Dooj

I hope that we manage to get 10th (or better) but if we do end up in the play-off, and don't win over two legs, then we dont deserve to stay up. I think it is in our hands, so given where we were, got to be grateful for that and see the season out. There's enough individual talent there but they do need to start performing as a team.

This really annoys me - computer should just produce the fixtures randomly (maybe with restrictions like no two teams from same city playing at home on the same day) and we'll see what we get. Having to change or adapt the fixtures on the basis of anticipated crowd trouble or size of TV audience interferes with sporting integrity IMO.

Deliberately, maliciously, negligently, unintentionally - doesn't make any difference. To suggest that a manager's decision contributed to a player's collapse is a very serious accusation, particularly when (to my knowledge) we have no information at all about what caused Sidibeh to collapse. This sounds to me more like having a go at Levein for absolutely anything and everything rather than focussing on his mistakes regarding the things he actually has some control over or could reasonably be expected to anticipate.

I think it is really important that we criticise the management for their failings, and quite a lot of the time we are going to be speculating because none of us know what is going on behind the scene. But to suggest that Levein has deliberately put a player's health at risk is going too far.

Should be easy to work it out then - after all, hardly *any* lawyers in the US

3/10? That's harsh given where we are in the league. Appreciate it might not be entertaining, but the whole 'not losing' thing is probably what we should be giving credit for when you think about where we were when he took over.

Gordon subbed??

It's fairly common practice for things to be omitted from confirmed minutes. Doesn't necessarily reflect any kind of deliberate deception - it's just an awareness that there are some things that are said that you might not want written down and distributed for all to see.

I wouldn't want to read too much into exactly what a manager says during these hyped-up media interviews - how he interacts on a daily basis (and on match days) with the players/team is what will determine success. Sometimes managers can say the wrong thing in a media interview (see Macca's recent examples) but that may be more symptomatic of wider problems with the dressing room, rather than simply the cause. Some managers are canny about dealing with the media, some are pretty naive. Eventually many managers come to realise that it doesn't matter what questions you are asked, you just answer the question that you want to answer, whether it was asked or not. I suspect that the reason Levein didn't mention the club much, was that he was answering the question of why has he gone back into management after such a long time out, rather than 'why St Johnstone?'; he's trying to counter the suggestion that there is anything strange about it from a career trajectory perspective. I guess that the tone he was trying to convey was that this is an opportunity that doesn't need huge changes (like the summer clear out) but that with so many capable people around, all willing to work together, it's going to be possible to turn it around. Last thing he wants is a load of headless chickens running around shouting 'dont panic' (even if recent results warrant that kind of response).

Given the much more effusive statement released later on, I think that you are probably right - that first statement was simply incompetent rather than deliberately ungrateful.

Perhaps. However, given the well-used template for these sorts of announcements, I am inclined to believe that the statement re 'thank you and good luck for the future' must have been deliberately removed/omitted. Particularly given the absolute legends that Macca and Liam were as players.

I wonder if Macca's attack against the players (which I think most people would agree was crossing the line) was as a result of him being sacked (was he told 'win or you're out'?) or was what precipitated a 'heated discussion' that led to him being sacked. The ridiculously short press statement from the club makes me think that there was some kind of bust-up. And I think that Liam must have been involved in some way, otherwise it would seem very harsh to get rid of him at this stage. Unless he was seen to be very much Macca's man - doesn't explain the lack of any expression of gratitude to Liam in the statement though.

When you say that you are 'all for second chances etc', what exactly do you mean?

I listened on Radio Scotland. FWIW Willie Miller was *really* positive about Saints (as was Biscuits) and he regularly winds me up with his relentless pro-Aberdeen commentary. While nice to hear, hard to square these comments with the stat of zero shots on target.

And it's been upheld! Unbelievable.