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Have to assume the "excess money" raised for this by the FCU will be used to pay the fine the club will receive for the flare(s) they set off that caused the game to be delayed? Maybe an apology aswell to their fellow fans who werent able to see the best chance of the first half because of it too?

What I found incredibly frustrating last night, and in quite a lot of previous games, is that despite having plenty of attacking options in our squad we're basically using Liam Smith, a fairly limited full-back, as our main attacking option down the right-hand side. We need to either play someone at right-wing who is able to stick to their position, or - in games like last night's where we know we're going to be doing most of the attacking - pick a more attacking player at right-back. So either start Agyeman on the right (is that not why we signed him, after all?) or, if we must persist with playing central midfielders out of position there, pick someone like Steven or Tumilty at right-back who will actually be able to get forward and do some damage. And Tumilty seems to be out of the picture so that probably means Steven. I think Simo has been really over-thinking it lately - too much tinkering with the backline and too many square pegs in round holes, and it just hasn't helped things at all. The whole balance just feels off at the moment. Personally I'd go back to Foulds at left-back for the foreseeble future (as I think McPake's best performances earlier in the season came with Foulds behind him) and have either Agyeman or Steven at right-wing which would take some of the attacking responsibility off Smith and allow him to concentrate on being a right-back. I get that Simo wants to play Stanton but he's being crow-barred in at the moment and just doesn't work as a wide option. For me the problem with Stanton, Mallan and Fotheringham is that they all only really work in Gullan's central position behind the striker, but Gullan's rightly the guy in possession of that role because he's the one who's performed best out of all of them. As a slight aside, I honestly can't quite get over the idiocy of fans setting off flares and causing a hold-up in the game when their own team is in the ascendancy. Just absolute madness.

Special thanks to the FCU for pausing play right when we started turning the screws, giving Imrie a chance to reset his team.

I don’t want to come on here and be negative, however I do feel by this time in the season we should 1. Know our best side 2. Have a plan B now that our plan A has been rumbled 3. Stamping our mark on games early on, not keeping it ‘tight’ scoring and protecting our lead.. we really aren’t good enough for that. 4. Playing the team in their right positions.. I feel half our problems come from players being asked to play in an alien position only to look like a fish out of water. 5. Stop relying on the opposition being worse than us. Apart from that in Simo we trust 😉

Nobody complained about Valakari not being adaptable when he changed everything mid-game and we won v Ayr. Ultimately last night we completely controlled the game and only failed to win because Fowler, Stanton, and Holt, couldnt score tap ins from within 6 yards. Those go in the narrative is entirely different. I dont like how slow we can be and how many opportunities to drive at goal are passed up in this constant need for "control", but ultimately last night was fine bar the final moment and will see us win more often than not.

Usual story for me. Too slow, too ponderous in possession.

Had Raith by the throat with the quick play out wide, only for our fans to set off a flare and give Imrie 5 minutes to reorganise them, and we've not threatened once since.

What a difference in communication - open about the responsibility and the plans for the future. Hopefully we get the pitch sorted properly over the summer

To those looking to be kept in the loop

Were you at Queens Park on Tuesday night? If so, you would have seen that Taylor Steven was a massive improvement on Forrester. Always looking to get on the ball, be positive moving forward and linked up well with McPake. I don't think its his natural position, but given his performance on Tuesday night, I would give him another chance. Agyeman on the right wing. Stanton has played that position plenty times in his career.

Not being funny but Stevens performance v Queens Park is probably the best full back performance we've had all season and he predominantly played left back for us last season too. Stanton has played in a CM2 for most of his career. I think the idea would be either Paton or Fowler drops into the positions Gullan would usually play in. Gullans form has fallen off a cliff.

If the below options are fit/available, I'd like to see us go with: __________Steward Smith Diabate Baird Foulds ______McAlear Holt Steven Gullan McPake __________Fowler That puts everyone pretty much in their natural positions and is closest to the line-up and formation we've been most successful with. I'm a bit 50-50 over whether I'd start Steven or Agyeman at right-wing, but given that no one has really managed to make the position their own, I think it's time to give Steven a chance to play an attacking role more similar to the one he had at Arbroath and see what he can do. I also think Steven is more likely to hold his position on the right than Stanton would, and that should help Smith's performance. And for me, McPake has produced his best performances this season when he's had Foulds behind him.

I agree with the talk of changing things up. I would try a traditional 4-4-2. Steward Smith Diabate Baird Steven Agyeman Stanton Holt McPake Paton Fowler Get Agyeman and McPake running at their full backs and whipping crosses into the box for Paton and Fowler. Have Holt sitting with Stanton being able to support the attack when needed.

It's pretty remarkable we've been top of the table since week 1 despite the manager 🤣

I’m not a fan of our Hibs supporting groundsman at all but in this case the three games being off is nobody’s fault I believe. I can see the floodlights from my house, cycle to work and have a dog needs walking. The weather over the last month has been the worst I can ever remember, it’s just never stopped raining. Its not a joke, neither can we send the u 14s ( although I suspect we will send a very much second team) Saints will have lost a considerable amount of money from this, I imagine they might honour the season tickets getting in free still but I’d suggest this is our time as supporters to do our bit, if we can get there go and pay the £10 admission even if you have a season ticket. Id like to see them set up a way we could help anyway, I’m not sure can make next Tues but would happily donate £5 to game anyway. Next home game, if everyone bought £5 of 50/50 tickets that would help. Theres no point moaning about the weather but equally there’s no point moaning about the budget in summer when it’s cut because of the money lost from this game, which to be honest I doubt any of us care much about.

Bozo’s season was over the moment he limped off from that match against Partick,a game which in my opinion he should never have played in,one of the poorest man management decisions of this season,

The thing is, we did add variety and got our goal and another great opportunity from such things. It just does not happen enough and at the vital times. Far to often we play into a corner with no options in the middle apart from Fowler, it is no wonder he was going looking for the ball as it wasn't coming to him.

I think letting Sprangler go out on loan really came back to bite us last night. He's exactly the player you want to add to a midfield when we're defending a lead and all we need to do is see it out. Mallan just seemed in a daydream the whole time he was on the pitch, to the extent that I'm wondering if we'll see him in a Saints strip again. For me the whole system that the squad has been built to play isn't working without Sidibeh, but I've no idea what we would change it to with the players who have been assembled. A front two is probably worth a try to get more out of Fowler, but I'm not sure how you fit McPake, Gullan or any of our midfield in with that. And I don't want to see us switch to a back three either as it doesn't suit our centre-backs and we don't have any viable wing-backs. But we need to find some sort of way to vary our play. Controlling possession can be great but the best teams who play in that way also know they need to break out of it from time to time, whether that means a quick counter attack, a long ball forward or anything else. Without any of those elements we're just way too easy to defend against and if I was an opposition manager I'd be telling my team to just relax and let Saints knock the ball around as much they like, because as long as you stay in your shape at the back Saints will really struggle to break through. The one thing saving us at the moment is that Partick are really pretty poor and keep chucking away their opportunities to catch us.

I think some of the criticism on here of Fowler is unwarranted. Classic Saints fans unwarranted critism. 1# he's still learning Simo's tactics. Defend from the front and chase/ close defenders. That's fine, but he burns energy. He's a natural #9, other players should be pressing instead of him doing that role on his own. #2 I applaud his work ethic which may be unnatural to his style. Lots of #9 would just not do the hard graft- for the team. He's doing his best in a system that might not suit his natural style, and shit service from predictable, pedantic build up which is easy to defend in numbers. Quick ball and he will excel. So... Please lay off Fowler. Base the midfield/attack to his strengths... Quick through ball. We're lucky to have him.

Diabate has played RB in one league game and we won it.

Toby - Yes; Flares - No; Rest - OK; Frustrated - Yes; Grumbling - No. Another 640mile round-trip for me and my lad…with me home at 4am…Worth it - Yes. Next up for me and my lad will be away to Morton COYS

Steward did very well though how much his distribution problems were on him and not players contesting. As for the full backs. Diabete has a turning circle wider and slower than oil tanker. Forrester is not a left back. We have Tumility and Foulds who should have been the options. Foulds works well with McPake. Tumilty early season offered more than Diabete. Apart from his goal, Paton was fairly quiet. Gullan behind the front three worked well. I think Ageymon has given Simo a dilemma as he showed more drive than McPake did. Fowler was done by 70 minutes and yet the last sub went on with 5 minutes left and he was left on. It must be galling and disruptive to team spirit to be overlooked for your position when those played out of position fail so badly, week after week. What's up with Lloyd as he's shown some ability in very limited time, yet a newcomer gets a game. With bookings adding up, the lack of game time for those we'll need, may bite. 5 minutes, to me isn't game time. Happy for the three points but Simo has to address the issues as we can't play that defence against better teams.

One of the best wide right players this season was Taylor Steven with Arbroath.

Or he doesn't like watching Cosgrove wipe his beak on his sleeve every 2 minutes, which I can understand...

Just the "Dynamic" Duo again, enlightening us with wisdom that we, as mere mortals, can only dream of..... 🙄

I would reserve all judgement on Fowler until a roughly similar point next year, or at the very least until the start of next season. You have to give him time and space to develop and settle in to what is a substantially bigger club than any he’s been at before. Sidibeh should serve as an example to all to the level which Valakari can elevate a striker’s game - he arguably has a much better starting point with Fowler too. Yesterday was only his fifth game - have patience.

White socks,two blue rings,that’s THE socks

We’re going to be in the trenches from now on in and Stanton’s the one I’d have in there,

Stanton was MoM for me. Steven looked decent when he came on. Good result, although we still lose the ball too much in silly places

Assume you missed the game v Queen's? Agyeman is quite a threat to have on the right and gives far more than others have in that position.

That's why I think Partick will win the league , they are fighters we are primadonnas who think they are Barcelona.

The beauty of the championship (apart from no VAR) is that everyone is capable of beating each other. The Raith result was disappointing because Imrie just stopped Saints playing like he did when managing Morton. Hopefully lessons learned? Still top of the league, and Saints were never going to make it easy for the fans! As an aside, I’m no dinosaur, but wtf with those flares .. broke a nice bit of momentum Saints had going! I know the young guns bring the atmosphere but gonna leave the pyros at home..

Please do. We've scored most goals. Conceded least. And have a most clean sheets as well as the individual top scorer. Criticism is fine but the remit is to get out the league and that's on track. The rest of the league weren't just going to stand back and let us Harlem Globetrotter past them.

Doesn't even look good, unfortunately enough flares to be a total pain for everyone else but not enough to elevate it past tin pottery levels. In any case flares have no place in any stadium or crowd. Anyone thinking we should just let kids be....ask the managers of a certain Swiss bar if they wish they'd said something or not.

Yes we were awful but this the players weren’t trying is ridiculous. My god we were two goals down with a couple of minutes left and we ended up drawing. Yes we didn’t play well but come on.

Simo has done a lot well this season but don’t think he’s utilising the squad as best as he could. It’s a big squad, most of which are his signings but he doesn’t look to trust many of them. The result last night isn’t too big a deal in the overall scheme of things but the approach to the game was a bit of a mess. It was a good night to keep things simple and get minutes into the squad. Playing a less familiar formation with players out of position didn’t do anyone any favours especially not someone like Taylor Steven. I would have rather seen Holt, McPake, Diabate etc rested and others trusted to start and get a full game to build up some match rhythm. He should be able to get more out of players like Mallan, Fotheringham, Svedberg than he is in my opinion but it’s currently a vicious cycle with them getting so few minutes then not looking sharp when they do come in. Disappointing that last night wasn’t more useful regardless of the result.

We've gone full strength v Ayr twice this season already and drawn 0-0 with the other seeing us 2-0 down after half an hour. Those games were them without their best 2 strikers as a pairing which they had last night. I have no idea why you think we just had to turn up and it would be a stroll for us.

Young taylor should have been left on on bloody loan. Dragged back here to get a few minutes here and there at rwb. Pointless for his development

Good result but Smith and Foulds full backs for me.

We need to get the full backs sorted out.

I'm not sure we've played 3-4-2-1 at any point this season, so not sure where the heck you've managed to pluck that formation from? Also how can McAlear need a rest, he's played 2 competitive games in about 5 weeks!

Folk simultaneously demanding we improve the pitch and also throw away potentially 6 figures of income by conceding this tie. Finances dont add up.

This has to be a wind up..? He was like a fish out of water.. he naturally kept dropping into the RCB position creating a massive channel for them to exploit. Luck is the reason we didn't concede from a move down that side because they were getting in anytime they wanted.

Happy for the three points, decent first 30 mins, good goal, otherwise really hard to watch. Have to hope Simo learned from that game, RB at LB and CB at RB killed quick build up. We really need to sort the full back situation out. Diabate looked absolutely lost, positionally terrible. The team all round were terrible at ball watching as players ghosted past them. I also don’t think Paton looks like he should be on the right, Agyeman looked far better when he came on. I also hate to say it, but McPake needs to stop trying to get a shot in every time and play people in earlier. Struggling to understand why we didn’t make earlier subs, felt like Simo was trying out some sort of real time game bleep test. We looked totally gubbed after about 65/70 mins. But we’re 5 points clear. I feel with a few changes in personnel and getting the second goal earlier we have enough to get over the line. Hopefully Simo seen what most people seen tonight. Fair play Airdrie, with a better striker they would have won that game.

We must have better than Forrester,

Forrester should be nowhere near our team . I just don't get it.

That would be my preference as well - have my doubts about Smith but Foulds at LB is IMHO the best option for linking up with McPake on the left flank. Assuming Alfie plays on the right there's perhaps less need for Smith to push forward as much and leave the right side exposed.

Some Orange Juice with your vodka?

Being easily brushed aside in the Scottish cup will also have hurt finances, the challenge cup is a great way to recoup some of that. Have we really gotten to the point where some fans are too entitled to win a cup competiton that is available to us?

And again