Saints v Dundee United 24/10/20 - Derby Day

[templeofsaints]

Spoony was fine today - linked well with Tanser. Danny Mac did as well on the other side but both him and Tanser need to try more first time crosses rather than take the extra touch which allowed Utd to get an extra man over to cover.

Bryson did well and Conway sent some good balls in - Arabs defence was better than Accies and Siegrist had a good game - but I'm happy with a point and dominating the game as we did - as others have said earlier in the season we'd have blown it towards the end. 

BTW Danny Griffin should be co-commentator for all the games- good insight into the game / tactics and not afraid to stay objective 

[Linky]

I thought we played really well, and deserved the win. To manage to keep those two strikers anonymous throughout the game takes some doing. We absolutely dominated, I can't remember them having a shot on target, or even much in the way of attacks.

Ok, we didn't get the goal we needed, but this was a huge improvement on what has gone on before, and the best performance in an SPL game this season. We may have scored more against Hamilton, but their defence was  shambles, and that game was chaotic. We controlled this one

Ironically, it didn't quite click for Wotherspoon, although he still had some amazing play, beating 2 or 3 players at a time. Defence looked really solid and I think all could've been MoM. Bryson was pretty good, and played some nice balls forward. May started brightly but faded.

If it wasn't for the goalkeeper we would've scored 2 or 3. Dundee Utd are a good side, and are likely to be top 6, so to dominate them so easily was a good side. We have a new striker to come, who might be able to put away those chances.

[Johnny B]

22 minutes ago, Linky said:

If it wasn't for the goalkeeper we would've scored 2 or 3. Dundee Utd are a good side, and are likely to be top 6, so to dominate them so easily was a good side. W

We had 3 shots on target. And it was not good saves. Davidson's header at the death was straight at him. It hit him rather than a magnificent save. Utd are not a top 6 side they were woeful today another missed chance.

[Smarmy Arab]

Mellon had to stop the rot after heavy defeats to Rangers and Killie.  Well deserved point against Dons last week, followed by a well deserved point in Perth this week.   Saints had 70% of the play, if they cannot create a goal from that, look at their ineffective forward play. Utd defence restricted Saints to 2 good chances and 4/5 half chances....strong  ref refused to pander to shitebaggery (May...ffs!).   
 

With Hamilton and St Mirren not playing, both teams move a point further away from bottom places...both manager’s probably happy in the morning. 
 

Good Point Well Made! 

[THE LARK SAINT]

1 hour ago, Linky said:

I thought we played really well, and deserved the win. To manage to keep those two strikers anonymous throughout the game takes some doing. We absolutely dominated, I can't remember them having a shot on target, or even much in the way of attacks.

Ok, we didn't get the goal we needed, but this was a huge improvement on what has gone on before, and the best performance in an SPL game this season. We may have scored more against Hamilton, but their defence was  shambles, and that game was chaotic. We controlled this one

Ironically, it didn't quite click for Wotherspoon, although he still had some amazing play, beating 2 or 3 players at a time. Defence looked really solid and I think all could've been MoM. Bryson was pretty good, and played some nice balls forward. May started brightly but faded.

If it wasn't for the goalkeeper we would've scored 2 or 3. Dundee Utd are a good side, and are likely to be top 6, so to dominate them so easily was a good side. We have a new striker to come, who might be able to put away those chances.

Don't think they will be i n top 6 Celtic Rangers Hibs Aberdeen Mothwell and one from Kilmarnock  Saints and Livingston 

[Smarmy Arab]

I would take 10th right now Larks!

[sixties saintee]

Frustrating we dominate but apart from last week we just dont take our chances if we had we would be round about 3 rd.

[Johnny B]

I know CD is learning his trade but why take off our top goal scorer and replace him with a player who has yet to score a league goal this season in fact his only goal has come from the penalty spot. It would have made more sense to have both on. Also waits to the last 10 mins before bringing on another sub.

[THE LARK SAINT]

2 hours ago, Johnny B said:

I know CD is learning his trade but why take off our top goal scorer and replace him with a player who has yet to score a league goal this season in fact his only goal has come from the penalty spot. It would have made more sense to have both on. Also waits to the last 10 mins before bringing on another sub.

Game time in my opinion 

[Cagey]

2 hours ago, Johnny B said:

I know CD is learning his trade but why take off our top goal scorer and replace him with a player who has yet to score a league goal this season in fact his only goal has come from the penalty spot. It would have made more sense to have both on. Also waits to the last 10 mins before bringing on another sub.

There is a lot to like about what Callum is doing & as you say he is learning his trade so hopefully he learned something yesterday.

His sub of Hendry for May was more or less like for like. If he was taking May off I would have put Kane on ,as he is s different kind of striker & would have roughed up the defence making openings for others. He also would have drawn a few fouls giving Conway a chance to have a go.

As I mentioned earlier he should have used his subs better & not wait too late but I can understand that we were well in control & he might have worried changes may have had an adverse effect.

[Shaggy Jenkins]

2 hours ago, Johnny B said:

I know CD is learning his trade but why take off our top goal scorer and replace him with a player who has yet to score a league goal this season in fact his only goal has come from the penalty spot. It would have made more sense to have both on. Also waits to the last 10 mins before bringing on another sub.

Seems strange to say, given Hendry did get important goals for us last year but I agree.

Not sure if May was carrying a niggle or what, but purely tactically there is no way in a game like that at 0-0 you take him off. That scramble after the save at the end, may is exactly the striker that has a knack for the ball falling to him

[dave mc]

18 hours ago, dunblanemike said:

Also thought Spoony did ok, hardly a nightmare Davemc (usually agree with most of your summations). A nightmare would be him passing to an oppo player leading to a goal. He is inconsistent though as you say, but would he be at saints if he was not?

watching games on tv like we have to now is a bit surreal, have saints really played or was it a dream?

Just made the wrong decision so often, shooting when slide ins were on, and getting caught in possession too often imo, would’ve subbed him 

[Cagey]

3 minutes ago, dave mc said:

Just made the wrong decision so often, shooting when slide ins were on, and getting caught in possession too often imo, would’ve subbed him 

What do the fans know ?. BBC & most of the papers had Spoony as MOM.

There is no doubt he has the skill & looks good but on nearly every occasion he made the wrong decision.

[RandomGuy]

Felt like Wotherspoon wanted to create the perfect goal, but ended up doing too much. Think the system didn't help as Uniteds back 5 stunted the front three getting space, and our CM 2 were outmatched too. So no free players in the opposition third.

Change of shape was maybe needed but its easy to see that looking back.

[dave mc]

5 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

Felt like Wotherspoon wanted to create the perfect goal, but ended up doing too much. Think the system didn't help as Uniteds back 5 stunted the front three getting space, and our CM 2 were outmatched too. So no free players in the opposition third.

Change of shape was maybe needed but its easy to see that looking back.

Thought we could’ve gone 4-2-3-1 in second half,but Callum likes his system,and sticks to it mostly 

[Cagey]

3 minutes ago, dave mc said:

Thought we could’ve gone 4-2-3-1 in second half,but Callum likes his system,and sticks to it mostly 

Think Callum forgets he can use 5 sub's.Basically only used 1 as others were too late.

[dave mc]

Thought Mikey for Spoony,Hendry for a  cb,and May in the 3 coming onto the ball would’ve given them more to cope with 

[RandomGuy]

1 hour ago, dave mc said:

Thought we could’ve gone 4-2-3-1 in second half,but Callum likes his system,and sticks to it mostly 

Was maybe worried United still had Shankland/McNulty on the park, and had gone more attacking in the last 10 against Aberdeen the week before. We couldn't really afford another dominant home performance and 0 points.

Not a great point of view but understandable this early in the season.

[Smarmy Arab]

If you score 12 goals in 2 games the football gods will ensure you score none in the next game.....

[garydavidson]

5 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

Was maybe worried United still had Shankland/McNulty on the park, and had gone more attacking in the last 10 against Aberdeen the week before. We couldn't really afford another dominant home performance and 0 points.

Not a great point of view but understandable this early in the season.

When you look at his interview it's clear the Aberdeen and Hibs results were on his mind.

[Cleveland-Saint]

9 hours ago, Cagey said:

What do the fans know ?. BBC & most of the papers had Spoony as MOM.

There is no doubt he has the skill & looks good but on nearly every occasion he made the wrong decision.

for a team that can lack creativity, he makes silk out of a pigs ear on a regular basis.... least he's trying stuff

[blueheaven]

Surprised by the comments about Spoony as I thought he had a good game. Didn't always play the right ball, but he was one of our most positive, creative players and to me he feels like our one player who is most likely to be involved in a goal. For me, Spoony is the first name on the team sheet at the moment.

I actually thought we played some really good, exciting stuff on Saturday. We completely dominated United and we also looked a lot fitter and sharper than they did (to be honest I think this is a really, really poor United side and I'm a bit surprised they're as high in the league as they are).

However I still have a lot of concerns about the way we set up in attack. To me it feels like we outnumber our opponents in every area of the pitch except the one crucial area - in front of the goal. To me May still looks isolated a lot of the time and, for all we've read about him being asked to play in the box and be an out and out striker, we're still not seeing enough of that. I find it very frustrating that May and Hendry get so little time on the pitch together, given how well they've linked up together when given the chance. It'll be very interesting to see how Melamed fits into all this. We have a lot of strikers to keep happy in a system that only allows for one to play at a time.

[jhq]

On 10/24/2020 at 8:38 PM, Linky said:

I thought we played really well, and deserved the win. To manage to keep those two strikers anonymous throughout the game takes some doing. We absolutely dominated, I can't remember them having a shot on target, or even much in the way of attacks.

Ok, we didn't get the goal we needed, but this was a huge improvement on what has gone on before, and the best performance in an SPL game this season. We may have scored more against Hamilton, but their defence was  shambles, and that game was chaotic. We controlled this one

Ironically, it didn't quite click for Wotherspoon, although he still had some amazing play, beating 2 or 3 players at a time. Defence looked really solid and I think all could've been MoM. Bryson was pretty good, and played some nice balls forward. May started brightly but faded.

If it wasn't for the goalkeeper we would've scored 2 or 3. Dundee Utd are a good side, and are likely to be top 6, so to dominate them so easily was a good side. We have a new striker to come, who might be able to put away those chances.

I'd agree with most of that apart from your view that United are a good side - they're not.

[Smarmy Arab]

I agree jhq we are far from a good side, but I think we have a good manager.  Saints and Aberdeen are 2 of the better sides in the division and keeping them out for 3 hours is quite an achievement.  I would add we have little or no experience in our squad, before this season began only Reynolds has a decent number of top flight games under his belt, Powers, Harkes, Edwards, Shankland, Clark, have the grand total of 0 combined! it takes time to adjust, but we have several gears to go through with some talented players in there.  
 

.....and after the first round of fixtures we are top six, and been above Saints all season....

Edited October 26, 2020 by Smarmy Arab

[Cagey]

3 minutes ago, Smarmy Arab said:

I agree jhq we are far from a good side, but I think we have a good manager.  Saints and Aberdeen are 2 of the better sides in the division and keeping them out for 3 hours is quite an achievement.  I would add we little or no experience in our squad, before this season began only Reynolds has a decent number of top flight games under his belt, Powers, Harkes, Edwards, Shankland, Clark, have the grand total of 0 combine! it takes time to adjust, but we have several gears to go through with some talented players in there.  
 

.....and after the first round of fixtures we are top six, and been above Saints all season....

I thought Harkes looked ok on Saturday but on that display he is the only one in that team I would have in our team even though I have been touting for us to get Shankland since his Aberdeen days.