Saints v Livingston 10 August 2019


Jimmy Wallace
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A point, that'll do, we are off zero.  All 4 goals down to piss poor defending.

At least got a glimpse of some fight.  

Brutal to watch long balls into a lone striker who was dominated all game.  

Take away the entite hostile negativity on our lack of signings, to come ftom 2 down in this league to get a point is bloody well done.  There'll be few teams that will repeat that.   For that alone, pleased with a point.   Probably fair result, no team deserved a win.

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Tommy says its not about tactics its about character which they showed in second half. Sorry Tommy its about both. The tactics in the first half were difficult to understand,if there were any.

One man up front in home game with punts up to him with the big centre half's winning them all. How many times do you have to see that without changing it. Kane was up front on his own & the rest of the team seemed or was told to stay behind the ball so on the odd occasion Kane got the ball there was no support. Don't know what Clelland said to the team whilst Tommy sat on the bench looking fed up but they were more attacking in second half with McCann setting up a few attacks. O'Halloran & Kennedy were more in the game as well.

Defence were brutal in first half but think it was because we were too deep . There were 10 men in the box at times getting in each others way & unable to clear the ball.

It was great how the fans got behind them in srecond half. That's as vocal as they have been for a while.

Important that we didn't get beat from what could be fellow strugglers as they would have been 4 points ahead of us.

Anyway well done Saints. Now you have 2 weeks to sort things out & bring in a decent striker but I am afraid if you employ the tactics that you did in first half then even Messi would struggle. Hope you noticed how much better we were with 2 up front & how the fans reacted.

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22 minutes ago, Cagey said:

Tommy says its not about tactics its about character which they showed in second half. Sorry Tommy its about both. The tactics in the first half were difficult to understand,if there were any.

One man up front in home game with punts up to him with the big centre half's winning them all. How many times do you have to see that without changing it. Kane was up front on his own & the rest of the team seemed or was told to stay behind the ball so on the odd occasion Kane got the ball there was no support. Don't know what Clelland said to the team whilst Tommy sat on the bench looking fed up but they were more attacking in second half with McCann setting up a few attacks. O'Halloran & Kennedy were more in the game as well.

 Defence were brutal in first half but think it was because we were too deep . There were 10 men in the box at times getting in each others way & unable to clear the ball.

It was great how the fans got behind them in srecond half. That's as vocal as they have been for a while.

Important that we didn't get beat from what could be fellow strugglers as they would have been 4 points ahead of us.

Anyway well done Saints. Now you have 2 weeks to sort things out & bring in a decent striker but I am afraid if you employ the tactics that you did in first half then even Messi would struggle. Hope you noticed how much better we were with 2 up front & how the fans reacted.

It was as much Swanson off as it was Hendry on if you ask me. 

Get that man the **** away from this football team. 

Also our Estonian wins a lot in the air, but is the definition of bombscare. Hendry back please. 

Not sure I entirely agree with the view (also the Livi view) that the visitors threw it away. I honestly think that we were the far better team in the second half and actually deserved the comeback. I'd have had MOM at O'Halloran rather than Kennedy. 

Disappointed that Gary Holt has given up any pretence at playing football and is intent in creating a team of absolute vandals. Poundshop Hearts. Officials today were a joke. 

Keep the fight that we showed, get Gordon and Wright back, bring in a striker (2 ideally) and a central mid (although McCann is starting to show some form) and FFS stop with the 5 either at the back or the middle and just play 4-4-2 FFS. 

^ that should see us safe IMO.

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First half we were awful. Sitting off Livi we looked liked the away team! they grew in confidence and my lasting impression of today was how much fitter they were; we were breathing out our ass near the end.  Some really nervy performances today all down to lack of confidence.

To be fair the team really looked like themselves after the goal and best I've seen of MOH since he has been back. Wish we could have got him more service down the right.

I was sick when they got that late pen - we looked like we were determined to throw the game but fair shout to Zander who earned that new contract and boosted his confidence with a tidy save. Lets hope we have turned the corner.

Kennedy was a mile ahead of everyone on the park but his fitness too looked suspect near the end.

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Agree with most of whats being said. MOH was one of our best players today. Barely any decisions went our way. Never seen such a clear corner when ball hits off Livi defenders chest. I understand mistakes are made but you have 4 officials and not one intervened to get crucial stuff like that correct.

Need players with quick feet like Kennedy and MOH to make more runs with the ball into our opponents box. A lot of our players were caught dittering with the ball on the edge of their box. Either burst into the box quickly or take a shot. Id rather we forced keepers to make a save than wait all day for the perfect clear cut chance. We just need to have a go.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Rob said:

Agree with most of whats being said. MOH was one of our best players today. Barely any decisions went our way. Never seen such a clear corner when ball hits off Livi defenders chest. I understand mistakes are made but you have 4 officials and not one intervened to get crucial stuff like that correct.

Need players with quick feet like Kennedy and MOH to make more runs with the ball into our opponents box. A lot of our players were caught dittering with the ball on the edge of their box. Either burst into the box quickly or take a shot. Id rather we forced keepers to make a save than wait all day for the perfect clear cut chance. We just need to have a go.

 

 

There was at least one occasion at east & main stand that linesmen didn't know who a throw was for & kept their flag down & it took Dallas a while to point & then they put their flags up. These guys are on good money & surely if you don't know you at least make a decision ,right or wrong.

Saw Dallas taking time to tell Zander to stay on his line & was expecting him to say it had to be retaken as I think he hates Saints. I don't know if Geoff or someone from Perth upset Daddy Dallas as he & his son always seem to give us bad decisions.

As for new rules,does exiting from exiting to pitch at the nearest point not apply in Scotland. I thought you had to get booked if you didn't.

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1 minute ago, Cagey said:

As for new rules,does exiting from exiting to pitch at the nearest point not apply in Scotland. I thought you had to get booked if you didn't.

That really annoyed me aswell. Made even worse by the fact he then enforced the rule about five minutes later when they made another change.

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13 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

That really annoyed me aswell. Made even worse by the fact he then enforced the rule about five minutes later when they made another change.

What happens if a player is booked when exiting the game, if they're already on a booking?

Assume that means the sub doesn't come on?

For the record it was McMillan that was taking the piss. He was at it all afternoon. Horrible player. 

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Tommy Wright is brilliant at what he does ,I wasn't at the game but it sounds like he gave them a rollicking,then sat down in the dugout worked well,but also told Stevie brown he's is annoyed with the way saints are performing on and off the pitch at moment,did anyone fans start singing Stevie may songs to the board.

 

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I must admit I don't share the optimism many saw in the second half. We're we better- yes, but it was almost impossible to perform worse than the first fourty-five minutes.

I've said the same thing again and again since Millar left, but if you want Davidson in your team, you need a very effective partner in the middle that looks for the ball, has good positional sense and can pick a pass. Otherwise it becomes a matter of long wasted punts to an isolated striker surrounded by taller players. McCann looked a country mile away from being good enough in the first half, he was much better in the second half but there was still major warning signs with him and players found it far too easy to find space in dangerous positions Infront of our defence. Whilst the second half showed his ability to pass a little better and I though he showed maturity with the professional foul, I'd much rather see him given game time on loan to a championship club were he can get positional awareness from playing every week. Let him make his mistakes at a slightly lower level.

A better team than Livingston would of really hurt us today. They seemed to press us well in the first half, but backed off in the second when there was no real reason.

MOH and Kennedy looked good in the second half, but that vital spine of our team looks weak. The new lad at centre-back has to improve, if that's the best he's got to offer Gordon comes in and take his space easy (providing a voice Tommy says is missing from the team). Ricky looked off the pace and sloppy. Swanson was incredibly sloppy and lost the ball several times and Kerr looks totally unsure at points- he will come good again but our midfield left him isolated at points and the partnership in central defence didn't look fluid at all.

I'm usually a glass half full type of guy and should be coming away delighted we got the two goals back, but I must admit I'm really worried about this current side unless we add a good few faces and get Wright back asap.

This is going to be a long hard season.

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12 hours ago, Rob said:

Saints fans were in good voice when we scored. Sounded terrific.

Happy we got a point so well done boys. Need a bit of belief.

Just imagine the noise if we had the other core 1000 who appear to have disappeared. We've gone from a core 4000 to 3000 to what now appears 2000.  How do we combat this severe decline? FCU contine to be a huge miss.

Rallied well second half; but spine of team is a concern. There was a lack of leadership in the first half hour. Vihmann, McCann and Kane all very poor for this level. Hendry continues to come on and help us out of a hole, the lad has been great. Pace of Mikey and skill of Kennedy pleasing to watch.  Our strength in character second half cannot disguise an inept first half, devoid of chances and littered with players frustrated with each other. Time to fix ahead of Hibs and all being well a bigger crowd v Killie. Bring a pal!

COYS!

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First half was awful, 2nd goal was as bad a goal as I've seen us concede. The kids and I agreed at half time if Livi got to 4 in the second half (something that was entirely possible at that point) that we'd leave....something I've never thought of doing before. Everyone was sloppy and slow with nobody wanting the ball.

2nd half was better but we seemed to be helped by Livi sitting back for whatever reason. But couldn't relax as I don't have confidence in our ability to defend from the middle of the pitch back to the goal and long balls to Kane were useless. Until we get another option Hendry should start with Kane, he brought some energy and a bit of passion, glad he got his goal. 

Ref was awful for both sides, really inconsistent and how Kane can be clobbered while taking a throw in and the offender only gets a yellow card is beyond me.

I do wonder what Tommy's reasons were for coming out early after half time. Perhaps he gave them a roasting and was giving the players some time alone to discuss it among themselves.

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Let’s be honest, yesterday was brutal! Yes we came back and got a point but second half we were slightly better than first half but still hopeless. Let’s be careful not to paper over the cracks here, yes the team is lacking confidence but biggest issue is lack of quality. All the time people say play it on the deck. The reason we don’t is because our central midfield does not have the ability to do that. This is where our problem lies. A balanced midfield that can open up the game and protect defensively is a must. Livi midfield was simply miles ahead of ours. I don’t know how Livi drew that game. 

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Very rusty performance, so many poor passes and lost balls. 2nd half marginally better. Defense perhaps a bit nervous after the Celtic game? 

Worst referee I've seen in a long time. All over the map.

Livingston looked dirty and got away with a lot of shit.

Saints TV commentary was lack luster. A bit of enthusiasm would be nice, barely spoke for long spells.

I think MOH will be a terror this season.

Squad needs to be beefed up, as everyone has already referenced.

 

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Happy that we came back from 2 down & showed more fight & tempo in second half. We have to play at a higher tempo as we will not hurt teams with our walking pace football .

After watching sport scene though I worry that apart from Hearts all the rest of the teams looked better than us.

Only highlights though so not the full story.

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