Ali91

Actually thought in terms of having some control of the game we did ok. See a lot of Macpherson stick but thought him, Phillips and Sprangler did ok. Our problem is how easy it is to score against us, and how easy it is to defend against us. We have relegation written all over us. 

2 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

Folk in front of me yesterday thought different. According to them he’s one of our worst players and only gets in the team as his dad is head of football operations.
 

I wouldn’t say he was sparkling, but far from the worst yesterday and indeed the entire season. 

Dearie me, conspiracy theory up there with the glaiket looking man with the covid hoax banners outside the East yesterday! 

Cammy is one of the few players in our squad who has the confidence to take the ball in tight spaces and try and play forward in to good positions.  
 

i wasn’t keen for large parts of last season and didn’t understand paying money for him, but I think in hindsight it’s about the only purchase we got right last year. 

Also not having the Macpherson slander, he was one of our better performers yesterday (set pieces aside) as he has been all season in my opinion. Phillips had a bit of a shocker next to him yesterday, but I think we’re just going to have to accept him having games like that from time to time just now, he’s still young and his style of play means he’s going to throw in games like that on occasion.  

There were elements I liked yesterday, the way we limited their chances being the main one. We looked much more solid with four at the back and Drey further forward, although they did get a lot of joy down our right side before going down to 10 men. James Brown can feel hard done to, he’s been thrown to the wolves at left wing back and left of a back three for most of the season, and then doesn’t get the nod when we play a back four. Don’t think McGowan there particularly worked. 

I left the ground disappointed yesterday though, and I’m surprised to see the level of positivity on social media. If we’d failed to win against a 10 man Hibs side whilst effectively having Mayzo up front with minimal support for the whole game, the judgement of the performance if we hadn’t changed managers would be very different I imagine. The first twenty minutes after the red card were poor, and if we’d been as cohesive then as we had for the last twenty we’d have won the game. 

It should also be noted that we turned two games around this season when the opposition went down to 10 men at similar times, so the idea of a big step forward seems premature for me.

The above probably reads overly negative, and I do appreciate Maclean can’t be expected to turn around the issues and form of a squad devoid of confidence and ideas in five days, but yesterday didn’t make me more confident we can avoid the play offs, especially with the results elsewhere. 

6 hours ago, Strawman said:

On subscription cable tv in Canada there is a reality Tv programme about a lad who managed to get signed for a Scottish top flight football club despite never having played “soccer “ in his life before. How they all laugh as he runs about not having a clue what he’s doing and how they celebrated when he actually managed a goal against Kilmarnock.

Obviously I made that up but it’s what it feels like, Theo seems a lovely guy, defo a great athlete and can’t fault his effort, but it’s painful to watch, he’s had way more chances than the Finnish lad who we ll never know if could have made an impact cos Callum didn’t trust him.

Callum should be gone, even for the amount of money wasted on his huge squad, never mind the tactics he never moves away from.

I would have agreed he looked out of his depth before this year but Theo is the least of our problems, think he’s made a good show of himself every time he’s been given ten minutes this season. 
 

On 12/17/2022 at 5:15 PM, Ali91 said:

I’d imagine the results of this poll would look very different now… Amazing what a run of form can do.

I was very much a yes before, there were very little shoots of improvement despite an upturn in form post Christmas last year which was mainly down to a striker in an unsustainable hot streak. The start to this season was more of the same, no identity, no real sense of a plan other than sit back and hope the defence managed to defend the box well enough and possibly sneak one on the break. 

But you need to give credit where it is due, the signings we made in the summer certainly didn’t inspire me, but most of them have far exceeded my expectations (Clark, Mitchell, McGowan, Considine, Montgomery), giving May a partner up top has worked miracles on him and we actually look like we want to win games again and have an element of control in the majority of games these days. Couple that with a ‘Tommy Wright’ style attitude and there’s real positivity about us again. 
 

Is anyone still Callum out? 

The worst of this is that at the time I posted this we had a good buzz about us, we were on a good run and actually looked like a decent team. Since then… my word. It looks at times like Davidson picks a team to prove the fans wrong. Today is wasn’t a million miles wrong, but he played Gordon who looks a walking nervous wreck and Carey massively out of position and massively out of form. 
 

He’d ridden the wave a little and had a little bit of goodwill back, and he’s ruined it all.
 

I think there’s a bit of back and forth between those who wanted him out and those sticking by him, and it’s poisonous and unfair both ways, everyone wants the best for Saints, my goodwill has gone, and I think best for Saints is without him. 

We played a similar line up against St Mirren earlier in the season (Murphy instead of Crawford and Mitchell instead of Gordon), and it worked well, but I don’t think any saints fan looked at that pre match last night and thought it was in any way the right balance. 
 

Once Hallberg went off we were creating the much better chances, and for me were the better side for the last hour, which makes the way we lined up even more frustrating, three points were definitely there for the taking. 
 

Frustrations aside there are still clearly some positives, namely I’m going to games and not being bored senseless for 90 minutes. Massive game on Monday now though. 

398 away fans is a great following considering there were no trains and the cold weather. I had a train booked from Edinburgh but decided against driving up/getting a lift when it was cancelled, regretting it now! 
 

Away support has been class all season in terms of numbers and noise. Much more enjoyable going with the FCU bringing the noise and colour pretty much every week. 

I’d imagine the results of this poll would look very different now… Amazing what a run of form can do.

I was very much a yes before, there were very little shoots of improvement despite an upturn in form post Christmas last year which was mainly down to a striker in an unsustainable hot streak. The start to this season was more of the same, no identity, no real sense of a plan other than sit back and hope the defence managed to defend the box well enough and possibly sneak one on the break. 

But you need to give credit where it is due, the signings we made in the summer certainly didn’t inspire me, but most of them have far exceeded my expectations (Clark, Mitchell, McGowan, Considine, Montgomery), giving May a partner up top has worked miracles on him and we actually look like we want to win games again and have an element of control in the majority of games these days. Couple that with a ‘Tommy Wright’ style attitude and there’s real positivity about us again. 
 

Is anyone still Callum out? 

33 minutes ago, Linky said:

I’ve been the first to criticise Davidson, but I don’t actually think we were that bad, particularly in the first half. We were just about the better team, and they scored an excellent free kick, but otherwise didn’t do much.

I think we’re playing like a team that could comfortably finish 9th at the moment. 

I’d understand this viewpoint in isolation, but I feel like I’ve watched slightly different variations of that performance for the last year. Did anyone at half time think that game would finish anything other than 1-0 to Aberdeen? Or for that matter before the game? 
 

We did fine first half, and agree we edged it, but second half we offered absolutely nothing other than one great run by Murphy. We go 1-0 down and the games over, we have nothing about us whatsoever. Feel the shout of ninth is massively ambitious, can’t think of any side in the league worse than us let alone three. 
 

Individually I didn’t think we were that bad, and must admit to being in the camp that thought Phillips looked promising. Sloppy on the ball but was brave with possession and he looks to have serious body strength.

And as much as Bair was a passenger, there’s very little he can do when there’s nobody within 20 yards of him. 
 

Callum’s stubbornness around his ‘system’ cannot be matched by the board around their mantra of not sacking managers, we’re sleepwalking in to the championship. 

Very hard watch tonight. 
 

Actually thought we weren’t too bad first half, terrible goal to concede but we were at least in the game and played some ok stuff.

Second half was shocking though, Liam Craig had a poor game and gave it away plenty, but at least he wanted the ball, watching Cammy and Ali Crawford hiding from the ball makes you miss the character this team used to have.
 

Crawford for Viv was the obvious sub and when that wasn’t the one made all remaining hope I had disappeared. Actually thought Rooney wasn’t bad, Vertainen looked semi dangerous and Viv had a good cameo but that’s me struggling to look for pass marks. 
 

Reminds me of spells under Tommy Wright but he always found a way to get us back to winning games, we need new signings, but also need Callum to tweak things in December, last season we were not picking up points but at least looking good, this season it feels even our meagre point total is a bit more than we deserve. 

There were times in the game where we perhaps could have been braver on the ball, but I thought the tactics were the most likely to give us an opportunity to get through. Completely get the argument that the football in the league (especially at home) should be a bit more expansive and entertaining, but in a cup game I want to get through and being entertained is not at all a consideration. 

We limited the opportunities they had very well, and one small error from Zander and a missed handball and we were punished. But the effort and discipline was excellent and thought we gave a really good show of ourselves. 
 

The day was fantastic as well, massive well done to those who organised the shed, and to the young team who organised the march to the ground and never stopped singing all game. Superb being part of such a passionate and supportive crowd. Numbers might have been poor but couldn’t ask for more from those that were there. 
 

Really good defence of our trophy, hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves in the big one as well. 

14 hours ago, saintgscot said:

At least you were not like the Celtic fan asking the wee guy where his passport was.

Admirable calling this nonsense out but just as a heads up the adjective you’re using to describe the guy is inappropriate. Article here discussing why. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/inews.co.uk/news/uk/coloured-offensive-why-term-greg-clarke-fa-chairman-what-say-comments-resigned-756234/amp

27 minutes ago, SaintJet said:

Not a chance in hell Kane doesn't start.

Agreed he won’t be dropped, and his performances in games that we don’t have much of the ball in probably justify that to be fair, just feel May has looked the sharper of the two recently, and his performance at home to Celtic last season when we got sucker punched by two late goals is the sort of performance that will help drive us on on Saturday. 

What a day this should be, noticed some people moaning about the kick off time, but I’m sure for large swathes of our fanbase 5.15 on a Saturday evening in Glasgow could not have been handpicked better.

Disappointing to hear whispers that we’ve not sold well at all, but I’m sure that the saints fans will be boisterous on Saturday, and we should remember we only had 3,000 at Ibrox against a sea of dandies in 2014 and the small band of Saints fans were all you could hear come full time. 
 

international break obviously came at a good time and should have close to our best team for what feels like the first time in months. 
 

Clark

Rooney Brown Gordon McCart Booth

Bryson Davidson Craig

Spoony 

May

Harsh on Kane, but think May has looked sharper over the last month.

Be a tough shift, but no reason we should be fearful, there’s proven winners all through the team. Up and at them. 

For a club like Rangers who have vast amounts of (other peoples) resources to spend, it’s easier to win the league than win the double. The league allows them to slip up, there’s not the same pressure on every game in the same way as there is in the cup where one mistake means the double is gone.

For a club like Saints it’s easier to win the double than the league. The consistency required to win the league is unfortunately most likely beyond any club other than two in Scotland. 
 

All that being said, St Johnstone winning the double is clearly a vastly bigger achievement than Rangers winning the league undefeated. They all know that, we all know that, and no matter how much crying they do that won’t change.  

On 9/27/2020 at 8:43 AM, Radford 72 said:

You always get the attention seekers that have to be OUTRAGED about absolutely everything but for the sane section of our support that are even countenancing this, give yourselves a shake. 

The man is 9 games into a managerial career. Unprecedented times with the pandemic, added to working under a structure where money is more of a concern than success. His team have been on the wrong end of some tight swings.

Get behind the man and offer him the support that makes his job that bit easier and doesn't pile unnecessary pressure on him and his players. 

Thankfully, for his faults, Steve Brown won't wet the bed and will give Callum Davidson the time he needs but more importantly, certainly deserves.

Does not miss. Sensational thread. 

On 8/15/2019 at 6:56 PM, Muirton's Bairn said:

Someone should ask Mr Brown to hold a discussion on opening up the whole of McDiarmid to any club capable of filling the stands. We stare at empty seats with flags on and they could be generating cash for the club. This would generate income for all smaller clubs as well if they did the same.

Also, start out and reform the way supporters are treated around the grounds. They could use a better registration and trusted away support system. Allocation can still be controlled by the visiting teams on their ballot draw selection but no reason Saints can not intervene at their own discretion. Step out of line and you will be handed a lifetime ban on all SFA sites. Obviously the crime must be serious. Songbooks are part of the 90 mins entertainment. We're not needing safe space PC snowflake roasters at the fitbaw.

Even Rangers have started a "Anywhere anyone" scheme. It's time a new approach was looked into in other grounds. Perhaps a SFA issued smart card for away supporters. Start treating even the likes of celt*c as humans and stop the steward hassle and body searches. Any pyro's and the area in question has a ban of 5 seats radius. Easy to control with smart cards. Not you at the game ? Tough, it's your card and your problem regardless who starts it. Need money for new turnstyles , well the SNP are always chucking money away, get a sports grant instead of spunking it on rubbish schemes like train station signs or junk, free education degrees for foreigners. Get a grant for the sporting nations health.

 

Look, Scottish football is in trouble and we all know it. At least something has to be done. How difficult would it be to have an away smart card for any club? It wouldn't. It would be easy. Remember, any supporter turning up at Hampden is on camera and stored by Glesga polis. The vans are all over collecting data. They just don't admit it. So data collection and registration is by consent. It's all easy to do, just need the drive to succeed.

I thought this was one of the worst posts I’ve read on here, but then I went to read your previous posts and the good news is your other posts are just as bad. 

16 hours ago, Tom Leykis said:

Nor by getting beat by Forfar, Ross County, Montrose or Inverness, or the brutalist football we play. #sarcasm

Inverness... dearie me. So in your opinion our season is defined by what we do in the betfred cup and in a pre season friendly? Great post, would read again. #sarcasm

15 hours ago, sevcozombie2 said:

When do u start looking forward instead of bk 

Your club’s dead mate beat it. 

Been to Trondheim, Lucerne and Vilnius, and all three were great trips in their own right. 

Walking up to the English bar in Trondheim and seeing all the Saints flags flying outside, the march to the stadium, the feeling of ‘well we’ve scored too early, but we can always use that picture of being ahead against Rosenborg,’ and obviously the result and subsequent party. What an achievement that result was, one of our top five results in my time watching Saints.

Luzern topped it though. The scenery, the weather, the 1000 strong travelling fans, the cup final buzz. For me that’s the pinnacle of watching Saints. Drinking in 30 degree heat by a beautiful lake in a sea of blue, flags all over the area. Macca’s goal, the bus back from the ground, the party afterwards. Memories. 

Regret not going to Turkey, but what a 5 years they were. 

Tommy Wright, king of Perth. 

16 hours ago, Havana Saint said:

 As a club, we need to look forward and visualise ourselves in 2024....

Far, far too many hark back to good auld 2014 and spit venom at others that point out that the cup was over five years ago.

Kingdoms come and kingdoms fall.  Can we please unite and look forward and not look backwards..  that goes for the club and fans of the club we all love so much.

The ghost of 2014 is becoming a problem.

I’ve read this opinion many, many times, but it completely misses out a very relevant point - we’ve finished fourth three times since, and never been in any danger of relegation, whilst completely rebuilding the squad to a younger, more athletic group, which everyone was crying out for. 

‘The cup win was five years ago,’ suggests we’ve been pish since. We’ve qualified for Europe a further twice since then, the same amount of times we qualified in the 127 years before Tommy Wright came to Perth. 

Just now, Cagey said:

 

He let him sign a lot of players last season & we finished lower in the league.

7th is higher than 8th.

I think sacking our best ever manager because we got knocked out of a cup competition before the season started is sound logic. We should ignore the fact that we’ve finished;

6th (cup win)

4th

4th

4th

8th 

7th

in his six full seasons previous. 

Barry Ferguson, who is doing an ok job in the fifth tier of Scottish football with a club that is being bankrolled, after being hounded out of Clyde, would be a great successor. I can’t see what could possibly go wrong. 

#tommyout #bazzain

Football in glorious sunshine is the absolute one. 

For all the moaning at our season, we are currently the top team in Tayside by 26 (twenty six) points. 

I want us to go at them, they’re mince, we’ve got nothing to play for, let’s go for the jugular.

Clark

Foster Shaugnessy Gordon Tanser

Callaghan Davidson

O’Halloran Swanson Kennedy

Kane

Release the hounds.