Charlie Christie - Lee Bullen must be walking on Ayr after great start

With just over a third of the season completed, Ayr United are the surprise front runners in the Scottish Championship, although there is very little separating first from seventh in possibly the tightest league in the UK.

Managed by former Sheffield Wednesday, Dunfermline and Falkirk player Lee Bullen the ‘Honest Men’ have done terrifically well to date as they look to achieve promotion to the top tier of Scottish football for the first time in 45 years. The south coast club are the league’s top scorers with 28 goals so far this campaign and they certainly have excellent attacking options - undoubtedly the main reason for their lofty position in the table.

I worked alongside Lee Bullen when completing my ‘A level’ SFA coaching licence many years ago and saw first-hand his knowledge and experience of the game.

Lee was hugely popular and always ready to offer his help and assistance to all the course candidates and I can see why his players would respond so positively to his coaching and managerial style.

Whether the Somerset Park club can maintain their promotion push is another question but a win tomorrow at home to Morton would make it three wins on the trot and further enhance their credentials as this season’s ‘dark horses’.

Meanwhile, Rangers set an unwanted record on Tuesday night at Ibrox as they became the first Scottish side ever to go through the group phase of the competition without gaining a point.

They also surpassed the worst group record in Champions League history (previously held by Dinamo Zagreb) by completing their group with a minus 20 goal difference, one goal worse off than that achieved by the Croatians in 2011-12.

This was Rangers first venture into the Champions league for 12 years and, after their excellent run which saw them reach the Europa League final last season, hopes were high of making an impact in Europe’s elite club competition.

They were not helped by an unquestionably difficult group draw which pitted them against three top quality sides in Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax but the Ibrox faithful would still have expected their club to have put up more of a fight throughout the six matches.

A meagre two goals scored whilst conceding 22 is not, and should not be, acceptable for a club of Rangers size and the boos that rang out around Ibrox on the final whistle told their own story.

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s side now have three vital Premier League matches prior to the World Cup break, and they badly need to secure all nine points – anything less and I cannot see them challenging Celtic.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.