Widge

Is it? Have you seen how bad we are….. In all seriousness that’s good of saints actually and will hopefully make a difference to an otherwise barren midweek game against County!

Offft this ones a belter of a statement.

First time posting on the match and I'll keep it short and sweet. Killie and McInnes were everything saints were 7/8 years ago when we were at our most dangerous. Solid, well organised and carrying quality out wide in the right areas. It's not rocket science this league, be combative front to back, win the second balls and give it to the players who can create, all of which Killie did very impressively in tricky conditions. Saints made it easy truth be told, but you can only beat what's in front of you and fair play to Killie, no complaints with the result at all. I assume Killie make it into Europe and I think from what I've seen this season and knowing how pragmatic the manager is you could do pretty well assuming the key players are retained and I'd much rather see you in the competitions from a Scottish point of view than Hibs, Aberdeen or St Mirren right now, that's for sure.

This seems to be where I am. The only out of contract players I'd be offering deals to are the younger guys like Taylor Steven and Liam parker as they can act as depth no matter what league we're in and to be honest Steven probably deserves a chance at Championship level based on his Alloa performances. As for the senior players out of contract, the only ones I'd maybe and I mean maybe consider are McGowan (as backup) and depending on his fitness Drey Wright (on the proviso that it's a massively reduced deal). Crawford, MacPherson, Considine, Gallacher, Gordon (albeit he might get one), Kane, Phillips, Booth, Brown, Carey (I'd keep if used correctly), Ballantyne, along with the loans of Richards, Jaiseymi, Robinson all leaving gives you the wages of 14 senior players. Whilst I know we need to cut the wage bill, there is some super high earners in there and that gives you scope to go after 6/7 quality additions to improve the team whilst also keeping some depth if you retain all the promising youngsters (Fran, Ferguson, Sinclair, etc.). Can supplement that with some decent youth loan players and you've got a decent squad. Do I think we'll get what we want, absolutely not as we're perpetually going around the sinkhole, but you can dream. A team with a spine of Mitov, Sprangler and Sidebeh next season isn't too bad, but we're going to need a full defence and midfield. I've got hopes that McClelland can do a job at the back, as well as Fran and Steven if they're kept in Perth. Ferguson appears to have also gotten a run of games at QotS and whilst he was out his depth at the start of the season, he's now potentially in make or break territory, same for Liam Parker. You assume Sinclair is back up keep and Wills and Hepburn go out on loan again, which I'm fine with too. For those not mentioned, it depends on who's in charge, but Stevie May still has something to offer in my mind, but if Levein is in charge getting him off the wage bill makes sense. I guess Olafunwa is kept as cheap back up, but again if we bring guys in either a loan move for him or shipping him out entirely wouldn't be a bad move. My biggest issue is how many of the current squad are you actually happy to see playing, right now maybe 3 in the ones mentioned above, with a total "meh" shrug of the shoulders over Keltjens, Matt Smith and Nicky Clark. That leaves at least 5 first team spots where we need good first team players.

Think it started before that to be honest, Dow's flick off the post that rolled along the goal line and didn't get a single touch. To be fair in that match, it genuinely could have ended about 5-4 to saints.

Nowhere he’s under contract for another year. Not that I think we’ll keep him actually but for now he’s ours.

What do you mean you wont feed me again…!

To be fair, saints usually ask and go on what the away team tell them is likely. I would imagine the goal end stand will get opened up though if the crowd is as big as anticipated, would be stupid not to for all involved.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but he's not out of contract it expires 2025.

I suspect Smith could look better in a team who actually looked to play forward thinking football or with width. Hes the only one in the squad who actively tries to move it on quickly but often he’s stifled by the fact he has nobody ahead of him. Phillips is a player I like, as others have alluded to though whilst he wins and keeps the ball, he actually dwells on it too long and I’d say he actually makes the most errors of any of our current midfielders. Hes a good player to have but he’s not irreplaceable. I hope he goes on and does well though as he’s not one you can ever say didn’t try or was shying away at any point.

Don’t need a model to know that, I’ve got eyes!

Missing this one as I’m at a wedding, I was cursing the date when the fixtures were released, not sure it’s not a blessing now!

I do have some sympathy for saints in that game, as much as we were genuinely terrible how can you get any sort of rhythm and momentum going against those tactics. Allowed by the referee, the ball was only active and on the ground for about 15 minutes of that game and we played 108 fucking minutes. Thought Adama made an impact off the bench by being physical and actually looking to turn his man, equally I felt for Smith since he should never have had to play wide right and we looked better when we switched it up. Considine is done, Robinson was awful again and the only pass marks other than Mitov were Keltjens and McGowan.

If that set of players is not playing in a 4-3-3, then I’m going to completely lose my head. I don’t mind if we lose games so long as we’re trying something different.

As mad as this is, you’re not wrong. 5 days a week saints have 2/3 wakes and get togethers after funerals in the suites. I don’t know how much it costs, but it does start to fairly add up I’m sure. As RG says, we’re not all of a sudden getting bankrolled by some multi millionaire, or at least I wouldn’t imagine so, so our budget for next year will once again be getting slashed.