#05 - 16/08/08 - Dunfermline Athletic (h)

[Dev]

http://www.weareperth.co.uk/vforum/images/homekitsmall.png vs. http://www.weareperth.co.uk/vforum/images/dunfermlinesmall.png

Looking forward to this one, it's a game we should be winning. Dunfermline look to have improved this season with Andy Kirk already weighing in with goals but we should be confident about winning our home games.

Given that I have a season ticket and go to most away games, it's strange that I somehow managed to miss all four league games against them last season - I made it to the Challenge Cup final though.

Fingers crossed for a victory!

[Noose76]

I'm going out in Glasgow on Friday night so will be rough as a badgers arse for this one, hope I dont miss my train! A few Stella's on the journey up should even me out. :D

[THE LARK SAINT]

This Is How Larky Sees Us Lining Up On Sat

Main:irvine :smith:millar;rusty:captain Kev:swankie:hardie:milne:holmes :craig.subs:sheerin:morris:jackson:mcdonald:mclean

Get Intae The Fifers:::::mon The Saints!!!!

[Saint Chaz]

Looking forward to this game as well, it's obviously way way too early to speak about "must win's" although I feel it's extremely important to get another 3 points on the board quickly after the dissapointment of dropping 2 points late on last week.

I fancy Dunfermline to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, lets give them a doing - show we mean business!

Not sure about Morris, will he bag a starting place if he is indeed fit again?

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

This Is How Larky Sees Us Lining Up On Sat

Main:irvine :smith:millar;rusty:captain Kev:swankie:hardie:milne:holmes :craig.subs:sheerin:morris:jackson:mcdonald:mclean

Get Intae The Fifers:::::mon The Saints!!!!

Nah!!!!!

how about..........



Main

Irvine,James,McCaffery,Smith.

Millar,Morris,Craig.

Savo,Holmes,Swankie

Subs. McLean,Rusty,Hardie,Jacko,Sheerin.

Mooner still injured and to soon for Ando. No place for Peaso,Samuel or Weatherston

[Broon]

I'm amazed you guys want Main to return despite the new keeper playing well. No point in rocking the boat when you're looking for consistency.

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

I'm amazed you guys want Main to return despite the new keeper playing well. No point in rocking the boat when you're looking for consistency.

the quicker Main is back the better Mr Broon.Although McLean is looking a bit better,the defence have no confidence in him what so ever.You've seen it in all the games , None of our players feel comfortable with his decision making especialy at crosses and are at pains not to pass the ball back to him unless there is no other option. I think he,s not a bad keeper and definitely one for the future, and once he has been at the club a bit longer he will build some trust with the other players ( in reserve games and training).Right now though , we need our most comfortable defence as clean sheets are a must. If the opposition don,t score then we aint gonna lose and most likely we will win.As I say He is a decent goalie and will improve but it will take time and we haven't got that right now.

[Broon]

the quicker Main is back the better Mr Broon.Although McLean is looking a bit better,the defence have no confidence in him what so ever.You've seen it in all the games , None of our players feel comfortable with his decision making especialy at crosses and are at pains not to pass the ball back to him unless there is no other option. I think he,s not a bad keeper and definitely one for the future, and once he has been at the club a bit longer he will build some trust with the other players ( in reserve games and training).Right now though , we need our most comfortable defence as clean sheets are a must. If the opposition don,t score then we aint gonna lose and most likely we will win.As I say He is a decent goalie and will improve but it will take time and we haven't got that right now.

It takes time for a defence and goalkeeper to build a relationship. They will begin to trust him after they get to know his style. I can assure you it's difficult to play behind someone like Kevin James. James is a guy who will win 99% of headers. Even if the keeper claims the ball, James will not pull out. As a keeper, would you want to challenge your own 6' 7" centre half for the ball? If you have defenders who are poor in the air it makes your decision for you - you have to come. If you think your just going to get in the way - then you stay on your line. Makes sense to me.

Also, did anyone notice KC come out to take a cross on his 18 yard line on Satruday? He never done that once for Saints - I wonder why.









Do the defence have faith in Alan Main? I don't think so.

[Dev]

Also, did anyone notice KC come out to take a cross on his 18 yard line on Satruday? He never done that once for Saints - I wonder why.

So it's Kevin James' fault that Cuthbert wasn't good enough for us?! How does taking one cross well change anything about Cuthbert?

Do the defence have faith in Alan Main? I don't think so.

Why wouldn't they?

I'd put Main straight back in personally. This may be his final season with us (as a player anyway) but I still think he has a lot to offer.

[stanley saint]

i'd play MMM in centre of midfield, unleash him on them fifers .... lets have another knock out

[Jamie_Beatson]

Also, did anyone notice KC come out to take a cross on his 18 yard line on Satruday? He never done that once for Saints - I wonder why.


He came out for several crosses - and in doing so dropped at least two. One of which almost resulted in a goal - only his defender making an excellent clearance on the line saved the day.

[THE LARK SAINT]

I took a look in at them training after work on wed and caff came off very early with a knock, looks very doubtfull to me at that stage anyway. more worryingly rusty came off for an ice pack on his leg and took no further part. morris looked very sharp and finished the session as did ando, sammy trained but looks like he is a bit behind the rest. Ihave no idea whohe is but they had another player with them (centre half) in practice games, they were calling him "simmie" i had a quick chat with mooner and he said he was progressing well and should be in full training in a couple of weeks

[THE LARK SAINT]

I'm amazed you guys want Main to return despite the new keeper playing well. No point in rocking the boat when you're looking for consistency.

if you mean me in that, i did not say i wanted main back(although i do think it would be for the best) what i did put up was a prediction of the team i think del will pick

[THE LARK SAINT]

Nah!!!!!

are you nuts by the way?????how can you drop the only midfielder who gives

us a bit of beef(MMM)del will not drop hardy in my opinion that midfield is to light weight, good.... but to light weight , where if you add mmm to a four then your talking, but hey ghostie thats just my opinion icould be wrong..... i doubt it . but i could be

[Broon]

So it's Kevin James' fault that Cuthbert wasn't good enough for us?! How does taking one cross well change anything about Cuthbert?



Why wouldn't they?

I'd put Main straight back in personally. This may be his final season with us (as a player anyway) but I still think he has a lot to offer.

Did I say that it was james fault that Cuthbert wasn't good enough? No. All i did was give a reason why our goalkeepers tend to sit on their line. Cuthbert's biggest fault was confidence. Not a bad keeper but not brilliant either.

As for Main, he has the capability now but his consistency and concentration is poor. The mistakes are happening all too often now and no i don't think the defenders trust him any more than McLean.

[Pants n Socks]

the quicker Main is back the better Mr Broon.Although McLean is looking a bit better,the defence have no confidence in him what so ever.You've seen it in all the games , None of our players feel comfortable with his decision making especialy at crosses and are at pains not to pass the ball back to him unless there is no other option. I think he,s not a bad keeper and definitely one for the future, and once he has been at the club a bit longer he will build some trust with the other players ( in reserve games and training).Right now though , we need our most comfortable defence as clean sheets are a must. If the opposition don,t score then we aint gonna lose and most likely we will win.As I say He is a decent goalie and will improve but it will take time and we haven't got that right now.

That's exactly how I feel about it. The sooner Main's back the better and we can all stop pooping our pants at every cross or awkward backpass situation! Sure McLean is a decent keeper but there are definitely trust and/or communication problems between him and the defenders.

Can we maybe give the Kev Cuthbert debate a rest now? He's not our player anymore, we wish him all the best for the future and lets not dwell on the past eh? Especially trivial pish like whether he should or shouldn't have come out for a cross for his new club.

I'd go with your team on the most part ghost except I'd have Hardie in for Craig, he'll need to earn his spot back in the team. And I'd have Rusty instead of Caff cos I think Rusty's been ok so far.

[Dooj]

Not sure about Morris, will he bag a starting place if he is indeed fit again?


According to official site he is out for a couple more weeks ;-(

[THE LARK SAINT]

This Is How Larky Sees Us Lining Up On Sat

Main:irvine :smith:millar;rusty:captain Kev:swankie:hardie:milne:holmes :craig.subs:sheerin:morris:jackson:mcdonald:mclean

Get Intae The Fifers:::::mon The Saints!!!!

Looks like morris has not come through the weeks training fit so i would bring sammy on to the bench

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

Nah!!!!!

how about..........



Main

Irvine,James,McCaffery,Smith.

Millar,Morris,Craig.

Savo,Holmes,Swankie

Subs. McLean,Rusty,Hardie,Jacko,Sheerin.

Mooner still injured and to soon for Ando. No place for Peaso,Samuel or Weatherston

No Morris:( which is good news for Hardie:) ...I,m going to have another go now....:laugh:based on Larkys injury reports.

Main

Irvine,Ando,James,Smith.

Millar Hardie,Craig,Swankie.

Holmes,Savo.

4-4-2...

Subs.McLean,Weatherston,Jacko,McDonald,Sheerin.

This is only if Rusty and Caff are both out, which there is no mention of on the official site so Larky might just be blethering....

[Radford 72]

Shame Morris won't make it as that would have been a big boost, both because of what he brings to the team himself and because it would allow Hardie to push on. As it is, I'd think Sheerin will continue in the centre, with Craig replacing Swankie on the left for this one. Millar obviously starts on the right.

Up front and I think Holmes could be saved for away games like last week and on the bigger pitch, McInnes will use Savo and Jackson for the first hour.

With only Morris and Moon out injured, going to be some very good players left sitting in the stands but it's important we take something from the game as I wouldn't fancy falling five points behind Dundee when they host Morton next week and we travel to Firhill. Our squad should help us come the winter months but at this stage of the campaign, most clubs are able to put their strongest XIs out and there isn't much between quite a few of them. We need to keep ourselves in contention. It'd be fantastic to set the pace but that's not as big a thing for us as our depth gives us an advantage later on.

Looking at the highlights from last week, McLean did spill a shot in the build up to their second goal, so that probably gives McInnes the excuse to bring Main back in. I think we should use Smith at left back as he's naturally suited to that and we need another option if Grenland don't budge over Kononen.

Main

Irvine - Rutkiewicz - James - Smith

Millar - Hardie - Sheerin - Craig

Milne - Jackson

Subbies: McLean, Anderson/McCaffrey, Swankie, Holmes, MacDonald/Samuel.

[Broon]

Looking at the highlights from last week, McLean did spill a shot in the build up to their second goal, so that probably gives McInnes the excuse to bring Main back in.

Looked to me like their player stepped in front of the keeper before the ball made it to his hands, bringing it back into play. It could have been a spill though, it's hard to tell from the highlights.

At least we seem to have the nice problem of having 2 capable keepers competing for a place, rather than getting their place because the other one is playing poorly.

[Gaz9274]

Kirk is the man that we need to watch

Main
Irvine Caff James trialist

Swankie Hardie Miller Craig

Milne Holmes

[MUZZ]

Kirk is the man that we need to watch



but is he? the ball has to get to him before he does anything.....


i'd watch bayne more than kirk

[Dunfermline Saint]

Bit early for the passionate cries but c'mon Saints please win, please!!

First Saints v Dunfermline game I will have missed in the 13 years since I haved moved here.

If anyone else is in the same position as myself the unofficial Dunfermline site http://www.dafc.net will do a live (albeit slightly biased) minute by minute summary of the game. Will post a link to the commentary when it appears tomorrow afternoon.

[R.B.B:- Adz]

think game comes too soon for sammy to start but will defo see him off the bench at some point. Expect to see Liam back in the team however sheerin may be preferred to give more cover for the left back. Cant see ando walking back into the team with captain kev and rusty starting to settle together and gaz coming onto his game down the right. Only guarenteed starters i think are Chris Millar, Rusty and Kevin James. Due to midweek game being cancelled euan should keep his place in goals and i expect Jacko to start the game upfront. Apart from that del has options everywhere else.

[ryangordon86]

Bit early for the passionate cries but c'mon Saints please win, please!!

First Saints v Dunfermline game I will have missed in the 13 years since I haved moved here.

If anyone else is in the same position as myself the unofficial Dunfermline site http://www.dafc.net will do a live (albeit slightly biased) minute by minute summary of the game. Will post a link to the commentary when it appears tomorrow afternoon.


Cheers DS, I'm stuck at work so it'll definitely help knowing what's going on!

[Southpaw]

Only the 3rd game of the league season but feels like an important game nonetheless...think the Pars are still rebuilding a bit so hopefully we'll be too strong for them. Fingers crossed!!

I'd go for
McLean
Irvine, Rusty, James and Smith
Millar, Hardie, Sheerin and Craig
Holmes and Milne

C'mon the blues

[St Mikey]

Must win I think. If Dundee win and we get a draw then its not great.

We need to copy Hamilton's home form from last season.

[SlickDT]

I've got a feeling Sammy will be brought back in for this game.

Id personally go-

McLean

Irvine-Rusty-James-Smith

Millar-Hardie-Craig-Swankie

Samuel-Milne

Subs- Caff, Sheerin, Jackson, Holmes, Main.

Think both Jackson's pace and Homes presence would be a good option to bring on later in the game and for that reason they'd be on the bench for me. This game could end up being a bit of blood and guts to be honest, so I think playing Hardie and Craig in the middle would suit. As for Samuel (if fit), I believe he could bring something to the team none of the other strikers can, so I'm hoping with a bit of playing time he could prove a good signing!?

[Dunfermline Saint]

Link for updates to todays game

http://www.dafc.net/index2.php?ID=2450&CATEGORY2=3-Live%20Updates

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

Time to go. Lets hope it,s a great game and Saints come away with 3 points.

Going for 2-1 to Saints.....

Come on you Saints.
Come on you Saints Fans.

[Brian Potter]

Think it would be harsh to leave Holmes out, won alot of balls last week. Would like to see Jacko partner him.

Give Samuel half an hour to get some game time!

[Dunfermline Saint]

Team:

McLean
Irvine
Smith
Millar
Rutkiewicz
James
Swankie
Craig
Holmes
Milne
Sheerin

Subs:
Main
Peaso
Jacko
McCaffrey
Samuel

[ryangordon86]

is that officially the team DS or your prediction?

[Dunfermline Saint]

It's officially the team according to SSN.

[ryangordon86]

Good stuff! 'Mon The Saints!!!!!!!!!

[Dunfermline Saint]

Think the result of todays game will determine whether or not I go out to the pub tonight.

so c'mon Saints, I want to get exceedingly drunk tonight!

[Moray Blue]

Good afternoon stay at homes / exiles.

After a good morning watching the Olympics lets hope for an equally good aftenoon.

Go get them Saints!

[Dunfermline Saint]

Burnley game delayed as there is a parachutist stuck on the roof of the stand according to good ol' Jeff on SSN.

[StDuncM]

According to http://www.dafc.net/index2.php?ID=24...Live%20Updates severe early pressure from the Pars with 2 corners and a shot just past the post!!

[Dunfermline Saint]

Livi leading Morton 2-0 already.

[ryangordon86]

i noticed, good scorline considering they're at Cappielow.

This commentary is gash, we seem to be under the cosh which doesnt really help

[Moray Blue]

quick 1-2 from Ross County at Clyde

[ryangordon86]

Harper off - Williamson on for the Pars

[Dunfermline Saint]

1-0 Dunfermline

[Dunfermline Saint]

Samuel and Jacko on for Swankie and Holmes

[O'Rourke]

0:2 :sad:

[injured saint]

0-2

[Indicator]

Hmmm... :neutral:

[Dunfermline Saint]

3-0

[injured saint]

0-3

[O'Rourke]

3-0

That's your night out wrecked!

[Dunfermline Saint]

yeah, dont think I'll be going out for a while now!

[injured saint]

0-3 ft

[Indicator]

I'm saying nothing. After all I'm 4,000 + miles away. I couldn't possibly be disappointed.

[MUZZ]

to sum it up,, that was total rubbish from 1st to last minute. rubbish from back to front and we made the pars look excellent at times. pissed off but.......... the show must go on. hopefully just a one off or it's gonna be a long long season.

bring on the thistle.

[saint_markperth]

o well there is always firhill for thrills next week

[SJC]

Awful, but not suspriging when you look at the players on the park.

James and Rutki again decided to hell with the rest of the team and tried to win every ball in out half, que the left and right backs being pulled totally out of position by these crazy dashes up the park- absolute shambles, James is the team manager because he dictates exactly how we play, McInness will not dare tell him to stop trying to win EVERY ball!

I see that there were players with Saints shirts on in the middle of the park, someone should have told them that the game has started because they are obviously too ******* stupid to realise it themselves.

Milne and Holmes started the game as the only players in Dunfermlines half, in order for one of them to score they had to control a punt from one of our uncultured defenders, then turn and beat 2 defenders before they even have a shot at goal, there was no support whatever from either Craig, Miller, Sheerin or Swankie.

The second half we changed things, instead of trying to find a striker up the pitch we resolved to do without any challenges and melt the ball over everyone's head.

A Stark- Esque performance today, complete shambles from start to finish.

[Watty]

What a complete shambles today, we were all over the place at the back, midfield was posted missing and barely tested gallagher in the pars goals. Chris Millar works his socks off but he must be thinking why he is bothering, him and Savo were the only guys who should get away from a roasting from McInnes.

Sheerin looks fuked, season too far for him, looked shagged last week at Cappielow, confirmed today. Hopefull Main will be back next week, don't think the lad Mclean is instilling much confidence in the defence, talking of which what the hell's happened to Gary Irvine? Complete nonsense of a perfomance from him this afternoon.

I'm also questioning the wisdom of Del's subbies, same last week at Morton when he took Swankie off, a baffling decision, and today (there might be reason why they were taken off though) he again took Swnakie off and Homer to replace with Samuel (a lot to prove) and Jacko who once again looks like he cudnae score in a bucket of fannies (he look overwieght/unfir to anyone else?).

A re-think required by our manager otherwise he won't last till Xmas. Pars deserved their win, they were more up for it and looked heaps better than the turgid outfit they were last seson.

[sconesjfc]

Shocking display of football and the culperts will be named and shamed.
Mclean(GTF), Irvine(too many aimless punts), Smith(maybe a harsh inclusion), Craig(really pish), Sheerin(the worst), Millar(second half),Jackson(again maybe a bit harsh). Buck up Saints because that was DIRE, to be fair Dumfermline looked well up for it.

[MUZZ]

to be fair Dumfermline looked well up for it.

but as the home team, we shouldn't be letting any team in this division lay into us the way they did. this game was lost the moment the first whistle was blown by the ref today.

[sconesjfc]

Too true, forgot to mention the ref and the East Stand lino were f#cking terrible.

[MUZZ]

Too true, forgot to mention the ref and the East Stand lino were f#cking terrible.

aye, they were that. still, not there fault about the way we played.

[Ali91]

take of the target man at half time, who i thought was playing well, and continue to play long balls? bizarre. milne can hold his head up high but that is about it. we certainly missed the bite hardie and morris provide in the middle. i honestly can't remember the last time i have been so dissapointed after a game.

[Rodgers]

Today was an absolute shambles!

We just didn’t look interested, didn’t work hard for anything,

Mclean- didn’t look confident at coming out of his goal to get the ball, half hearted challenges and still very quiet, not good enough, think its time to put main back in
Irvine – I am a great admirer of the lad but was very quiet today, he rushed his crosses into the box when no one was there, so it was waste, happened many times today
James- my MOM, the captain, was wasted at corners as usual but was the only one that was prepared to fight and stand his ground.
Ruti- what a plonker, he was today! Defending corners, he didn’t have a clue and spent the whole game, running after andy kirk, very unlike ruti, hes not the player he was last season
Smith- he okay, wudnt say hes the best left back iv seen and wudnt be happy if he was our first team left back,
Sheerin- what a shocker he had today, so many passes when to the other team, iv never seen him play so bad, again, really unlike him, needs to improve big team
Millar- played like barry ferguson, only passed the ball across the pitch today, he usually takes the ball and makes forward runs, never done that once, expected better
Craig- same as Millar, usually makes forward runs but cant remember one
Swankie- again one of the players you would expect to take the ball and go, he must of touched the ball twice when he was on

Holmes and savo, they both play the same kind of game, head the ball and run on, good players but would be better if they were paired off with another striker that makes the runs, like holmes and jacko.

Jacko and sammy, should of made a difference at half time, so credit to mcinnes for having the balls to make the changed but it didn’t work so it then made it hard for us to get back into the game.

Thought we missed hardie today in midfield

Worst iv seen saints play at home, but achwel, these things happen, am sure mcinnes will be throwing boots about the dressing room, so am confident we wont be seeing saints play like that again this season

MON THE SAINTS!

p.s thought we had a good support today, pitty on the performance

[SlickDT]

A very poor performance from the boys today. Made Dunfermline look alot better than what they are.

Thought James played quite well to be honest, but his lack off faith in any of the other defenders being able to head/clear a ball means he tried to go for everyball. Millar gave alot of effort, but some of his runs left huge gaps.

Rusty, Craig and Sheerin were particulalrly poor. The mucking about before the third goal was awful! (and for the idiots at the back to chant Mains name shows how little they know about football, what goalie in the world would have stopped that shot?)

McLean lacks confidence in his own ability, let alone his defenders. The prime example of this was his drop of a very easy cross in the second half. The guy didn't do anything particularly wrong, but I just don't believe he's the man to keep our number one slot.

[Perth-Saint]

Dunfermline did look up for it but we were an Utter shambles.

[dan the saint]

Team:

McLean
Irvine
Smith
Millar
Rutkiewicz
James
Swankie
Craig
Holmes
Milne
Sheerin

Subs:
Main
Peaso
Jacko
McCaffrey
Samuel

why was swankie on the left? when he should bee on the right?

where was mmm the day?

McLean

Irvine - Rutkiewicz - James - Smith


Millar - Sheerin - Craig - swankie

Holmes - Milne

the team line up should of been


McLean

Irvine - Rutkiewicz - James - Smith


Swankie - Millar - Sheerin - Craig

Milne - Holmes

[Watty]

why was swankie on the left? when he should bee on the right?

where was mmm the day?


Swankie has played majority of his career on the left, but has said he's happy playin either, better start producing then laddie.

MMM had a virus, big miss for us today.

[The Real Saints]

Pretty much shambolic, although I felt we played very well for 20-25 minutes of the first half when we passed the ball around nicely. However, we didn't score which is the main aim of the game.
Dunfermline started very brightly and played with great urgency, something which we never did throughout the entirety of the match. After the 10 minute mark, we came back into the game a bit, passed the ball around well, and I couldn't fault any of the players. Millar played well as always, and Savo and Holmes were working hard to try break through the solid Dunfermline defence, although all to no avail.
I believe we should have had a penalty when two of their defenders seemed to jump on top of Holmes, but the referee seemed to be on the Pars' side, which made it all the more frustrating when they took the lead just before half time.
We seemed much less up for it in the second half. I believe part of this was due to McInnes' decision to play with 3 up front. I felt he should have kept things the same for a while longer as I truly believed we could make the breakthrough. However, nobody can deny that we looked like we couldn't be bothered for the whole of the second half, and didn't even come close to troubling Dunfermline. Our passing was woeful.
Dire stuff in the main. I hope the players will be given a boot up their arse before Partick. Dunfermline fully deserved their win.

[andrew]

What do I know? I just think that we look too lightweight - not just in physical stature if that makes sense. Dunfermline looked strong, they passed and moved, they took us apart. They played like we should have been playing. Another season when we looked forward to it being our year but make a poor start. Gary Irvine announced as man of the match!? He was something of the match, but it wasn't man - fill in an alternative word yourselves. Disappointing.

[Broon]

That hurt today. Really hurt. Can't understand the managers decision to take off holmes and swankie at half time - two of our better players. Crazy decision. Physically we were soundly beaten. Sheerin and craig really struggled to get into the game. Also, James does nothing for the teams morale. We need encouragement, not dogs abuse for no reason (smith at the corner).

[Pablo]

Where do you start with today? Not even gonna bother; why should I when the players didn't. Pish.

[Mr_Plow]

Very, very poor today. A poor performance from front to back. If we keep playing like that we will get taken to the cleaners by the Scum. I felt we had no real presence in central midfield (missing MMM I think)

McLean - communicates with his backline, but usually to give them a bollocking. And he was a bit wishy washy too.

Irvine - seems reluctant to overlap with the midfielder in front of him and he really needs to start stopping crosses.

Smith - had an ok game. Crosses too much from deep but was receiving awful passes from Sheerin (who kept giving him abuse afterwards).

James - good defensive headers, that's about it from him today. Nearly got us into trouble a couple of times and really needs to have more of an impact when we have corners.

Swankie - had a good couple of crosses but was otherwise anonymous.

Millar - had a good first half but quiet second half.

Sheerin - one of his worst performances. His passing was well below his usual assurance.

Craig - didn't see much from him today.

Holmes - was faring fairly well and probably shouldn't have been subbied.

Savo - ran his arse off but needs to be more clinical.

Jackson - relatively ineffectual.

Samuel - still short of match sharpness and was a mixed bag today.

Peaso - not enough time to make his mark.

I hope Derek gave them a swearing afterwards, but him and the Doc need to get their shit together too or we will be in mid-table obscurity.

[templeofsaints]

Total disgrace today. McLean's general positioning was poor, both full-backs spent too much time being caught upfield.
Millar started well then faded - he seems wasted on the right as well. Ruti seemed ok to start but i thought he injured his back - certainly slowed up later on. James was leading but again caught too easily on the ball. Swankie's removal was I hope due to injury (when he got clobbered on the touchline) and not tactical.
Craig was pish, Holmes wasn't winning enough of the ball and should not have to drop back. Savo deserved a goal for his effort.
As for Sheerin it seems that playing through the middle is useless for him unless he has a minder (a la Hardie). He can't tackle to win the ball and too many passes today went back / square rather than create anything attack-minded. I'd be more inclined to play Hardie and Millar in the middle with Swankie and Craig on the flanks.
Jacko was invisible, Sammy had 2 efforts then returned to lazy-bugger-mode and Peaso was brought on far, far too late.

[slf]

that was a braw game - if yer a dunfermline supporter.we were well beat from them.strongest team in the league on paper, bollocks.time to rip up that paper.thats the best side that we played at home in a while and it just exposed the fact early on we just dont have the look of champs yet. its gonna be a long season.

[dave mc]

Totally out played,more so in the first half.What worried me most is we looked so much less fit than them.First goal was a foul on James,the second looked offside earlier in the move,but they merited the win.Two weeks running i've thought Sheerin's had his worst game for us,dont think he's comfy in the middle,not got the mobility or dig.Thought we were overloadedon the left and should have switched Swanks to the right.Savo,Millarand Smith at least looked like they were keen.

[slf]

aye we didnt look very fit either .take it they cold dips and a trip to boing boing land were a waste of time.ditch them and return to tradition.get the feckers running up and doon kinnoull hill.that saves money nae trips to england and we might be able to be fitter and save some money too.

[Saintly Child]

Total crap.

Team doesn't look fit or organised, Keeper is a shocker and must be dropped, Sheerin is done needs to be dropped.

Raging tonight at that performance.

Shower of ****s :(

[slf]

Total crap.

Team doesn't look fit or organised, Keeper is a shocker and must be dropped, Sheerin is done needs to be dropped.

Raging tonight at that performance.

Shower of ****s :(

calm doon.they were much better than us and we couldnt match them on the park.your right though we werny as fit or organised as them.hopefully that will eventually work in our favour as the seasons progresses.at least we dinnae hav a bubble to burst .

[StDuncM]

Early days lads. Better to get such a game early in the season so we can win everything until the end of the season.

[slf]

Early days lads. Better to get such a game early in the season so we can win everything until the end of the season.


hey i agree with you dude.funny thats how i felt last season and look what happened it just kept slipping away.

[Radford 72]

McInnes' comments:

"Credit to them, they looked hungrier, first to the ball and they got a confidence from that. I felt they played well. Very few teams come here and dominate proceedings like that. They kept us in our own half.

"I felt we didn't do enough to go and compete better than we did. It was a disappointing result but Dunfermline looked a good side today and were worthy winners.

"I am not going to criticise individuals but very few can be happy with their performance. Very rare have we been as poor as that.

"The players know that against a good team like Dunfermline they punish you - that's what happened today. We looked punchless at times and certainly didn't look as hungry as them. We are not going to win every game; we are going to lose games throughout the season but there are certain ways of losing.

"Disappointing but it is one Saturday in a long season ahead. We will come in Monday, pick the bones out of that and try and make sure we are ready for next week."

Jim McIntyre was very complimentary about Saints generally, although obviously delighted with how his own team played.

[Southpaw]

Usually like to find some positives in my teams performance but I'm struggling tonight. Really hope this was just a bad day at the office.
For any Saints fans who weren't there today, this was as bad as all the previous posts suggest. Started poorly and never got going.

Nothing to add in terms of rating the team. It was easy to see who performed and who didn't today.

I believe this set of players are the best in the division but Del and Doc really need to get a settled system and team sorted out.

C'mon Saints.

[Bruno Strasser]

That one hurt and it would be easy to go on about how poor we were etc - but Dunfermline were excellent today.

I would agree that we need to sort a system out - is it high balls or on the deck ?

[Radford 72]

It's just vital we make sure it's an isolated performance. We need to be prepared to work as hard as Dunfermline did today if we want to win the league. All these outside observers can't be wrong about the strength of our squad but if we don't fight as hard as the opposition, it levels things out completely.

I don't think McInnes was in a position to name his strongest side ahead of the opening game but the picture is clearer now and I guess it's unfortunate the starting central pair of Morris and Hardie were unavailable. With those two in there, surely we wouldn't have been so tame?

McInnes also needs to drop McLean for his own sake, the fans are on his back already and there could be no way back if he has another bad performance at home. I'd also be tempted to give Ando a shot at right back in an effort to tighten us up.

I wouldn't have started Holmes at home today but it was foolish to take him off at half time as it was obvious that we might need to go back to front in the second half if we couldn't get a grip in midfield and we chasing the game. The last 20 minutes of the first half hadn't been that bad in any case IMO.

[mainstand]

I wouldn't have started Holmes at home today but it was foolish to take him off at half time as it was obvious that we might need to go back to front in the second half if we couldn't get a grip in midfield and we chasing the game. The last 20 minutes of the first half hadn't been that bad in any case IMO.

Do you know for a fact that it was a tactical decision to take him off and that it was not down to injury. Je did land awkwardly and stayed down at one point.

[Deek]

Shocking performance. Irvine looked like a guy who doesn't have to play for his shirt, which is exactly the case. It says it all that Dunfermline didn't bother playing to a trialist left back but focused on Irvine. Ruti just boots the ball anywhere, it's little wonder the midfield gets bypassed.

One of the worst defences in the league. James wins everything in the air but he's a bully and seems to think he's bigger/more important than the team.

[Radford 72]

Do you know for a fact that it was a tactical decision to take him off and that it was not down to injury. Je did land awkwardly and stayed down at one point.
Yeah, maybe it was an injury but then Peaso is the nearest option we have in that he can at least put up a fight aerially, so why not bring him on? I just feel we were probably second best in midfield in the first half so the chances were that going to just three in there was going to mean we'd have to go long more often. Samuel did ok in the air but you felt he was just getting his head on the ball, whereas Peaso has a bit more control over it.

If it was tactical, I think it was a poor decision and that's not just with hindsight. Hopefully Holmes will be back for Firhill next week although maybe the pace of Samuel and Milne would trouble Maxwell more.

[Pablo]

One of the worst defences in the league. James wins everything in the air but he's a bully and seems to think he's bigger/more important than the team.

'Bully' is a bit of a strong word to use. I think he is more a captain leading by example. They all needed a shake up on the pitch and it should be coming from him as captain.

[Deek]

I don't think bully is a strong word for his antics today (screaming at his teammates for not finding him with a cross, screaming at a teammate for having the audacity to get in his way when he's going for the ball).

Yes be the leader, but don't think your so important that your all that matters. James was dragging his own defense all over the place going for balls he didn't need to go for.

[saint5588]

Dunfermline were far the better team today, saints didnt look interested at some points in the game. Have to put the game behind us now and think about next week and get back to playing good football. Dont think one player can be blamed for todays performance, the defence still dont look like they have confidence in the keeper, we need someone thats willing to shout at the defence and help them out and mclean doesnt do that

[Pablo]

Yes be the leader, but don't think your so important that your all that matters. James was dragging his own defense all over the place going for balls he didn't need to go for.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I can see your point. Maybe it's just a reflection of how frustrated the whole team were with their pish performance today. Still, they shouldn't be taking it out on each other.

[slf]

i feel like the pus on southpaws photo after that result.is that what you look like dude?

[StDuncM]

Ok guys lets just settle down a bit.

1. How were we after 3 games at the start of last season?
2. How many games have we lost at McD?

Early days.

[Pablo]

Ok guys lets just settle down a bit.

1. How were we after 3 games at the start of last season?
2. How many games have we lost at McD?

Early days.

The expectations have been building amongst the players and fans to the state that now, we all believe we can win the league. There have been some great performances by a squad which, on paper, should walk this division. Today is a reality check and I'd rather see steps taken now than amble on til Xmas and wondering, again, what might have been...

[Southpaw]

i feel like the pus on southpaws photo after that result.is that what you look like dude?


Usually no...tonight yes! :(

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

Insipid,spineless,tactically inept,negative,embarrasing f ucking shite..It,s taken me 5 hours to calm down after that.I want to get right behind the team but after that performance,boy it aint half difficult..Nothing else to say.

[SaintSam1884]

Insipid,spineless,tactically inept,negative,embarrasing f ucking shite..It,s taken me 5 hours to calm down after that.I want to get right behind the team but after that performance,boy it aint half difficult..Nothing else to say.

They didn't quite manage to "unf'ck" themselves today, did they? :(

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

They didn't quite manage to "unf'ck" themselves today, did they? :(

No they didn,t.:cry:

[Burghsaintee]

i feel like the pus on southpaws photo after that result.is that what you look like dude?


Is it not a photograph of Tony Hancock?

[slf]

maybe your right dude .looks like his team got beat too.

[Cagey]

Can`t add much to whats already been posted. I am sure I read or heard that Saints didn`t do much physical work in the pre season ,concentrating on ballwork & creating harmony & teamwork. I tink it must have been true because the team were second to every ball & Dunfermline were streets ahead in fitness & pace.

Sheerin is a good player but he is past it. He could give us 45 mins but not 80/90. Irvines defending is poor to say the least & his crossing is diabolical. The same applies to the left back & I don`t think he is good enough for a contract.
Liam Craig was non existant today ,Swankie was never in the game & it was no surprise he was subbed.

I have already said too much about the goalie.

101 was right last week that we threw away 2 points against a team that was there for the beating . A win last week would probably have set us up for a better display today.

[Noose76]

Wanky ****s

[MUZZ]

Wanky ****s

love you noosey boy ya steamer

[stanley saint]

lets hope thats our worst performance of the season and be able to look back and laugh when we're top of the league at the end of the season