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

[sixties saintee]

31 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 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....

Mellon was a good journeyman footballer  did a no bad job Managing  wae Shrewsbury before getting the Tranmere job.

[jhq]

30 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 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....

I'm fully aware of the respective league positions.  Truth be told we have underperformed for most of the season in an attacking sense and Saturday was a great example of that.  The game finishing goalless was far more down to our poor performance in the final third than it was to any good defending from United.  It's pretty poor not to be able to score against a defence containing Connolly and Reynolds tbh.  I can understand your optimism that your team will get better, but currently they are not "good".

[Johnny B]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

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.

If he had those 2 up front would he then play with wide midfielders or wing backs  4:4:2 or 5:3:2 or some other combination. He prefers a back 5.

[Smarmy Arab]

As I say Cagey, question marks over a number of our squad, but we have little option but to give them a chance to prove themselves and hope they get better. We played for a point and consequently deserved a point.  When you have been in the 2nd tier for 4 years it’s always a challenge to step up, for all the stick our game gets there is a difference between top and 2nd levels. A fixture list of Somerset Park, Firhill, Gayfield etc has its challenges as we discovered, but it is a world away from Parkhead, Pittodrie, Easter Road and McD! 
 

We have a good crop of young players, but they need careful handling and steady progress rather than being thrown in and expected to win matches.  Overall I’m happy with the first quarter, and as being of an optimistic disposition I’m confident we will improve.  We still have a marquee signing to add to our midfield, if he is as good as reports suggest he may be the right player, in the right position, at the right time!  Then again he could make 3 dire appearances and disappear into 3rd team!   it has happened before!

[Radford 72]

3 hours ago, blueheaven said:

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.

Thought he was heavily involved again on Saturday but the stats show he lost possession 12 times. The other 9 outfield starters did so only 16 times between then and nobody more than 3 times. 

He did a lot of decent stuff but it wasn't his day when it came to key moments. 

A lot of folk looking at the league table but it's irrelevant for me at the moment. It's like being in a pack in the early laps on a long distance race, it doesn't really matter where you are. 

I've seen more than enough to still feel confident Saints can have a good season. 

[Tranmere Saintee]

9 hours 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 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....

I think you have forgotten Shankland time at Aberdeen.

[Smarmy Arab]

1 hour ago, Tranmere Saintee said:

I think you have forgotten Shankland time at Aberdeen.

Ok, I stand corrected Shankland made 17 appearances for Aberdeen in his teens...the last appearance in 2016 

effin pedant!

[sideline]

Must admit that while results are less than I would have hoped I have enjoyed our play much more this season than in recent times. On many occasions over recent seasons  I sat through many of our games and was less than entertained. 

I feel that many of our attacks are quite creative but often let down by the final ball.

as for Spoony, he is prepared to have a real go but as often happens with creative players they loose possession and become subject to criticism. There were two great runs by Spoony, one I think on each flank where he left Utd. defenders sprawling in his wake but then, as is often the case, the final ball failed to find a man.

I remain positive that things will come right. Remember, we still have Guy to unleash but please give him some time.

[Salguodinmethven.]

9 hours ago, sideline said:

Must admit that while results are less than I would have hoped I have enjoyed our play much more this season than in recent times. On many occasions over recent seasons  I sat through many of our games and was less than entertained. 

I feel that many of our attacks are quite creative but often let down by the final ball.

as for Spoony, he is prepared to have a real go but as often happens with creative players they loose possession and become subject to criticism. There were two great runs by Spoony, one I think on each flank where he left Utd. defenders sprawling in his wake but then, as is often the case, the final ball failed to find a man.

I remain positive that things will come right. Remember, we still have Guy to unleash but please give him some time

Agree with this, hands up I know I slated Callum Davidson a month or so ago hic. But beginning to see team steadily playing at what I feel is a higher tempo. Spoony has been good to watch last few games but often think he does try to hard sometimes when he could pass.  Saturday we could easily have got two goals but wasn't to be. 

[blueheaven]

10 hours ago, sideline said:

as for Spoony, he is prepared to have a real go but as often happens with creative players they loose possession and become subject to criticism. There were two great runs by Spoony, one I think on each flank where he left Utd. defenders sprawling in his wake but then, as is often the case, the final ball failed to find a man.

That's exactly how I feel. We need someone in the team who plays like Spoony - someone who is able to run with the ball and cause problems for defenders, has a bit of skill, and who also looks to play the occasional through-ball to the striker or cut the ball back along the ground instead of humping it into the box from the wing all the time. For me, we've looked a far more dangerous team whenever Spoony has been on the pitch this season.

Appreciate that his stats perhaps lag behind some of the other midfielders but I also feel it's a lot easier to complete a pass and hold onto possession when you're further back and playing a simple pass, than it is when you're trying to drive the ball towards goal and create something. For at least one of his cut-backs on Sunday I felt he played the right ball but the fault was in the fact that we didn't have a midfielder following up into the box to get on the end of it (I think Danny Griffin on commentary mentioned a Philip Scott type of player, which to me was a perfect analogy).

 

[Cagey]

Stevie May had one chance which was from a ball over the top. He hardly got a touch the rest of the game,perhaps because their defence were so deep. We depend on width and crosses but bad balls or lack of players in the box we are not getting the results our play reserved.

We should probably try going through the middle more often. A few one twos now & again might get defence on back foot.

We are maybe a bit too one dimensional.

Maybe at the moment not as productive as the stuff served up by Tommy but a lot more enjoyable to watch.?