SlickDT

Left the game ten minutes early. Have never done that before in the more than 25 years that I have had a season ticket. Sad thing is that I wasn't even angry or leaving in a rage. I simply couldn't see any sort of plan on the pitch what-so-ever, so made a plan to get myself home much quicker and avoid the traffic. There is a major rebuilding job required. We have a handful of players that could be useful going forward, the rest aren't up to scratch. I would rather have a team of limited workhorses that will run themselves into the ground and put their bodies on the line for the team. Kilmarnock were a better drilled team that were more willing to the dirty work against us. The main hope seemed to be getting our pacey striker in behind at some point. Max allowing his man loads of space to whip the ball in for the first goal, just summed our midfield up. Carey is then brought on, but is played in a deep lying role, as we persist with defenders as our outlets wide. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Lets see what the split brings.

I think that is easy forgotten by those that are clearly not CL fans. We would of been dead and buried by now, had we not changed manager. As it stands, he is doing what he has been brought in to do. Get us out of the bottom two and stay in the top league. The transfer window has also seen us sign an absolute gem, that could well be the difference between us staying up or not. I don't agree with all of the managers decisions, but we are certainly in a better place now and the previous window has been a success to me. Great 3 points today. A draw next weekend as a minimum (on top of a County defeat) and we are in a strong position come the split.

I am not sure who is on the bench/squad that everyone thinks will suddenly make us a better team? Who else do we bring into the team ahead of Considine with Gordon injured? It's what we have just now..... Until we have a big revamp of the squad, that team is pretty much as good as it gets. 🥴

Been a real mixed bag for me from Levein. We are in a better position than when he arrived, but the football has been brutal at points. I like the look of Keltjens, Sidebeh and Kimpioka. I am not so keen on his insistence on picking Max and the fact he clearly didn't rate Sprangler. The squad he inherited seems very unbalanced. We don't have the players to play a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 in my opinion, but we also lack the wing-backs required to play the 5-3-2. The more I see of Gallagher, the more I believe he is miles away from what we need on that left hand side. We also lack that player that links the midfield to the attack. Sort those two positions out and I think we would look alot more fluid. Yesterday was again a mix of things I like and things I don't. He clearly pushed the wing-backs forward and told them to stay very wide.... It helped pin Dundee back and created chances. I like the fact he is playing with two up front and allowing them to build a partnership. I don't like the fact that one of our strikers is clearly on his last legs and yet he doesn't have his replacement warming up and waits until cramp sets in. Little things like that look naive and short-sighted. I do wonder what the squad would start to look like over the summer if Levein and Kirk were allowed to have another window. I believe it would be moulded into being more balanced.... Whether the football would look any better is another matter!? The new owners will be the biggest factor in what we do, who is in charge and what the future will look like. I suspect they will want their own man.

There was plenty of effort from the players, but lacking so many of the basics. Thought Sidebeh was impressive. He was raw, but he was constantly looking to make things happen and scored an outstanding goal. His attitude towards being a St Johnstone player is also highly refreshing. You can see what it means to him, to have this chance in British football. A few others could learn a lesson from him.

BBC suggesting DJ playing left-wing back. Surely not?

Agreed, but imagine how much easier Considine's life would be if he had an Ali McCann infront of him and a left-wing back that made a forward passing option for him!? Andderson and Wright did the basics very well, but the likes of Mackay, Easton, Millar and Craig made their life easier.

I understand where you are coming from, but can you genuinely say you would be comfortable with a pairing of McGowan or Gordon with Considine? I would be terrified of any team with the slightest bit of pace. Wright was superb in his time at the club and Anderson was a level above when paired with him. Add to the fact they had two full-backs that were incredibly dependable. They formed a solid unit with and a midfield infront that worked their backsides off. Wright had the whole team playing as a very strong unit. My personal opinion is that the only way a back four works is by hoping that Kerr or Robinson could play that lcb role.

We lack the central defenders to play a back four, we lack the wing-backs to play a back five.

There are several now in the city between large commercial ones and small studios, but there is talk of Live Active shutting facilities. A top level facility would benefit the club, could be used by other local clubs/teams and there would be a draw for Saints fans to take out memberships. Even if it helped cover the costs of running it, then the players would benefit. There seems to be a growing trend nation wide in the fitness industry.

This is a huge area the club could make advancement in. Gym facilities used by the first team that could also be rented out and profit made from them. Repeated income from renting out space to PTs and the like. A hotel/self-service accomodation that would bound to be busy on match days and well used by people at weddings at the likes of Huntingtower. Upgraded food and bar facilities for pre and post match. Tie in with local food and drink providers for pop-up events, gigs and the like. There is a ton of potential there.

Thought we were really quite sloppy at times today, which lead to chances and goals. We could really, really do with a left-wing back.

Watching Kirk and Levein go mad at points when players were picking sideways and backwards passes, makes me think that they want to see us on the front foot more. The main issue for me, is we didn't have a player on the park that could find space and move the ball forward. I am not defending Max, but it's hard to pick a forward pass when you have a single striker surrounded by defenders and two wing-backs choosing to stay really deep. The biggest issue for me is that in order for this formation to be more creative, both wing-backs need to be attack minded when in possession. Get Wright back/Fran used to pressing on and find a new player for the left side and I think the team will suddenly be able to create much more. Especially if we play with two up top. On Wednesday, Dare was obviously told to push forward when in possession, but it looked to me like he was told to advance into a central position (crowded) in order to give passing options to Fran. Fran looked hesitant to get forward early on and in turn the idea wasn't working. Dare was getting some stick from the crowd, but it was clearly the position he was told to advance into. Defensively they also looked confused. Every time Hearts full-back went forward and stayed very wide, neither boy seemed to know who should be picking him up. They have sorted the basics and made us alot more solid. I actually think we now have the tools to improve the attacking play and one more player on the left side would really make a difference. It's not been great viewing, but I trust the process just now.

The reality is exactly what is in that table, all other things are simply opinions. Are we great to watch? Not really, but when a team is in a dire position, results become the priority. This window seems to have given us a little more idea of the style he wants us to play. Continue to protect a fairly slow back three and play on the counter with pacey strikers. We have also seen the wing-backs push forward more. He is doing the job he was brought in to do- get us away from trouble. There is not a doubt in mind if we hadn't have changed anything, then we would still be rooted to the bottom.

I very much think you are correct on this one. It looks to me like Levein is trying to work with what he has. I don't think he trusts our centre-backs to play in a back four. We lack the pace in that area big style. It would be a disaster leaving them open with little protection. It likely means that we are now having to shoe-horn players into the wing-back roles, but it's possibly the lesser of two evils? My gut feeling is that his major goal is to top a table of three between Livi, County and ourselves. I think that is a major success, considering where we were when he came in. Anything else this season is a bonus. In the summer, there will be a major opportunity for us to reshape the squad and we can see the style of play and type of player that he wants to move forward. So far I am happy enough with who he has brought in, they wont all work, but I can see the reasoning in all of them. I think one of the biggest decisions is whether he believes that he can trust in the fitness of Wright, Clark and even possibly Kane. They are all likely in our best XI if everyone is fit, but can we afford to keep paying them a wage to regularly be on the treatment table? Add in the fact Mitov and Phillips may well be away. It's a big rebuild task.