Well, well, well, only three games of the new campaign gone and yet we find ourselves faced with a biggie already. Some Saints fans over on WAP are already looking out the razorblades and nooses and suggesting their season could be over should they fail to pick up three points on Saturday. Not only do they have this tie to look forward to, but they're also facing away trips to Dingwall and Palmerston in the coming weeks.

While not as big a game for Thistle, we'll be looking to maintain our decent home form and gauge ourselves against the team that many, including a fair number of the experts, predicted would win this division.

I hope McCall has learned from yesterday's tinkering and opts for the following line up:







St Johnstone look to be vulnerable to attacks down the flanks and I'm hoping, with both of them having decent crosses, that Paton and Twaddle can push forward and swing balls into the box. Even if Rowser is fit, I'd replace him with McKeown as the former hasn't looked himself this season, whereas Dosser has an equal amount of energy, is tenacious in the tackle and is more of a goal threat.

Marko's return should settle Gray, and I'd be looking to Donnelly to sustain the excellent form he's demonstrated.

I think we're most vulnerable down the right hand side. Paton looks uncomfortable when defending and I reckon he'll be in trouble if he faces an on-song Swankie or Samuel. A forward line containing any of Savo, Jackson or Peaso may also provide cause for concern.

However, if Saints choose to lump high balls up to Holmes then I reckon Robertson, Storey and Maxwell should be able to deal with it comfortably.

I can't say much about their midfield, as it seems unsettled, but Millar is always a danger. Hardie's a player I would have feared in the past, but it looks as if injury is catching up with him. I've also noted that Morris didn't impress me last season and, if he's fit, I wouldn't expect him to dominate given it would be his first start of the new league campaign.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

The saintees will be hurting just now, like a wounded animal. So get ready for the 'backlash'

Applying 1st Division logic to this results in a 2 goal win for St Johnstone. Likewise we can also expect Dunfermline to heavily lose their next game. There's not even any point in discussing tactics and formations.

There is no such thing as a form book.

Morris won't be fit. It'll be the start of next month at the earliest before we'll see any of him.

In anticipation of a gubbing, I've already taken the ultimate step of tying a length of rope around a roof beam in the garage. There it hangs. Inviting me to end this charade of a life. It might seem drastic but it's the only way I'll ever escape the macabre routine that is the fundamental essence of being a St Johnstone supporter. It's an annual tradition: Pre-season optimism is quickly replaced by a deep depression after it becomes apparent that we're still rubbish. This odious bubble of misery malingers for the rest of the season, being punctured only occasionally by 20 minutes of half-fluent football against Livingston or Clyde or someone else equally fucking useless, before we're mathematically ruled out of the stumble toward the title in early April.

I'm done with it. I long for death's embrace in the fervent hope that whatever follows doesn't involve Euan McLean.

As much as every fibre in my body is telling me not to go after seeing the biggest humping in about 4 years, of course I will go. A wee drink beforehand and all will be right in the world. At least we are used to disappointing away performances if that is what to come.

Main in goal please.

I think you've........hiccup, already had a wee drink

For about 5 hours after the traumatic hosing from the Pars I was never going to another Saints game ever,ever .In the cold light of a new day though, I resolved again to follow my beloved blues here, there and everywhere .Surely it can get no worse? Well actually it could but what the hell.
Hopefully with a bit of tinkering and a good talking to, the team will come out and surprise us at Firhill.Changes will be made and I expect Bombscare to be replaced by Main and if Del saw the game the way I did on Saturday, then Gary Irvine(Replaced by Ando) might get a seat on the bench and Rusty( replaced by fucking anyone) might get a seat on the first train out of Perth.We must defend much much better and as a unit. Big Kev needs to stop running around like a fucking madman and lead by example. If Hardie returns it will help as the midfield ,although talented , is very lightweight.We also MUST stop just howfing the ball up the park.Maybe it,s a bit radicle but how about running at defenders and playing pass and move footie on the floor ( Well I can dream can,t I ).The talent is there I,m sure, we just aint seen it yet. 4-1 to Saints and GIRUY Nizzy

I'd agree with Nizzy, Ian McCall should and probably will return to a 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 formation.

I fully expect St.Johnstone to be title chasing come April/May but Thistle will get back to their winning ways with a 3-1 victory on Saturday coming.

Have you been snorting lentils through a Jesus sandal again?

I swear to drunk i'm not God.

I'm going 3-1 Jags as well

2-1 either way

Yeah, I'd go 3-1 the Jags too, although that's maybe being kind to Saints expecting us to score. Long gone are the days of trips to FourNil for the Perth faithful.

Problems on Saturday were a general lack of fight, preventing attacks from the wide areas, not having anyone who could win the ball in midfield and as a result a lack of decent service to the strikers. I expect McInnes can rectify the first problem and would expect him to do something about the lack of a ball winner in midfield but problem two has dogged us since the start of pre-season. Problem four is solved (hopefully) if you have that ball winner and fight in midfield as it gives you more possession.

I'm in the camp that reckons Anderson should play at right back and I expect Smith to continue at left back and probably secure himself a contract as all our other options seem to have disappeared.

2-1.

Rowson to score

Heading down to this game. Should be an absolute cracker. And if not, I can console myself with 3 hours of witty banter with my deluded Saints supporting friends on the train back.

I'm not going to reply this time.

I think Thistle will win a closely contested game, if we return to the 3-5-2.

Looking forward to making the trip to Firhill, despite Saturday's shambles.
I'm fairly sure that Derek McInnes will give the players a kick up the arse, and I expect to see a newly determined Saints side at Partick.
The players now know what they must do, and how well they must play in order to take points from the best teams in the league, and Partick are probably one of the so-called 'better teams' in the first division.
Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise to have been defeated so comprehensively by Dunfermline, followed by an away trip to Firhill. Our players now know the strength of one of the teams we should be competing with at the top of the table, so we should, hopefully, rise to the occasion now against a fairly similar side in terms of quality. If we were playing Clyde or Morton or Airdrie, I would be worried. We may well have underestimated them. We will not underestimate Partick.
Tactics-wise, I don't see any reason for McInnes to revert from the 4-4-2 formation. There is no need for panic yet. Some posters on WAP are even suggesting a bizarre 4-5-1 formation, one of which includes a midfield comprising of strikers Milne and MacDonald, and winger Swankie in a central position. Never in a million years will this happen, unless Derek has gone completely bonkers.
I won't make any predictions as to personnel yet, for reasons that should hopefully become clearer in the next few days.

What did you just do Adam

Here's my effort....



Bonkerstastic......possibly one blow to the head to many

Ghost, that is mental.

Forgot to add also that I would far rather play Irvine at right-back than Anderson. I just don't really rate him. Sorry, Anderson fans.

Your as mental as me if you,d rather play Irvine than Ando based on Irvines current form.I would say he's been fucking gash so far , but thats not true.....























































more like total pure fucking gash.....I,m not saying he,s not a good player but his form really has nosedived so far

I have never seen Thistle beat St Johnstone in normal time, so if we win this I would be extremely happy. Yesterday was perhaps our best performance of the season, so if we stick to 3-5-2 and cut out the errors, we could win.

Irvine has played in every match so far this season, so I can't see why it's so bizarre why he should play again on Saturday.
It's all a matter of opinion, I suppose. I don't rate Anderson, and I prefer him as a centre back than a right back. So an Anderson who isn't even fully fit doesn't tempt me as much as continuing with Irvine there for the moment.
If McInnes picks Irvine on Saturday, which isn't exactly unlikely, will you deem him mental?

Could be a cracker hoping that saints win by 2/3 goals but saying that i can see the game going 2-1 either way.

The Second Division is alright..

Or as it's also known "The Raith Rovers Forum"....

3-1 Jags.

Wee Stevie Lennon(2) and Sid

Nah, 5-1 St. Johnstone

I'm keen to know what gives you such optimism after last Saturday.

I hope the days of Thistle completely losing it against St Johnstone are over. I also hope last weekend's hastily constructed self-destruct mechanism is left in the dressing room. Three points please.

I'll also be interested to see if the mysterious 'SPL midfielder' and 'big target man' are added to the squad by the weekend.

Not holding my breath.

You wont find any Saints side at Partick. We play in Maryhill

theyll be dancing in the streets of raith tonight.

If Main, Hardie and Anderson come in, I think we can contest this match.

If they don't, we will lose.

Barring injury, I'd say it was 99% certain that the first two will be involved. McLean (and Jackson) will only train with us on Friday so would be surprised if either starts the match, unless Jackson maybe gets amongst the goals for Ireland.

The introduction of Anderson would make us more solid at the back and Irvine can do a job in midfield as we saw against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup and away at Clyde last season. Hopefully last night's game against Ayr gave McInnes food for thought. The runaround he was given up our front three at Love Street must still be fresh in Maxwell's mind but 4-3-3 hasn't worked for us on our last two visits to Firhill, although the pitch ruined any chance of a game of football breaking out on both occasions.

McInnes got his tactics spot on against Livi on the opening day, we pressed them hard and forced them to play long to Griffiths. Thistle don't have a physical presence in attack so it has to be the same idea on Saturday, don't give them time on the ball to give Gray and Roberts the sort of service they need. That means have Millar, Hardie and at least one other player who will put himself about in the midfield. I suspect we'll find out for certain on Saturday whether our general fitness levels are below where they should be.

No idea what to expect after saturday. Hopefully it was a "bad day at the office" as previous posters had said and the obligotory kick up the backside gets them back in the groove. Hopefully hardie and main will be back. As for anderson, can only really see it happening if he replaces ruti, which is unlikelyas mccaff will be the obvious replacement if ruti is dropped. Otherwise i cant see anderson starting right back unless irvine moves into midfield, which given the lack of bit last saturday might not be a bad idea. I would go like this:
Main
anderson Mccaff James Smith
Millar Hardie Irvine Swankie
Savo Holmes

Subs: Mclean, Ruti, Craig, Samual, Jackson

I didn't mean it geographically speaking. I meant it as in, 'at Livingston, at Morton, at Queens' etc.

Then kindly refer to us as "Thistle". Thanks.

Sorry, pedant.

3-0 saints (holmes x 2 & swankie)

hopefully mcinnes will play

Main

Irvine Ruti Ando Sheerin

Miller Hardie Craig Swankie

Holmes Milne


subs: Mclean james peaso jackson weatherston


hopefully hardie willl have recovered from his virus

also i saw the left back, Smith play on saturday and all i can say about him is that he was pish

to be fair they were all pish though. He is worth another game at firhill i would suggest.


Hopefully it is the kick up the jacksie we needed and we can start to fight in midfield again. Firhill is the test we need coming off the back of a bad result and i do fancy us to nick at least a point fingers crossed.

getn the under growned tram to maryhill is it walkable distance to the stadium..

Aye. Get off at St. George's X and it's straight up Maryhill Road. Five mins max.

My plan exactly

Aye its a great away day Firhill !

As we are still treating ourselves even after Saturday as promotion chasers we have to be looking at beating Thistle on their own patch. Likewise with County and Q of the S in the next away games. If we seriously think we are promotion candidates we should be looking at 9 points from these games.

Noticed on WAP a few moaners going on about what a tough run of away games we have. In the event of us being promoted they'll no doubt be suicidal at seeing Ibrox, home game , Parkheid and Easter Road as the next four games.

Would love it myself but like Dunfermline, Dundee, Thistle and the other hopefuls we have to get out of Div 1 which means going for a win every time.

Luggy's team started slowly in 1997 but won it by 20 points. That's what we need to aim at.

2 - 1 to Saints.

Where's the best place to park near the ground dont really fancy lugging round a car seat to far!!! cheers guys

I usually park along the Garscube road towards the car showrooms. Failing that if you nick up towards where the buses park you get a good clean getaway. Thats along Panmure St. i think.

thanks

or get Nizzy to get you in a taxi

Sam, if that is the case then it hardly paints an attractive picture for the rest of the season.

What are you basing this on? Two out of the aforementioned three could be classified as "important" but they are far from indispensable.

Martin has yet to prove himself in a Saints shirt this season. He had one outstanding season and is treated like a messiah by some of our support. Milne is a crucial component but again, seasons have gone by where we have survived without him. It has been Del's aim to construct a squad that is strong enough to be able to deal with a number of injuries. If the loss of one or two players is going to destroy whatever chances we have against an average first division outfit, then he has failed to achieve his most important pre-season objective.

IMO, it is no longer possible to classify any one midfielder as so integral to our purpose that without him we would struggle to compete. Martin Hardie was that man a few seasons ago, but I haven't seen that form in him since his injury. He may still be Martin Hardie but he's not THAT Martin Hardie, not right now anyway.

Franchise Thistle.

The Saintsd website has just reminded me of last seasons games at Firhill.

The 2-2 where we ridiculously stole a point and the pish 0-0 draw. Gone are the days of the 5-1 Saints. I wish them days could make a triumphant return tomorrow.

I'll settle for the days of the 2-1 Thistle when we put a serious dent in your title aspirations. More of the same tomorrow, please.