St.Mirren V St.Johnstone - 24th February

[GOB10]

MIght be my heart talking more than anything but I'm struggling with the treatment of may.. surely he should be getting a run out. The most promising partnership we have seen for a bit in my opinion is may and clark and neither are getting a sniff. The football is beyond depressing at the moment! The dinosaur just stands at the side in his tweed looking bored out his skull and the team is a reflection of him. This wee experiment isn't work at all for me. Fine keep him around the club in a background role as he is well experienced but get him away from the sidelines ffs.. kirk for the striking coach role only. No interest in him being manager.

[tucker]

this tells you all you need to know it ain't changing every.

 

[Cagey]

39 minutes ago, GOB10 said:

MIght be my heart talking more than anything but I'm struggling with the treatment of may.. surely he should be getting a run out. The most promising partnership we have seen for a bit in my opinion is may and clark and neither are getting a sniff. The football is beyond depressing at the moment! The dinosaur just stands at the side in his tweed looking bored out his skull and the team is a reflection of him. This wee experiment isn't work at all for me. Fine keep him around the club in a background role as he is well experienced but get him away from the sidelines ffs.. kirk for the striking coach role only. No interest in him being manager.

Don't want him anywhere near the club. Look at the mess Hearts were in when he was upstairs.

[Saintdunc]

Whilst GB still has some control of our club he has to grow a pair and get rid of Levein. Levein is a dinosaur from another era and is clearly incapable of moving from plan a to plan b when we are getting nowhere during matches. His team selections are, in the majority, baffling. What exactly is Sprangler doing in training, or does Levein just not have good memories of holidays in Austria?

We would struggle in the Championship and, unless Levein goes, and goes now, that's where we are going to be next season, and not for very long either. A continuing downward spiral will see us languishing in a division full of also rans. 

65 years since I first entered Muirton Park, and the last 2 and a bit seasons have been nothing short of a disaster. I used to travel up from Leeds 3 or 4 times a season and, although there were occasions when we lost, we were worth watching. I am disappointed to hear myself thinking that to do the same now would, not only be a waste of money, but bad for my mental health. 

We should not put up with mediocrity and that is what Levein is delivering. 

Michael Stewart is not my favourite pundit but he is right. 

 

[Northern saint]

Whenever you listen or read what former players and managers say, it always comes down to settled partnerships, allowing players a run of games to find their feet, their form.  Chopping and changing for the sake of it is counterproductive due to allowing none of those points.  It also damages trust in the manager.  

I started the Levein Card and was criticised when I gave him 3 out of ten as I saw no sign of a style, structure, player selection which showed we were moving forward.  3 games on and I'd suggest we are even worse.

DJ had shown signs of improvement when given a few games - dropped.  BK and Adama together for what 60 minutes.  

It's baffling if the idea is to protect the back three he doesn't play Sprangler.  If a four would Olefena benefit from playing alongside McGowan who seems to raise the games of his partners (or he did.)  

It must be obvious we can't win if we can't defend properly and gift the initiative to the opposition from the very beginning.   

I think Levein has or is very close to losing the dressing room because how can you trust him.  

We had the opportunity to move up but now, due to his tactics, we're at best a play-off team.  

Prove me wrong, Levein!

 

 

[GMac]

Reminds me very much of the Davidson/McLean combo at its worst.  I have the fear.

[Cagey]

I don't think players enjoy playing negative football and it shows.

I think Levein is still stuck in the age when you were just allowed 2 subs.

2 goals down and he doesn't allow the team to open up until almost injury time . We had more shots on goal in injury time than the rest of the game . 

Best means of defence is attack so what do we do , invite them on to us.

St Mirren are in a good position in the league but are not a good team on form but what does A ril do , treat them like a top 6 team. In fact he treats every team with too much respect.

Clueless.

[RandomGuy]

1 hour ago, Northern saint said:

Whenever you listen or read what former players and managers say, it always comes down to settled partnerships, allowing players a run of games to find their feet, their form.  Chopping and changing for the sake of it is counterproductive due to allowing none of those points.  It also damages trust in the manager.  

I started the Levein Card and was criticised when I gave him 3 out of ten as I saw no sign of a style, structure, player selection which showed we were moving forward.  3 games on and I'd suggest we are even worse.

DJ had shown signs of improvement when given a few games - dropped.  BK and Adama together for what 60 minutes.  

It's baffling if the idea is to protect the back three he doesn't play Sprangler.  If a four would Olefena benefit from playing alongside McGowan who seems to raise the games of his partners (or he did.)  

It must be obvious we can't win if we can't defend properly and gift the initiative to the opposition from the very beginning.   

I think Levein has or is very close to losing the dressing room because how can you trust him.  

We had the opportunity to move up but now, due to his tactics, we're at best a play-off team.  

Prove me wrong, Levein!

You wonder who the leaders are, and how theyre acting when hes not around.

I always thought Stevie May was a big presence in terms of the off field part of things, yet is completely frozen out.

[rik2304]

There is zero character in this squad.

The captain is a personality vacuum as well as a bomb scare and where is leadership from experienced international players like Considine and Smith?

[sixties saintee]

Double deflection and rebound off the post, another deflection fir the second, only positive was Var going fir us the day.

[templeofsaints]

43 minutes ago, sixties saintee said:

Double deflection and rebound off the post, another deflection fir the second, only positive was Var going fir us the day.

Ironically the only VAR decision we've had and it counted for hee-haw

[Havana Saint]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy said:

You wonder who the leaders are, and how theyre acting when hes not around.

I always thought Stevie May was a big presence in terms of the off field part of things, yet is completely frozen out.

To be fair, I watched plenty of the training session on Tuesday morning, Stevie May was not good at all during the defence v attack drills. It was quite sad to watch to be honest.😢

[Cagey]

Still within 3 points of Well & Aberdeen so please try to win the next 2 games. Draws are as bad a losses in this league.

[Cagey]

4 hours ago, tucker said:

this tells you all you need to know it ain't changing every.

 

Stewart has had a poor opinion of Levein since has Hearts days.

Just wish Geoff had done some background instead of looking at a couple of decent season at United were the success was probably more down to Peter Houston.

[blueheaven]

Why was Keltjens dropped yesterday? Why was Gallacher at right wing-back? Why are we even persisting with a wing-back system in the first place when we don't have any wing-backs in our squad? Why are inferior players being picked ahead of Sprangler and May? Why did we waste our precious budget on signing an unneeded player like Connor Smith? Why do we keep signing strikers for a system that seems entirely designed to keep the ball away from them? Why does Max keep being brought onto the pitch in situations he's completely unequipped to make any impact in? Why did we send Kane and Brown out on loan when they'd probably have had roles to play in the team right now? Why have we put a Highland League manager in charge of training? Why did we give Levein a three-year contract when he'd done nothing to earn it? Why have we made three absolutely rotten managerial appointments on the trot? Why couldn't we have just asked Tommy Wright to stay so that everything would have been OK and none of this f**king nightmare would have happened?

Absolutely sick of the whole lot of them and I've never, ever felt more disillusioned with this half-arsed mess of a club than I do right now. I can only pray that the prospective new owners were watching very closely and that their first point of business will be to replace Levein and Kirk as an urgent priority.

[PSJ.84]

20 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Absolutely sick of the whole lot of them and I've never, ever felt more disillusioned with this half-arsed mess of a club than I do right now. I can only pray that the prospective new owners were watching very closely and that their first point of business will be to replace Levein and Kirk as an urgent priority.

Part of me wants the sale to happen ASAP so we can get a sense of direction and purpose again. The club seem content with just treading water at the minute and are choosing to ignore the shitshow we’ve become, both on and off the pitch. It’s nothing short of embarrassing.  

Edited February 25 by PSJ.84

[saintee in exile]

53 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Why was Keltjens dropped yesterday? Why was Gallacher at right wing-back? Why are we even persisting with a wing-back system in the first place when we don't have any wing-backs in our squad? Why are inferior players being picked ahead of Sprangler and May? Why did we waste our precious budget on signing an unneeded player like Connor Smith? Why do we keep signing strikers for a system that seems entirely designed to keep the ball away from them? Why does Max keep being brought onto the pitch in situations he's completely unequipped to make any impact in? Why did we send Kane and Brown out on loan when they'd probably have had roles to play in the team right now? Why have we put a Highland League manager in charge of training? Why did we give Levein a three-year contract when he'd done nothing to earn it? Why have we made three absolutely rotten managerial appointments on the trot? Why couldn't we have just asked Tommy Wright to stay so that everything would have been OK and none of this f**king nightmare would have happened?

Absolutely sick of the whole lot of them and I've never, ever felt more disillusioned with this half-arsed mess of a club than I do right now. I can only pray that the prospective new owners were watching very closely and that their first point of business will be to replace Levein and Kirk as an urgent priority.

I know.TW was treated badly and given very little money to improve the squad.He loved the club,had passion and knew what he was doing and yet the board stifled him,belittled him so actually he could take no more.As soon as he leaves the board decided to give CD the funds that Tommy had always wanted.Surely if he'd been given the money TW would never have walked and we wouldn't be in this desperate situation.The club has lost its soul and its direction just now.Very sad to see but was completely avoidable

[R.B.B:- Adz]

6 hours ago, Northern saint said:

Whenever you listen or read what former players and managers say, it always comes down to settled partnerships, allowing players a run of games to find their feet, their form.  Chopping and changing for the sake of it is counterproductive due to allowing none of those points.  It also damages trust in the manager.  

I started the Levein Card and was criticised when I gave him 3 out of ten as I saw no sign of a style, structure, player selection which showed we were moving forward.  3 games on and I'd suggest we are even worse.

DJ had shown signs of improvement when given a few games - dropped.  BK and Adama together for what 60 minutes.  

It's baffling if the idea is to protect the back three he doesn't play Sprangler.  If a four would Olefena benefit from playing alongside McGowan who seems to raise the games of his partners (or he did.)  

It must be obvious we can't win if we can't defend properly and gift the initiative to the opposition from the very beginning.   

I think Levein has or is very close to losing the dressing room because how can you trust him.  

We had the opportunity to move up but now, due to his tactics, we're at best a play-off team.  

Prove me wrong, Levein!

 

 

Why is no journalist asking Levein the questions you have outlined above and that an entire forum is left asking each other. Many of the journalists who have regular access to Levein read this forum. From Robert Thompson, Eric Nicholson and Sean Hamilton to Aidan Smith and Matt Gallagher.

[RandomGuy]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

Why did we waste our precious budget on signing an unneeded player like Connor Smith?

Same reason we signed Kerr Smith and why Kucheriavyi gets played every game.

[Linky]

Really poor passing. Even experienced players like Considine was giving it away regularly. Phillips had his worst game for us. St. Mirren marked tightly and out muscled us, it was tactics more than anything.

Some of the selections were odd. Where was Keltjens, who has looked good. Why Gallacher on the right.

I really think as each game goes by Gordon looks more of a liability. He gives away so many fouls, just wrestles players to the ground or kicks them. My only positive was that Sidibe did ok considering he had no help.

[R.B.B:- Adz]

1 minute ago, Linky said:

Really poor passing. Even experienced players like Considine was giving it away regularly. Phillips had his worst game for us. St. Mirren marked tightly and out muscled us, it was tactics more than anything.

Some of the selections were odd. Where was Keltjens, who has looked good. Why Gallacher on the right.

I really think as each game goes by Gordon looks more of a liability. He gives away so many fouls, just wrestles players to the ground or kicks them. My only positive was that Sidibe did ok considering he had no help.

Someone on here earlier saying Gordon and Considine are as capable of defending as Frazer Wright and Steven Anderson.

More like Darren Dods(Gordon) and Rudi Vata(Considine)…

[RandomGuy]

1 hour ago, R.B.B:- Adz said:

Someone on here earlier saying Gordon and Considine are as capable of defending as Frazer Wright and Steven Anderson.

I said that a lack of pace was a problem when Anderson and Wright were our CBs, yet we won a cup with them in a back 4, so why is it impossible (as Levein has claimed) to have Gordon/McGowan/Considine in a back 4?

I dont even understand why a back 3/5 is seen as better for a lack of pace back there either, it just means the slowest player in the leagye (Considine) constantly finds himself 1v1 with wingers or in foot races with strikers. People can give him 5 yards and still beat him to balls, yet we're told this protects him more than if he played in a back four.

Edited February 25 by RandomGuy

[blueheaven]

10 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

I dont even understand why a back 3/5 is seen as better for a lack of pace back there either, it just means the slowest player in the leagye (Considine) constantly finds himself 1v1 with wingers or in foot races with strikers. People can give him 5 yards and still beat him to balls, yet we're told this protects him more than if he played in a back four.

Agree with this. I actually think our system is giving our defenders too much to do. The wing-backs are being asked to perform attacking roles they're not cut out for, and it leaves us exposed in the areas traditionally covered by full-backs. And playing three central defenders means we have just three players concentrating fully on being defenders instead of four.

For Wednesday I think Levein needs to completely scrap this approach, give everyone a clean slate and go back to basics. A back four with Keltjens at right-back, Robinson at left-back and whichever two of Gordon, McGowan and Considine are deemed to work best in the middle.

I'd be tempted to give Kimpioka a go at right wing as he has pace, has an element of unpredictability and could do some damage, with Keltjens sitting behind him to protect him. Sprangler sitting in front of the defence. Matt Smith getting further forward. Phillips with a box-to-box role. Stevie May coming in from the left to support Nicky Clark up front. Basically a 4-5-1 but it becomes a 4-3-3 when we're on the attack.

I feel Carey could do with a rest and I assume Sidibeh will also be given a break in midweek.

___________________Mitov

Keltjens __McGowan Gordon__Robinson

_________Sprangler___Phillips

Kimpioka___M. Smith____May

___________________Clark

[SaintJet]

Was a pretty depressing watch. St.Mirren pressed us hard all game and we just couldn't cope - our midfield were overran and there was no one to show any composure. Dan had an off day but again that was down to being pressed by the opposition. We need to look at this.

It was until the game was gone that we looked a threat. 

The two goals were a bit unlucky too - no way was Mitov getting down to the first one with a wicked deflection! 

It was bad day at the office and I hope the team are watching it back because we are becoming a soft touch and we need to press higher to give our defence a help.

[johndb]

Stood on the terraces and watched the real Saints in the 60's..