner of the performance, in which Ayr played some lovely flowing football, which pleased Kerr most.He said: "We were great to watch at times and looked really good on the front foot."Coming off Livingston last week, which wasn't nice, the boys stepped up and showed a bit of class."We scored two great goals and could have had more."I thought wee Murdy really stepped up in that

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.Mark Kerr admits his players "failed to do the basics" as Ayr were put to the Betfred sword at the Tony Macaroni.United's hopes of a quarter final place were up in smoke after a horror opening 12 minutes when they fell 3-0 behind.And Kerr was left scratching his head at a performance which saw United fail to register a single shot on goal.The boss confessed: "We absolutely killed ourselves early doors."We were set up to attack here today and play football but never did any of it."The frustrating thing is that we know how to defend set plays and short corners."But we continually fed into Livingston's hands and what they're good at."Credit to them

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterMark Kerr hailed his Ayr side for answering the call to attack as Michael Moffat made the 100 club on a milestone day at Somerset Park.Moff stole the headlines as he landed his long awaited century of goals for the Honest Men in the 2-0 win over Dundee.His early strike, which added to Cammy Smith's third minute opener, ultimately put United out of sight against the Dark Blues.And a delighted Kerr said: "I could go through everyone in the team and give them praise as I thought they were outstanding."We asked them to give us a bit more in forward areas today and we got the response."We sat down and looked at it and realised we have to start

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterMARK Kerr has warned his Ayr United stars he won't hesitate to ring the changes after they scraped through to the last 16 of the Betfred Cup.The Honest Men needed a sudden death penalties win to beat Stranraer and top Group F.But Kerr admits he needs far more from his troops after a half time rollicking hauled his side back from the brink.He said: "People need to start realising we have goals that we need to meet."The club has been great with the boys and they've been brought in to do a job but if it's unacceptable I'll say so."I won't accept it - I never did it as a player and it's not like I'm asking for something that I didn't do as a

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterAyr boss Mark Kerr admits he wants more from his side as an attacking force after their goalless stalemate with Dunfermline.The Honest Men were solid in defence against the unbeaten Pars, but failed to create many chances of their own on a frustrating afternoon.And Kerr insists they could have done more to inflict a first defeat on the Fifers.He said: "We take the positives of a clean sheet and how we defended, particularly against their set pieces."But it was frustrating in terms of what we failed to do going forward."We want to be on the front foot and imposing ourselves on the game."But we never created enough to go and win it - even though

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterFurious Mark Kerr admits he couldn't believe his team's collapse as Ayr blew a two goal Cappielow lead at the death.United, despite playing most of the second half with ten men after Aaron Muirhead's red card, looked home and hosed after a dominant display.But three goals in the last seven minutes saw defeat snatched from the jaws of victory - and left Kerr livid.He said: "I can't believe how we've defended at the goals...we've just switched off and made basic mistakes."It was like panic stations at the back when they've lumped high balls at us late on."But we should have had more than enough to deal with that, it's just poor positioning on

Ayrshire Post: "It was good just to come through another game with the boys unscathed."That's been the main worry through this pre season as it's been a very strange preparation due to how long we've been in."We've absolutely needed it because of the lay-off during lockdown but I've found myself doing stuff this pre season that I've never done before."We've really had to manage the boys and big Mick [McArdle] did a lot of studying during the summer on injury prevention and the trends around teams coming back from lockdown."It's worked really well for us and now we can't wait to get cracking with the real stuff."Ayr were given their second stern test in a few days by League One title hopefuls as Thistle stepped up to the mark to provide a

Ayrshire Post: "It's a big relief just to get a game under our belts after so long.

Ayrshire Post: “It’s a challenge because you’re trying to recreate the dressing room atmosphere out on a pitch.“At the moment the players are straight in and out from training in their gear and it’s not what we’re used to.“The little things like boys having their own places where they sit each day is something you take for granted.“But we’re not letting it affect us and the atmosphere has been brilliant.“The new boys are fitting in really well."Kerr swooped yesterday to make former St Mirren defender Jack Baird his fifth signing of the summer.And goalkeeping targets down south form part of the thinking as the squad building continues.Youngsters Gabe Skeoch and Finn Ecrepont have joined former United boss Brian Reid on season-long loans at

Ayrshire Post: “It’s obvious how hard the boys have worked and I was more than happy with what I saw.“We’re just trying to ease them back in gently but the enthusiasm to get going was there for all to see, which is great.“Right now our environment is very strange and it will take some getting used to.

“I’m delighted with what we’ve done so far but I’m also realistic that there’s a lot of work to do.“Things look good on paper just now but I’ve been in the game long enough to know it’s about far more than that.“The game isn’t played on paper so we need to get the new boys in and get the squad to gel quickly.”A new keeper and a striker remain top priorities but Kerr hasn’t ruled out adding one or two more on top of that.He said: “It’s about getting a shape of squad that will be competitive.“The business we’ve done so far has been good in that respect and just getting the boys back after so long away will be a huge step forward.”Kerr, meanwhile, admits Monday’s Betfred Cup draw was a big milestone.Ayr were placed in Group F alongside