Aitchy Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Big week ahead for Saints as we play the teams sitting in 3rd and 2nd place. We've not had the best of records against Motherwell in recent seasons and if we play anything like we did yesterday, then it could be a long night. Team wise I would go: Mannus Miller, MacKay, Ando, Easton Dunne Brown Croft O'Halloran Nigel May Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Big week ahead for Saints as we play the teams sitting in 3rd and 2nd place. We've not had the best of records against Motherwell in recent seasons and if we play anything like we did yesterday, then it could be a long night. Team wise I would go: Mannus Miller, MacKay, Ando, Easton Dunne Brown Croft O'Halloran Nigel May Thoughts? I'd like to see us going down this road, but I think we need to face that wright wouldn't drop McDonald, Millar and Wotherspoon unless there's injuries. For me personally, I'd have Wotherspoon in o'Halloran's spot and maybe Cregg for Brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rik2304 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 McDonald OUT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 If McDonald starts for this I will have a massive tantrum. And he will. I like Aitchy's team although would leave Millar in for Brown for a bit of continuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 I'll likely be rushing out of work and firing down the road at a rate of knots to sit on my own in the cold and watch this. Last game I had to watch on my own was when we beat Celtic last season, so theres room for optimism  Mannus  Miller - Mackay - Anderson - Easton  Millar - Dunne  Croft - Wotherspoon - Hasselbaink  May  Feel we need to keep the ball on the deck longer, our long balls behind the defence can be effective but only if we haven't tired May out before we deliver a decent one. As much as he seems to have stamina he's not as effective at that role as Tade was and he does tire eventually, we need to start getting closer to him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rik2304 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 We all know McDonald is going to play. Maybe Millar will be dropped for Dunne. There should be some,(un-enforced), changes after the ICT game though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 We all know McDonald is going to play  No. Every single match I'm utterly confident he'll be dropped and this is no different. This'll be the game TW opens his eyes and changes it, and our Europe clinching, Scottish Cup winning, unbeaten run begins at this match Jiangsu Sainty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honest Saints Fan Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Motherwell are a bit like us. Shit one game, great the next. They were rancid on Friday so I'm going for a 4-4 draw! I'll be at Ross County - Caley ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rik2304 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 No. Every single match I'm utterly confident he'll be dropped and this is no different. This'll be the game TW opens his eyes and changes it, and our Europe clinching, Scottish Cup winning, unbeaten run begins at this match We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 We'll see. Â Buleev! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mc Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Big week ahead for Saints as we play the teams sitting in 3rd and 2nd place. We've not had the best of records against Motherwell in recent seasons and if we play anything like we did yesterday, then it could be a long night. Team wise I would go: Mannus Miller, MacKay, Ando, Easton Dunne Brown Croft O'Halloran Nigel May Thoughts? Had almost the same team on another thread Aitchy, but had Spoony in for Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete1967 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Think aitchys team selection is spot on very attack minded but with having dunne and brown to support both defence and attack sadly tw will not drop some of his favoured players regardless of how they keep playing hope tuesdays team selection proves me wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford 72 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Why don't we pick the team we chose when we beat Motherwell 2-0 in October? Does anyone have that side to hand? Assume that McDonald, Millar and others were nowhere near the team that day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiangsu Sainty Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 01 Mannus 19 Miller Booked 24 Easton 04 Cregg (Davidson - 71' ) 02 Mackay 03 Scobbie 07 Millar 08 McDonald 17 May 11 Hasselbaink (Caddis - 78' ) 10 Wotherspoon (Edwards - 86' )    I get your point Radford, but football isn't just played on paper, and McDonald and Millar are out of form Edstar101 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Why don't we pick the team we chose when we beat Motherwell 2-0 in October? Does anyone have that side to hand? Assume that McDonald, Millar and others were nowhere near the team that day? This is similar to the argument you've made about Fraser Wright. Just because something has worked in the past doesn't necessarily mean it will continue to work in the future. I don't have an answer for why we now can't play effectively with that midfield when it did work earlier in the season. I suspect it may have to do with us not having MacLean to link midfield and attack, and also a drop in form for some players. But, nevertheless it's clear from the past few games that the current midfield is ineffective. Jiangsu Sainty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstar101 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 And, as was shown by randomguy, those victories with them both starting are few and far between. To select one where the team won in isolation is a very bad way of trying to prove some kind of point Jiangsu Sainty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford 72 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 There is a useful tool on the Soccerbase website that lets you filter results depending on the involvement of a couple of players.  Matches where Millar/McDonald start: Won 11 (50%), Drawn 3 (14%), Lost 8 (36%) Matches where neither start: Won 4 (33%), Drawn 3 (25%), Lost 5 (42%)  Clearly they are the reason we are only sixth in the Premiership, only reached the semi-final of the League Cup and are only in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. Dave Ferg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiangsu Sainty Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 That, like all statistics, doesn't say much definitively though, what if hypothetically we only ever dropped them v Celtic and Aberdeen. We are in last eight of Scottish Cup because we have played lower league teams, no other reason. We also good draws in the League Cup, e.g. Morton, and were smashed against SPL opposition, who incidentally lost to Partick for their first home win of season, further proving that on paper doesn't define all. Â The fact is that although we are doing "ok" with them, the pairing are horrendously uninspiring, and there is nothing out of order about fans wishing to see more of other possibilities. There is no guarantee the other possibilities would do any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford 72 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 I get your point Radford, but football isn't just played on paper, and McDonald and Millar are out of form. The fact is that although we are doing "ok" with them, the pairing are horrendously uninspiring, and there is nothing out of order about fans wishing to see more of other possibilities. Â Â So they haven't been singled out all season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstar101 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 There is a useful tool on the Soccerbase website that lets you filter results depending on the involvement of a couple of players.  Matches where Millar/McDonald start: Won 11 (50%), Drawn 3 (14%), Lost 8 (36%) Matches where neither start: Won 4 (33%), Drawn 3 (25%), Lost 5 (42%)  Clearly they are the reason we are only sixth in the Premiership, only reached the semi-final of the League Cup and are only in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. Now, these are more complete stats. Still, as just stats, they don't tell the whole story. As someone else said, in neither cup did we beat a team we weren't expected to, in fact, no other team from the SPFL. When we did come up against a fellow 'big' team, we were found to be severely wanting. I noticed from the other post that the games we won with those two playing were, with the exception of Motherwell (or Dundee Utd? can't remember), against Forfar and St Mirren, arguably the two worst teams we faced in the period covered Forget stats for a moment, and gauge what seems to be the majority view amongst those that watch the games in real time and not pour over them on paper. Maybe that is where the Spoony situation comes from.....when he gets the ball, supporters in the whole are lifted with the possibility of what might happen. When Chris and Gary are playing, people are more downhearted about what they know won't happen cristo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 There is a useful tool on the Soccerbase website that lets you filter results depending on the involvement of a couple of players. Matches where Millar/McDonald start: Won 11 (50%), Drawn 3 (14%), Lost 8 (36%) Matches where neither start: Won 4 (33%), Drawn 3 (25%), Lost 5 (42%) Clearly they are the reason we are only sixth in the Premiership, only reached the semi-final of the League Cup and are only in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. You and Randomguy need to buy a stack of poppers, book into a Premier Inn, and stay there until all this tension is gone. andy rhodes fancy watch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mc Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 If I remember correctly our best run of results were when we had the four full backs playing in defence,so using stats,Ando is the weak link;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rik2304 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 There is a useful tool on the Soccerbase website that lets you filter results depending on the involvement of a couple of players. Matches where Millar/McDonald start: Won 11 (50%), Drawn 3 (14%), Lost 8 (36%) Matches where neither start: Won 4 (33%), Drawn 3 (25%), Lost 5 (42%) Clearly they are the reason we are only sixth in the Premiership, only reached the semi-final of the League Cup and are only in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. Random Guy is our useful tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford 72 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Forget stats for a moment, and gauge what seems to be the majority view amongst those that watch the games in real time and not pour over them on paper. Â To make the set even more complete and in response to the claims about how uninspiring the midfield selection was (and in truth I don't actually disagree with that and expected Wright to name four attacking players rather than the three), it was the eighth time this season that Wright had selected the three of them together. Only defeat before yesterday was at Celtic Park in September, where I think most agreed we were unlucky? You can say that's pouring over things on paper if you want but working off the basis of possibilities, you can build up false impressions, as you've highlighted with the comment about Wotherspoon. I agree that you feel something might happen when he gets the ball but the fact is that so far this season it largely hasn't, so what is the more useful tool? Our gut feeling and memory of what (we think has) happened or what is there in black and white, i.e. he's assisted two goals this season, less than Chris Millar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 am goin bring the drum and lets party bring the drum and lets party theres fuque all to do on a tuesday night in perth . get a kerry oot tae keep warm and give it laldy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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