Radford 72

Far from sold on the merits of the reserve league but Saints have made the right choice here as it would surely have harmed the development of the 2000-born players not having a league to play in. A number of clubs have published website articles on their new U18 teams. Would be nice if Saints did likewise to give the new players their moment and let fans know who they are. Future of the club etc... The squad travel to Oban next weekend to take part in the annual tournament there. Four or five shortened round-robin fixtures in one day. It's a decent day out.

One of the tasks assigned to the new Ross is meant to be the website. Everything will be sorted then... In between doing the social media, YouTube, editing the programme, creating a supporter database, marketing...

I wouldn't say he ruled out Cleland being assistant. He just, pretty obviously, said he'll need on bring someone new into the coaching structure, which he hinted might be altering. I think the club will need a full-time U18s coach as part of Project Brave. Maybe @sevcozombie2 can confirm who is coaching them at the moment? Certainly don't have much faith in the club themselves doing so, or even telling us who the players are!

I like it. Think the design is neat and it looks smart in the photos. Obviously better to judge it in the flesh but an early thumbs up from me!

They haven't even confirmed the game is happening. It took until Thursday or Friday to actually acknowledge they were going to Austria. FWIW, the game isn't on the list of SFA-approved friendlies they published last week.

Despite the number 2 shirt being left vacant, I can't see a defender coming in. The manager has been open about what he's looking for: a goalkeeper, a wide left player, a central midfielder and a striker. The wide left is the priority he's said and will presumably take number 11, the goalkeeper will get number 12 and the other two will fill in down the order. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a couple of signings announced before the players head to Austria. That's not meant to be cryptic or any ITK nonsense, just a gut feeling.

Coaches will surely have their own independent thoughts on top of what they are taught. I can't believe if you travel round all the clubs in Scotland that the players will be doing exclusively the same drills. I don't think anyone is talking about reinventing the wheel here, just something to keep a very settled squad on their toes. Dave Mackay - who although returning to FT football would be giving up being his own man - wouldn't be the worst appointment but there is a big world out there outside of people who have played for Saints. I would hope TW at least asks the question of someone like Billy McKinlay, who is out of work just now. Clearly ambitious but better that then just saying "there you go" to Alec Cleland. Thankfully Darren Jackson is off the market but feel free to add to the list of people who shouldn't be considered: Billy Dodds Club will need to move quickly with pre-season just around the corner but hopefully this has been bubbling in the background for a while.

Do folk not feel a fresh face could benefit us at the moment, rather than someone who the players are (too) comfortable with? Some new training methods and a new face to impress would be no bad thing. I hope the appointment is external. The vacancy opens up the option of bringing in a player/coach, which is an interesting possibility to explore.

Been very impressed by Eni Aluko's punditry during the World Cup. A lot of international and top league experience, so could add a different dynamic to the management team.

The last comments I saw from the manager on Williams were quite non-commital, he said the player was keen to come back but that we'd have to "wait and see" what happened. He sounded more eager to get Willock back.

Royal blue shirt, bit of a white trim. How hard is it! The feedback from fans on the last few shirts, if they'd bothered themselves to actually listen, has been terrible. You have fans that will buy a shirt regardless, ones that won't, but there will be supporters out there who could be tempted by a decent shirt IMO. It was probably about 1992 they last bought one though. Hopefully the new not-so-secret seven will be consulted on stuff like kit designs.

Well done to your lad. @sevcozombie2 Shame that it's only one-year deals for the majority of them as it's a lot of pressure but they should get plenty of opportunity to impress in the U18s, rather than maybe just sub appearances in an U20 League. As said, I don't see an alternative for Saints but to join Reserve League as they 2000-born players will see their development seriously damaged without it.

I think the tickets are great value, especially in comparison to the walk-up prices. Take at adult ticket in the East Stand at £320. With your £23 walk-up price, you are only paying for 14 games, so are getting 7 free including the Betfred Cup ones. I can't think of any other industry where you'd get 21 of something for the price of 14, unless it was socks from The Barras.

Not directly but I think when you've benefited from the benevolence of someone to the degree that Saints did, you honour the (correct) decision made in naming the ground. Only speaking personally but I'd even find a prefix to the name (as seen with Dens Park) to be poor form.

This, completely. The contribution made to the club by Bruce McDiarmid should never be diluted or devalued.

As @sevcozombie2 points out, this is nonsense and he's right about the cut-off for the U18s (it'll be 01/01/01) so that makes the whole thing very strange as there are 8/9 players that won't be eligible for that league. Hard to see how Saints can't be part of reserve league in that case. But then it comes back to why they didn't keep some of more of the 1999-born players on? The reserve league still sounds crap though.

This is how I feel as well but TW can't be seen to be unambitious for a variety of reasons, not least because it weakens his hand when it comes to things with Steve Brown. Northern Ireland is maybe slipping away from him with Michael O'Neill's commitment to that job but why would he give up what he has at Saints both on and off the pitch when a bad start somewhere else and he'll be out the door.

I'm not usually one for a tinfoil hat but this is a point worth considering. Whilst a good reserve league could benefit Saints, Killie or Motherwell, it's arguably in the interests of the Old Firm for it to fail, to help push their agenda of getting a platform for their colt sides. It's still not been confirmed but I believe there is to be a new U18 league next season and that's what Saints will play in. All the members of the development squad kept on (other than McCann) will be eligible for that league. Is Saints' plan going to be that the players come in and play at U18 level for two years then go out on loan to bridge the gap to the first team? A properly structured reserve league that saw regular game time for the Hursts, Comrie, Gordon, McCann, McClean and Hendry would have been a positive (and would have meant Saints could have kept Jardine, Docherty and Thomson) but this proposal sounds more like an afternoon kickabout where you could be up against a bunch of 16-year-olds. The U18 league will probably be afternoon public park stuff as well though.

Although the club have until the end of July to decide, Steve Brown admitting in the Sunday Mail today that Saints are unlikely to enter the new Reserve League, which in itself sounds a bit rubbish. No requirement to play a number of senior players. Games at 2:00pm on Monday with no requirement to play them in a licensed stadium. Only 16 games in the season. Full article: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/st-johnstone-set-snub-revamped-12602978

If Saints needed a goal late in a game, looking at a player on the bench who has scored the number of goals that Nicky Clark has wouldn't have been a bad thing. I'm not sure he'd have been capable of really pushing McMillan or Kane but as an option, I think we could have done worse. I have faith in the two players mentioned, so don't feel Saints need to spend big on a striker and Clark could have fitted the bill. I don't see Ryan Edwards as the type of midfielder we need. I think it's hard to justify bringing Willock back with the players we already have so can't make the case for Edwards. We need someone who is comfortable on the ball like Millar was. There is an argument that Osman of Thistle maybe fills that criteria but you are signing a player whose career appears headed in the wrong direction. With every name of a player for the troublesome wide left role, I'm always left thinking I'd prefer Swanson or O'Halloran. This is going to be a challenge for the manager.

The manager only has a year left on his deal. There has to be a reason he hasn't, as far as I remember, been linked with a single job in England. The only serious link has been Dundee United. I do think he is very content here and it could be something as simple as having no interest in these jobs and that being well known.

We'll be at home to the second seeds I'm sure, that's the way the format has worked in the past.

Just to back that up, it came from his infamous bulletproof interview: "There are only three of us on the board here and we're all full-time elsewhere. We'll be one of the few clubs that doesn’t have a full-time chairman or chief executive. That's where it's tough. "I'll be here Tuesday afternoons and Friday afternoons and obviously you have various other demands when it comes to the SPFL and SFA but you just fit it all in whenever you can." From the same interview, a reminder why we don't have a CE and what the new M&C officer will face: "But unless someone can convince me otherwise, come hell or high water, I will not change my mind. That’s it. If I think that’s the right way and no one can give me something to change my mind, that’s it. "I’m bulletproof and you need to be. If you’re easily influenced, you’ll never be a good leader. “Of course I make mistakes but if you have to show leadership, you can’t be influenced by every Tom, Richard or Harry because they have a different opinion. You wouldn’t be able to run anything."

Folk coming up with ideas but remember we are dealing with a club who a few seasons ago decided to send most renewal details out by email, then entitled said email "test 1" when it arrived in your inbox. I've posted before but I know ST holder who'd had one for at least a decade but couldn't renew a couple of years ago. There was no effort from the club to chase up a sale and then no attempt to contact them the next season. On a related point, with this new privacy stuff coming in (on Friday, I think) are the club going to be allowed to contact fans that haven't given consent if they don't before then? Think folk like @Kevin are up on this?

Virtually every game of football I've watched at Hamilton. I'd rather Saints invested in maintaining a good grass pitch. Some clubs have groundsmen who seem to take immense pride in their pitch.