Banned 101 Saint

The trouble with Steve

2014-10-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

The trouble with Steve Brown is quite simple, it’s his mixed messages.

Brand, trust, transparency and consumer confidence are buzz words in the retail industry but it appears Chairman Brown isn’t at the consumer coalface.

Football clubs still fall outside the norm of society but they’re quickly being brought to heel. Saints were never going to lead or embrace such change but the attitude the club has recently displayed towards customers is nothing short of bewildering.

To contextualise, Saints are a diddy club, a club that don’t win prizes of the meaningful sort. All that changed last May sometime round about 1635 BST. Steven MacLean, a previously maligned Steve Lomas signing, scored a goal which was a cameo of his career; dogged, determined, dramatic. The ensuing scenes will live long with fans and casual observers alike.

Sadly, the euphoria was left at Celtic Park.

During the four week build-up to the big event, you’d be forgiven for thinking the club were intent to cap the fanbase at 1600 season ticket holders. We won the final berth in mid-April, when at almost any other club season ticket prices for the upcoming season would be set in stone. Not one purchaser of a Cup Final ticket was offered an application form to purchase a Season Ticket, nor could our office staff allow customers an insight as to how much the game after the final would cost a "new" fan. 12,000 opportunities missed.

There is no excuse. We had a buzz around our club which we let fart away like air from a wet balloon.

15,000 people went to Celtic Park on 17 May in hope of blue win. Some thought it was written in the stars, whilst others believed it was inscribed on shirts sold by Campus Sports and printed by Sprinterz.co.uk. Both were sort of right, May 17 was dominated by the bustling centre forward but only because by then it was clear he was effectively finished at Saints.

And this is the biggest mistake of all. It’s not to the benefit of the club to share financial information, but it’s equally easy to see that May would have signed a deal with the right amalgam of persuasion and “cut”. We needed to make the transfer value of some significance to Stevie. Then he’d have re-signed. Instead, like Derek McInnes, we failed to recognise the worth of Stevie May and he went for a fraction of the fee seen 22 miles East. We'd have been smarter to sell him on 18 May and start a bidding war early, plan early.

Throughout the negotiations, the club fell silent. Rightly so. It’s not our business to get constant updates like a wife waiting on a husband to come out of intensive care. When he went, the club defended the deal on offer, but couldn’t justify why those discussions came so late in the day. Almost like the manager hadn’t realised how good May was, despite castigating Steve Lomas for the same.

Given Tommy’s approach to youth development (Kane loaned to a part time team and everyone else making do with development league drubbings) we should all be grateful that Lomas understood what development means and ensured Stevie was allowed to grow in a good place. A lesson that seems long forgotten.

So, we knew that May wasn’t intent on re-signing and that would hurt us in football sense. The obvious things were; capitalise on his sale and ensure we replace him as far as fiscally prudent. Finding a goal scorer was never going to be easy, harder still with Rangers just a few games from being back in the top flight.

Other areas were much easier to fill. For reasons only known to Tommy Wright and Steve Brown, Liam Craig was never replaced, meaning that every opposition right back has had a very easy time against us. Liam Craig, a former fan favourite, was clearly on the market when Hibs rightly punted Terry Butcher. I’m led to believe that an offer was never formalised despite the player’s determination to play in the SPFL.

The Manager brought in striker, a person who seemed dogged by trouble and a stupid name, yet whose talent has been evident for some time. The player was training under the nose of our Manager yet no contract was offered. The Manager stated that he couldn’t as he didn’t know his budget. Perhaps semantics based on May signing improved terms, perhaps reckless incompetence on the part of the chairman, perhaps neither. Either way, season ticket cashflow arrived late because the application packs were likewise ill-timed. If cashflow was a problem, so was our disorganisation.

All those things are pretty grim failings by any club but the utter failure to capitalise, in any tangible way, from May 17 is astonishing. A fable of grasping defeat from the jaws of victory.

St Johnstone, under Brown leadership, were never going to flash the cash. I wouldn’t want them to. But what followed was inept beyond adjective. Rather than celebrate our victory, Chairman Brown would have you believe it saved our club from extinction.

Infrastructure, may never trend on Twitter but it seems to be Chairman Brown’s new bestie word. Like a scene from a BBC sitcom, we celebrated the win by repairing a car park! Now, bearing in mind that St Johnstone “supporters” had written letters of complaint about the car park surface it was always going to need replacing at some point and this is as good a time as any. Similarly, the artificial training pitch has been in a sorry state for a few years so its replacement is more than acceptable, particularly after a windfall.

What rankles, irritates and grates is the manner in which the money has been spent. The car park has been an issue for 4 years that I’m aware of; the astro, at least 3years. None of these outlays comes as a shock, except they do. See, at no point in the build-up did our club set the expectation that the windfall would go towards essential maintenance. The club have no responsibility or obligation to do so, but had they chosen that route it would have been accepted in good faith.

The problem is that we won the cup then it seemed we found things on which to spend money. Rather than keep a feel good momentum travelling forward, we kicked the thing off course until it was driving to downtown apathy.

When the new season kicked off in Luzern, we were short of players, missing a great physio and sports scientist but comforted by the prospect of new asphalt and astro.

When the SPFL season hit mid season, crowds were back down to pre-May 17 levels. To further infuriate and confuse the fans we lost another General Manager and there seemed to be a clear statement that the GM role didn’t fit our set-up. A young female now holds the role of General Manager. It seems unlikely that she is fully salaried presumably not enhanced by a percentage of directly attributed/new turnover. Seems odd, but what do I know?

We also formalised the position of Ross Cunningham. His Twitter bio says he is Marketing and Communications Officer for St Johnstone FC. Odd then, that he hasn’t communicated how one would get an invite to the Q&A session with Chairman Brown which is scheduled for 30 October if rumours are true. Actually, maybe it’s not that odd, since he took up the post, he’s stopped communicating with fans on the unofficial forum. Were it a script, it would be funny.

Which is kinda where we started.

I’ve argued long and hard that our club should be dictator driven. It’s the best form of management and chairmanship. The trouble is, Chairman Brown is sending mixed messages in all directions. He needs to get his head down, there’s rot setting in under his watch.

The club is losing credibility. Whether it’s Twitter outbursts, unfathomable statements about staff, Roddy’s quote to the BBC (which remains without caveat, denial or retraction) or the scarcely believable situation where our Manager claimed not to know his budget during pre-season.

I said last season that results were papering over cracks in the club. Those cracks are now on show like a slapper’s thong.

The man needs to get his head down and fix the wounds. Only then can the footballing matters be seen to. Great results won’t occur this season so a charm offensive is crucial.

A scripted interview with detailed explanations would fix many of the problems. Then he’ll need to demonstrate incisive leadership and foresight. No point telling the fans we’ll get Macaroni pies then serving us chips and beans. We may like both equally, but we’ll feel let down if we get something far different from what was promised.

We expected a tough season, but we expected to see our youngsters given game time…. Confidence, transparency, trust – simple words, simple concepts, crucial impacts.

For what it’s worth, I don’t rate Chairman Brown but I’m cautious about crucifying him in the current climate. Nobody else wants the hassle.

Also, however easy it would be to drown the club in letters, emails, tweets and comments; I don’t condone such action. It will fall on a select few and those folks are mostly innocent.

Above all else, we simply cannot allow dissatisfaction to create a spot on the board for a fans representative. We all know he’s causing trouble for the club and working like a Trojan to wangle “inside”. Let’s close the shutters, re-group and fight those at rival clubs.

Chairman – you’ve made a hash of things. Learn, move forward and gain respect through actions. Don’t make it easy for us season ticket holders to reduce our outlay. Please.

Check da mic

2012-06-26T02:27:00.001-07:00

Testing, testing 1,2,3

Paul Smith - A Tribute

2012-06-08T04:24:00.000-07:00

When Steve Lomas was appointed as manager of St Johnstone; so Steve Brown became Chairman.

With both men new to their roles, one man has had his hands full in recent times, out-going Commercial Manager, Paul Smith. Paul is one the old school; efficient, intelligent, witty and free of political correctness which blights much of society. He is generous to a fault and, in conjunction with Stan Harris, has worked hard to drag the club into the 20^th century!

I have been privileged to enjoy dealings with Paul over the last 6 years and I am still hurting at his departure from Saints. Here is a little story of the great void his departure will leave.

When Paul and I first became acquainted, I was running a local chip shop and figured that by using Saints, I could advertise my business. We ran several promotions intended to improve my business whilst promoting the club at the same time. During this period, I was amazed by Paul’s effort to help and also by the times he replied to emails. It was an early glimpse to the hours he was putting in.

Ultimately, I failed in the chip shop and found myself in a call centre. Paul never once treated me any differently, despite no longer paying for an advertising hoarding. He wouldn’t do that, he’s not that type.

In more recent times I got to know Paul in a different capacity. Information was exchanged via email; often unpolished ideas aimed at revenue generation, occasionally focussing on our dwindling attendances. These were usually high-level, missing detail or structure. Paul never failed to reply to each and every email. I once sent him ideas from some external research I had carried out. I prefaced the email with a line saying something like, “If this is rubbish, tell me to beat it.” Within a few hours, I had an amusing and detailed reply in which Paul explained that all ideas were always welcome. In my reply I told him not to waste time giving me detailed explanations, if they took the idea on board I’d be happy, if they didn’t I know they’d have good reason to decide against it. A few minutes later Paul explained that it would be discourteous not to reply. This email really was a measure of the man. He has been raised with a firm and correct set of values and they apply to all aspects of his life. Again, this email exchange took place outside of Paul’s “office hours”.

During the last few years, special people in my life have celebrated big birthdays. Paul went to great trouble to ensure that they felt special. What many people may not realise is that all of these things are essentially above and beyond his remit.

Paul’s role became one of the biggest at the club, not bad for a bloke who started as a casual volunteer! He had a key role to play in transfer activity, player registration, event management, advertising activities, organising the soccer skills programme, ensuring the corporate side ran smoothly, writing and maintaining the official website and other social media platforms.

He responded to almost every email the club received over the last years. He never once used external agencies for such responses and that speaks volumes for him. When the season ticket packs dropped through the door, I couldn’t help but wonder how many man-hours went into their design and production, Paul was involved in almost every word. I hope the number of Season Tickets sold, eclipses the number from three years ago because the Ormond thing was driven by Paul.

New strips are available to pre-order from Campus Sports and Paul had to deal with the interesting characters at TTL as well as liaising with Campus Sports in Perth’s High Street to ensure a high profile launch. He’d deal with pre-season fixtures, work with other clubs to negotiate ticket allocations/sales and ensure that our website had a full build up to away games including travel announcements.

When the national press wanted to pile misery on all at Saints following the stupid cancellation of the Rangers match, it was Paul who delivered the press release to baying journalists and it was his stiff upper lip which kept the lid on the subsequent hullaballoo. Our club is often criticised for not getting enough press coverage, but we’ve kept plenty of bad news stories out of the press and that, for any business, is far more important.

It’s impossible for me to do justice to Paul Smith in this format. Whether it was arranging “Cards 4 Hards” for Martin Hardie during his career threatening injury, discussing a possible CIC initiative, sharing U19 match reports, tweaking the website or debating the merits of other clubs marketing ideas he was personable, professional and practical.

I know he’s moving to something he’s wanted to do for a long time, but I really wish he had changed his mind. Our club is losing a star player. His loss is bigger than Fran, Encks and Jody combined. He worked tirelessly for a club he loved and employers he respected.

My fervent hope is that his replacement is given time and space to learn and grow. Paul was richly enshrined in the Saints way long before becoming an employee of St Johnstone Football Club Limited. The new man won’t have such a luxury. One thing Paul did have, was the guidance of Stewart Duff. Whatever his public perception, Mr Duff will be in great demand this summer and will surely play a key role in training and equipping Paul’s replacement. I know that the club are working with Paul to ensure that he can remain involved with Saints.

In closing, I have one last story. The last time I went to Tynecastle was for the Scottish Cup Game. I had left it late to buy my ticket and noticed they were on sale on the morning of the match. I went along and found Paul selling tickets from his office. He shouldn’t have had to give up time to do such a menial task yet he did so without complaint. Whilst doing so, he was involved in a discussion about locking the park after the team bus’ departure and was paying attention to the club’s Twitter page at the same time. All on his “day off”.

Paul, if you read this, I’ll miss you and I’m gutted you’re leaving our club. Thank you for excellent customer service, stellar communication, unparalleled commitment and for being a thoroughly decent bloke. It’s unlikely that anyone will replace you in the fullest sense of the word. My best wishes are with you in your new role. Look after yourself and enjoy yourself. You’re a club legend; you might not have had a squad number but if you did, it would be retired as a gesture of respect for loyal service above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you, boss.

Season Ticket Plea

2012-05-17T13:15:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I have taken the difficult decision to move away from Perth and begin a new life in the South of England. Aside from my leaving my family, there were two major wrenches in this decision; leaving behind my motor racing family at Knockhill and putting myself on the sidelines of supporting the football club I love.

I only have vague recollections of my first Saints game, which is perhaps a good thing! I went, with my grandad to watch my Aberdeen team play his St Johnstone team. Aberdeen won, I returned to Colonsay Street a St Johnstone fan for life!

Work, university and financial struggles have caused my attendance to be pretty skimpy throughout the last 27 years. As I move my things down South, it’s clear that my attendance record will not improve in near future. I will continue to back the club financially by renewing my season ticket and I will also make every effort to ensure that my ticket is used by those who will vocally support my team. I will continue to defend the club using social media outlets and I will work hard to raise the profile of both McDiarmid Park as a facility and the club as a community based function.

The season ticket packs are very late in being sent this year and with good reason. The club are struggling to agree on a budget for the coming year due to several outside factors. The revenue we can generate over this coming year is affected by several external factors such as; Rangers survival, European football and correct receipt of monies due by other clubs. The double dip recession may not have affected the gates, but has dramatically impinged upon the success of our corporate income. Further complicating the issue is the strategic discussion on how best to snare the four and five year olds who, like me, could easily become fans for life – supporting the club long after the current board shuffle off the planet.

Our manager is clearly exasperated by the state of flux and has upset many with his clumsy tone. His honesty and passion for our club are to be admired, but perhaps he needs to be more stoical in order to facilitate a stronger working relationship with our board, his employer. Our budget has been strong for several seasons, far higher than I would allow were I in charge. Some will argue the gamble paid off, especially as we received money for Del and Doc as well as extra pennies for our top six finish. With some perversity, we may even qualify for Europe, albeit undeservedly. Were I setting the budget, we’d have no Enckleman, Morris, Davidson et al. That said, Fran Sandaza is hardly on big money and it could be decades before we are privileged to watch such a great player ply his trade in our strip.

This is a big summer for our club. Strong leaders like Cal Davidson will be essential to our success next season. The Dunblane boy is not only a super player, he is central to our youth development. The U20s give more for him than they do for the others. He is easy to respect, thanks to enormous amounts of experience, professionalism and skill.

Looking at our form following the split it’s very easy to see what went wrong. Marbella was a disaster. My great friend, @HannahElizabeth, was the first to raise the issue. Steve Lomas will learn from that mistake. He is a very new manager and is not perfect.

The game against Dundee United was pivotal. Put simply, if we had won that game we’d have qualified for Europe on merit. We started well and were undone by some cruel fortune. Sandaza lost the plot, Lomas responded by readying Haber to replace him. Incredibly, the player got sent off after an unpleasant altercation with Sean Dillon. There was fault on both sides but the end result was that we were denied the services of our best striker for three critical games.

We started well against both Motherwell and Celtic; comfortably being the better team. On both occasions we let our collective heads drop, following the loss of goals which were dubious at best. With your best striker out, and with little to genuinely play for, that is perfectly understandable especially with big players (Midge, Morris, Sheridan et al) realising their futures lay elsewhere.

In the final game against a strong Rangers side we played some of the best football since the days of Sturrock/Clark. We dominated the opening spell, were undone by a beautiful goal and lost a second chasing an equaliser. It went all wrong after that. It was cruel beyond words.

The players and management were rounded on for not coming over to applaud the fans following that defeat. Put yourself in their boots, our players were gutted and simply wanted the ground to swallow them up. I can understand that.

There is more than enough evidence to suggest this club will remain in the SPL for several years to come. The club are trialling new initiatives and Paul Smith should be given huge credit for his role in making the Tay Play days a vibrant success. Yes, they run at a loss – but they may well have a long term benefit which could prove to be immeasurable.

Our groundsman, Chris Smith, is working miracles on a tight budget. If any Saints philanthropist is reading this, they might want to consider donating £2500 to him in order to allow him to purchase some additional equipment which he feels would bring great benefit to the club.

The general maintenance standards of the stadium are good, but on-going costs will only rise for as long as we remain based at PH1 2SJ. A new stadium must have good transport links. Unforeseen costs, which could cripple another club, will generally go unnoticed at Saints thanks to Geoff’s prudence. We have contingencies for rainy days.

We have great staff. All areas of McDiarmid are full of enthusiastic, professional folks from a wide range of demographics. The ticket office girls are a constant pleasure to deal with and front desk work hard to make visitors and guests feel welcome. The Muirton Suite is inviting and wee Stuart can be seen doing the rounds pre-match. Paul Smith should be honoured in due course for his service which goes above and beyond the job requirement at all times.

Our board are ready, willing and excited for the challenges to come. Geoff’s shoes are large ones to step into and mistakes will occur at all levels – that is normal in any business. I trust our leaders, I love this club. I urge you all, please dig deep, please buy a season ticket and please be true supporter of this great and proud club.

Please don’t run the club into the ground. Promote the club, promote our games, enthuse others through general conversation. We have all enjoyed great times as Saints fans. Let’s make sure that younger generations get that same thrill as we did when Kano scored against the Dee or when the final whistle blew and we won at Parkhead.

This is a golden era in our history. We are stable and solid in the SPL. New and exciting players will arrive to make our team strong. We’ll compete against the best and we’ll beat them on our day. Those days are priceless memories.

Stand strong in support of Saints. Renew or buy a season ticket. Please.

February Round Up at McDiarmid

2012-03-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

Long Time no Blog

Regular readers will have noticed the lack of blogs over recent games. Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Killie have all went unblogged for various reasons. With the first team having a free weekend, now is good time for a round-up of all the good things happening under Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright.

Firstly, Alan Mannus is getting the chance to stake a claim for the starting jersey next season. The Northern Ireland keeper had played second fiddle to Enckleman for most of the year, eventually securing a start in the Scottish Cup replay against Hearts at McDiarmid. He saw a penalty fly past him in that game, but he saved one at Rugby Park.

There is little secret that Lomas is hunting for a new goalkeeper and Enckeman’s departure is surely now no more than a formality. Equally, there is little evidence to suggest that Mannus is doing enough to secure the jersey. Enckleman, Callum Davidson and Jody Morris are big earners at our club and all three seem set to depart in the summer leaving reasonable sums of money for Mr Lomas to work with.

Helping his cause is the form of our on-loan gems. Cads, May and Clark have all starred for the loan teams whilst Vinnie is getting stuck in at Borough Briggs too. If we can retain youngsters at half cost, whilst getting them games at a decent level, we’ll have better players and more opportunities to loan those hitting 19 years of age.

I expect that Enckleman’s salary will go straight to our new goalie and I also expect that Zander will remain on board for another year, assuming he can secure a season long loan. By the end of next season, if he hasn’t proven good enough to be our back-up; he’ll probably be away.

At right back, Dave Mackay looks more and more comfortable each week. He certainly plays better football when he’s paired with Midgie Millar, but Lee Croft’s gradual improvement, in form if not fitness, is allowing Cup Tie to flourish and Lomas must be delighted to have him on board for next season.

The three central defenders all have contracts for next season too so that only leaves Maybs and Davidson with decisions to make. Maybury will surely be offered terms, Lomas has often highlighted the great versatility of the former Hearts player. Of course the fullback may well look elsewhere for regular starts but I suspect that security of income will keep him at McDiarmid for one more year.

Callum Davidson is a more confusing one. Involved in some training of the young boys and a hugely calming influence on the pitch; Cal is far from being the player he once was for us. He is drawing a large salary and is arguably struggling to justify his rate. Liam Craig can play the full back role and Davidson certainly hasn’t got his best years in front of him. That said, we all remember the struggles of the first division when Liam was our regular full back and there’s no doubt that Liam behind Compton would leave us exposed down that side of the pitch. For my money, I’d keep Callum on the same terms; he’s a great example of professionalism, style and attitude. The young lads look up to him and that speaks volumes; a leader on and off the pitch.

In midfield, Chris Millar has been sitting on a revised offer for some time now. I still think that the Take That wannabe will sign on for another couple of years but he won’t do so without some assurances. It seems clear that he’s not exactly a Lomas player but that doesn’t mean there’s no future for him. He’s beaten off the rivalry of several wide men over the last few years and he’s significantly better than Lee Croft at the present moment. That leads to two questions; how long before Croft gets bored and how long until he gets fit? Undoubtedly a fit and enthusiastic Lee Croft is an asset to St Johnstone, but I’m not convinced we’ll ever see that realised. Compare Croft to Compton and you’ll the see the difference between night and day in terms of hunger and desire.

If Midgie doesn’t sign; neither McIntosh nor Gray are ready to step up. Arguably Stevie May could play wide right, but only in an attacking sense. He’d be a hard act to replace; I hope we secure a deal shortly.

In central midfield, Jamie Adams remains on the sidelines whilst Kevin Moon must be considering buying houses in Leicester. There are various stories surrounding his latest absence, all that matters is that he should be fit for Paisley. Moon is a player who can transform our team and we need him available and fit. Thankfully, Moon is under lock and key for next year. Jamie may well have to prove himself in pre-season.

Muzz and Morris will continue to form the basis of our midfield for the remainder of the season. I expect that Morris will be away in May and that will be a mixed blessing for the club. He’s undoubtedly a super wee player but....

Murray Davidson is becoming a bit of a target from sections of the support. They praised him and raised him into something he wasn’t in his debut season and now that he’s falling short of their delusions, they are castigating him for failure! The lad has never been that good and he is bumbling through the season in customary form. He always gives 100% and is a true crowd pleaser in terms of his tackles; but he’s not a great player. It’s not through coincidence that clubs have stopped scouting him. We should have pushed him harder when we had the chance.

David Robertson remains a Saints player.

Liam Craig is one of several players who’ve blossomed under Steve Lomas. The left footed midfielder has turned in some excellent performances for the new gaffer including a brief spell as an attacking central midfielder at Fir Park. He was Derek McInnes’ first signing and he may well prove to be his longest lasting signing. He is contracted into next year and must be a player we’re hoping to tie down for a few years to come. Jack Compton is his direct rival and I sincerely hope to see the two of them play bit parts in games. Compton looks a magical wee star and will hurt teams with thirty minutes to go. Whether or not he’ll deserve a regular start remains to be seen, but he looks very good so far.

Up top and it’s all a bit of a revelation. Haber is the only one of the front men who looks likely to be offered revised terms. Sheridan’s wage is eye-watering and the deal simply cannot suit his parent club. I fully expect him to extricate himself from the Bulgarians and to get even half of his salary he’ll have to move down South, possibly with Jody.

Sandaza was always gonna use Saints as a stepping stone to greater things so it’ll be no surprise to see him bid farewell. He fully recognises the importance of getting amongst the goals between now and the season’s end. He’s been snatching at things in recent weeks but he’ll lose that with his next goal. He remains a class act. He will score again. He will score soon.

Haber is working harder for Lomas than ever he did for McInnes. He is almost perfect in one v ones and has a might shot when he gets room for a strike. He’s good in the air and has sufficient strength for this league. What he lacks is that final bit of grit and arguably he needs to make more intelligent runs. Under Lomas’ tutelage he could easily be our number striker next season.

Finners is effectively released and there is little doubt that Mr Higgins is being encouraged to find a new club. Lomas needs, and deserves, players who are fully committed to St Johnstone. Stevie Amy seems likely to play a part in next season’s SPL campaign, interesting that Haber has many similar traits to Stevie Reynolds....

So watch out for an expensive keeper, two strikers (one proven and one gamble) and a central midfielder who can also play right midfield. I don’t expect Cads to play SPL next season, Gayfield could remain his loan club.

In terms of the under 19s, Gray and Kane are the two most likely to break through. That said, the 11 players on show today were excellent and that was without Gareth and Kano. A brief match report can be found at http://banned101saint.blogspot.com/2012/03/saints-v-hearts-u19-spl.html

Other issues surrounding the club include the financial incompetence of our rivals. Rangers and Dunfermline are the latest clubs to hit financial troubles. Both clubs, like Hearts and Dundee United can trace their troubles to arrogant leaders, who couldn’t count beans. Scottish football is in a dire condition. The game is a patient relying on the life support of SKY/ESPN money. When it goes, our game will die a slow and undignified death.

We need the SFA to wise up and take control of our whole game. The SPL was a joke started by greed and driven by the bigot brothers. It needs to be scrapped as it serves no function. The cash handouts are wrong, but not by much. Sport is a meritocracy and it’s only correct that the winners get more than the losers. What’s wrong is the percentage split. It needs to be in some semblance of balance or the rich will walk away from everyone else.

Club chairmen, not ours thankfully, are generally too stupid to recognise that they need to increase income and reduce expenditure so the ruling body needs to motivate them to run fiscally sound businesses. The quality of our game cannot sink much further so we should be bold and radical in our approach. We should consider enforcing a single bank account rule for day-to-day transactions. The implantation of a points’ deduction if clubs are in a debt position; one point deducted per £10,000 of debt. We should shun TV unless it’s on our own terms. Loyalty has been scrapped away from clubs as more and more fans sit in their homes and pontificate online. The next generation will be greatly depleted unless we bring them back into our stadia.

We should stop paying attention to our European co-efficient. Most fans, including this writer, don’t understand the word and it really is futile in deed. Most Scottish clubs who qualify for Europe do not gain in any material fashion. Many real fans cannot afford the trips, the clubs incur expensive costs and bureaucratic difficulties. And for what? Defeat to an unheard of team, super!

We can’t cap players salaries but we can do almost the same thing by capping the gate price. If clubs can’t get into debt, have no TV money and rely on gate receipts and we reduce those gate receipts there are few other ways to pay their players. If the leagues in Scotland all charged £5 per game, we’d see crowds and clubs transformed.

Of course stadia would need developed and ticket money alone would not meet that cost. Ground sharing would become the norm and that would require artificial pitches. That has benefits for the club. A source of midweek revenue for one; a groundman’s wage saved for another. Clubs need to become businesses. They need to create money from stadia and they need to invest that money wisely in the hope that they can attract new customers to the club; both commercially and through football.

If Rangers, Hearts, United, Killie and Dunfermline all close their doors; I’d care not a jot. History would be lost, but lessons would be learned. TV could not replace punters, fans remain the lifeblood of football clubs and fans must be encouraged to return whether through financial catalysts or sheer and brutal loyalty.

I love St Johnstone as do many others. We should be thankful for the Browns and mindful of the Murrays and Milesons.

Saints v Hearts u19 SPL

2012-03-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

Saints Under 19s earned an impressive victory at a chilly and blustery Striling Univeristy on Satutrday.

Alec Cleland's boys had beaten the league leaders in the away fixture back in October last year, so headed into the game knowing that the opposition were beatable. Long-term injury victim, Chris Kane, has stepped up his rehabilitation recently and is currently able to do some running but the game came too soon for him; also missing out was regular centre half, Gareth Rodger, who is currently troubled with a knee injury. Gareth turned up to offer words of encouragement from the sidelines wearing a rather intersting pair of pink trousers....

Alastair Worby continued in goal with a defence of Greg Mitchell, Chris Moffat(C), Ally Gilchrist and Aiden Hendry. In midfield, Scotty Gray and Andrew Steeves flanked Keiran Stewart and Ricky McIntosh whilst up top it the cosmopolitan pairing of Ryan Hutchinson and Callum McConnell.

The game got off to the a bright and competitive start with 8 corners in the first half and a booking apiece. Both cards being displayed following cyncial tackles around the half way line, preventing a quick counter. It was Saints who opened the scoring first; a corner from Scotty Gray caused all sorts of problems and Ryan Hutchison wheeled away in celebration. The official site credits the goal to Callum McConnell. Either way the shot wrong footed the visiting goalkeeper and rolled into the net.

You can imagine that Alec was delighted at half time as he gave the lads their pep-talk and stressed the importance of hard work; pressing and communication. He would have been much less impressed by the sight of goalkeeper Alastair Worby falling to the ground having taken a sore knock of his right kidney. The keeper got up and played on but he was in obvious discomfort when kicking from hand.

Hearts were attacking hard but Saints remained resolute throughout. Local lad Andrew Steeves, who rushed a decent chance in the first half, was providing a great out ball for Aiden Hendry down the left, whilst the tenacious Greg Mitchell linked well with both Gray and Hutchison down the right hand side. Indeed a long, overhit pass for Scotty Gray seemed to be heading out the park until the wee winger dived in and clipped a magnificent ball into the box. The ball fell nicely for Cal McConnell who finished with some aplomb. At 2-0 with 25 minutes left to play you wouldn't want to be in Alec Cleland's position. It was a lead we deserved but Hearts were clearly going all out attack and a flurry of subs from the Tynescastle based team gave a clear indication that the game wasn't yet over.

Thankfully for Saints the defence and keeper were the match for each Hearts attack. Indeed we looked ever more threatening on the counter attack and it was during a counter attack that one of our players was fouled in the centre of the park. As he tried to get up he was clearly hauled back and the referee quite rightly flashed a second yellow and with it Hearts hopes were dashed. If they thought that was bad much worse came from the freekick. Keeper Worby found Aiden Hendry wide left, he clipped in a great ball for Callum McConnell and Scotty Gray nipped in at the back post to grab a strikers goal that former U19 striker Stevie May would have approved of.

The Saints players unwound slightly and paid the price. Hearts pulled a goal back with two minutes of regulation time left. A scramble at 20 yards was never fully cleared and eventually a speculative shot whistled high into Worby's right hand corner. The keeper perhaps would have saved it, but he was undoubtedly unsighted by the number of bodies in front of him.

The referee, who was letter of the law all day long, played the full amount of injury time, but Saints enjoyed the best of what remained. As the whistle blew, Callum had been replaced by tricky wide man Thomson and all the players surrounded youth coach Alec Cleland to celebrate a significant and throughly deserved win.

With Liam Caddis, Mark Durnan, Stevie May and Zander Clark have made great strides over the season, our current U19s can look forward to being afforded plenty opportunity under Alec, Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright. The weekend win should give them all the confidence that they can go on and make a career in the game. Our hope is that one or two will blossom into replacements for first team stars like Sandaza, Morris, Croft or pehaps a current left back from Stirlingshire....

Saints U19 next play at noon on Friday 16 March when they face third place Hibernian, again at Stirling.

Hearts Cup Replay

2012-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Heart Sick

The Scottish Cup replay took place in front of a vocal band of hardcore supporters. The overhead conditions were good and the pitch, despite looking horrendous, played reasonably well. Callum Davidson missed out with a hamstring injury and Dave Mackay missed out because Craig Thomson is a wankstain on Scottish football. Lee Croft was dropped to the bench because he husnae been very good at Saints.

With Alan Mannus Saints first choice goalkeeper until next season, it was an unusual back five with a the defence lining up as Anderson-McCracken-Wright-Maybury, midfield saw, Millar-Morris-M Davidson-Craig and up top came Fran and Cillian.

The game was a horrendous pile of dross until Murray Davidson amazingly found the target with just a few minutes remaining. Until then, there had been feck all in the way of entertainment which the exception of the Saints Neanderthals bellowing at Danny Grainger. Some of our fans are quite incredible pieces of DNA.

Brian Winter, or Winters as Saints fans probably know him, was the referee and it is a sad reflection of our game that he is easily our best referee. The top flight official made quite a faux pas when he tried to book Murray Davidson for a foul committed by Cillian Sheridan but other than that he had an admirable game. I’m not castigating him for the penalty because, despite watching numerous replays, I cannot be 100% that it wasn’t a penalty.

Other than that, there’s nothing to say about the game. It was an even affair, though with better finishing we’d have won it in the first period of extra time. The loss of revenue is a massive blow to Lomas plans for next season, he’s already missed out on 2 goalkeeping targets and the third is now less likely to come to fruition with the budget under threat.

The good news is that Stevie May has signed a new deal so we have at least one good striker on the books and certain to remain with us. That said, he couldn’t score past Zander today... Chris Millar has been offered new terms, but I can’t imagine he’s in any rush to sign. Its little secret that clubs are coming up to watch Midgie despite the little man being well off-form. I guess that if he keeps Lee Croft out the team, he’ll have thoroughly deserved his new contract.

Jack Compton’s ankle tear is likely to keep him out until 17 March and that doesn’t give him much time to win a new deal. I have every confidence in his skill and hopefully Lomas does too. The tricky little foreigner could well be the find of the year.

Another injured star is Steven Anderson and his loss will make some of the Delophiles realise how important the centre half is. We have to hope that he’s only out for a few weeks because without him, top six will be a tough ask. Speaking of Del, despite my dislike of the man’s techniques and player treatment, all Saints fans must hope beyond hope that he keeps his job until the summer, Saints stand to make a tidy profit from Bristol and Del being a couple come June... August would be a great time for him to get sacked.

So we journey to Aberdeen tomorrow for a match against the in-form Dons. Craig Brown is clearly relishing the game, especially as it looks like Moon could be out for a long time and Adams is still on the sidelines. The Dons have a strong centre midfield and they’ll try hard to make that count against us. The game isn’t of massive importance in terms of points, we remain on a par with Hearts and the top six is still perfectly feasible is we lose.

What’s important is to break the losing streak. We haven’t played poorly, indeed we’ve played very well in our last four games, but both winning and losing are habits; we want to break this losing habit. It should be a good game, I’m looking forward to it, but I’d take a point right now.

Two wins this month will almost clinch the top six; win the next three games and Lomas will have achieved the target. It’s been a wonderful season; I don’t want it to end. We’ll reflect on this season for years to come. Pivotal in so many ways. Make sure you pick up a copy of the current Saints magazine, it’s gonna be something to treasure when we’re looking back. The enormity of getting rid of McInnes (and for serious dough) the brilliance of Geoff in appointing Lomas, the generosity of the man in allowing the club’s management to be passed to his son, the emergence of Steven Anderson as a leader and a player worthy of international recognition.

Enjoy Aberdeen, savour the season, support the Saints.

United at Home 11022012

2012-02-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

A bad day at the Office

If ever we needed proof that being a football manager is a perilous business, Saturday provided it in spades. Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright got everything spot on in terms of preparation; shape, selection and tactics were absolutely fine. We dominated the first half, prompting the wee rat that is Peter Houston to call his team “rubbish”. Incredibly, we left the park having suffered, and yes it was hurtful, a five one reversal at the hands of our nearest rivals. Here are some thoughts on the game and the possible repercussions.

Before we look at any aspect of the game, it is important to clarify some issues. I launched into a very public tirade against our former goalkeeper, Graeme Smith, at Falkirk’s Westfield Stadium. It followed a run of games where he gave away three points. The circumstances were completely different from what we currently experience.

Firstly, Smithy never played well for St Johnstone in all the time he was here. He was signed by Derek McInnes who stupidly and lazily signed him as cover for an aging club hero. McInnes should have been looking for a replacement for Alan Main, not a back-up. Secondly, he tried to justify many of his mistakes, often seeking to blame his defence – a spineless man, really. Thirdly, my outburst was not only directed at him, but also at our hopeless manager who refused to pick Alan Main due to a clash of personalities. Those childish days, which so nearly cost us Steven Anderson, are now long gone; Steve and Tommy will select teams based on professionalism alone.

When discussing our goalkeeping targets for next season, a small discussion about Mannus came to fruition. I noted that Enckleman performs better than Mannus in training, but pointed out that being good technically means nothing. Euan McLean was a great goalkeeper in training but he wilted under the spotlight.

All football players are like plants; some grow and flourish under the stage lights, others simply wither and die. Enckleman is an enigma, he has had good games; Parkhead, Ibrox and our first visit to Tynecastle spring to mind. He’s also had horror shows; Aberdeen twice, Motherwell home and yesterday. The trouble is that the last line of defence can’t be of variable quality. It’s an obvious fact that keepers will tend to play well against big teams as they have more saves to make. I’m certain that Mannus has the gloves for the next few games; both he and Lomas have my full support. Nevertheless, Enckleman has been far than I expected; “thanks, Pete!”

The guys in front of him played well as a group, though Callum Davidson will want to forget his part in the second goal. A ball was played across the goal mouth and Davidson simply run it into his own net. Regular readers will know that one of the reasons I don’t rate Enckleman is his inability to communicate with his defensive colleagues. This looked like yet another debacle of silence.

Nevertheless, Callum needs to have the presence of mind to look right when he’s lost the race to the front post. It was a shocking goal to lose and the brilliance of the goalmouth cross should not excuse poor defending. Having said that, we should note that Callum was brilliant for the rest of the game and I can only think of Rangers second (first home game of the season) where Callum has been clearly at fault for costing Saints a goal; that’s a mark of his vast contribution to this great club.

He’s coaching the young lads with regularity and the boys respond well to him. He is a calming influence both on the pitch and in the dressing room. Like Gavin Rae at Aberdeen, he’s a top influence on the players around him. I was disappointed that both he and Mackay failed to rally the boys, but given that the third, fourth and fifth goals came so late in the day, we hadn’t a chance. With hindsight, I guess it was harsh to expect any player to try and urge the boys onwards. In summary, Neilson created very little.

Anderson and McCracken were once again rocks in the heart of the defence and they must have needed chauffeur driven home after that game, they’re heads would have been shaking in disbelief all night. They worked so very well together and on their own to keep some of the league’s best frontmen quiet.

Gary Mackay-Stevens is a great player who we missed out on. He’s got most of the attributes needed to play at the top level, including a ned like appearance and a Jedward-esque sense of fashion.

Jon Daly is the unsung hero of the SPL and a man we should make moves to bring to Perth. A true captain; brave, versatile, committed and low key – we would do well to ensure he leads our line next season... A three year deal could sign and seal the transfer. His goal was only the third time this season he’s beaten Anderson in the air.

Johnny Russell is a pocketful of tricks. His goal was lucky, but he won his header and sent the ball in the right direction. His pace and strength are hard to combat yet we kept him quiet for most of the game.

The fact that those guys were kept at bay for most of the afternoon speaks volumes for our defence

Mackay, who will serve his first ever suspension on Tuesday night against Hearts, also had a strong game but also had a mix-up with Enckleman. That our two most dependable players had situations with our goalkeeper is perhaps the answer to the riddle. I expect that both goals could have been prevented with better communication. Mannus will surely offer that when he comes in to the starting line-up.

He was again lacking in defensive support from a guy that I’ve nailed recently, including in the heated aftermath of the game on Saturday, Lee Croft. He played much better on Saturday, certainly in terms of going forward, but still left Mackay with too much to do. Dundee United are always strong down the left; remember this is a club that managed to select a team without Danny Grainger whilst we played Liam at left back and a club that manages to keep Barry Douglas on the subs bench.

Folk keep boring me with stories about Dixon’s pinpoint crosses. The truth is that a full back should not be allowed to rampage forward in such a fashion. If Midgie had been on the the right wing, we’d have controlled that area in a much better fashion. We’d also not have to witness Lee Croft’s dive. The man looked a far more determined player against The Arabs and certainly created more than in his previous outings, but the dive not only tarnished our reputation, it also affected Brines judgement when Liam Craig was illegally impeded in the box.

It says much of Scottish referee standards that Brines didn’t stand out as being particularly hopeless. Indeed, credit where it’s due, he was utterly clear and decisive in booking Crofty who’s now been booked in 75% of his appearances. If Compton and Mooner were fit, I’d play a midfield of Midge-Moon-Craig-Compton against Hearts. Unfortunately, neither player will make it and Jamie Adams remains sidelined. It leaves Lomas with little in the way of options to change things. That made his official comments very smart indeed. Players are now fighting for their place in the Lomas revolution. Competition breeds improvement.

Speaking of which, Jody Morris put in one of his worst performances for Saints. Midgie was always gonna play deep yet it appeared that Jody didn’t change his game accordingly. They both sat deep and sprayed balls wide, this left a gap for Dundee United to exploit albeit Fran and Cillie took turns at dropping deep and making good runs. If we use the same midfield pairing on Tuesday, we need to ensure that Jody moves further forward by at least 10 yards. He also needs to pass the ball better. Not that underfoot conditions are helping matters.

The surface at McDiarmid is no worse than many SPL pitches in use this season but it’s undoubtedly in poor condition. I simply can’t agree with club officials when they say that the grass isn’t cut too short. It’s no coincidence that the pitches used in the SPL can be directly linked to expenditure. It’s time to bring back Jimmy Hogg and a protégé. DC need not apply...

Aside from losing out to Johnny Russell and being fouled in the box, Liam Craig had a quiet game. Always liable to score, the wide man was involved in plenty of the play but most of it in the middle third of the pitch. He remains a great player and is still the only player at the club with worse hair than Dolly! He’ll be involved against Hearts and will need to work hard to deliver telling crosses.

Up top saw Sheridan and Sandaza re-united in the starting eleven. Sheridan, so brilliant at Tynecastle was once again a shadow of that player. It’s inexplicable to me how he can be so much slower when running and so weak in the tackle. The man confuses the tits off me. He is infuriating to watch and Lomas must be baffled by having guys like him and Haber in the dressing room. So much talent, so many prospects and yet so little focus. Lomas described the capture of Sheridan as the result of fighting “tooth and nail” with Steve Brown, Sheridan would do well to repay the faith shown by both manager and chairman. At least he’s guaranteed his wage from Saints... Realistically, Haber could be the only first team striker to continue into next year, he’s much work to do if he wants to earn that accolade.

Fran Sandaza had another good game, making frequent strong runs as he exploited gaps between midfield and defence. His miss was a very tricky shot and I applaud him for taking it on, rather than trying to offload the ball under pressure. He’s done very well for us and I expect him to score for us on Tuesday against Hearts.

I mentioned this run of games as being the biggest week of our season and boy how it has turned out that way. As a group of fans we failed our team on Saturday and I’m glad we only have two league games left at home before the split. I hope we have two cup games at home too...

Steve Lomas has earned our trust. He has signed good players, he is looking at players that will excite the fans and he has done well to persuade Fran to remain a Saintee. He is angry about Saturday and has spent the last two days working hard to ensure our cup progression. We have a great manager, a super board, excellent commercial folks and wonderful background troops. The only weak link in our great club is our Tannoyman who again wittered on during a match. Compare that to the professionalism of Hearts announcer and you’ll see my problem with our incumbent. If he’s our only failure, we’re doing very well.

This is a squad of players I believe in. This is a manager I trust. This is a club I love. We break Hearts on St Valentine’s day. The prices are steep, but the victory moment will be priceless. Let’s continue to dig deep for as long as the dream remains. We’re on course for the Scottish Cup semi final if we take care of Hearts and the top six is looking ever more like becoming a reality. This has been a momentous season and there are more great memories to be created. Miss a game at your peril.

2012-02-07T15:36:00.001-08:00

A Learning Curve for Lomas

Having dominated Motherwell using a 4-4-1-1 formation, Steve Lomas tried the same stunt against Hearts and almost came a cropper. The tactic wasn’t necessarily wrong, but trusting David Robertson was. Lee Croft had a much better game but still let us (specifically Cup Tie Mackay) down. We looked in bother at half time but Lomas is a man of conviction, passion and integrity; he transformed the game with a great subbie and we were unlucky to be held to a replay. Here are my thoughts on the day out.

With Elliot, Templeton and Skacel in the starting eleven, Hearts were always going to prove a real handful to contain. I can certainly understand the temptation to go defensive but we are a team that works best when we attack. We should play to our strengths; playing high up, moving the ball smartly yet simply whilst defending with courage, vigour and experience. Fran had no support from Robertson and neither did the midfield gain from his inclusion. Quite what he brings to the team is beyond me. I do understand why Lomas likes him; he has a great touch, fantastic awareness and, for a lightweight, he gets involved in some meaty tackles. Sadly there is much more to being a good footballer.

Something is badly missing from Robbo’s game. I can’t put my finger on it. I’ve previously referred to him as enigmatic. I suspect he’s maybe not bright enough to understand his role; perhaps lacking the discipline required to play a certain position. Whatever his problem, he is no good in games and he costs us dear. I very much doubt that he’s ever played in winning 45 minutes for Saints. It’s time to pull the plug on his time at Saints. He’s let Lomas down too often.

I slated Croft for his performances against Hibs and Motherwell; he was a bit better against Hearts. Nevertheless, he still doesn’t offer us enough and I can only imagine the frustration that Midgie is feeling. The wee weegie has been an exquisite acquisition and was very close to agreeing terms with us on two year deal; that’s gotta be in the balance whilst a lesser player keeps him on the sidelines.

That said Croft created a few chances with some lovely weighted balls, he is s excellent at putting the right amount of speed on a ball. He also spots runs and runners with great skill. However, as in previous games, he wasted a good chance in front of goal and his hunger for the game seems to have been left in Derby. Lomas spoke well on the BBC about how players like Sheridan need to work every single day, without ceasing, to make it to the top of their game. There is no better example of a player slipping down the ladder than Lee Croft. His skill is far beyond our league, yet he seems to be unwanted by better clubs and that must be because of his attitude. I sincerely Lomas can work on him, I have my doubts though.

It was down Croft’s side that Hearts made their goal. The fullback was given the freedom of Gorgie and had time to play a strong pass to Mr Templeton. The winger ran at Cup Tie and turned him well, hit a shot which Enckleman saw very late and ran off to celebrate an easy goal. The goal was slightly lucky in the sense that we all thought Mackay had done enough to force him round the outside, then when he came inside, you’d expect McCracken to help out, but the ball appeared to sneak under his boot and if anything his presence only impaired Enckleman’s line of sight. As at Fir Park, it was a real sickener and we didn’t really recover from it despite Anderson and Morris doing a great job of rallying the troops.

Enckleman had a fine afternoon, plucking crosses and communicating far better with his defence. His kicking was generally of a high standard despite being asked to kick to Craig rather than Mackay. I don’t think was anything to do with Hearts full-backs, rather Crofty can’t be trusted to cover for Cup Tie. Liam did okay, but ultimately he’s not as good at heading as Dave Mackay and we were weaker as a result.

Perhaps a testament to the way Saint played in the second period is that Enckleman only had one real stop to make. I’m pretty sure Jamie MacDonald wished he was playing for us in the second half; he might have similar thoughts on payday.

Of course for a goalkeeper to have such a quiet afternoon, the back four have to play well and they all did just that. Anderson and McCracken are a super pairing and I’m delighted that Lomas has resisted the temptation to recall the blunder that can be Frazer Wright. The former Killie man was exceptional against Celtic and has played reasonably well at other venues, but as a rule he drops three or four clangers in every game. McCracken has brought great composure to the team and it’s clear that he and Anderson hit it off. When Wright and Ando play there’s always a niggle, always an argument; there’s almost a telepathic silence when Cracks and Ando are paired up.

What’s beyond doubt is that if Ando moves to the championship, not Bristol City for obvious reasons, he’ll immediately be in the Scotland squad. He’s better than anything we have at the moment and it’s a real hurt that he’s not been included to date. Maybe he’ll be involved in Wales; maybe we need a real manager in charge of the Scottish national team.

The fullbacks both played well too. Callum played the captain sensible role, rarely bursting forward, but using very well weighted passes to open up the Hearts right side. He and Ando are generally on the same wavelength and he’s always a safe pair of feet when a tight ball needs to be played. He’s clever enough to know that where a ball is too risky to be played, there are large areas of structures in which to play the ball. These areas are often referred to as the stands.

It was into such an area that Dave Mackay planted a ball at the end of the first half. Whether any of the officials noticed, I can’t be sure; what I can be sure of is that Dave Mackay was red-carded without just cause. The first booking was allegedly for dissent. Hard to be a silent dissenter, eh Craig? The second booking was for clearing a ball despite a Hearts player trying to cheat by using his wrist to move the ball away from Mackay. I don’t the laws of the game particularly well, but I’m struggling to know which of them Dave broke when trying to clear the ball. Still, McInnes tells us that Thompson is a good referee and always explains himself, that’s fine then. Must just be me that thinks he’s an incompetent dickhead. I’ve certainly no proof of any St Johnstone staff implying that Thompson is hopeless...

Let’s make no bones about the fact that Scottish football is in a terrible state. Our players aren’t doing well abroad, our clubs are almost all out of financial control, our facilities are tragic – so much so that Steve Lomas can’t find anywhere for us to train – and our referees are worse than those in Malta and Israel. To paraphrase Renton, “It’s an unpleasant state of affairs”

Another man that didn’t last the 90 was Murray Davidson. The tenacious midfielder has had a season of variegated performances but his commitment was inspiring on Sunday. Every time he skelped Ian Black, my face smiled and my heart winked with impudent pleasure. He’s struggling to make the replay now, but hopefully that means the Moon will come out to play.

The other midfield battler was Liam Craig and he did well enough. Unusually, he wasn’t particularly threatening, though Callum’s conservative approach probably didn’t offer much encouragement. He gave us maximum effort and commitment; he also got stuck in when dirty tackles needed to be made. He’s a top bloke and a top player. Compton’s inclusion should not mean Liam misses out. That said, we have an abundance of skill in midfield at the moment.

The same can be said of our striking options. I was very critical of Lomas’ substitution at half time. Firstly, I am yet to be convinced that Cillian Sheridan wants to be a good footballer. Some of his play is quite horrendous and the effort he puts is more varied that his pal’s Tweets. On top of that, Croft deserved a chance to prove him and the team badly missed Chrissy Millar. I make no apology for saying that Lomas got the sub wrong and, if truth be told, I still think he got it wrong. Nevertheless, it’s fractional decision and ultimately he got a replay by winning the second half. I couldn’t ask for any more from him.

What’s more is that Cillian Sheridan put in a truly great shift. He still had a few “feck me” moments, but mostly he was good. Far beyond that, he actually worked hard and almost gave the impression of a man that has suddenly realised the Celtic dream is over. I suspect that Lomas, far more than Del, has made him realise how lucky he is to remain at St Johnstone. We may dream of playing football abroad, but Sheridan is desperate to secure his release from Sofia; the club, not a burd.

If he plays like he can, week in and week out, he’ll make a decent career in the game. If he plays as he did against Rangers at McDiarmid, he’ll struggle to get a game in the SFL1. Lomas was cautious not to praise him in his BBC interview, concentrating instead on the need for him to work hard and continue to work hard. The recent performances of Marcus Haber have undoubtedly put Cillian on the back foot, like a courageous boxer on the ropes, the fashion icon of Holy Trinity Brompton came out fighting.

Both Sheridan and Sandaza had wonderful performances, albeit both missed gilt-edged chances. It’s beyond comical that some of the Saints fans thought Fran was poor. One such observer chastised Fran for being below par then admitted he didn’t know Fran played that pass for Cillian. There is no hope, it’s really depressing.

I thought we saw arguably saw Fran at his best against the Watery Farts. He hasn’t really shone against good defenders but he worked wonders the Hearts rear-guard and I am delighted, though not surprised that he has remained a Saints player.

For what it’s worth, I don’t expect us to win the replay. We’ve got three huge games in 8 days. Two league wins will probably clinch the top six position we so richly deserve and I’d gladly accept the maximum league points and forego the cup. Although all three games are winnable, I just feel that we might have a blip. Indeed losing to Hearts might just ensure that any arrogance is kept in check and focus every player on the task in hand.

I have no doubt that Lomas made mistakes, but more importantly I am convinced that he remains the best manager in the SPL. His ability to openly admit his mistakes is refreshing and it will please the players no end. A far cry from our last cup game against St Mirren, also destroyed by a referee, Craig Thompson I believe.

Let’s dig deep, stand strong and support our Hearts Heroes. Together, we will march with pride and will conquer the psychological barrier of the top six.

2012-02-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

Shoulda Been Millar Time

Tactical errors from Steve Lomas cost Saints dear at Fir Park as Motherwell edged our St Johnstone on a tricky pitch. Wells goals came courtesy of Henrik Ojamaa with a brace and Lasley with a fluke. Saints counters came from transfer tittle tattle men, Jody Morris and Fran Sandaza. Those who follow banned101saint on Twitter will know my thoughts on these players.

Saints went into the game with a massive doubt over Liam Craig, struggling all week with vomiting and diarrhoea. The goal scoring midfielder lost half a stone in weight yet still managed most of the game, half of which he played in an attacking midfield role. Jack Compton replaced him and won over the majority of the fans at the game. Quite why they rated Croft higher than Compton after the Hibs game is beyond my comprehension.

Arguably, the inclusion of Croft cost us the game. The man is lazy, unfit and indifferent to the cause of St Johnstone. It takes more than a nice touch to succeed in the game. There are a few reasons why clubs in England don’t want him. He reminds me of Collin Samuel, he’s now at Arbroath. These players just stumble through life expecting to make a living from talent alone. Very few can pull that trick off; Croft might be one of them, though it doesn’t look promising. Gotta say though, the boy has a very high level of natural talent.

The gulf in attitude between players like Croft and Samuel, compared with such as Midge and Compton is unfathomable. Midge himself was visibly angered at not getting any game time. Different sources have told me that he was told to expect 30 minutes and his warm up suggested as much. Of course the third goal changed the shape of the game considerably and the timing could not have been worse. That the goal was a fluke, a cruel deflection, only added to the sense of injustice.

Putting all that aside, it’s a measure of Steve Lomas that we went into the game, believing we’d take the fight to Stuart McCall’s men. The crushing disappointment felt when Calum Murray blew for full time showed how far we’ve come since November.

The game started in fine conditions, albeit parts of the pitch offered less grip than others. The opening exchanges were fairly evenly matched. The key talking point being that Omar Daley seemed to have less grip than any other player. How else to explain him falling down so easily and so often? Actually don’t answer that, Ando did it for you!

After ten minutes or so, the game settled down and Motherwell were enjoying the bulk of the play. They hadn’t looked overly threatening when in the twenty second minute we failed to clear our lines. The ball broke to Callum Davidson who spotted Lee Croft in acres of space. The experienced left back tried to find the fans favourite with a diagonal 50 yard pass. Unfortunately, he didn’t get enough on it and Motherwell hit us hard on the counter. The ball came to the young Estonian striker and he hit a super shot across Peter Enckleman, low into the keepers right hand side.

Lomas quickly joined Tommy and Alec on the touchline; he wasted little time in making a tactical switch. With Croft unwilling to put up a fight, he dropped Marcus Haber to left midfield and pushed Liam inside with an attacking remit. The move was in keeping with the character of Steve Lomas; unconventional and brilliant. We got back in the game and it was the a mixture of touch, vision and control that combined to get us one level terms. Great skill by Morris saw the ball come out wide to Croft; the Englander pinged a lovely ball across and Jody finished with great aplomb.

With Daley continuing to cheat and Fran Sandaza having a running, off and on the ball niggle with Clancy it’s fair to say that Saints fans were happy enough to go in level. This despite Liam hitting the woodwork and a smart stop by Randolph from a Fran freekick on the edge of the area.

As the players went down the tunnel, Fran Sandaza was giving Calum Murray a hard time. Given that he had been freshly booked, it’s disappointing that our senior players didn’t step in to avoid a him soaring to the top of the referees hit list. Perhaps it would be wise for Lomas to ask Callum to be last man off and make sure none of our players talk themselves into yellow cards during the interval. As it was, someone obviously had words with Fran at half time and his energies were fully focussed on the game, not on Clancy.

As ever with Steve Lomas, the team were fired up from the half time team talk and we set about the systematic destruction of Motherwell. Stuart McCall could only watch in horror as a once tight game swung completely to Saints dominance. We pushed and pressed, harried and hurried. Haber was on the right of midfield and making decent runs, Morris and Muzz were coping in midfield, Crofty, now in front of Callum started to look interested and Craig run his drained body to the limit in an effort to be the link between Fran and midfield. It worked a treat and in the away stand we could sense another brilliant Lomas victory. Then it crashed down.

A smart counter attack saw the Estonian superkid running at skipper Morris. The Englishman looked like Bambi on ice and Henrik had plenty of time to pick a spot. That said it was an excellent finish from the Estonian who also lost traction as he turned the Saints skipper. In fairness it was an excellent goal on many levels. The touch to and from Daly proved vital.

Even at 2-1 we were still optimistic, we were playing great football and Sandaza looked a real handful; Craig and Croft both showing terrific football brains to create oppurchancities for the Toledo Talisman. Then the Saints fans had their hopes and dreams shattered by yet more terrible luck. Jody Morris was once again the unlucky assailant. With Keith Lasley running forward and running out of options he decided to try a GeeMann special and hit a hopeless and hopeful shot from distance. Incredibly, the shot nicked off Morris dived right and turned left wickedly, deceiving Big Pete in the process.

Three goals for and one against was a perverse and twisted reflection of the game to that point. We always rally and with Stevie Lomas we now making bold and attacking subbies. The incredible Jackie Compton came on and lit up the grey Lanarkshire surroundings. His runs and crosses are simply wondrous to behold. We have to hope that he recovers to play against Hearts because he’ll cause chaos in the right back area and Liam has proved that he can play in a free-role alongside Fran Sandaza.

We did pull a goal back from a penalty and we pushed hard before and after, sadly to no avail. It was crushing to leave the ground without a point. Lomas’ initial interview with BBC sounded like sour grapes but in fact he gave an accurate reflection of the game. They got lucky with two goals whilst we hit the post and scored one exceptional goal. As I say, it’s a measure of how far we’ve come. That’s thanks to the vision of our board, including Geoff, who retained Lomas’ contact details and approached him with the right offer at the right time.

Despite a few issues, which Lomas will handle, we have a great squad and a great buzz. We need to ensure that Callum Davidson is retained. Every club needs a professional player that commands respect and Cal is one such player. He is involved with training the 19s on a regular basis and is very obviously a man that could go on to take over from Lomas when the legend moves back to England.

That’s all in the future; the current is Hearts on Sunday. We have a great chance tomorrow, we’ll need to be at our best; fans, players and management. We can break Hearts and make dreams come true. Let’s play our part and redress the Motherwell misfortune. Bring it.....

Hibs away

2012-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Momentous

Every so often in a season, pivotal points occur and you recognise them instantly; Saturday was such a day.

Steve Lomas has transformed Saints from a boring team of low-confidence, under-achievers to a bustling energetic team of believers. The transformation in players is self-evident; Ando has stepped up, Haber works his balls off and Sandaza tracks back with surprising regularity. With signings like Compton and Croft, the future looks bright for Saints. This is a golden era, be in no doubt. Your children and grandchildren will ask you about this era; be sure you can tell them of your match day experiences.

Personally, I am saddened by the loss of Garts and Parkin. The rugged defender couldn’t have had worse luck if he lived under a ladder. That said, a parting of the ways was inevitable following comments by Del in the summer. Parkin, was always gonna struggle from the break and with three recognised, in-form strikers playing ahead of him it was always gonna be wise to free up his chunky wage. Both lads leave with my best wishes, good and devoted servants of our great club. Fraudulent Willie Gibson is also away. His only achievement being to gain one and a half stones of puppy fat during his stay. Oh aye, he played a freekick out the park at Tannadice after Callum Davidson has asked him to show some composure. I reckon we signed him, because Del or Doc lost a bet with the Crawley Town gaffer.

Lee Croft arrived amidst a deluge of crap journalism. Scotland really has very few writers that break away from clichés and stereotypes. The lack of knowledge and research amongst Scottish journalists is embarrassing. I read very little about Croft because our “journalists” found it easier to print captions under photographs of his missus – whoever she is or was. Admittedly, she looks like a cliché personified. Not a patch on Gary Irvine’s missus...

Croft himself got lucky on the field, when from a rebound; the ball dropped kindly allowing him to lash a terrific right footed shot into the lower left postage stamp of Mark Brown’s goal. Initial thoughts are that he’s a poor man’s Gavin Swankie, a brilliant winger who can score for fun. His touch was mostly impeccable, his fitness utterly deplorable. Compton has arrived amidst stinging rebuke of his character and attitude, but for Crofty to be so unfit speaks volumes for his response to being dropped from the Derby side. It could well be that we’ve signed two tricky characters, but as they’re loan players we simply need them to do a job for four months. I trust Lomas to do that.

Both men certainly showed glimpses of promise on the debut, Crofty took his goal well and despite Compton losing Booth for the Hibs second, he arguably prevented a goal just moments earlier. Alert on the edge of our box, he showed great instinct to nick the ball away. I doubt he’ll ever have Crofty’s talent for finishing, but his crossing and willing to run by folk will stand him in good stead. It’s also worth remembering that Compton is a lefty and was asked to play wide right....

In the case of both men, we must temper our excitement with the blunt reality that 10 teams have a better left back than Booth. Only Dunfermline have a worse shirt filler. Remember that Cleve looked good against Kevin Fotheringham for 45 minutes at Station Park. No honestly, he really did....

The other talking point from the game was the disappearance of two midfield players. Kevin Moon has steadily dropped out of the frame under Lomas and that makes little sense from an outside perspective. I wonder if the contract extension was for when Jody departs, if so, he needs to get some games elsewhere. Maybe a loan move to Bristol....

The other guy to disappear is Murray Davidson. I don’t understand the fluctuating levels of performance from his this season. At Aberdeen he was scintillating, yet against Hibs, he looked as poor as he did in his first season. The game passed him by and it felt like we were playing with ten men. His team mates are mostly fans, but the fans are getting frustrated by him. Because we’re playing well, he’ll get off lightly; if we hit a sticky patch, he’ll be castigated by all and sundry. With Jamie Adams unavailable until March at the earliest, there’s no ready-made replacement waiting in the wings. Of course, as has been noted by several Saints players, nobody plays well in centre mid when Jody is selected.....

Jody himself had a decent game. Pushed slightly further up than normal, he had no Murray or Millar to battle with and should have perhaps been more adventurous on occasion. The shape of our side improved greatly in the second half and it’s no coincidence that Jody had a better second half as a result. The wee English terrier can often find his brain working way ahead of his team mates, having Fran and Haber in the side often allows Jody to play smarter balls. For all his baggage, he’ll be missed when he goes. It now looks unlikely that he’ll go in this window, despite Cook electing to stay put at Sligo.

On the left wing, Liam Craig again put in a stellar performance. Del’s first signing was undoubtedly one of the good ones. He came here with a perceived attitude problem, certainly talked his way into bother with referees in his first half year, but under Del he really turned himself around – with the brilliant exception of the St Mirren game in April 2010! Perceived troublemaker, left footed and a player that Saints fans know little about – that’s the first thing that Del and Lomas have in common, first signing similarities!

Liam took his goal brilliantly and his work rate was great all day. Callum didn’t advance much on the day meaning it was harder for Liam to link up but he always made himself available for an outball. His work rate seems to increase year on year. Any accusations of laziness have been blown out of the water. Indeed it was his full back that put in a lazy, albeit composed shift.

Callum rightly used his experience to spend the 90 minutes with a defensive mindset. The boy will make an excellent manager in due course. He just knows when to attack and when to defend. Very rarely does he get flustered and very rarely does he get decisions wrong. Quite unlike Euan Norris, who managed to book Callum for his first (and only?) foul of the game. A foul committed in front of the dugouts! That’s dugouts plural, Mr Norris; one where a bus load of overly-animated, ruffians shouted and bawled for almost 100 minutes, in the other dugout Tommy was generally under-control. Odd then that Tommy was the one receiving a lecture from the upstart charged with displaying a flashy board for subs and time added on.

We’re getting incredibly lucky with other teams results, but referees, and their band of equally incompetent colleagues, are doing their best to de-rail our push for top six. Not deliberately, I’m not “Celtic-minded”, we’re just getting unlucky. Runs of luck come and go; better to have bad luck when we’re well up, never want bad luck to coincide with poor form.

Inside him, the centre half pairing of Ando Cracks have now conceded 5 goals at Easter Road, but two were penalties which should never have been awarded. “Ando for Scotland” was the chant in the stand, richly deserved too. The veteran centre half made very few errors and can be rightly proud of his performance. We need to hope that the certainty of wages will be the deciding factor for Ando as he mulls over his future. If we lose him, a replacement will be near impossible to find. With Enckleman likely to flee the country in summer time, we need to try and ensure stability in our defence. Let’s hope we nail the deal in the next couple of weeks. His play will improve once the decision is made. He clearly enjoys his football now and he’s becoming ever more vocal on the field which is the sign of growing confidence.

His partner, Cracks, brings an incredible coolness to the backline. Excellent communication, a wonderful touch, strong in the tackle and built like Unimog; he’s been the surprise of the summer signings. I really wasn’t convinced when we signed him, but he won me over from his first game against Dunfermline. His role against Hibs involved marking O’Connor, he did it so well that the petty criminal was withdrawn early in the second half. None of the Hibs attackers managed to impress me; none of them would get in our team, that’s a surety.

Dave Mackay had a pretty poor game. I haven’t watched the re-run, but he let a ball come into the box in the first half that he should have cut out and seemed to be at sixes and sevens for large parts of the game. His strength is generally his ability to maraud forward, but with Crofty and Sandaza ripping the keich out of Booth; he was rather hemmed in. Get pressed much better in the second half as Fran played more towards the middle. Again it’s hard to judge the right hand men because we were being allowed to play the most obvious “one-twos” ever seen in the SPL. It won’t be see easy against the Well...

Enckleman didn’t have to make many saves but when he did they were mostly under control. He had no chance with the penalty and Booth finished a very slick move to leave the Finn relying on lady luck. He’ll be unhappy to have let in two goals, but really he should be proud of his game.

Up front, I’m out of platitudes for the lads. I was critical of Haber first half for letting his foot off the gas. He knows that Sheridan is after his starting jersey and he should have been nailing his balls to the wall in a bid to ensure that he keeps Cillian on the bench. He didn’t in the first half, he got bullied and let his head drop for the last twenty minutes. In the second half he turned it round and ran himself into the ground. He was clearly unhappy at being withdrawn, particularly because his only competitor was the man who replaced him. I don’t know Lomas well enough to guess at who’ll start against Motherwell, but if I had to bet I’d go with Marcus and Fran. A partnership is blossoming so why change a winning side?

So we head to Motherwell, a team who struggle at home and who were thrashed by the Super Saintees last time in Lanarkshire. We need a strong result ahead of the cup tie, our rivals play Dunfermline in midweek and that will scunner their training for the week. A few injuries would be grand too. Either way, the momentum is with Saints; don’t go expecting, simply go believing! This is a golden age – don’t miss out on your chance to watch Lomas’ Legends.

Rangers at Home Jan 2012

2012-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hard Luck Lads

Stevie Lomas first encountered Craig Thomson at Ibrox; what an introduction to Scottish football. The overpaid, incompetent BMW X5 driver was a clown in that game and was even worse when he visited Perth with Rangers on Saturday.

Whilst I am all too often guilty of sitting on the fence over some issues, please be clear that I don’t think he changed the result of the game yesterday. I do not believe he is a corrupt, in the sense that I don’t believe he deliberately gives the wrong decisions. I firmly believe that he is incapable of making the right decisions. His fitness does not seem to be an issue; he was often up with play and often had a clear view of incidents. He is simply useless. If he’s any sort of man, he’ll admit that Dorien should have been sent off for his foul on Sandaza, if not for his jersey pull on Haber before that. Admitting a problem is the biggest step to resolution of the issue.

The game itself wasn’t particularly entertaining but, whenever a result is possible against the Old Firm the atmosphere is decent. McDiarmid Park has been slowly re-gaining some atmosphere under Steve Lomas and the warmer weather and lighter nights will only help the ambience. There were no obvious stewarding issues and despite a very poor turnout from Saints fans, the contra-singing was strong and raucous.

In fairness, injustice creates a unity amongst fans and we reacted to our players wrongly protesting the Rangers opener. We need to all step back and think about a bit of role reversal. When Fran Sandaza broke away from the idiotic and disgusting hand shaking routine which blights every SPL match he ran to the East Stand gestured us to be more vocal and supportive. How sad that a player had to do that. I fervently believe that we enter into an unwritten contract when we enter the McDiarmid turnstiles; beyond any doubt we have an obligation to raise the roof in support of our players. Personally, I love it when Enckleman gets involved. Alan Main was not without fault, but he worked wonders when interacting with the fans. Lomas should encourage more of this behaviour from his number one.

Perhaps we need to think of new ways of creating an atmosphere. Our half time is wasted with trivial announcements; instead I’d like to see former players on the pitch. Perhaps such as Bruce Fummey would perform a tannoy role at half time, maybe we could have a competition to produce the Official Saints run out music? The music needs to be upbeat and catchy, the crowd need a stimulus, the bairns on the pitch does not work. Maybe an adults competition, like we see at Scotland games, would be more popular. It would certainly create another sponsorship avenue and that should give increased newspaper coverage too. Please don’t think this is the sole responsibility of the board or Stuart and Paul.

We all have an obligation to the club we love; we all want the match day atmosphere to be better. If you have an idea, daft or sensible, please put your idea in writing and send it to the Commercial Department, McDiarmid Park, Crieff Road, Perth, PH1 2SJ. You will likely receive a standard reply, but as myself and plenty others can testify, if the idea is feasible, it will be given due consideration. The club are working their balls off, just because they can’t publicise every initiative doesn’t mean they are doing nothing. The time and effort spent with school kids is as incredible as it is surprising. It would be boring if they publicised every initiative. Anyway, back to the game...

Saints fans should be delighted that we played against Rangers, lost 2-1 and can rightly feel aggrieved by the score. That’s a measure of the improvement we’ve seen under Lomas. That aside, he repeated an error yesterday and that’s the first time I’ve had to write that.

The lack of Moon cost us dear yesterday. I must defend David Robertson, despite his chronic opening 20 minutes. I still don’t see what he brings to the team, but he is a good player. More than that, he tackled bravely, had a decent effort on goal and blocked/prevented a certain goal. He’s undoubtedly frustrating, but Lomas has seen something in him and he sees more of him than we do. His great judgement affords him the luxury of time.

Platitudes aside, he should have had Mooner in the team yesterday. We had a clear tactic not to rush their centre halves – common sense with one up top – but we lacked a gritty spark when the ball did come into midfield. Mooner would have fixed that. A confident Mooner would have buried Robbo’s miss from Fran’s selfless square ball. I understand why Lomas wants Muzz to find the net, but the bottom line is that he doesn’t possess a talent for that part of the game. Moon does and Lomas would do well to ensure he gets good coaching in the afternoons from a striking coach.

Now bear in mind that Robbo was arguably our worst player and you’ll understand why there was huge frustration in the home dressing room following the game. Not one player put in a poor shift, the tactics were virtually bang on (given the injury to Midgie) and the selection gets 10/11 from me.

Although not one of our players excelled in the game, neither did any of the Rangers players. Sone Aluko, a player inexplicably maligned by fans of other clubs, gave Callum Davidson a tough time, Stevie Davis worked well in midfield and Jelavic is decent up front. Other than that, we arguably won the other battles. As I say, great frustration on the day.

So to the issues of the day:

Craig Thomson is useless. The first goal was offside. The freekick preceding it was fine, it was taken from the correct area and, despite what I initially thought, the ball was stopped when it was struck. No problems with that. Players in blue should have firstly blocked the quick free kick and secondly put in a challenge on Aluko. We didn’t and they scored. Not Craig’s fault, but he remains useless. Whatever Lomas says publicly, he will be furious with his players for not defending that set play properly. The first goal against the Old Firm is always crucial.

Our players will review the footage and cringe. So too, should the West Stand linesman, Healy was offside. The goal should not have stood. I was certain at the time, but subsequently doubted myself. Having watched it several times since, I believe the Rangers number 15 was interfering with play, active, call it what you will; I believe Rangers got lucky that their goal stood, whereas Haber’s was chalked off. At least Haber’s was a decent finish.

Liam Craig, owner of the worst hair and boots at the club, sent in a hanging cross ball which Haber sent to Alexander’s right, before the Rangers back-up keeper could get to the ball, his defensive colleague neatly deflected the ball to the keeper’s left and into the back of the pokey. In the stands, I celebrated like mad, I don’t remember being so chuffed by a McDiarmid goal in ages. It just seemed right that we were gonna get a point.

That I felt a point had been secured is a reflection of Lomas’ hard work with the squad. Despite Millar forcing us into a boring 4-5-1, the midfield movement allowed to us attack well and with great fluid passing moves, a far cry from the stuffy and sideways stuff that we suffered under the previous regime. That’s not to say we were gung ho. A slip from Ando the Rock allowed Rangers one sight at goal, the rest of the time we were pretty much under control. Often when a team loses, the manager trots out trite rhetoric - “if my boys play like that, we’ll do okay” – but when Lomas did his finest list of clichés there was truth in his words. We have four hard games coming up, two against teams placed higher than us, but we can tackle them with confidence. Under Lomas we have a swagger and a gallousness that rattle sour opponents. I always argued that Del wasted too much time respecting the opposition; Lomas is proving me right. He, like me, believes in his players and trusts them to do a job. Apart from the Celtic game at home, they simply haven’t let him down.

Of course, as we know, Rangers got a winner, thanks to an awfy blunder from Rangers fan, Murray Davidson. The midfield hard man is coming under curious waves of attack from the WAP brigade and I’m confused by that. It’s well known that I am disappointed by his development but his performances this season have been his best to date. I’m really bewildered and wonder if the WAP brigade convinced themselves that he was genuinely on the verge of the national team. He isn’t good enough for Scotland, he isn’t as good as Jamie Adams and it’s no surprise that folk haven’t been bidding for him. Nevertheless he’s a decent SPL midfielder, our defenders rate him highly and so does our manager. I know who’s judgement I’ll follow.

Yes he made a mistake, it happens. I understand why Mackay, and to a lesser extent, Anderson, blamed Enckleman for the goal, but it was categorically Muzz’s fault. TV replays prove that beyond any doubt. The lion has a good attitude and he won’t let it affect him. We’ll pick ourselves up and look to correct things at the weekend.

The only other real talking point was the lack of red card for Goian’s persistent fouling. Booked early in the game, he should have walked for a blatant jersey pull. Not content with escaping punishment for that foul, he felled Fran Sandaza just after our equaliser. His dismissal may not have changed the game, but that’s not the point. Gerry McLaughlin was sent packing for a near identical foul in the same area the week before. No consistency, no parity, no consequences for the men in black.

I’m not rating the players this week, partly because I’m lazy and partly because they all performed well. Lomas is taking this league by storm and is making a mark in many ways at the club. A few players could well be heading for the exit in the next fortnight but he has good men ready to come in.

These are exciting times. If you’re not involved, you’re missing out.

Brechin at Home SFA Cup 4th Round

2012-01-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

Steve Lomas and the Deathly Hush

Steve Lomas has been taken aback by the Scottish training facilities since his arrival three months ago. One can only imagine what his private thoughts are about the level of support his team gets at home.

Let’s put aside the argument that “we pay our money, we can say what we like”. We are sitting in fourth place in the SPL; unlike St Mirren, Inverness, Killie and Dunfermline we are through to the next round without the need to play an extra game. Not bad for a club that budgeted to finish eleventh. Our rookie manager has made very few mistakes and our performances at home have been much improved under his stewardship.

Folk also have very short memories. I’ve read much about what a great cup tie we witnessed at Glebe Park in 2011, I’ve read very little about how we only just scraped a win in the replay with a stuttering performance on McDiarmid’s tattie field.

At kick off on Saturday, everyone connected with Saints would have taken a victory in any circumstance. In the end, we got a comfortable albeit turgid win. None of the players can hold their heads particularly high after that sort of performance, but neither can the home support.

Steve Lomas didn’t lambast his players, nor should he have done so, but his tenure in the stand was notable by its brevity; he cut a most irritated figure for the bulk of the afternoon. He wasn’t helped by what appeared to be poor communication from his players. Murray Davidson gave a very clear indication that he wanted to be subbed, Mooner was shouted to the dugout yet Muzz, despite going down injured in front of Enckleman, stayed on for the 90. There was some confusion over Lomas’ gesture to Fran. Some folk thinking the gaffer was asking more of Fran and threatening him withdrawal, others thinking that he was re-assuring Fran that he’d be off in five minutes. Whatever the truth, Lomas picked the right team and they got the job done.

I love the fact that we scored very early in both halves, yet some expert has questioned Lomas’ team talks... Irony not lost on him, then! Once again the big ginge delivers a much needed result. We have three very tricky fixtures coming up and we need to ensure we get some points from the next nine. It’s not impossible that we could win all three, but it’s equally feasible for us to lose all three. We must work extremely hard to ensure we stay on course to sneak into the top six.

It’s worth considering that Saints are struggling to find decent pitches to train on at the moment. Many first team regulars are unable to train on the Astroturf so getting ball time into players hasn’t been easy. The pitch behind the east stand isn’t suitable in its current format. It would be folly for the club to spend money on McDiarmid until the new stadium/road matter has been resolved and that won’t be in time for the summer spend.

I’ve said it to death over the last few reports but we need solidarity and unity between; coaches, players and fans if we are to sneak into the top six. Outside of the park, I am all for freedom of speech and disagreements – I keep arguing with myself about Enckleman – but in the park the negativity and reckless abuse is bang out of order. I’m not the biggest fan of our club captain, but to lambast him as not being good enough is clearly nonsense.

Even the players who have grievances with Jody wouldn’t deny his undoubted ability. He still sits quite deep at times, but it’s clear to see that Lomas is working at making the midfield more fluid and that Jody is an integral part of that change. Personally, I remain firm in the belief that Mooner is a better player, we’ll probably not get the chance to see that much over the coming months unless Jody gets an injury or a ticket to Bristol. He judgement and skill let him down badly for the Brechin goal, though the striker reacted well and showed great strength against Ando and great bravery against Enckleman. He also finished it with great confidence given the tricky nature of the pitch.

It’s important to recognise that the ball was always out of Anderson’s reach, so kicking it out of play wasn’t an option. When he saw Enckleman on one of his outfield foray’s he had little option but to try and clear a path for Big Pete to get his boot to the ball. As at Dunfermline, it seemed that Enckleman hesitated when he came off his line and that made all the difference. The televised coverage was very poor so we’ll never know if my supposition was right or wrong, all that matters is Morris fecked up and we lost a goal as a result. Other than a well worked move late in the game, they didn’t threaten us much after that.

The back four were in decent form. Dave Mackay’s crossing was very poor and Alan Maybury probably could have been more adventurous against lower league opposition. That said, Mackay has been in great form ever since Lomas arrived and Maybury slotted in so well at left back that we simply didn’t miss Callum Davidson – that’s praise. We are very lucky to still have Maybury on board. Lomas would do well to ensure that Maybs gets a new deal sooner rather than later. He always seems to play in our important wins.

McCracken and Anderson had a curious afternoon. The wind was horrendous, the pitch was tricky and the midfield very as lazy as they’ve under Lomas yet they really had very little to do. They still put their bodies on the line but there were no really outstanding moments from either of them. Good players though – let’s hope they don’t get split up for the visit of Glasgow Blue on Saturday.

In midfield, the gaffer has a dilemma on his hands. Finnigan simply hasn’t cut the mustard on the right wing and a change would be nice ahead of the Rangers game. His options are very limited. We need to ensure that Davidson isn’t risked for the game as it’s the “least winnable” of the next three, that means that the defence should remain unchanged for next week.

He might choose to play Haber wide right, but that’s a waste. He might choose to put Mooner wide right but it’s not a position he plays well. Then it boils down to Robbo (who has never played well for us) or one of the bairns. Both Rikki and Scotty deserve a chance, but playing against Rangers is a big ask, especially when they haven’t played a competitive game for almost two months. Oh aye, the overweight Wullie Gibson is here until 22 January...happy days.

Given that, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go with a five man midfield, hopefully with Mooner in the most advanced role and Haber on the right. That gives solidarity with the ability to move forward quickly and break in numbers. Of course if he goes to 4-4-2 for the second half, I’ll be delighted.

Sandaza has been a man in the news over recent weeks and his agent has probably been called every football insult by the board and the management. Fran ought to be old and wise enough to recognise why he ended up at Saints in the first place. Of course football clubs and managers are often as fickle and thick as the average fan; but he had few, if any, admirers last August.

Rumours continue to circulate that he didn’t want to play against Dunfermline and rumours also suggest that he is a poor worker at training. I don’t know enough to comment on the East End Park story but he’s certainly not the worst player at training, far from it. He doesn’t come in “under the weather”, he hasn’t ballooned in weight during his time with us and he managed to turn up for training over the festive period. That puts him three places ahead of some...

My own opinion is that nobody will front the cash to release him. We don’t need the money that badly and few clubs will be happy to pay the requisite fee when they can secure his signature on a pre-contract agreement. It would be different if a club could trust him to stay for two and a half years without causing bother.

One way he might be sold is if Rangers really have secured a deal with HMRC. It’s feasible that he could go to Ibrox in a double part-exchange deal that sees Murray Davidson head west with Cole or Wylde coming to us. As Steves Lomas and Brown have said, the deal must be right for St Johnstone. We will not roll over and let Rangers tickle our balls,

Three final comments:

The referee was a joke – for both sides.
Gerry McLaughlin didn’t deserve to be red carded – neither foul merited a yellow. I was ashamed of Fran and Marcus.
Our home crowd is a pitiful disgrace. Would love to see us clap for 90 minutes solid at a home game, bet it wouldn’t last three. We act like a bunch of uncommitted, passionless hangers-on. If we continue to behave like that, we’ll not get top six because we won’t win enough games at home.

The atmosphere when the players run out affects their mental state, that’s beyond any doubt. It’s only natural that any player will take confidence from hearing a raucous noise heaping adulation on them; it’s the main reason why venues such as Parkhead, Ibrox, Tynecastle and Easter Road are tricky places to win. When an army marches into hand to hand combat they use noise to intimidate their opponents. If it’s good enough for warfare, it’s good enough for football.

Lomas cannot make McDiarmid a fortress without our help, it’s embarrassing that we’re not doing more to help him. Come on folks; let’s try uplifting noises, positive cheers and encouraging clapping. It costs nothing, but it could be priceless. Please help our club!

Killie at Home

2011-12-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Consolidation

A midweek game, the fourth in less than a fortnight, the previous three seeing us lose badly and foul weather to boot. Lots of decent reasons to avoid McDiarmid Park on a Wednesday night; especially when the opposition is an organised team capable of winning on the road.

Sadly, too many fans fell foul of that mindset and in doing so missed a super victory which consolidated our place in the top six. With the chasing pack all dropping points; it was a great night for the Perth Saints. Two nil flattered us though and Steve Lomas rightly alluded to the great work of Peter Enckleman. Better than that, he had a sly pop at the “fans” who turned on him.

Just to clarify, he hasn’t won me over, I think he’s good but I think he’s far from the best in the league. Last night, and at Tynecastle and at Parkhead; he was virtually flawless. Having watched the replay, I still don’t know if he touched the shot onto the post, but if he didn’t, it’s fair to say he had it covered. He certainly gets my man of the match vote.

Other notable players were mostly in defensive areas which speaks volumes for how much of a threat Killie are these days. Anderson put in one of his best shifts at McDiarmid (and there’s been plenty sterling showings) whilst his partner, Cracks, again looked good. Jody didn’t tweet about him, so the forum pundits probably haven’t given him any praise. Funny how certain people change their minds on players, especially when they only watch the first half of games.

Object of many a 101 Saint rant, Dave Mackay, was excellent. Brilliant crosses, always a threat at set pieces, yet he strolled though his defensive duties. Interesting that his crossing his improved since mid-November. He perhaps takes a fraction longer to decide to cross, but the shape and direction of his crosses make him a lethal weapon. His cross balls are unrecognisable compared to the dross he used to steer goalwards at thigh height.

Cal Davidson cruised through the game at left back. Even when young Kennedy came on late in the game, he coped well until his withdrawal. Replacement, Alan Maybury did a grand job in the hardest circumstances when he came on. Facing a pacy winger with nothing to lose is hard enough for any fullback, never mind one who has just entered the lions den. He is grossly undervalued by our fans but his appearances don’t go under the gaffer’s radar.

Midfield was a curious set-up. Midgie who had a salt and pepper first half, really looked dangerous in the second before pulling off with a hamstring injury to his right leg. He was running well, found his touch and showed bravery with his off the ball running. Lomas rightly mentioned his lion hearted approach to the game. With Wullie Gibson surely banished to England and Cads still at Arbroath, it’ll be interesting to see who plays wide right at Inverness. Both Scotty and Ricky should be banging at the gaffer’s door. If Cal misses out, Maybury will be left back and that means it’s between Moon and Finners to start on the right. Neither are natural right midfielders and Finners won’t last 90 minutes....

Murray Davidson showed glimpses of the talent we know he has, but too often – as at East End Park – he wasn’t involved in much. Granted he did good work off the ball, but in some ways that’s Jody’s job. We can’t have two defensive bods in centre midfield when our wide players are Midgie and Liam. Morris played okay, but I remain convinced that Mooner is a better option.

Him and Muzz offer a better partnership, Muzz doing the dirty work and Moon adding sparkles and a cherry. Lomas echoed my thoughts on Mooner, when he stated that the wee man has goals in him. Only by playing him regularly, in an attacking role will we see that. He also publicly called on Mooner to make more noise on the pitch and that’s something that’s undoubtedly required in the modern game.

On Morris, he too often puts us in jeopardy these days. Three or four times, he looked to referee Brines to help him out after losing possession, yet only one occasion was a clear cut foul. He needs to cut that out of his game. By all means show-boat at four nil, not at one nil, thank you.

Liam Craig worked his socks off and both goals came from his crosses. I suspect a mistake in the build up to the first meant that he played a different ball to what was planned, but it was a lovely cross on each occasion. Why Jody takes some corner kicks remains a mystery to me. Perhaps I should ask on Twitter; hmm, I’ll not bother. I actually heard that some people can tell lies or be two-faced on Twitter.

Up top, Haber and Sandaza

Haber was another target of the St Johnstone boo boys. In that dark day at Tannadice, when our caretaker boss showed the world his short-comings, he was getting pelters from terrace and t’internet. All the experts castigated him as lazy and not good enough. I still recall a classic outburst from one of the forums dumbest contributors who stood and yelled that Marcus wasn’t “good enough” for Saints. It would be vaguely comical if it weren’t true.

So time to discuss the interesting characters that call themselves Saints fans. But we need to start from a known point. I was no fan of McInnes the football manager. Indeed, it’s safe to say I found his style of football to be boring and ineffective. But he’s away.

Last season we went into games against equal opposition and lost them because of Del, I am willing to accept that he underperformed in every season he managed my club. What I am not willing to accept is that people stopped going because of him. I did admit that in different circumstances, I would have walked away from Hampden when we played Rangers in the league cup semi. He really hurt me that night. That said, I tried to get to as many games as possible.

I keep hearing that money is driving folk away and I accept it to a point. The point being how much folk spent at Tynecastle and surrounding areas. Odd how money turns up when drink is involved. Real fans, fans who understand what supporting a small club is all about, they know that this is a vintage year in our history. In years to come, folk will ask about the famous side of 2011/12. We’ll reminisce of Fran, Encks, Haber, Ando, Cal and Jody. It’s soul-destroying that most of the folk reminiscing will be internet fans. Self-proclaimed experts of all matters fiscal and football. I think of the famous war poster where the child asks his father, “What did you do in the war?” We should have a similar one on wap. “What was it like being at games under Steve Lomas?”

If sitting in the top six, going undefeated in Glasgow and playing great football isn’t worth twenty one of your pounds, I struggle to see how you class yourself as a fan of our great club. The game against Killie was a brilliant encounter; great strikes, great saves, great playmaking, great players. I didn’t see anyone looking glum and we even had an effort at making some noise in the East Stand.

The club cannot cut the price, it’s financial madness to reduce our income streams at a time when we’re fighting for fourth place. The internet warriors can point fingers at the club, but there’s little more our club can do. They’ve almost given away tickets for the Ormond Stand yet the uptake was utterly pathetic. It’s clearly established that even a gate price of five pounds wouldn’t attract Perth punters.

Remember when Season Ticket holders got to bring a friend for free? We could hardly give our tickets away. Our game is talked down too much. Each and every one of us that supports Saints must treat this season as a war. We must work to enlist foot soldiers; men and women brave enough to stand up and support, sing and shout at our troops. Folks who will be proud to walk into their work or educational establishment and tell their peers what a great day they had supporting their local team.

Each Saints fan owes it to the club to win one new fan between now and the end of the season. Let’s get our friends to share our passion, spread the word and fan the flames. We have to great Steve’s in charge, let’s back them to the hilt!

2011-12-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

FeSteve Cheer

Saints fans who survived the McInnes era will look back fondly at the Boxing Day Fixture in 2009. We went to Fir Park, despite tricky road surfaces and watched in delight as Peter MacDonald bagged his final Saints hat trick to send us home in sheer delight. That game was full of mixed emotions for your author as wee Mooner was hung out to dry by our inept manager and folks took great delight in praising Del for correcting his own error. Nevertheless, the day is etched in my mind as one life’s great days.

Heading to East End Park, I was full of dread and pessimism. The three home defeats came as little surprise; each game had some very obvious difficulties. On top of that, we hadn’t really played all the badly. Enckleman cost 4 of the five goals we lost to Well and Dons; as that’s not his usual form, I wasn’t overly concerned. We also know that our gaffer is a cut above most of his rivals. Nevertheless, perhaps depressed by working from eight till twelve, perhaps scunnered by Dunfermline as a town, perhaps irked by the behaviour of our “support”; I really feared that circumstances, or Craig Thomson, would cost us the game. When it came to the crunch, Chris Smith and Jason Thomson gave us an easy two nil lead and our three best attacking players combined to ice the cake at the death.

Lomas rightly stated that we weren’t at our best. He correctly mentioned the three home games where we arguably played better stuff, yet took no points. His outlook is refreshing; his demeanour is mood-reflective. He loves his life and loves his football; his infectious enthusiasm rubs off on everyone in a very Coyle-esque way. No wonder the lads enjoy training under him. Be interesting to see how his Christmas routine works. I happen to think we might just reap the rewards. Killie ought to be jaded when they pull into McDiarmid, I doubt we will be.

The game at East End Park started in tricky conditions, when all four corner flags are blowing in different directions, you don’t wanna be a goalkeeper... Added to the mix Dunfermline is yet another club in crisis. Their own fans are putting the club in jeopardy by refusing to conform to the no-standing regulations. They have shut arguably their best stand and the roof has been stripped from part of the away stand. The Main Stand compares with McDiarmid’s for atmosphere, whilst the Norrie McCathie stand was both empty and quiet. The attendance was at the same level of Falkirk V Ross County and whilst that was a real table topping clash, I doubt many Staggies travelled down. Saints took around 1200 to Dunfermline and the atmosphere in our end was rather good. Some wee dicks decided to let of a flare, and for that the club could be in bother. Sadly, it’s part and parcel of having a large travelling support. Also part and parcel of letting adolescents in for a pound – well eventually letting them in; after a farcical queue, so reminiscent of Dundee during the trough of their financial troubles.

If you ignore the complete lack of defence, Dunfermline aren’t a bad team. Barrowman, Cardle, Kirk and Graham are all decent enough players and with Hardie pulling string in a deep centre midfield role, they created some decent moves. Their defence is hopeless though, and unless they sign two centre halves, they’re likely to fall into the SFL1 at the expense of Inverness who seem certain to hold onto their superstars through the January window. It seems that John Yorkston has finally realised that the club must run within a certain budget, shame it’s taken him so long to realise such a fairly obvious fact of life.

Saints have essentially been run in such a fashion since GSB took over the reins of our great club. His prudence has allowed us to attract players from badly run clubs such as Gretna, Livingston and Dundee. With Lomas in charge, players know that they’ll be treated with respect and dignity. It’s good to see that Lomas has kept some of Del’s training methods as well as bringing in his own ideas. Things have never been so good, in so many ways.

Lomas has to be on his guard though. We have some transition ahead of us and he’ll have to work some magic to ensure we don’t slip too far back. Peter Enckleman is likely to move on in the summer and whilst I have never been fully convinced by him, his record is as good as it gets for a club of our size. Ando has been offered a new contract and it’s vital that we persuade him to sign it quickly; without him, we’re in real bother. Callum Davidson won’t last forever and we know that he’s not exactly bullet proof. The search for his replacement must start now. Sandaza, well we all know what he’s like. Personally, I’d be signing Haber up quick smart. We know he’s one of the best one on one finishers in the league. His jumping ability is probably the best in the league and when he turns on the speed, he’s got most defenders beaten. Yes, he’s a lazy prick, but there are signs that Steve is getting that side of his game sorted. Every time he plays, he chases more and more “lost causes”...

In terms of departures, I’m sad to say that Graham Gartland’s tenure as a Saints player is at an end and that’s a great shame. The popular Irishman came here with huge expectation and a great reputation. Other than a howler at Ibrox, for which he held up his hands, he has been excellent for us. He’s been a great help to the young boys, talking them through bounce games and working on their mindset. He’s a man of real dignity and stamp; I hope his next club provide him with a springboard to unlock his full potential. Wullie Gibson will be the other departure, and he’ll be no loss. Why we signed him, I’ll never know. I do wonder if Sam Parkin will be another departure. I hope not, but it’s hard to see him getting a game ahead of Haber, Sandaza and Sheridan. A player of his calibre is not gonna be happy to settle for being fourth choice striker.

The game itself was poor fare in the most part. We didn’t get going until the first goal and then half time came. Haber worked well to create the second goal, but their normal keeper would have held Haber’s shot. A proper defender would have mopped up the spillage. Although we got to three nil, it simply wasn’t feasible to blood Ricky or Scotty. Muzz had been struggling for most of the second half whilst both Jody and Sandaza needed subbed given the heavy schedule coming up.

Mooner replaced Jody, but didn’t perform much better than the skipper. It was one of Mooner’s worst ever subbie displays. He is often guilty of being a step ahead of his team mates, but on Saturday he simply wasn’t great. He tried too hard to impress, undoubtedly upset by the way Jody waltzed back into the team despite his long term absence.

Maybury replaced Muzz in a move which saw Millar move inside with Mooner. Muzz had a very quiet game and it’s interesting to see that whoever plays with Morris in centre midfield seems to struggle. Midgie had a much better game. There were still times when he seemed to lack the necessary self-belief, but his closing down and tenacity were all there in abundance. It amuses me that fans get on his back so much; remember that Swanks, Morais, Cleve, JMW, Nova and now Gibson have all failed to win his starting jersey. When he plays well, Saints play well and that’s the highest accolade.

Maybury again proved his worth and versatility when he came on to run the right wing. He is in many ways the ultimate professional. Well worth a new contract offer.

The final subbie was Carl Finnigan and he again looked lively. I really want him to score soon as I get the feeling that the floodgates might just open when he does. He offers us total commitment; I wish I could pull up some of the fans comments when Del signed him.

Of the starting eleven, all played well but none were much above average. Our centre halves probably deserve the most praise for dealing with tricky conditions and making their job look far easier than it actually was. The front guys did okay, but they’ll have to link better to harm Killie on Wednesday.

I’ll do my tabloid round up of the starting eleven for no other reason than they offer no talking points:

Enckleman – One moment of madness when he came for a ball on our left that he simply had no chance of getting. Other than that he was mostly in control. His tip over from Cardle was a belt and braces gesture and he shouldn’t be faulted for being cautious.

Mackay – Didn’t attract any attention. Fine game

McCracken – Lauded my many following a tweet from Jody Morris. Played no better than normal. Vastly underrated.

Anderson – Bossed the defence in his usual unflappable manner. Fans wanted him to go on more mazy runs, but his passing was top drawer again.

C. Davidson – Didn’t get forward enough but cruised through the game.

Millar – Full on effort and commitment. Great play to win the corner that gave our first. No time to star when moved to centre midfield

Morris – Couple of special touches but a fundamental lack of drive going forward. I’m sure Lomas will work on restoring this part of his game.

M. Davidson – Very quiet game. Him and Hardie cancelled each other out.

Craig – Took ages to get going, but was terrific when he did. Reacted brilliantly to Fran’s pass, which must have been unexpected.

Haber – Strong running and much better link play with Midgie and Morris. Bad touch in the box cost us shortly after he created the second.

Sandaza – Great spirit and great play. Brave for the second.

So, we move onto Killie at home on Wednesday, 28 December at McDiarmid. This game will offer half-season ticket holders to use their book for the first time. It’s also the only home game of the festive period. With a night time appointment, and Saints having a great record under the new floodlights (when Sky don’t appear), we should expect a turnout nearing 3500 fans. Let’s hope the noise generated on the steep slopes of Tynecastle and East End Park is replicated in the McDiarmid shallows.

Lomas is a great lad, but to use of his predecessor’s favourite clichés, we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel. This is a collective effort, the top six will not happen without the support of the home support. We have lost seven league games, but we have lost six times at McDiarmid to SPL opposition; five in the league, one in the cup.

With Mooner signing on again, we can be confident that Lomas knows a player when he sees one. The players need noise, need encouragement; that doesn’t make them needy, it makes them normal humans. Back them and they will respond; they’ve proven it on our last three road trips. Don’t question them, just support them. They under Lomas will deliver us the top six we all long for. Get yer mates along, send them this link, post it on yer social network things and let’s show Steve Brown that his job is easier than he fears:

http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=1820

Well and Dons at Hame

2011-12-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Reality Check

Saturday saw the start of the biggest week of our SPL campaign. Three games, all of them hard, all of them at home and arguably the squad is at its most depleted. Steve Lomas has had an outstanding start to his managerial career but a first defeat had to come somewhere. It’s a shame it had to come at home, but being blunt, the fans on the day got what they deserved.

We took over 1000 fans to Tynecastle, brilliant in comparison to Hibs bringing 700 to Perth and Motherwell bringing less than 500. We made a tremendous noise at Tynecastle. We supported the team as though we actually cared. We did nothing of the sort against Motherwell.

Steve Lomas said that our attitude was wrong from the start, he was talking of the players but he might as well have been speaking about the fans. It’s really sad that our fans only make a noise when they are inebriated and away from Perth. We should be proud of our wee club; we are David in a Goliath league. Saturday gave us a massive chance to lay the first brick in our push for top six. The conditions were poor and the players should have been able to rely on us for support, encouragement and wholehearted backing.

Earlier in the year, we left Fir Park with a three nil scoreline which flattered us. Since then, they’ve scarcely lost a game. On Saturday, each of their three goals had elements of luck; but frankly they fully merited the win. The first goal was a muddle; the second goal saw Enckleman beaten by a shot he’d often save and the third deflected past the helpless keeper.

The passing from both sides was of a great standard; but Motherwell used the ball better. They rarely needed a first touch and that buys enormous amounts of time. The ball did the hard work for Stuart McCall’s men. Times without number they got into a two on three and made neat little triangles to get out of bother; often setting up counter attacks in the process.

The injury situation at McDiarmid was telling; Sam Parkin is miles away from being match fit yet was on the bench and appeared from it. Sam, to his eternal credit, played very well despite an unfortunate lack of bounce games. He remains a great player and thoroughly deserves some recognition for our supporters.

In midfield, Lomas was between a rock and a hard place as he had to choose between Wullie Gibson and David Robertson. In choosing Robertson, Midgie was allowed to keep his regular wide right berth. Robertson slotting in alongside a rejuvenated Murray Davidson. Muzz has had a stop-start season and that’s a shame given how brightly he shone at Pittodrie. He showed flashes of real brilliance against Motherwell and he’ll be a key player against Motherwell, especially if Mooner doesn’t make it.

His touch was back and his runs into the box were well timed. His finishing remains dire, though in fairness he is missing by less than he used to.... Lomas has been vocal in suggesting that if Muzz can add goals to his game, he’ll be a star in England. I don’t doubt that for a moment, but I do fear that he’ll never add that part of the game to his armoury. Jamie Adams would have been the ideal replacement for Mooner but the tough nut remains sidelined.

It’s hard to see anything other than the same starting line up against the Dons, the one possible change being Fran Sandaza replacing Finnigan. It was great to hear Steve Lomas talking about investigating the medical set-up at McDiarmid. He obviously has a vested interest in ensuring our players are in top tip condition. Our board are sensible enough to realise that injured players have no value, so we can be assured that Lomas will get support from Wee Broonie and his neeburs. He also spoke of not rushing players back and admitted, very candidly, that Sheridan was a case in point. These are changed days. Power to Frankie....

Following the game both Lomas and Wright attended a meet the manager night and both spoke candidly, with humour and humility. We are very lucky to have these boys here; they will do well for Saints. No doubts about it.

And so to the Dons game.

In horrendous conditions, Steven McLean rightly declared that the game should go ahead. On a personal level I wish it had been cancelled, I’m struggling with manful and I hate the TV deal. Another cancelled SKY game would have been awesome. Bottom line is that there was no reason for the game to be called off. I like Scottish fitba and I like these types of games. A bit of wind and rain makes a challenge for players and livens a dull game. We didn’t complain when we beat Hibs in similar conditions.

Turning to the team selection, Stevie tried a different tack and played Maybury at right back with Mackay in right midfield. It worked well too. Midgie has been drastically off-form, Wullie Gibson is in dish and Robbo has yet to play well for us.

Maybury put in a super performance, really composed and assured. Mackay supported well and got forward as often as possible. Compare him to Liam and there was little difference. His crossing is much better and he linked up well with both Haber and Maybury.

It was the right decision and if proof were needed that Lomas got it right, Wullie Gibson came on to replace Maybury and we lost some performance. The criticism of Lomas was bang out of order. Look at the bench, it was bare bones. The only possible mistake was starting Parkin, but the giant Englishman looked great against Motherwell and Finnigan hasn’t really done enough. Higgins is injured, May is on loan, Fran is injured, Reynolds is on loan, Kano is injured.....

Of course the head-bangers on the internet now want Enckleman dropped. It’s getting to the stage that they should probably be locked up. Peter Enckleman hadn’t cost us a point this season until three days ago. We probably would have lost to Motherwell even with Mannus in goal. Tonight was grim from the big man, but as I said after the Hearts game, he has earned the right to have a couple of poor games. Throwing Mannus in against Celtic would probably be a mistake, unless the coaches feel Enckleman has taken a blow mentally.

It’s really quite sickening to see the way that he’s being treated. I am ashamed to be associated with such life-forms.

Incidentally, they are rounding on their own hero, Murray Davidson tonight. Muzz was terrific and helped to keep the score respectable. Yes he missed an absolute sitter, but we all know he can’t finish. He tackled hard, fought hard and passed well. I have no complaints and I’m sure Lomas was quite happy with young Murray.

Being blunt, I don’t know if we had a failure tonight. Enckleman had a mare, but the first is excusable. The second one was a gamble; he was caught in two minds and fecked up. Like a true professional he held his hands up and he’ll be really hurting tonight. I’ve no problem in admitting that I wasn’t impressed with him last year (and I was livid with him against Aberdeen in the season opener) but he’s done little wrong since then. I hope his detractors, who didn’t even bother going, feel utterly horrendous about their comments.

Maybury was great, McCracken was fine too. I don’t get the criticism of him for not playing offside at the first goal. In conditions like that, I want him back to clear up any spills. His passing was great and he works really well with Anderson. I’m glad Del signed him.

Callum Davidson didn’t do much wrong. I see his crosses getting slated, and he certainly hit some stinkers, but many were ideal for the conditions. We just couldn’t win headers in the box. Very unusual for Haber to be so quiet in the air. Says a lot about how well Aberdeen defended. Bit like Motherwell last season....

Liam Craig made one error of judgement in the final third and other than that he worked hard and won enough to hold his head high. His corners were really good given the circumstances.

Midgie came onto a fine game. He improved every minute and was totally committed to the cause. His passing was fine, his tackling was brave and his vision is always great. He knows when to press and when to hold. He’s a good lad.

Muzz – we’ve talked about and Cup Tie has also been mentioned. That leaves the front two. I always say that two great strikers don’t make a great strike force and there were signs of that tonight. They linked up very well initially; Haber usually ahead of Parkin. As the game wore on, and frustration crept in, they often played too close to each other. Haber is a curious wee bunny. He is skilled beyond belief but really needs to apply himself in games that aren’t to his liking. Lomas could be seen, giving him a rocket – rightly so!

I said to one the fringe players that we might have nothing to show from our three home games; I’m thinking I was right. Two freak games, is what we have just witnessed. There is no need to panic, no need to turn on our players and coaches, no need to consider bottom six.

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned Mr Anderson yet. There is no need. He strolled tonight and showed what I’ve known all along.

We are in this together. Together, we’ll get top six!

2011-12-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

Capital Punishment

Since the arrival of Steve Lomas, life has been a dream for Saints fans. There is little doubt that Derek McInnes left a strong group of players for Lomas and Wright to work with, but the transformation in our play has been incredible.

I always argued that Saints fans wouldn’t realise how bad McInnes was until he left, but I must admit I’m stunned that Stevie has transformed us in such a short period of time. I think it’s vital that we stand back and take stock of the real situation, for his protection as much as anything.

Fans can bury their heads in the sand if they wish, but the stark transformation in Haber and Anderson is an obvious endorsement of Lomas treating the players with the utmost respect. It worries me slightly that I haven’t yet heard a bad word against Lomas, but then I’m reminded that few folk ever spoke ill of Walter Smith. I also need to remember that Lomas is flattered by following someone like Del.

He clearly has a great eye for talent; Scotty Gray was training with the seniors and listed as a subby at Tynecastle. It’s nice to have a manager who sees what I see in players. He has also been quick to attack Haber for being apathetic and whereas Del never improved Haber’s work-rate, Lomas seems to be making progress in that respect.

He’ll have the majority of fans on his side after the meet the manager event at the old Saints club. He has an easy going manner and speaks in a manner that evokes great memories of Owen Coyle’s great speeches. He uses passionate language and indulges in platitudes that somehow don’t sound trite. Like our majority shareholder, he is great for a quote when he knows he’s “off-record”.

The fitness coach he brought in seemed to have the lads buzzing, but even before that the players were in buoyant mood; laughing and joking with each other. The whole place has taken a shot in the arm. Even in the ticket office, things were more upbeat; perhaps due to the presence of Roddy “The Legend” Grant. I hasten to add it certainly had nothing to do with Mrs Malcolm being on holiday...

So what has Lomas done to transform things? Put simply, he treats every player with respect and encourages them to give their best in every session, bounce match and competitive game. From the moment Del departed, Anderson became an even better player. It is incredible to think that folk wanted him out the door. He has been instrumental in our results at Tannadice, Ibrox, Tynecastle and in the win over Hibs. Were it not for Ando, we’d have been skelped by Daniel O’Lennon’s Paisley pricks.

It seems astounding that the broken guy wandering the stands at Parkhead is the same proud tiger that protects Enckleman throughout the country. What a difference a gaffer makes. Talk of a Scotland call-up is daft, because he plays for a diddy club. If McCoist has any money, he’ll come in for Ando and Haber in January. If Lomas has any sense, he’ll plead with Wee Broonie to make money available and offer an extended deal to Ando, a deal which could see him get a richly deserved testimonial. We can save on some wages by binning Willie Gibson and Cillian Sheridan in the New Year.

I’m not going into details of either game as there is little point. The Hibs game was a shambles because of the elements. The swirling wind and heavy rain made passing (at any height) difficult to complete. Several folk stood out in the two games, but none more so than Peter Enckleman. The Finn, who had a dreadful start to the league campaign at Aberdeen, has looked like a top class keeper since the game at Fir Park. The save from Griffiths (?) was top drawer and it was cruel beyond a word that, despite getting a paw to Sanitary Towell’s shot, none of the defenders were able to get back and clear the ball.

His performance, in the worst possible conditions for a keeper, was near flawless. At Tynecastle he made several smart stops, many of them coming through a ruck of players. He thoroughly deserves to be praised. I’ve been critical of him in previous reports, but I am always delighted when a series of strong displays forces me to re-evaluate my thoughts on a player. Enckleman, for me, has now earned a buffer, whereby if he has some shabby performances, he should retain the shirt. I really wish he’d come right over to the Roseburn at the end of the game, he thoroughly deserved his moment in the sun.

Following my twitter post about Murray Davidson having the heart of a lion, Paul Smith and Stevie Lomas alluded to his mental strength in the official interview. He clearly pulled his hamstring with about 20 minutes remaining. Our brilliant physio spotted it and went to Tommy Wright who made an immediate enquiry. It came as surprise, though it shouldn’t have, when Muzz signalled that he wanted the subby delayed. Having already lost Frazer Wright, who was woeful in the first half against Hibs, but fine thereafter, we didn’t have the luxury of making subbies and Finners was clearly on his knees.

Muzz’s finishing might be on par with mine, but his bravery and commitment are to be admired and respected. I’d still have big Jamie in the squad ahead of him, but as at Aberdeen, I left the ground full of praise for Murray Davidson. What remains to be seen is how we cope if Muzz and Morris both miss out against Motherwell. I strongly suspect we’ll do rather well, Adams and Moon certainly dominated at Fir Park and that result wasn’t too shabby. As I said, for all his faults, Del has left a top six side. Don’t remember many Saints fans acknowledging that before we headed to Pittodrie.

As Lomas said, “You’d go to war with them!” His turn of phrase will persuade players to this club. That’s a talent that will stand him in good stead as almost every SPL club plunges the knife deep into the wage budget.

Couple of other points from these last two games, Callum Davidson is really getting to grips with football again. I must admit that his form disappointed me in the first quarter; I also forgot how short he is! Against Rangers, Hibs and Hearts he played some terrific football. Helped by Liam being in the best form of his Saints career, he has looked at least as good as Danny Grainger.

He might lack Danny’s long throw and excellent set-piece delivery, but his long range passing is out of this world. He hit one cross-field pass, midway through the second half yesterday, which Ginola would have been proud of. I guess it shows that we you don’t use it, you lose it. He essentially didn’t play between February and August and it takes time to recover form, confidence and touch.

The other that’s notable under Lomas is the solidarity amongst the squad. I remember questioning Del’s signings in terms of the “togetherness” of the squad. The Dundee United draw at home was a case in point; even though we should have went for the jugular in the second half, we still should have been able to see out the win from 3-2. You get the impression that had Lomas and Wright been in charge, we would have!

There has been a terrific calmness in the defence in our last three games. No panic stations, just organisation and coolness. Our defence just seem to be under less pressure and make better decisions as a result. Of course, the excellent form of Peter Enckleman is an added bonus and certainly adds to their confidence.

We have great strength in depth. May, Gartland, Adams, Parkin, Maybury, Higgins and Mannus have hardly featured this season and they are all excellent players. We have the squad to make top six, that’s beyond doubt. Frankly, less than top six will be a disappointment, assuming Sandaza stays fit and plays nicely. Europe would be great, but it would need some luck. The under 19s are now free until February so I expect Mayzo, Rikki and Scotty to perhaps go out on loan. Makes sense, even if we don’t money it keeps the boys sharp and broadens their experience.

What is undeniable is that Stevie Lomas has got off to a flyer. He’ll have some bad times and he’ll get things wrong soon enough; that’s only natural, he’s a rookie after all. If all we stick together, we’ll jump the hurdles and in unity we’ll keep the blue flag flying high!

One final, encouraging thought. Hibs brought around 700 to Perth; we took almost 150% of that figure to Tynecastle. The Lomas effect is happening before our very eyes; join the blue army for the ride of a lifetime!

SPL 14 - Rangers Away

2011-11-20T13:07:00.001-08:00

Too Many Questions

Steve Lomas was lucky to have his first scheduled cancelled. The visit of the Dons was gonna come too soon to learn the squad and, even allowing it for being his first game in charge, it was a must win fixture for a variety of reasons. It also had the vital ingredients for a Saints defeat; TV cameras, low crowd and easy opposition.

Making his managerial bow at Ibrox was not in the script, I’m sure he anticipated his first match being against Daniel Lennon’s over-rated haddies, but it was always going to be the ideal venue. In the event, he was denied the services of Graham Gartland and Cillian Sheridan (arguably rushed back too soon) for a no pressure game against the reigning champions.

The St Johnstone fans forum is plagued with folk who are easily confused by life, football and what constitutes a constitution. I rarely quote them, save to mock them, but one comment from their ranks is worth lingering on. Tranmere Saintee wrote the following words; “Mr Lomas, how dare you play 4-5-1 at Ibrox and get us a well deserved point.” I don’t know this expert, but I do wonder if bothered to attend Parkhead. For those that don’t know, Celtic are currently a better football team than Rangers. Celtic have a bigger and noisier support, which surely helps to boost their own players. The last time we played Celtic at Parkhead we played with two strikers and we won the game, taking home all three points.

So, whilst Saturday gave a great sense of euphoria, it also served to paper over some cracks in the Lomas reign. Now, don’t get me wrong, Lomas has my full support. I think he’s gonna be a good appointment, but there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that starting with Higgins or Haber, in place of Muzz, would have given us three points. Rangers were poor and that had little to do with us. They were simply off song and couldn’t lift their performance when required to do so. We grew in confidence, but we also got lucky when Jody limped off and Lomas elected to employ the right formation. Be in no doubt, a point away from home against a top side is never a disaster, but we dropped two points yesterday.

That said, a Derek McInnes side, playing that formation would have been humped. The 4-5-1 worked fairly well in spells because the support came from central areas, Murray Davidson doing his best as the forward central midfielder; but the real star of the game was Kevin Moon. His off the ball work was incredible. He’s always looked the part on the ball, but his off the ball movement, when paired with Morris, has often been below par. Yesterday, his runs, marking and movement were absolutely top drawer. If he does leave in January, he’ll prove to be irreplaceable. He only got one vote in the Man of the Match thread, but it says everything that when Jody went off, we lost nothing in midfield despite being 20% down numerically.

It staggers me that Jody can get four times the number of Man of the Match votes compared to wee Mooner. Does Craig Brown stress over his failure to sign Morris? If he gets lucky with injury, he might head South in January – Paul Lambert could do worse than sign our plucky, ball playing number 14.

Jody Morris played some great balls from midfield and played much higher up the field than was the norm under Del. With Moon taking players away from him, he seemed to have much more time than normal and he took full advantage of the space and freedom. Some things Lomas has fixed immediately. It used to be said that Sheerin never wasted a pass and Jody certainly belongs in that bracket. Whatever his standing; either in the game or at Saints, he knows how to retain a ball. The difference on Saturday is that a combination of his positional play and the mindset of our team meant that he usually had a runner to aim for. It makes all the difference, Del.

Murray Davidson completed the midfield trio and that marked his first start since that horrible game against Livi. He worked hard and gave a reasonable account of himself (if you ignore his “attempt” at goal) but he was a shadow of the player I watched at Pittodrie.

Hopefully Lomas will do a Coyle on him, and he’ll play to the Pittodrie standard on a regular basis. His commitment and personality are not in question, his talent has been seen in glimpses but there has never been a breakthrough, yet. I really hoped that Pittodrie would set him on the right course, but he was gash against Rangers, perhaps allowing the speculation to affect him. It’s bizarre that as Saints have rocketed up the table, he has vanished from the radar unnoticed. I wonder how long it’ll be before Del is forgotten?

The wide midfielders were natural picks, Craig and Millar. Both men have come in for dogs abuse from the ill-educated fans of our great club, but worked their socks off on Saturday. Not bad for guys that lack respect, fitness, skill etc...

Liam Craig is the perfect role model, these days. When he arrived he did so with a reputation as being temperamental. He showed flashes early on, often picking up needless bookings. One of the great things about the Del/Doc partnership is that discipline was pretty much in check. They sorted Liam, quick smart and he’s been near flawless ever since. He has naturally low levels of stamina, not helped by his desire to cover every blade of grass, but has worked tirelessly to improve. Funny that Sandaza, who did less running for a significantly shorter period avoided any criticism of his stamina.... Fickle feckers are Saints fans.

As for Midgie, I am intrigued to see him against Hibs. I’ve felt that he’s been off-form all year, and he had two dreadful games under Jody, but he worked well against Rangers. That said, so often he flew down the right wing and dithered before crossing. He had all the hall marks of a man that still doesn’t believe in his own ability. Hopefully, Stevie will take him aside and work on his confidence. A fully working Midgie is an asset to any non-OF SPL side. His crossing can be great, but having said that he won corner after corner and Liam hit each one beautifully. As a man that has been working on taking corners, watching Liam was like a master class for me. Mind you, I’m awful so watching Cleve and Nick McKoy is kinda like a master class....

We should all be grateful to Del and Doc for signing these two and we should be delighted that Midgie spurned Morton’s cash to play for the Saintees. They are assets and we should be grateful. If I’m right that Midgie is gonna struggle all season long, we still should support, still should encourage, still should motivate.

Spearheading things up top was the effervescent, Fran Sandaza. The John Bishop doppelganger ran hard off the ball, worked intelligently to stay onside and charged aggressively when he had the ball. His pass, late in the second half when he fed in Millar (?), was simply perfect. We’ve seen some really grand passing from Saints in the last two games, I really hope this continues. With Lomas in charge, I suspect it will.

I think you’ll also find that Fran is treated in a more robust fashion. Lomas seems to be his own man; anyone that dressed like he did on Saturday clearly doesn’t take advice. In terms of fashion, perhaps he should. In terms of football, he seems to be doing just grand so far.

The backline has come in for great praise since the final whistle blew and rightly so. There is a rare paradox to this game, for all Rangers were poor, their frontline is very good indeed. Sure, we did okay in terms of possession and yes we tried to create chances, but they were the team most likely to win. There was little skill or creativity in their play, but Jelav-Itch can finish and Lafferty knows how to bulge the onion bag. They scarcely got time on the ball, certainly in the danger areas because of the great work, started and organised by Stevie Anderson. I’ve said for years that he’s our best centre back, now that he doesn’t have the unnecessary burden of McInnes’ bullying to contend with, even the thickest fan has been forced to concede the point. Even now, long after the event, I am seething at Del for implying that Anderson needed a good partner. That was, and is, a lie and a slander against one of our best players. What makes this worse is that the childish campaign was perpetuated by the Delophiles of weareperth. Remember when he had the dicky ankle? The same mentally-afflicted individuals slated his performances. There’s little hope for folk dealing with Saints fans.

Frazer Wright is one of the most inconsistent performers to have worn the royal blue of St Johnstone. Immense at Parkhead and flawless in the home league game against Lennon’s louts, the rest of the time he’s been gash. Saturday saw him once again sparkle in the heart of defence.

He really put in a shift against the Currant Buns and those two will get plenty of time to gel unless injury strikes. If Wright can keep up that form, he will keep Cracks and Garts in the stand, if after a while he drops to anything like his Dundee United performance big Garts should be back in.

Another man who played much better than he has of late was Callum Davidson. The wee tough nut has struggles to fill Danny Grainger’s boots but played well on Saturday. I’d still swap them round, but he looked much more confident and his long pass to Liam will not be bettered all season long. He didn’t have to deal with pace, that will continue to hurt him, but he did have to play well to head off some of the Gers moves. On top of that, he’s a fine individual.

Full back Mackay, arguably cost us the game at the death. Dying on his feet, with the proud black and white armband round his left bicep, he lost all composure during a vicious St Johnstone attack and rushed a pass to feet. His facial expression and skyward stare suggested that he knew it wasn’t going to be our day from that point on. That aside, I only spotted one other howler all game, a sliced clearance which set them up for a counter late in the game. He struck the right balance between attacking and defending and that’s a big improvement we’ve seen in him. He’s keeping Maybury out on merit, there is no higher praise.

Enckleman continues to impress. I’m slowly beginning to believe in him as a goalkeeper and that belief is evident in our backline too. He made mostly routine stops, but the save from the freekick was notable for his reaction time. I’m still not convinced, but I am more than happy for him to be our first choice for the foreseeable future.

So what of Lomas? He got the shape wrong, his scarf looked ridiculous and he should have used Higgins instead of Finnigan. Apart from that, he got a point because his tactics and instruction were good; each player looked confident and organised. He was bold in making subbies; he was passionate in voice and action. I like him and whatever my philosophy and belief, I’d have taken the point pre-match.

Thanks to Lomas and Wright for the adrenaline rush at full time. It was awesome and it was shared with a great friend. If this is just the start of the learning curve, I’m gonna enjoy the ride. I’ll leave you with a quote from mainstand. Ignore the fact that he can’t spell, his message is clear, Lomas sessions are fun and high tempo...no further comment necessary:

“Watche dthe squad training today up at Stirling University. Very different from Dels days with the Friday session being at Stirling and added to that was the very relaxed approach. Loads of small sharp team games and sprints. Loads of laughs with STeve and Tommy both playing their part.

Alan Combe continued with teh goalies coaching leaving Wright taking the session, players certainly appear happy and relaxed and fir with 24 in the first team squad only Gartland was not training as he is injured.”

U19 Scottish Cup, 3rd Round - Dunfermline Away

2011-11-13T13:17:00.001-08:00

The day the ba’ burst

Alec Cleland has been in an unenviable position of late. Following the departure of former management duo, Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty, the youth coach was asked to look after the first team. Although Steve Lomas has brought Tommy Wright on board as his assistant, Alec has been working closely with the first team as he helps our new management team settle in to their roles.

Today, Alec took charge of our Under 19 players for a Scottish Cup third round tie away to Dunfermline Athletic. Saints went into the game with no striker in the starting XI. Keeper, Ally Worby returned to the goals, meaning the unfortunate Craig Reid dropped to the bench. Under 19 Scotland star, Liam Caddis, slotted in at right back whilst ever ebullient holding midfielder, Ryan Hutchison was played as a striker. Bustling midfielder, Scotty Gray, and top goal scorer, Ricky McIntosh, took turns at supporting the Geordie.

On the left flank Aiden Hendry played in an unaccustomed midfield role, with local lad, Andrew Steeves at full back; tricky winger, Craig Thomson played in front of Liam Caddis. Melrose born Kieran Stewart was the holding midfielder in front of the regular centre half partnership of Gareth Rodger and Skipper, Chris Moffat.

The pitch was a little slow, but other than that, conditions were almost ideal for the time of year. The pitch was in good condition and there was no wind to speak of. The game was prefaced with a respectful two minute silence in memory of fallen, former and active troops.

From the kick off, Saints were the brighter team and despite only having one player up front, we broke quickly and effectively. Ricky McIntosh was a constant threat, as we used Hendry to make decoy runs into the box, freeing up Ricky down the left flank. In the middle of the park, wee Scotty Gray was determined as always, fighting well despite his lack of height. A disappointing feature of Scotty’s play, especially when playing in the middle of the park, is his determination to beat all before him. He fell foul of this attribute a few times against the Pars, though in his defence, he rarely had a forward option. That said, when travelling forward, and with a pursuer at his heels, he didn’t really have the luxury of stopping to spray a pass out wide.

Former Celtic player, Ryan Hutchison, had a difficult shift up front on his own. Few things fell for him and when they did, he was invariably off-balance or out wide. He won plenty of headers and gave his all, but he really was like a fish out of water and I felt very sorry for him today. It was a big ask. If I had any control over affairs, I’d have played Scotty up front and left Hutchy in midfield.

The game should have changed when the Pars went down to ten men. Following a booking for high feet, against Ricky McIntosh, Millen was sent off for an innocuous foul. The referee had a howler of a first half, following the letter of the law in every single occasion. His second half performance was far better as he used common sense and his mouth to control the game. Better a strong word than a whistle and card.

Incredibly, the Under 19s made exactly the same mistake as the first team did against the Dons in our opening match. When we got the man advantage, we continued to try and force our way through the middle of the park. It is basic, basic football to switch the play and stretch the opposition. We signally failed to do so and, quite frankly; it’s incredible that Alec didn’t demand it. There is no excuse as the ordering off happened in the first half and that means he had 15 minutes at half time to change things.

We did eventually get joy by playing things through the middle. Hutchy setting Ricky free and the league’s top scorer made no mistake from 14 yards, lifting over the Dunfermline keeper. Despite the Pars keeper making some good stops in the first half, the lead was only just deserved, especially given the injustice of the sending off.

From that point on, the game turned against us. The Pars rallied and demonstrated a team spirit, the likes of which I’ve scarcely seen. They’re first goal should have been defended better. A ball down by the tunnel corner was poorly defended by Cads, the cross wasn’t dealt with properly; partly because players were out of position and partly because the Pars wanted it more. Cleland was seething with Liam, but as with Hutchy, he’s not and never will be a full back.

He didn’t do himself any favours today, but players need to be played in their natural position to flourish. Football is no different to any other job of work, we all perform to our best when we’re in our natural environment.

The Pars second goal was hardly a thing of beauty. Their energetic attacker was one on one with Chris Moffat, another Saints player (possibly Rodger) was also in the vicinity. The skipper should have fouled his man, but chose not to, the rest is history. The goal came with just minutes left on the clock and their “pile-up” celebration, whilst unpleasant from a Saints view, was a neutral’s dream. The referee’s injustice was undone by grit and perseverance.

Saints pressed hard from the kick off and had a couple of half chances. Steevsie let fly from 35 yards, we had the ball drop inches past the post, skiffing the net as it did so and we had two half chances from snapshots, just inside the area. Alas, it wasn’t to be and we endured another cup disappointment.

I’ve rightly praised Alec for his management philosophy this year, but today he got a few things wrong. Key amongst them was not forcing the players to stretch the game in the second half. That was ultimately what cost us the result.

The boys need to learn from the bitterness of defeat and kick on when the league starts again. They’re good enough, Alec’s good enough; they just need a wee bit of luck. I wish them all well.

Worby

Caddis-Moffat-Rodger-Steeves

Kieran

Thomson-Gray-McIntosh-Hendry

Hutch

SPL 13 St Mirren @ Home

2011-11-06T16:15:00.001-08:00

Boss’s Loss

The only silver lining to the seemingly interminable appointment of Steve Lomas, is that even the thickest of St Johnstone fans understand why I was against Jody getting the gig. It is no surprise that we comprehensively failed to perform under his “guidance” and, in the long run, it’s a relief that we didn’t fluke results against two of the worst teams in the league.

Dundee United are a team in disarray, with some reprehensible folk in charge of reprehensible players. St Mirren are a team of average neds, punching above their weight thanks to a siege mentality. Between them, they have limited us to one measly point and hee haw in the way of decent scoring chances.

The removal of Derek McInnes did nothing to clear the McDiarmid naughty step, so Messrs Adams, Garts and Cracks missed out completely. Thankfully, Steve Lomas has brought them all back into the fold and in doing so, it could be said that he stuck two fingers up at Del! The big kraut is certain to be his own man and that’s a huge relief.

On paper, you’d struggle to find too many faults with Morris’ selection, but anyone who witnessed the dirge could see from the opening minutes that we were in big trouble. I’m assured it’s coincidence that Chrissy Miller has had his worst two Saints performances during Jody’s reign, I’m not convinced. The club captain seems to be taking liberties with our club and I don’t like that. Surely his team mates have noticed the way he operates.

Chris Miller hasn’t had a good season, I have said plenty about him having a season like Liam had last time, but he was chronic on Saturday. He wasn’t helped by the debacle which developed inside him, but still....

His position doesn’t require much thought, especially when paired with Dave Mackay. Three of four times, when running without the ball, he pulled up beside an opposition player. He hardly ever took a marker out the game. He’s normally an intelligent player, but he looked thick as mince on Saturday. When he had the ball, he was timid, lacking in confidence and nervous when selecting his final ball. A friend, or indeed a captain, would have had a word, put an arm round him. Jody did neither. Nor for that matter did Dave Mackay. McCracken would have, but he was in the stand because Del doesn’t like him....

Players need a leader, a figurehead and a psychologist. The importance of having a good captain cannot be overlooked. The U19s are transformed this year and the emergence of Moffat is undoubtedly helping. Despite being a nipper, he knows when to chastise and when to praise. Jody could learn a lot from him.

Midgie was very often caught in the middle of the park, frustrating the tits off Liam and Callum who, particularly in the first half, looked to play the big switch only to find nobody on the right wing. Part of the reason why he came in, is that Mooner and Morris were following each other around the park.

The bollocks that I read on fans forums never fails to stagger me, and the latest forum myth is that Mooner and Morris can’t play together – perhaps they’re too small!! It’s utter drivel to suggest that. They are both talented players and they can both; score, tackle, run, dribble, harry, chase, mark and tackle. Jody is more comfortable in tight possession; Mooner is more attack minded and has greater accuracy in front of goal. There is no earthly reason why they can’t work together; they simply need to operate independently. Moon needs to work the space behind the front two; Morris needs to squeeze the midfield. Lomas will sort that out soon enough.

The criticism of Moon is quite unreal. There were only two good bits of passing the whole game and both from Moon. The first was a reverse pass, releasing Davison (iirc) down the left flank; the second was an exquisitely tapped ball through for Liam. The guys that should have been subbed were Morris, for tracking Moon and Midgie for being naff.

The introduction of Muzz did very little, despite his extravagant efforts. If he does go to Bristol, it’ll be intriguing to see how Saints fans sum up his career. It’s not unusual for Saints players, usually when they leave, to share some thoughts via social media sites. Recently, I have been chastised by one of our current stars for slating Muzz. I make no apologies; I see nothing in him that Adams ain’t got; difference being that Jamie can score. He must have the best scoring record of any midfielder at this club if you measure goals per minute. Let’s hope Lomas likes the cut of his jib.

On the left wing, Liam did his normal shift. Quite why scouts overlook him is beyond me. He is always in or around the box when balls are breaking free, he always runs his heart out, he rarely gets booked these days, his passing is grand, his timing is braw, his tackling is generally successful and he has a great intelligence about his play. He, more than anyone in our squad, strikes up a partnership without delay. I hope he stays around for a very long time, because decent left sided players are like hens teeth.

Behind him, Callum Davidson again showed signs of aging. The grizzly defender simply doesn’t have the pace, he once enjoyed and it’s a really hurting his game. His touch remains good, his vision is intact and his tackling is arguably better than any other left back in the league, but more and more he’s getting involved in physical battles due to a lack of pace. He simply doesn’t have the height and weight to win out in these one on ones and it’s clear that Lomas will need to start looking for a replacement. I suspect there’s regret on both sides with Danny....

Frazer Wright, a man so bad at Tannadice I compared him to Kevin Rutkiewicz, put in a decent 45 minutes against Lennon’s louts. It’s quite remarkable how an experienced professional can allow such a variation in form from one week to the next. It’s also hard to work out when he’s injured! At Tannadice, I lost count of how many times he was limping or holding his leg; I was convinced we wouldn’t see him in the second half. Against St Mirren he did much the same, but was subbed at half time with a dead leg. I wonder if he’s been carrying since the week earlier.

Mackay moved over to centre half to cover his withdrawal and was excellent again. It was the clearest indication yet that he’s no right back. Like Ando, he doesn’t have the build to be a centre half, but he has the brain, timing and touch. They are great professionals and shining examples to young Moffat and Rodger.

Indeed, Anderson, has bloomed since Bristol so kindly removed the Del factor. Now that Lomas is in charge, you will see another step up from Ando. He’ll enjoy his work much more and that will shine through in his performances. I am so excited about this new era.

One of Del’s better signings is wee Maybs and he got the second half as a replacement for Frazer Wright. A bit like last year, Maybury hasn’t been a regular pick but has still clocked up the games. I wonder if he will nudge Callum out the team, now that we are under new management. The shift he put in against St Mirren certainly showed that he’s a decent player and his fitness seems to be high.

In the sticks, Enckleman again looked impressive. He had a stupid amount of pass backs to deal with and his kicking was good all day. When the pitch got slick, he correctly turned the ball to the full backs and encouraged us to start over. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on with Tommy Wright.

Up top, Sheridan had one of his usual games so there’s nowt to write about. Fran worked hard and tried some adventurous stuff, but there was absolutely no sign of any partnership between him and Sheridan. Did I mention forum myths? Fran and Sheridan working well together is another one. Sheridan’s movement, both on and off the ball didn’t help matters. His pace didn’t seem to be present; maybe our kitman screwed up and left it on the bus!

So, it’s Aberdeen now. A look at the league table shows that things are nip and tuck from us down. A win would be a massive psychological bonus as it would give a double digit gap to the relegation spot and would give thirty years olds the chance to reminisce of Sandy Clark’s first season in charge. More importantly, it would give some of us reason to cheer the departure of DMcI.

SPL 11 - United Away

2011-10-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Emotional Flacidity

On the way to the ground we encountered two inebriated gentlemen. One was our very own celebrity jakey, Nathan Bartlett, the other was a Dundonian who clearly went for seconds when wit and humour were being handed out. He demonstrated a remarkable level of intelligence by repeatedly slurring “what’s it like to win f*ck all?” I assume from his question that he hasn’t followed Dundee United for long; otherwise he’d know the answer to his own question.

The game came amidst a backdrop of managerial upheaval. We were fortunate enough to get a serious amount of cash for Messrs McInnes and Docherty, so went into the game with Jody in charge of the team, backed up by Alec Cleland on the touchline. The Arabs have still not been able to replace Houston with Michael O’Neill and one wonders whether their crippling finances will eventually kill off the move for O’Neill. I certainly hope so, the longer Houston erodes Dundee United the happier I will be.

Much has been written about the lack of morals in Dundee. A place of inappropriate sexual encounters, alleged drug use, incorrect financial dealings and attempted sexual assault – and that’s just Tannadice!

The ground itself is like a Dundee girl. Looks quite nice from the outside and from a distance, but once you’re inside it’s a rabbit run. A dark and crumbling structure, much like the clubs business model. Much like Peter Houston’s reputation, also.

The Saints took the field using a familiar 4-4-2 and with 10 of the 11 players being correct choices. How Frazer Wright continues to fool our coaches and fans is quite beyond me. He is Kevin Rutkiewicz without the burds and the guitar. He was excellent at Parkhead but he’s been poor almost everywhere else. On Saturday, his points should be given to Ando. I’ve never seen two centre halves play so differently. Wright spent the whole game losing headers, giving away cheap fouls and causing bedlam in both penalty boxes.

Anderson, simply strolled through the game. Unshackled by the constant, childish and stinging criticism of Derek; he’s never had a better game for Saints. In the first half, Jon Daly did nothing. He won two headers against Ando and one of them he could only steer out for a Saints throw. The big skipper trudged off a broken man at half time.

In the second half, Houston swapped Valhalla and Daly and it caused chaos in our backline. Actually it didn’t, Frazer Wright’s presence caused chaos in the back line. He doesn’t get his positioning right, he doesn’t know when to foul and when to release, he didn’t win headers and he often doesn’t seem to know who he’s marking. The frustrating thing is he was awesome at Parkhead.

My opinion is in the minority, even his team mates defend him, but I can only write what I see. I will stick up for him in one aspect. He got pelters for his near own-goal, but it wasn’t the easiest of clearances. What was far worse was the resulting corner when he appeared to pick up the wrong player. Cleland and wee Tommy C had to scour the notes to see who should have picked up at the corner and that smacks of poor planning. Jody should have had it all in hand. Maybe that’s why he turned down the job....on the same day we approached Sligo Rovers!

Garts and Cracks have clearly demonstrated a much higher level of skill than Mr Wright. They should be in the team ahead of him. Jamie Adams also needs to be in the match day squad but he’s still being punished for Del’s failure against St Mirren. Hopefully the new appointment will remove such injustices.

I love our official website, it really reflects the way the club is run which in turn reflects the folk that run the club. The end of the match report simply says, “Finally, a nod of acknowledgement to Steven Anderson who was outstanding in central defence today.” A perfect summation of a heroic performance, if he was a Dundee United player he’d have been capped several times already.

Behind these two, Peter Enckleman had very little work to do. A couple of sprints from the line to intercept through balls, a stop on the angle from Valhalla and a few cross balls. United’s best chances came from a Kenneth freekick which beat the keeper but not the cross bar, and a Willy Flood panic shot. His kicking was first class and he got every cross ball decision right. It seems hard to offer praise based on such a small contribution, but it’s not his fault that Anderson was in such imperious form.

Completing the defence were regular full backs, Cup Tie and Callum Davidson. Mackay was over-committed for parts of the first half and very often he spoiled our attacks as he wasn’t in the right place to allow us to start again when an attack ran out of room. In the second half he was much more disciplined and made another good few blocks.

Callum Davidson put in his standard shift. Occasionally caught on the wrong foot he made very few errors and rarely wastes a ball. His off the ball positioning is top notch and his discipline and emotional control are second to none. You had to either laugh or cry at the end of the match when Alec was telling Callum to see the game out and keep possession, Wullie Gibson decided to take a quick free kick and over hit it by about ten feet! Callum is one of the men that could drive Saints to the top half of the SPL and I fervently hope he gets the job. I’m not gonna speculate further as I understand a decision was made on Friday with ball starting to roll on Monday.

In midfield, our acting manager started very brightly but faded very quickly. His first ten minutes were something truly special and when he lost control in the tunnel corner, his backheel was insouciance of the highest order. He still seems unable to link with Moon, which surprises me given their playing styles, but the pair looked much better than in previous games this season. He’s been whoring himself around every media outlet known to man, but I think he blotted his copybook on Saturday. We started the game with a tempo and shape which should have won the game fairly comfortably, he let the players drop their work rate and lose their shape. Perhaps he could have seen more from the dugout but he’s clearly not ready to stop playing; he’s only 32 after all. Funnily enough, that was written before his Twitter update!

Partner in crime, Kevin Moon, was simply excellent. It’s such a joy to have someone with his vision, touch, control and passing ability. Rumours constantly link him with a move away but I don’t believe we’ve lost him yet. On the evidence of Saturday’s showing, you can see why other clubs are after our wee star. I think he only lost possession on three occasions and probably received the ball more than any other player in our team. He was let down by poor movement from both his midfield colleagues and the front pair; but he still dazzled and sparkled. Mr Houston’s loss, was undoubtedly our gain.

On the right side, Midgie had an odd game. He linked well with Dave Mackay but not with anyone else! I slated his link-up with Haber last week, with the caveat that Marcus is very lazy. On Saturday he again seemed off the boil. I think he’s gonna have a season like Liam had last year; by that I mean he’ll get stuck in a rut of playing okay, but not to his best. A few moves have broken down at his feet recently and that’s not like him. The good thing about him (and Liam last year) is that he’ll works his nuts off to ensure he gives his all. They are great boys and we’re lucky to have them.

Liam, himself, had a tough game against Watson. He seemed to lose confidence as the game wore on and it wasn’t a big surprise to see Wullie Gibson enter the fray. It wouldn’t have been the subbie I’d have made, but I can understand it. Thing is, he’s always in the box when scrappy balls break loose and you simply can’t bet against him scoring. I’d have left him on and brought Caddis on for Midgie.

The top two played very well and criticism of them is unwarranted. Read my comments on him following his debut and you’ll see that he’s been lazy since the day he arrived. He’s actually far too much of a poser and not enough of a worker. That needs to be beaten out of him or he’ll end up like Collin Samuel. He’s good enough for higher leagues in England but without effort he won’t score enough SPL goals.

Sandaza’s cheating apparently only commenced on Saturday.... we’ll according to WeArePerth. I’ve written much about his attitude to cheating and I’m not surprised to read him defend his actions. He’s a cracking player and made some great runs on Saturday, but his cheating is a spoiler for me. I actually think that Tannadice is the first time he’s only dived once. The referee was right on the spot, right to book him and right to only give Watson a yellow. All in all, it was a refreshingly good performance from an SPL referee. I’ve lost all hope in them as a group, but he was proof that some good ones are floating around.

Overall, I’d have taken a point before the game. It was a poor match in terms of neither keeper being stretched. The plus points were another clean sheet and a much improved Saints support – proving that gate price has no direct link to attendance figures. Bring on the Midden....

SPL 10 ICT @ Home

2011-10-22T02:39:00.000-07:00

An Overshadowed Victory

Not often that an SPL win is a side show, but it was on Saturday.

It’s been known for a while that Del is keen to leave the club. Dundee United, Watford West Bromwich Albion and Brentford have all been tempting in recent years. In the international break, Del made it clear that he would like to take on the role of Bristol City manager. He duly went down for a chat and returned north without the job. The rumours suggested he hadn’t a chance and I posted accordingly. Then on Friday night, the Delophiles had their world turned upside down.

With commercial manager, Paul Smith, on holiday; the club bizarrely announced that permission had been granted for Derek to be “interviewed” for the vacant manager’s job. Quite why this was announced on the eve of a vital home game remains to be seen. It could have been a marketing tool, perhaps we’ll never know.

What we do know is that on Saturday night a very good fee was quickly arranged between the two clubs and Del travelled to the club for an interview. By Sunday morning it seemed that the only unresolved issue was Derek’s wages.

Monday and Tuesday saw some drama as it became clear that two key characters were split between the two candidates. Thankfully for us, the chairman wants Del and Chairmen tend to get their own way. Del will probably be unveiled later this week at Bristol City’s ground. If he isn’t, he might find that training is a bit awkward on Thursday morning. If only I could be there....

The great news is that we can now bring in a manager that doesn’t have Del’s fascination with the opposition. We can employ a manager that plays to our strengths, using sensible shapes, proper tactics and treats all players with respect and decency.

In many ways, it’s a real shame that things didn’t work out for Derek at Saints. Of course, he can boast the SFL1 title on his CV, but the accounts show the truth of that victory. In the SPL, he’s underperformed his players. Folk assure me that he learns from his mistakes but you only need to look at games against Aberdeen, Dunfermline and St Mirren (H) to see how inept he is, tactically. He won’t be missed.

Of course the speculation is all about his replacement with Jim Jeffries and Jody Morris the two names that crop up regularly. I’m not getting involved in speculation, but I will state my case for Jimmy Calderwood – excellent track record and currently unemployed. Of course he won’t get the gig, but he should. Of those that might get it, Callum Davidson would be my pick.

Turning to the game, there’s little to write about really. Inverness were very poor and we cruised, actually we crawled, to the easiest SPL win since we thrashed Hibs midweek. The gulf in class was significant; the gulf in effort was enormous. If that was typical of how Inverness play, they’ll be relegated and Dunfermline will be safe. What a thought...

The game marked the return of Murray Davidson who, in another Del debacle, replaced Kevin Moon in central midfield.

The game also saw, Cillian Sheridan pick up a hamstring strain. It’s likely that he’ll miss a couple of weeks with such an injury but Marcus Haber is a better player so nowt to fret over. Marcus impressed with his jumping and running, he disappointed with his lazy attitude – especially when applying pressure to centre halves and the goalkeeper. He needs to learn to make his own luck.

In terms of Del’s selection, Maybury and Cracks were notable absentees, Vinnie was our only defender on the bench. He reverted to Ando and Wright at centre half and Wright was bombscare stuff for large parts of the game. Callum really does have to cover his team mate far too often.

As for Inverness, they must be seen as favourites for the drop. They just didn’t seem to care at any point in the match. Any talent they possess was remarkably well hidden.

Due to external pressures, and the fact that the game was dire, the report is all but non-existant. I’ll do my media rating system this week and probably next week too. Here goes:

Enckleman – Did nothing wrong, but wasn’t worked hard at all. Only one real stop and I’m not convinced it was going in. Can’t be faulted.

Mackay – Easy afternoon. Afforded the time and space to travel all game long. Professional performance with only a few slack balls.

Anderson – Utterly dominant.

Wright – Worst performer on the pitch. Several “oh feck” moments. Davidson and Anderson had to dig him out a few holes.

C. Davidson – Struggled to get a shot away that he would have buried 10 years ago. Other than that, he was the model professional and should be our new manager. He should bring Nuts with him.

Midgie – Another curiously off-form performance. Too often showing too much caution. Didn’t link well with Haber, though perhaps that’s only natural

Moon – We’re gonna struggle to keep him. Lights up the field every week. Majestic stuff.

Morris - Good showing under no pressure

Craig – Attitude has improved yet again, this season. Key player and proved his worth with a mighty shift.

Sheridan – Jekyll and Hyde, yet again.

Sandaza – First goal was a thing of pure skill, put in modest effort throughout

Haber – Such a brilliant player, excellent use of pace, jumping and heading but oh so lazy. Made it hard for Midgie to play him in.

Gibson – Why did we sign him?

M. Davidson – We know now that he wasn’t ready to return. Showed he’s lost none of his bravery and commitment. Fitting that he played in what looks like Del’s last match in charge.

Del – Decent shape, reasonable selection (shoulda been anyone bar Wright). Hard to find fault despite the weak opposition.

SPL 9 - Killie Away

2011-10-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Scrappy’ll Do!

On a dreich day, at a sodden venue, Saints did just enough to ensure a victory against a mediocre Kilmarnock side, struggling without their big stars of last season. Conditions were nasty underfoot and the pitch took a fair bit of abuse throughout the 90 minutes. Adding to the hassle, the road down wasn’t great, with at least one Saints player have a moment on the dual carriageway. Acht well, who cares? We won and we’re going into the international break with a decent points haul and with big players nearing a return to full fitness. Life is pretty sweet for Saints fans right now.

With the young lads playing Celtic at Lennoxtown in a 1300 kick off, it was an early start for your author. As I travelled through the rains, I did wonder if either game would get going, but I’m pleased to say that both were completed, despite the inclement weather. The pitch at Lennoxtown, undoubtedly put Rugby Park to shame. In the end, our kids were turned over 3-1 but the first half showing was a highly pleasing affair for those with Saints at heart. Alec is doing a grand job and his tactics, shape and instructions were all good. Bright signs in tough economic times.

Heading into Rugby Park, late and rattled, it was little surprise to hear Callum Davidson listed as a starter. What was odd, was the lack of Cracks. At the time, it seemed natural that he had been posted missing due to injury, but Del implied that he had simply been dropped. Now, nobody can work the media as well as Derek; and it may be that he’s keen to disguise the severity of Cracks injury, if not, he made a huge mistake.

I have absolutely no problem with playing a back four of Maybury-Mackay-Anderson-Davidson; it’s one of the strongest permutations we have. What I have a problem with, is Vinnie being on the bench ahead of Cracks. We needed experience yesterday.

Vinnie is a young lad with plenty of potential. When he has a good game, it’s a blinder. But he has almost no first team experience at this level and should we have needed to replace a centre-half, on that pitch, with heavy rain, it simply wouldn’t have been wise to bring Mark on. If Cracks wasn’t fit enough for the bench, Del should have swallowed his pride and put Jamie Adams in.

In the event, the back four all managed the full game, but it was another big gamble on a day when it wasn’t necessary to do so. Actually, whilst we’re on the subject of Cracks, did anyone else notice the pert bum on the kiosk lassie?

Aside from defensive cover, Del got the right side of midfield badly wrong. He hasn’t given any reasonable explanation for dropping Chris Millar, but drop him he did. Into his place came the infuriating and enigmatic, David Robertson. I used stronger terminology during the game and perhaps I was harsh, but boy is he a frustrating player! He’s certainly not a wide player. The game passed him by and we really looked forlorn whenever the ball came to him. Jody doesn’t seem to trust him and too often that forced the ball to the left when the right was a better option.

He spent most of the game chasing a runner who’d been given a massive head start and he ended the game being replaced by Wullie Gibson. I guess that says it all. I remain convinced that he is a talented football player, his goal record tells us that he knows how to position himself when in the middle of the park, but he simply won’t get that role at Saints. I praised his capture, I defended his performances, but I’m out of patience with him now. Hands up, I was wrong. David Robertson is not a good signing.

Two other guys on the receiving end of my flak this year are Peter Enckleman and Cillian Sheridan, both of who are starting to show better. Peter didn’t have a great game against Hibs, I still think he should have got something on the Sproule shot; although he was blunder free which is probably the first time since St Mirren away. At Killie, in awful conditions for a keeper, he was top drawer.

He’s a pretty complex individual and one wonders if the arrival of Mannus has spurred him to raise his game. If not, perhaps the pleasure of retaining his jersey against the competition of Mannus has boosted his famously low confidence. Either way, he commands his box much better this season, he’s a little more vocal and he’s pulling off some really good saves. His kicking is much better too; confident, aggressive and accurate.

When the weather was at its worst he correctly elected to roll the ball to the full backs and when under stress he cleared the balls long. He knows when to rush and when to be patient; that’s always been a strong suit, hasn’t it Anthony? There is no doubt about it; he deserves to be number one at present. If, as I suspect, Mannus is the better keeper, he’ll have to wait on a run of poor games from Enckleman. That game should buy him a few breaks.

Now for the contentious bit! Sheridan played well against Hibs, genuinely did what he should. However, against Killie, we saw both sides of Mr Sheridan. In the first half, he was really good. Yes, I know he had some really clumsy touches and broke down at least two good attacks, but the pitch was tricky and nobody went 45 minutes without a mis-placed pass. However, in the second half he just went through the motions. He scarcely looked interested in the game and certainly didn’t attain the required levels of effort. Yet, when an over-hit pass was sent in his general direction, he suddenly showed the pace we all know he has and finished in real style. This after being offside on at least FIVE occasions in the second half through sheer stupidity.

Remember, this is the player that destroyed Bamba for pace on a Wednesday, yet couldn’t keep up with him the very next Saturday. He obviously has mental issues which affect his performance, if Del can press the right buttons; we’ll enjoy having Sheridan here, if he doesn’t these 135 minutes will be a flash in the pan. I’m genuinely intrigued to see how this pans out; the player must know he’s running out of chances, yet he still swaggers around with the insouciance of Swankie. He’s not that good and never will be. Hats off to him for the goal, but in my mind, he hasn’t done enough to warrant his protected start. Interesting to hear him making noises about playing for Sofia....

His strike partner, Francisco Sandaza, is about as marmite as a player can be. His behaviour on the pitch is reprehensible. Any Saints fan that wants O’Connor banned for his cunning stunt, should be vocal in condemning Senor Sandaza for his outrageous dive against Killie. We’ve seen him cheating on several occasions to date, but jumping to the ground in order to have a man sent off is despicable behaviour. I have stood in the stand and brandished a red card as Medhi Taouil for bringing the sport into disrepute, I feel liking doing the same with our goal scoring Spaniard.

He played very well on Saturday, his link play was excellent, his running was good, he moved into great areas and carried the ball well; most importantly, he scored a lovely goal. Yet despite it all, I left the park feeling aggrieved by the manner in which he played the game. What a shame that such a prodigious talent has been devalued by such a poor attitude towards the game and his employers. In line with my fair and balanced reporting, it’s only right that I praise Derek McInnes for his handling of the front man.

I’m not gonna waste time with player ratings, because the game was played with a strong element of farce to it given the underfoot conditions. The one other guy that does need to be focused on is Ian Brines. Kilmarnock’s goal came from a corner kick award which seemed to be a throw-in. Because the BBC simply don’t care about reporting the match in an accurate fashion (Al Lamont actually slagged off Enckleman for spilling one cross, he also wrongly said that Enckleman hadn’t covered the shot which rattled the crossbar) the action replay is chopped short, so I can’t be sure. What we can be sure of, is that Ian Brines is a poor referee. From the time I left the house at 1130, it was obvious that referees would have to show leniency with sliding tackles, Brines decided against such action and booked Anderson for a nothing foul in the middle of nowhere. Almost immediately, and wrongly, he then booked a Kilmarnock player for a nothing foul. I know that physics is a boring subject, but the laws of motion are crucial to being a decent referee. On at least two occasions, he blocked Frank from coming on, despite clear head knocks; Jody ended up with glue on his bonce.

I know the job’s hard, such as Sandaza and O’Connor make it harder still, but we pay top rate money for mediocre officials. He didn’t spoil the game, the weather did that; he has spoiled games previously and will wreck a few more before he’s put out to the garden. Whilst we must suffer the TV cameras, we should use their evidence to control referees wages. Perhaps they should be paid according to performance....

Anyhow, that’s yer lot from the first team until 15 October. There is a Sunday game, and we can’t blame TV for it being a Sunday, when Saints U19s meet Spartans in the Scottish Youth Cup at McDiarmid. The game is on Sunday, 9 October and kicks off at 1300. Fans will be accommodated in the Main Stand and I’d encourage as many as possible to go and watch Alec Cleland’s troops in action. They are playing great football and Alec is working well with the boys. Many of them will be getting their first taste of playing in the main stadium and it would be nice to get a decent crowd. Being a good old fashioned hypocrite, I’m working that day at Knockhill so you’ll have to rely on the official site for a wee match report.

Adieu the noo

SPL 8 - Hibs Away

2011-10-02T07:57:00.001-07:00

Defeated and Cheated

Our strong record against Hibs came to a frustrating halt at Easter Road in midweek. The game was sealed by a blatant dive by Mr G O’Connor Esquire; who converted the subsequent spot kick awarded by the incompetent referee.

The fury displayed by our club captain, Jody Morris, was a perfect cameo of my feelings towards Grade One referees. These men earn more in a year than many senior professional players earn in two or three seasons. It’s disgusting that can under-perform to such a level and survive in position. The game is all but dead and the men in black are amongst those to inflict fatal wounds on our national game.

The SPL are the main villains of the crime and it’s entirely their fault that this fixture was played mid-week at 1945. Hibs, another club with no money in the bank, decided to raise funds by playing a friendly instead of playing us. The SPL encouraged this outrageous behaviour in order to appease two Glasgow clubs who have a broadly bigoted fan-base and who allow inflammatory tunes to be heard within their dilapidated stadia. The can do as they please because the SPL are the puppets of the Old Firm.

Derek McInnes rightly stated, “We’ve sold our soul to the television” and he is spot on. When Setanta went down the swanny, we had a golden opportunity to show foresight and turn our backs on TV. We could have played the games at sensible times and ensure that Season Ticket holders were looked after. Regrettably, those in charge are mostly failed businessmen and they followed the quick-buck, knowing that many clubs faced immediate extinction without the telly money. The net result is that clubs such as Kilmarnock, Hearts and Dundee United continue to cheat their way through the league campaign. Such clubs, fraudulently claim glory, when in fact they are bankrupt in all but name.

Such is the level of poverty in these hideous clubs, Hibernian FC ran out of adult tickets on Wednesday night. I have no reason to disbelieve them. Rumours that the club were fiddling HMRC are quite unfounded. Surely a successful club like Hibs won’t be short of cash; after all, they just opened a lovely new stand to accommodate all their loyal fans. Anyway, Hibs would surely not be stupid enough to fiddle HMRC in such a public way.

One financial irregularity that does need to be investigated is the charge of the catering kiosks in Easter Road. It might not be criminal activity but it is immoral and I’m sure Hibs wouldn’t care to be seen as other than a family club.

Their immorality was a talking point on the radio station as John “proud o’ ma bhoysh” Hughes explained that he had taken some money to keep quiet about his dismissal. Sadly, the BBC failed to address the immorality of O’Connor when he cheated to win the game. Liam McLeod actually had the stupidity to use the word “felled” in his commentary. We don’t expect much of the BBC broadcasters, but you might feel aggrieved that they don’t understand the meaning of certain words. For information, @liammcleod79, the definition of felled is, “to cause to fall by striking; cut or knock down”. What a tube, a spineless tube too. These sorts have no dignity, no morals and no place in the commentary team of a national broadcaster.

I won’t wait on an apology, but David McCracken deserves several; firstly from the SPL for allowing an incompetent referee to take charge of the game, one from the incompetent referee for being fooled by a man of O’Connor’s capacity, one from O’Connor for behaving like Fran Sandaza and one from Liam McLeod for using the word felled. Wonder how many he got?

If it sounds like I’m hung-up on this penalty incident, it’s because I am. I am utterly convinced it cost us three points. Here’s my take on the game.

Saints entered the field of play with Jody Morris restored to midfield at the expense of Willie Gibson. The team was otherwise unchanged from Sunday’s encounter with Hearts. The skipper’s inclusion meant that Midgie was wide right, Craig wide left and Mooner was the captain’s foil in the middle.

The backline was the focus of fans ire, post match, Dave Mackay getting accused of turning in a sub-standard performance by many internet experts. As someone that is far from impressed by Dave Mackay’s ability to play full-back, you might think I’d be pleased by the criticism, but I was not. The fact is, Dave Mackay played as well as he normally does, his performance did not fluctuate. He was up against a better winger than normal and Midgie was less supportive than he would be in an Old Firm game – that’s all. Anyway, with Callum Davidson injured, we need Maybury at left back meaning that we have no real cover at right back. Shame we released Irvine, really.

His lack of pace isn’t a big problem this year because he’s being more careful with his journeys up field. In addition to that, Midgie is more aware of the need to fall in behind than in previous seasons. His lack of crossing skill wasn’t a problem when he crossed for Fran, because Liam finished it anyway. In my eyes, he is a far better right back this season that when he arrived. I’d still have Irvine in the team ahead of him, because Irvine was a special talent, but Mackay is not the weak link he used to be. The finger pointing is crass, as ever.

His opposite number, Alan Maybury, had an easy night because he was up against Leigh Griffiths. It really is priceless to think that Saints fans wanted him. Funnier still is listening to fans of Derek McInnes slag of the fans that wanted Griffiths; after all McInnes doesn’t rate him, does he? Maybury had so much free time that he was able to come into the middle and help out the recovering Cracks and the god that is Steven Anderson. He put in a couple of nice tackles and if he’s dropped for the game against Killie, it will be beyond harsh.

I mentioned that Cracks is far from fit, but he still put in a fine shift. He was caught too high up the pitch when the second goal was created, leaving Anderson with two players to contend with. Other than that, he didn’t do much wrong and he must have struggled with himself not to plant a bunch of fives on the Leith Diver. He was withdrawn ten minutes from time and I assume this was to protect him and allow him to play against Killie if needed. That said, it looks a given that Davidson will be brought back into the fold to the Ayrshire trip.

Ando partnered Cracks and on paper you’d not believe such a strong backline could lose three goals. Ando has shown immense professionalism in recent times and has steadfastly refused to let McInnes affect his performances. He was terrific on Wednesday and certainly shouldn’t have been on the losing side. Their first goal was a slick passing thing of beauty until it bobbled at the feet of Sproule. No defender could have coped with the passing movement of the Hibs attackers and Ando did exactly the right thing to get on the line and try to help Enckleman. Unfortunately, Sproule’s shot between the keeper and skelped the back of the net with aplomb.

For the second, Cracks was caught high up the field and Ando was left with two men. O’Connor had momentum and jinked past Anderson who was caught in two minds. From then it was easy for the big front man. The third was a blatant piece of cheating to win a penalty. Put simply, there was nothing Anderson could do to prevent this defeat. He should play against Killie, but after that Del could well squeeze him back out of the team.

In midfield, Midgie again looked out of sorts. The recent injury and a new arrival are probably all playing a part in his blunted form. That said, he’s the only real candidate for the right midfield berth and remains worthy of his starting jersey. You always know that you’ll get maximum effort for the duration of the game with Midgie and even when he was put to full back, following Cracks withdrawal, he just worked away quietly without complaint. He has the right attitude, the right idea – he’s a credit to the club and an example to our youngsters. Cads should learn from Chris Millar’s approach and application. Talent is not enough.

Speaking of talent, Kevin Moon had an off-night. Perhaps he was slightly too far up the pitch, perhaps he simply isn’t sharp yet; whatever the case, he didn’t create enough for my liking and that’s a shame. I am in no doubt that he’s the best player we have at the club and there is not a shred of doubt that had he followed the immoral money at Tannadice, he’d be in the Scotland squad right now. If he’s looking for a club in December, I sincerely hope he chooses Aberdeen over Dundee United. There has to be a real risk that he’ll end up at Rangers and that would really hurt.

What also hurt was the kick in the coupon he received after 30 minutes. Plenty of blood and saliva flowed and the Perthshire physicians had to work hard to stem the flow. Kevin’s natural enthusiasm to return to the game, saw referee Conroy send him back to the dressing for further tidying up. It is typical of Mooner that he returned and never shirked a tackle or a high ball all game. He’s such a gem.

Partnering him in the midfield was club captain, Jody Morris. Many onlookers expected Jody’s return to be delayed until after the international break, but with great physios at Perth, we got him back two games earlier. Amazing what a difference a physio makes! He didn’t have the best of games, partly because he doesn’t work well with Mooner and partly because the game wasn’t played in midfield. Still, it was good to see him fit and available; his determination and passion are welcome attributes in any game. Of course his inclusion allowed Del to keep Jamie Adams on the naughty step.

The final of the midfield quartet was Liam Craig. The ginge has been asked to play in a variety of positions this year and is really starting to become a utility player in the squad. He scored our first goal and it was a great finish, one that should win goal of month actually. Not only was he distracted by Sandaza’s attempt to hit the ball with his mullet, he also had a Hibs player trying to get sexual with him. It was a remarkable goal; perfectly weighted, perfectly directed, perfectly timed.

He played well enough throughout the ninety but kinda drifted away when asked to play full back, especially as Wullie Gibson was in front of him. I made some vitriolic remarks about Mr Gibson when we were first linked with him and I was wrong to do so. He is not really any worse than Cleveland Taylor or JMW but he is certainly far worse than Gavin Swankie, Fil Morais and Novikovas. If I were given Del’s job, signing Swankie would be my first job.

It is denied by most, but you do have to wonder if Del and Doc are unable to deal with the psychology of wingers. Many on the list have played well before and after Saints, but Del made them look poor during their tenure at McDiarmid. Maybe it’s because none of them were Glaswegians! I joke, of course, but Del’s reputation for favouring Glasgow players has now reached other clubs.

One Glasgow based player who Del clearly doesn’t favour is Marcus Haber. The big Canadian, who warmed up for most of the second half, clapped his hands in sheer frustration when McInnes brought on spindly David Robertson when the score was 3-1. As substitutions go, that was a belter, Del!

The game was stretched beyond belief and Sandaza is not quick by anyone’s standards. I’d have hooked him and brought on Marcus. That may surprise some folk, but credit due to Cillian Sheridan. He’s been rank rotten since his arrival, but he actually played well on Wednesday night. Not great, not enough to forgive him the dross, not enough to justify signing him, but he played well. His goal was a cracker and if continues to play like that he’ll deserve a start.

Sandaza worked away well and kept the centre halves busy. He had one terrific shot on goal but from the distance he hit it, Stack had time to curl it round the post.

All things considered, it was a poor result but a fine performance. If we play like that in the remaining games, we’ll get in about the top six. I still predict we’ll fall short because Del will have plenty mistakes in store for us. I live in hope that one day the penny will drop....

An Open Letter

2011-09-26T12:27:00.001-07:00

Dear Derek

We’ve never really been close, but these last few months have been particularly difficult. Though our motives are shared, our methodology has never been further apart.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever reach a level of mutual respect, but I’d like you to consider your tactics over this season:

Aberdeen – You started 4-5-1 and let Aberdeen get comfy. Any chance of attacking in the second half, when you changed to 4-4-2, was killed by Enckleman getting the jitters. You admitted the 4-5-1 was wrong.

Rangers – You were missing Liam Craig and Chris Millar and the team struggled without them. Murray Davidson and David Robertson let you down badly. Despite this, we matched Rangers until Ando gifted them the first and they really struggled to their win.

Dunfermline – You blew it by playing a 4-3-3. We didn’t deserve to lose, but we didn’t do enough to win. The players didn’t move with their usual fluidity, the shape was as unbalanced as it was unnatural.

Celtic – You played 4-4-2 and brilliantly held your nerve, even after we took the lead. You were near perfect.

Livingston – A real lack of shape to the team using the 4-3-3. When Gibson gave up the ghost we really struggled against part-timers.

Dundee United – Excellent starting eleven in a 4-4-2. Game was going well until Sheridan tired. You refused to remove the loan signing and we lost as a direct result of you not changing a winning side. We played very well

St Mirren – I wasn’t at the game but a point away from home is never a disaster. 4-4-2 was the system.

Motherwell – 4-4-2 and a comfortable win.

St Mirren – Diamond formation, utterly humped.

Hearts – Back to 4-4-2, back to winning ways.

You’ll remember calling me an idiot for insisting that 4-4-2 is the only way to the play game; I’d argue that you’ve proved me right. We’ve beaten Celtic, Hearts and Motherwell using the 4-4-2. We should have beaten Dundee United using it, took a point from Paisley using it and we ran Rangers tight using it.

Playing your silly formations, we struggled past Livingston, drew with Aberdeen and lost to St Mirren and Dunfermline.

Football is a simple game. Willie Ormond’s team were present for the Hearts game. They’ll tell you that they never discussed tactics or shape, they just played the same formation every week. You’ll argue that time shave changed, your results prove they haven’t.

I’m begging you now; please play 4-4-2 in every game. Take the focus away from the opposition and play to our strengths. You have once again assembled a top six side, don’t let them down with silly tactics. They deserve better.

Yours in sport,

Gordon