Valentino Bolognese

Agree on the shape, I was just trying to figure out what Tommy was up to with Gordon. Would be happy enough to see Alston start (well, relatively 'happy'). Do you think Craig's the man for left wing? He looked awful slow to me at Hamilton. Not saying Spoony's much quicker but I think he's got more tools in the bag and it seems he played well in the reserve game. I'm hoping for a burst of form from him now that he's had time to settle in and he's got some more game time in his legs. I'd like to see him back in the middle of the park in a more holding role where I think he's been quiet effective giving cover.

Them 0 us 2 Kerr 45k

That's not been working for us recently. Makes sense not to 'have a go' at Celtic, but this lot are a different proposition entirely. Can't remember the team that went out at McDairmid but they did well enough and could easily have sneaked it if Morelos wasn't playing that day. Zander Foster J+J Tanser Spoony Craig Goss Swanson Kennedy Watt I do wonder if Tommy is thinking of a back 3 with Gordon back in, which might explain his absense from the bench on Sunday but full 90 minutes on Monday. Anyway I'm hopeful - got a good feeling about this one. If getting one tanking off Celtic puts us on a great run, imagine what the rebound will like be from 3 humpings. (Don't mention Hamilton, that didn't happen).

Gordon is an excellent defender and has proven himself up to a starting place in our 1st team, in my opinion. I can see the need for having Keown as a back-up for Gordon, and/or to allow for a bit of rotation to rest J+J, possibly even to give a bit of right-back cover in a pinch. But having him on the bench instead of Gordon was very odd indeed, unless having him play in the reserves game on Monday with a view to him being in the starting team on Saturday was the plan. Which would make sense I guess, sort of. Did anyone see him play on Monday? Views on form?

Dividing by 1 isn't much use either. Matty because he looked like he was trying at least. It was him or Kane.

Almost everybody in this divison has more cash, some in the championsip too (probably), but we (rightly or wrongly) have come to expect to punch above our weight based on outsmarting, outplaying and outfighting 'better' teams. I didn't see any of that today. Of course it be that other teams have raised their game and we're complacent because we don't have much to fight for, and maybe some players don't expect a contract renewal, but today stung because we were second to every ball. Could argue that Brown's goal coming so soon after the first scuppered our chance to come off the ropes but we weren't at the races from the kick-off.

Was he told in January then? He's been poor since then. Can Declan Gallacher play right back?

I agree. Clearly, the deck is stacked against us in terms of resources and we can't expect to be winning these game. We can expect to LOOK as if we want to though. Now, some have said 'no point in going for it' becuase we'll get hammered. Well here's the thing .. if we set up to try to stop them playing when players like Foster put in a performance like we saw today, we'll get hammered. We need balance. Not much point in picking over the bones of today but we do need improvement in most of the park. We have too many 6/10 players in our squat to expect to compete against a team of 8 and 9's. However since the winter break there are consistent themes. I think Davidson might be past it now, Goss and Callachan look our best central midfield options (Callachan is a better Murray than Murray now). Kerr and Joe are being asked to do too much, Tanser needs to step up a level again and Foster's form issues are painful. I simply cannot understand why Gordon wasn't on that bench. We are a better team with Tony Watt playing, even if he's not finishing. I think that Kane and Watt in a 4-4-2 could be our best option. Who knows. I can (just about) take being 15-0 against Celtic in 4 games, but it was the same sort of performace that got us a 2-1 loss at Hamilton on Wednesday. Something's just not right with this team in terms of effort and desire, and i think it IS fair to be a bit critical of that. We've got a Morelos-less Rangers on Saturday - he was the difference last time we played them. They are beatable but we need attacking threat on the park and not on the bench. When Tommy said that he wants to get into a settled squad I really hope that he wasn't thinking that the starting 11 today is our best option.

Kane's quick?

Apologies for being so lazy. Looked for myself, it's on SJTV.

FFS I'm ill now. The upside is it gets me out of a family committment. Anyone know if this is on Saints TV or is it just SPL games?

Celtic 1 Saints 1 Goss 42k

Can't make this one but confident despite all evidence pointing the other way. Probably won't even get to see it on the telly. Zander Foster - Jas + Joe - Tanser Matty Davidson Goss Craig MOH Watt Last throw of the dice for Tony IMO. We've seen so much quality with so little return, time for him to step up on the big stage. Worried about Tanser getting turned inside out by Forrest yet again and not sure that MOH can be relied upon for cover, so maybe another option there. On Sunday we let them stroll down the middle of the park like they were taking the dug for a walk on the North Inch, can't let that happen again.

Goss was fine. Foster was dreadful for the second match in a row. There was a bit of comedy when Goss and MOH were striding through the middle of the park shoulder to shoulder, both wanting to move the ball forward and I honestly thought Mikey was trying to put in a tackle. Playground stuff and typified the night. We'll raise our game for Sunday though.

I'd give Goss a pass, and the goal's weren't Zander's fault. Can't remember much about Kerr's performance. I also think Matty is trying hard but for whatever reason things just aren't coming off for him, it may well be that this deep into the league teams have learned how to neutralise him. The Joe situation is interesting, possibly just a blip but it comes at the same time as all his contract discussion and last night he seemed in a particularly good mood, lots of smiling and chatting from what I saw. Maybe not fully in the game because he's already half out the door - but that said he's always come across as nothing other than professional so willing to think it's a blip. I think the most disappointing things are firstly that we looked much more like the pre-break team on Sunday, only to slip back again against a team we've beaten 2-0 and 4-0 in the last couple of months, and secondly the lack of attacking commitment. In the pre-match Tommy said again that he wanted to make it difficult for the opposition. I agree with others that we've slipped back into the old mentality of being hard to play against. We didn't like being sexy for some reason. It's also frustrating that other results went our way last night and there's the nagging sensation that we threw a lot away last night. Let's hope it's because the boys are going to chuck it all into Sunday and Tommy just wanted to reassure himself that he really does know his best 11 and best formation, and last night was the final experiment.

I'll be honest, I quite liked the look of the team other than Craig out wide. Thought it was easily enough to get a result. However we were simply poor all over the park. I disagree that we should not be expecting to 'terrorise' them. We have (on paper) better players in every part of the field and excellent, stable infrastructure. They've got a 'manager' that's been in charge for a couple of weeks that's had no senior experience, a squad of journeymen, including players that would look unfit in the juniors on a Sunday morning. They play in a dump with a plastic pitch. I am pretty raging about last night. As I thought last week Foster is not firing at all and is making terrible decisions with poor execution, Tanser's slipped, Watt seems terrified of goals blah blah blah ... we looked disorganised last night with no sign of fight until the last 10 minutes. I honestly forgot that MOH was playing for a lot of the game. All that said, I like the look of Goss. Glad he's on corners. Tommy needs to sort this out or we can wave goodbye to top 6 this year, which would be criminal given our position coming off the break.

He looks great on the ball, no doubt, and he's certainly put in a lot of effort shown none of the attitude problems that were allegedly a problem for him previously. There was a run on Sunday though when I was surprised at how slow he looked, I always thought he had a bit of pace but in a straight race he looked sluggish. Anyway we now a situation where he's missing chances he should be scoring, Tommy has made comments about him not getting in the box enough, there's been no talk from the club about a contract extension and a well-respected 'old guard' player has made negative public comments. I like guy, and I really want him to turn a corner. Even if he's not scoring it's clear he contributes a great deal to the team. I don't honestly think it's the lack of goals as much as the squandering of opportunities that might be causing a bit of negativity. Edit - have to start heading down the road now .. COYS etc

I thought that he was far better on Sunday than he's been since the winter break, seemed to show a lot more for the ball and certainly was up for running at defenders. Not everything quite went his way but the effort was there. Maybe not quite back to his best form but heading in the right direction. Up against poorer opposition you'd expect him to tear them to bits tonight. Hope he plays, scores a couple and gets subbed off for protection at 60 minutes.

I'll probably go to this, big game and final run-out before the cup so could be interesting as I don't think Sunday's team is an easy pick. Hoping for an attacking set-up and a couple of goals, especially from Tony, as he needs to get the monkey off his back from the weekend and start finishing before the fans run out of good will. Murray calling him out for shiteing it may not have helped, but may have been a clever ploy.

Best pie in the premiership. Kilmarnock will claim otherwise, but don't believe them. You'll also find that a lot of Saints fans won't go to old firm games. Enjoy your stay.

That's the best I've seen Saints since before Christmas. Goss looks decent, Kennedy not quite back to form but definitely better, Callaghan put in a great shift and as usual our CBs were impressive. Zander MOTM. Danny wasn't in the game much and personally I'd rather have seen MOH on for him than Spoony, as when he did come on I thought he had more game-changing 'aura' than DW. Big problems today with right and left back. Foster struggled and seemed to me to make poor decisions, with sub-standard distribution. Tanser arguably cost us the game, and that corner was absolutely shocking. As many have noted a much improved player but he does sometimes get shown up when we have to step up. When's Easton back? Really hate to say this but much as Watt is great holding up, finding an out-ball and drawing fouls he's running out of road when it comes to being a lone striker. Given his ability he really needed to have taken one of the 2 chances he had today. Liked the fact that Tommy chased it at 1-0, even though it cost us a late goal (more Tanser than tactics). Don't honestly think I can say we deserved a draw but that's not to say we couldn't have got it. Based on today we should be confident of top 6. Last minute edit - wtf was going on with that haddy Lustig getting to stroll down the middle of the park all afternoon?

All of the above, but I'll still be going. However my son is refusing. I have less sense than a 10yo.

You think? Anytime possibly, not first IMO. Looking forward to the game though. I'm assuming that the horrors get the Ormond stand again and I'm sure that we'll enjoy a fine rendition of folk music. I've never actually had a steak and chorizo at McDairmid. I don't want to miss the last 10 minutes of the 1st half so I wait until the whistle goes, which so far has guaranteed that these mythical pastry and offal delights have sold out. Anyway; Zander Foster Joe Kerr Tanser Alston Craig Davidson Matty Watt MOH Something like that anyway.

Craig or Kerr. Went for Craig as Kerr has many more to look forward to. Hopefully in a Saints shirt.

I missed that - did wonder what was up and I thought I saw the odd little limp from him now and again. He got clattered (accidentally) in thier box as well and it looked like a bad one, but he bounced back up sharpish.