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The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread


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It's amazing to think since Jack Ross had a chat with that fan in the main stand after the QotS pumping, we have only lost 1 home league match since then.

He has done an incredible job, ironically the Falkirk fans are going to see just how good a job he has done because Hartley is facing the same problems leading up to the transfer window, although Brechin look a safe bet for the bottom spot.

 

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As we approach the busy festive season I thought it worthwhile to give you all an update on happenings in and around the club.

Womens Football

One of the points that was raised at nearly all of the Supporters meeting prior to our takeover was the desire to see the creation of a St Mirren Women's football team. I am delighted that we have taken the first steps towards achieving that goal and I believe we have the people with the qualifications and drive in place to ensure it is a success.

Tony Fitzpatrick has been in communication with the girls for a long time with the view to forming a Women's team and SMiSA’s recent involvement allowed us to gain the momentum required to get it off the ground.

Trials for players interested in joining the new team are being held at Renfrew High School 4G pitch on Thursday 30th November. Players should aim to be there for 19.15, 19.30 start.

Buddievision

One of the reasons for creating a full time head of media post last year was to provide regular website updates on things that were happening in and around the club. James has helped achieve that with an enthusiasm and commitment that sees him working many unsociable hours to get content up and online for fans all over the world to enjoy.

The website has continued to evolve and it’s been great to see the e-store taking off with tremendous sales of replica kit, books and corporate hospitality being recorded since it’s launch.

We are now ready to make further improvements and James has been tasked with launching the next stage of that digital revolution with the imminent launch of our new "Buddievision" platform which is currently free to air prior to an official launch on 8th December.

With the help of of Invest in Renfrewshire’s Graduate Internship Initiative we are in the process of recruiting an individual to assist James in making this a success and giving Saints fans new insights into everyday events at the club and “behind the scenes” access.

We have tried to keep subscriptions at an affordable level (£4.99 per month and £49.99 per year) and you can trust that the subs will be used directly for funding additional resources and technologies to provide the best possible service to our supporters.

Supporters Liaison Officers

We are still at a very early stage in the development of the Supporters Liaison Officers at St.Mirren but I am certain we have two very committed and forward thinking supporters in place who will help to nurture a positive relationship between the club and our fans.

It is difficult at times to balance the wishes of the supporters with the needs of the football club and, as I have said on previous occasions, sometimes difficult decisions have to be made for the good of the club even if they are not popular. There are usually plenty of factors to consider which are not always obvious for those not involved in the day to day operations of the football club.

Banner versus Morton

The situation with the banner at the Morton game was a good example of trying to get the balance right.

The banner was reported in the independent SPFL delegates match report under the heading “Discriminatory behaviour-sectarian, racial, abusive behaviour”.

It is unlikely that we will receive any punishment from the SPFL for this given we have no history of similar indiscretions in previous reports, but we have to take action to mitigate the chances of a recurrence and the likelihood of us incurring fines which would have an obvious adverse affect on club.

We have also worked hard with Police Scotland to allow us to have all our home games police free with the exception of the derby match. This healthy relationship with the Police comes as a result of historic good behaviour in the stands and represents a substantial cost saving to us over the course of a season.

The banner in question led to some awkward questions in our discussions about maintaining this police free environment going forward.

We discussed how best to handle this at our monthly SLO meeting and agreed it was best for the SLOs to engage directly with the singing section involved and to keep the issue as low key as possible.

There was a bit of confusion and outrage on social media as this dialogue took place which was a little unfortunate but I hope the 2 month withdrawal of the banners was a reasonable outcome in the end and all parties now appreciate why action was taken.

As a result of our positive actions in tackling the issue we have been allowed to retain our Police free status at the 2021 stadium.

Everyone at the club can see the benefit and added atmosphere created by the singing section both home and away and we all appreciate the time, money and energy that has gone into evolving this. We want to see this continue to grow as it genuinely makes a big difference to the team.

Street Stuff

I recently attended the ROCCO awards where our Street Stuff program won yet another award as “Community champions”. To date Street Stuff has won just short of 20 awards both locally and nationally!

The tangible results achieved in the community by this program continues to astound me and we should all be proud of our football club being part of it in partnership with Renfrewshire Council. It is of no surprise to me that it forms one of the cornerstones of the towns bid to be 2021 City of Culture.

SMiSA

We continue to develop our relationship with SMiSA in working towards creating a sustainable and successful supporter owned club. Every bump along the way makes us stronger as it helps both sides have a better understanding of how decisions affect the other organisation.

In the last £2 SMiSA quarterly spend one of the items proposed was the purchase of new balls for the first team training. This created some negative feedback.

At first glance I can understand the view that this is something the club should fund but again there is slightly more to it than meets the eye and in future we will explain things better before the vote is put to the supporters.

The first team have plenty of balls to train with and this is of course part of our budget, however, the match ball manufacturer changed this year and we are given only a limited number of the new balls from the supplier. 

Jack, being the perfectionist he is, wanted to ensure that training was all conducted with the new balls to ensure total consistency with those used on match day.

These balls retail at nearly £100 each so it was actually a significant amount of money required to fulfil the managers request and something we had not budgeted for.

 Your support in favour of the proposal was greatly appreciated and whilst it’s hard to quantify the benefits you can be sure that it is Jack’s belief that these small things all matter as he works to bring the on field success we all crave.

Thank You

The festive period is always a busy (and expensive) time for everyone.

The support at Inverness on Saturday was truly sensational and I know the management and players really appreciate it.

As Chairman of your football club I’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for your continued support of the team, both financially and emotionally!

#COYS #KTF

Gordon

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34 minutes ago, Randy Giles said:

I remember the banner for the Morton game, but can't remember what it said. Can someone enlighten me? I can't even remember seeing anything remotely wrong with it.

Greenock Scum it said.

Thank goodness we didn't have a full stand version of scumopoly.

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1 hour ago, Colkitto said:

I actually laughed at the banner when I saw it.  Not saying it was right to have a banner with Greenock scum on it, but I wasn't full of rage by it

I wouldn't say there was a massive amount of wit to it, but it wasn't offensive and I can't imagine anyone getting riled by it. Also, weird distinction between the spoken and the written word. Chanting 'Are you watching Greenock scum?' would appear to be ok, by by god, don't write it down. :huh:

The lads who do these banners are doing a great job, and are part of the Great Feeling (tm) at SMP at the moment. This has clearly put the club in an awkward position, though, so I'm glad an amicable outcome has been found. 

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6 hours ago, sergie's no1 fan said:

“Discriminatory behaviour-sectarian, racial, abusive behaviour”.

Hmmm. So the SPFL want to be seen doing something about a banner against Morton but do f**k all week in week out with regards to actual sectarian singing by the Old Firm.

Absolute joke.

At least they're consistent.

A few Saints fans watch the game standing up and the stewards threaten to chuck them out on health and safety grounds.

1,600 Old Firm fans watch standing up.... no problemo!

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Anyone got any theories about what business we might be looking to do in January? 

Our biggest weakness is obviously up front, despite the heroics of Super Gav. It's limiting our team selection, as we found on Saturday. Ideally, the midfield two would be from Magennis, McGinn and McShane. The advanced 'three', including the guy playing off the striker, would be from Morgan, Smith, Hilson, and sometimes Magennis.

However, Duffy is clearly not in the reckoning, Sutton is not favoured, Stewart isn't good enough (yet). Hilson is never fit.

It's leaving us with a distinct lack of options.

So here's what I think:

Duffy and Sutton will be invited to leave. Hilson's contract won't be renewed. 

We then just need to bring in another attacking midfielder/winger and a striker.

The striker should be straightforward: Rory Loy doesn't seem to have the stomach for a second successive relegation battle. I wouldn't be totally stunned to see John Sutton go the other way on a short deal. I really don't care that he picked them over us in the summer and I think he could work really well with Reilly.

The wide player thing could be more of an issue, though becomes less important if we sign Loy and play a proper 4-4-2.

Discuss.

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1 hour ago, Coventry Saint said:

Anyone got any theories about what business we might be looking to do in January? 

Our biggest weakness is obviously up front, despite the heroics of Super Gav. It's limiting our team selection, as we found on Saturday. Ideally, the midfield two would be from Magennis, McGinn and McShane. The advanced 'three', including the guy playing off the striker, would be from Morgan, Smith, Hilson, and sometimes Magennis.

However, Duffy is clearly not in the reckoning, Sutton is not favoured, Stewart isn't good enough (yet). Hilson is never fit.

It's leaving us with a distinct lack of options.

So here's what I think:

Duffy and Sutton will be invited to leave. Hilson's contract won't be renewed. 

We then just need to bring in another attacking midfielder/winger and a striker.

The striker should be straightforward: Rory Loy doesn't seem to have the stomach for a second successive relegation battle. I wouldn't be totally stunned to see John Sutton go the other way on a short deal. I really don't care that he picked them over us in the summer and I think he could work really well with Reilly.

The wide player thing could be more of an issue, though becomes less important if we sign Loy and play a proper 4-4-2.

Discuss.

Loy does immediately spring to mind in terms of a forward. Craig Moore is obviously tearing it up in league one for Ayr as is Lewis Vaughan for Raith who I have long been impressed with and both could potentially be summer targets.

I reckon Duffy and Sutton will be gone along with Hilson too which in terms of personnel would leave us 3 forwards short. Not sure why but I can also see one of the trio of Kirkpatrick, Stewart (least likely) and the desperately unlucky Josh Todd being sent out somewhere on loan to get football.

I don't think our dealings will be too extensive. A centre-forward, a winger and perhaps another full-back as cover depending on Gary Irvine's and Stelios' status.

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20 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

Loy does immediately spring to mind in terms of a forward. Craig Moore is obviously tearing it up in league one for Ayr as is Lewis Vaughan for Raith who I have long been impressed with and both could potentially be summer targets.

I reckon Duffy and Sutton will be gone along with Hilson too which in terms of personnel would leave us 3 forwards short. Not sure why but I can also see one of the trio of Kirkpatrick, Stewart (least likely) and the desperately unlucky Josh Todd being sent out somewhere on loan to get football.

I don't think our dealings will be too extensive. A centre-forward, a winger and perhaps another full-back as cover depending on Gary Irvine's and Stelios' status.

I'd forgotten Kirkpatrick was even a thing. It's weird, I thought we were over-stocked in that area at the start of the season, but take out Hilson, Todd and Kirkpatrick (or: don't 'take them out' as much as 'allow for the fact that they never play') and we're pretty short there.

I know our defensive crisis was a bitch, but we have actually been lucky with injuries elsewhere so far. Especially once you realise that only Reilly seems to pass muster as a true striker (in the eyes of our manager).

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24 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

A lot will depend on the managerial situation. If McInnes goes to Sevco there is bound to be massive hype linking Ross to the Aberdeen job which will need to be settled one way or another before any transfer dealing is approached. Could be a turbulent few weeks ahead !!!!

Nah, we're fine: @Randy Giles said only an idiot would think that was going to happen, so we should be ok.

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I must admit I always thought Kirkpatrick would struggle at St Mirren, he was very hot and cold for us at this level. He had an excellent 6 months or so but outwith that he was mostly average.

I assume Buchanan is completely out of the frame now with Davis fit again? Unfortunate for him if so, he's more than capable at this level.

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Just now, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I must admit I always thought Kirkpatrick would struggle at St Mirren, he was very hot and cold for us at this level. He had an excellent 6 months or so but outwith that he was mostly average.

I assume Buchanan is completely out of the frame now with Davis fit again? Unfortunate for him if so, he's more than capable at this level.

Not completely out the frame yet - he's third choice as it stands. However, if and when Gary Mack comes back, he could be bumped down.

Buchanan certainly did ok - as has been pointed out ad infinitum, we have been challenging at the right end with him in the side. I think he'll remain in the squad.

 

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5 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I must admit I always thought Kirkpatrick would struggle at St Mirren, he was very hot and cold for us at this level. He had an excellent 6 months or so but outwith that he was mostly average.

I assume Buchanan is completely out of the frame now with Davis fit again? Unfortunate for him if so, he's more than capable at this level.

Nah, he'll hang about. He's been solid enough when called upon and is a strong option to have after a shake start.

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Anyone got any theories about what business we might be looking to do in January? 
Our biggest weakness is obviously up front, despite the heroics of Super Gav. It's limiting our team selection, as we found on Saturday. Ideally, the midfield two would be from Magennis, McGinn and McShane. The advanced 'three', including the guy playing off the striker, would be from Morgan, Smith, Hilson, and sometimes Magennis.
However, Duffy is clearly not in the reckoning, Sutton is not favoured, Stewart isn't good enough (yet). Hilson is never fit.
It's leaving us with a distinct lack of options.
So here's what I think:
Duffy and Sutton will be invited to leave. Hilson's contract won't be renewed. 
We then just need to bring in another attacking midfielder/winger and a striker.
The striker should be straightforward: Rory Loy doesn't seem to have the stomach for a second successive relegation battle. I wouldn't be totally stunned to see John Sutton go the other way on a short deal. I really don't care that he picked them over us in the summer and I think he could work really well with Reilly.
The wide player thing could be more of an issue, though becomes less important if we sign Loy and play a proper 4-4-2.
Discuss.


Think there must be more to the Loy situation than has been made public. It can’t be that he just can’t be arsed surely? Never struck me as that type of player last year.
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On 12/4/2017 at 10:49, Coventry Saint said:

I'd forgotten Kirkpatrick was even a thing. It's weird, I thought we were over-stocked in that area at the start of the season, but take out Hilson, Todd and Kirkpatrick (or: don't 'take them out' as much as 'allow for the fact that they never play') and we're pretty short there.

I know our defensive crisis was a bitch, but we have actually been lucky with injuries elsewhere so far. Especially once you realise that only Reilly seems to pass muster as a true striker (in the eyes of our manager).

Todd is injured but looked decent when he got his chance unlike Kirkpatrick who always looks terrified. Todd to stay. I think Kirkpatrick has serious confidence issues and is really not much use to us. Agree about Hilson, Duffy and Sutton. The Loy of last May would be a great signing but maybe not the current one. Rumour has it Austin may be shipped out from Falkirk so he may be an option. Could probably do with another striker as well as we are still short.

With Gary returning to fitness then Buchanan would drop to fourth choice but he has been good for us and I can see us keeping him for now. Would take Lewis Vaughan but no idea what his contract situation is as I reckon we need another strong midfielder as we are a bit short in there if McGinn or McShane get injured.

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