A good 3 points won. A hard fought battle which was only sealed in the dying minutes.A great start and a great goal from Swankie. Airdrie keeper Robertson could only stand and admire it as it floated over his head and into the net.In a tight first 45 chances were few and far between with Main having to tip one over the bar and Saints looking fairly comfortable at the back but a bit off the pace up front. McKoy recieved a shock recall in place of Hardie ( I assume he was out injured as he was not on the bench)and Holmes was in for Samuels ( ??)1-0 Saints H-T.

A much brighter Saints in the Second half with the impressive Moon replacing the lacluster McKoy.Having said that, Airdrie who I thought didn,t look like scoring all afternoon shocked Saints with an equaliser from a cross after a corner had not been cleared properly in only the 3rd minute of the second period. A bullet header from Nixon left Main with no chance. Saints then upped their game and started to create some good chances with Mooner striking the foot of the post with a great strike. It was no surprise when we again took the lead with a nice goal from Savo who was left all alone in front of the Airdrie keepr with the diamonds defence all claiming off-side.The only surprise after that was that it took until the 90th minute to put the game away.Another good goal from Savo after some nice play down the right and a good low cross to the back post by Millar who was again outstanding all afternoon. All in all a great 3 points against an Airdrie side who passed the ball well and closed us down quickly at every opportunitty but who never looked like they were going to win the match.Well played Saints...

Pretty much echo that. Our first goal looked like it took a huge deflection, while at the second Airdrie were caught really square with Lovering and the centre-half both playing Milne onside six yards out. Saints' third goal was quite a nice move, although Airdrie were caught out up the park. A nice driven ball out wide to Swankie (i think), who drilled it in low for Milne to tap in.

Between the second and third Saints had one chopped off in bizarre circumstances. Robertson went up for a routine cross and hit in to his defender (by the looks of it) on the way back down. He dropped it and after a bit of confusion it ended up in the net. Just as it was crossing the line the ref decided it was a free kick, claiming Holmes had his knee up challenging. From where I was sat (pretty much right in front of it), he entirely made that up! Airdrie fans might have a different view though!

Good three points.

Pretty poor from us, never looked liked scoring other than our goal. Would love to know why Kenny Black insists on waiting so long before making a sub or changing the formation. Saints were solid if unspectacular. Should be up there challenging.

I thought we deserved to win, 1st was a big deflection. Equaliser was poor marking, our 2nd looked offside tbh & 3rd put the icing on after a good move.

Airdrie were quite poor & never looked like troubling us apart from the poorly defended goal.

10 from 12 points in this batch of games is a vast improvement from 4 out of 15 at the start. If only we'd held on at Palmerston.

saints first goal was a flukey deflection that should have been shut down much quicker

our equaliser was a well taken goal. nice header, keeper had no chance

saints second was just onside coz Lovering played him on and he finished it well in the corner. better defending should have prevented this

saints third was absolutley terrible defending. if i can remember it there were 2 saints strikers in the box and the ball just seemed to unavoidably fall to one of them who tapped it in from 2 yards

PS. who was the "you fat b*****d" remark aimed at?

bitter

I think at Robertson. Saints fans thought he feigned injury after his mistake to get a perfectly good goal chalked off.

It was aimed at Robertson because he's a chubster.

I thought it was easy to see why Airdrie have done ok so far this season. They were very hard to break down and in past seasons, I'm not sure where we'd have found a goal from. Thankfully in guys like Swankie we now have players capable of doing something and winning us games if we can keep it tight at the back. The defence isn't perfect yet but it's getting there. It's a worry that after looking comfortable enough, we started to look vulnerable when Lynch was introduced but the two centre backs were solid, as was Irvine. Craig did fine considering he isn't a left back and was up against a good player in McDougall.

Milne is looking on top form and I remember hearing suggestions around the time of the Montrose game that he'd struggle for a game this season; he's our best striker at the moment. He's far from the only guy to have impressed so far though. Swankie, as mentioned, offers a real creative threat whilst Millar's work ethic and breaks forward are great to see. Sheerin is shining alongside that pair as well. I've criticised Alan Morgan but he came on and did a good job today as well and showed great vision and accuracy to find Millar in the build up to our third.

Just really chuffed to be going into the international break with 10 points from four games and four decent peformances behind us. Not vintage stuff but more than acceptable.

why would he fake injury if he had the ball in his hands? the referee blew the whistle before the ball was in the net as well

He dropped the fucking ball, then, to try and salvage the situation, faked an injury.Ref McDonald was suitably conned and gave a free kick to Airdrie.
Also at one point a Saints player tackled an Airdrie guy and the guy went down like he'd been shot.He never realised the ref was right behind him at the time of the tackle and had seen that sod all had happened and once he did realise he suddenly stopped rolling about on the deck like a bairn.I assume Mc Donald told him to get up and get on with it.

Same old Airdrie, always cheating

I actually don't think Robertson faked an injury. He caught the ball then smashed in to his own player on the way back down from what I saw. There was certainly no foul though. Robertson hurt himself as he fell and completely lost it, as did the ref by giving the free kick!

Airdrie cheating? Never! You must have us confused with somebody else, Clyde maybe?

Maybe Clydebank

If all else fails use the Clydebank insult - OUCH

It had to be done and you knew it was coming

fair enough

Joking apart, it is your heritage.

As the song goes "and if you know your history....."

Why is your history an insult?

I don't know, maybe you should ask the people who use it is one ?

shame about hardie and samuel both being out injured

i thought the long ball up to holmes was used to often and became predictable

as for Mckoy he was shite, and whan moon came on he made a real difference in closing down

things can only get better

That's rich coming from a side that had the Stilian Petrov of the 1st division in their ranks for a few years in the form of Jason Scotland. Incidentally he was also a complete thug when his off the ball uppercut fractured Stuart Taylor's cheek early in a game against Saints a couple of years ago.

People in glass houses and all that.........

Very disappointed that the referee didn't give us the goal when Robertson went down. He dropped the ball - there was no foul. The ref seemed to hesitate for a while before giving the free kick and it seemed to most of us that he was swayed by Robertson's 'injury'.

Steve McQueen suggested earlier that Saints' second goal was perhaps off-side. I sit down at that end and I think Savo was played on-side not just by Lovering but by the central defender as well. Said central defender put the blame squarely on Lovering though. Perfectly legitimate goal though.

We seem to have steadied the ship after some horrific performances early in the season and it would be nice if we could continue a good run after the international break.

Special mention should go to Kevin Moon as I thought he really gave us a huge boost when he came on at half-time. The whole team appeared to pick up with him nipping about in the middle of the park and his shot off the post was a cracker. I'm not sure why we started with McKoy and surely McInnes won't make that mistake again. McKoy is an extremely limited player. As Radford said Savo was excellent again and Chris Millar's ball in for the third goal was perfect.

Shite crowd today though - can only hope that if we can keep building up momentum then that will improve.

Away and stop talking pish


Jason scored 33 goals in 66 games for saints.Class act son.As for hooking Taylor, I do believe it was in reaction to HIS cheating.

I don't agree with the gist of what the Airdrie guy said as Jason Scotland was a fantastic player for us and was not a diver - there are others in our squad who that accusation could be labelled at.

Hooking Taylor was unjustifiable though so I don't think we should be making excuses about reactions etc.

how many fans did we bring would you say?

maybe 150????..They were very quiet, most unlike Airdrie fans

I'd agree with Dev, there is absolutely no justification for what Scotland did to Taylor. I don't think many Saints fans saw it as we were following the ball but I was certainly prepared to take the word of the Airdrie fans on the matter and he simply lamped him one off the ball. He could also be clumsy with his elbows but he wasn't a diver and that suggestion is totally wide of the mark.

I'm not going to get too excited about Mooner's contribution as he has as much trouble as Kevin James staying fit. Andy Jackson has 78 first team appearances to his name now, Moon has managed just 10 starts since making his debut in August 2005. He's developing into a really good midfielder in spite of the injuries and you are left wondering just how good he could be by this stage if he'd not had his problems. McInnes singled him out again post-match but with Sheerin in his current form and Hardie and Morris around, he's going to need to step things up a level again to get a regular game.

I've championed McKoy's cause since seeing him as a trialist but he let himself down yesterday, albeit he was played too far up the park; he's much more comfortable in the deep area Sheerin was operating in. He's still just a young and inexperienced player but he really needs to take chances like yesterday's when they come along. If Morris is fit after the break, he might not get another shot in the first team. The vast majority of our support (i.e. those at the home matches vs Clyde and Airdrie) haven't nearly seen the best of him but if you don't get off to a good start, it becomes very hard for players, as guys like Willie McLaren found out.

i'd agree with that, the first time i saw him was against livi in the cup and he looked ten times the player he was against airdrie, he was just too high up the pitch, but if he gains some confidence he could be a decent signing

Yes Casper he was a class act and as such it's was all the more reprehensible that he went down so easily almost every time I saw him play against us. As for the act of thuggery against Taylor - that's what it was pure and simple - with no mitigating circumstances whatsoever despite you trying to defend the indefensible.

As for you attempt at acting the big man, this week I've just become a grandfather @ 58 so your son's a bit off the mark SONNY

Yeah, the Livi performance was much more what I expected after seeing him a couple of times last season, always providing an option for a pass and breaking up play. Yesterday, with Savo dropping back towards the midfield and Swankie and Millar both playing quite narrow, he was just getting in the way almost at times and he seemed reluctant to make tackles, instead just shadowing players. Not sure if it's just nerves or whatever but it's disappointing.

When have his good performances been then? Surely you're not referring to reserve games? Not having a go, I'm just curious about the "best of him" comment because I don't know when this could have occurred. I wasn't at Livi in the cup but I think I've seen the rest of his appearances and he's shown very little indeed. It's not the fault of the home support that he's not up to it.

I suppose though he's just a short term signing to pad the squad out and I doubt we'll see him after Christmas unless injuries really pile up.

Sorry, the contents of my post were already being discussed while I was typing!

As mentioned above, the Livi game was the specific example I was thinking about. I wouldn't judge his ability on the reserve matches but they do provide an indication as to what type of player he is and it's not the guy we saw yesterday in an advanced midfield position playing Kabadi with the opposition midfielders. When McInnes signed him I thought he was exactly what we needed at the time and I think he showed that at Almondvale, when he was as I expected. I thought generally he'd play in the same role Morris will fill when he returns but McInnes obviously doesn't feel that way.

As said, I think his chance has probably come and gone and he'll struggle to get an extension to his deal.

i think he is afraid to get stuck in, he has only really come back from quite a bad injury i think and the Scottish game demands your full commitment and he has been pulling out of a lot of tackles, but in the livi game he was trying extra hard to impress mcinnes but i think he will be let go at the end of the season, as i think he is behind 6 other central midfielders if the whole squad is fit (morris, hardie, miller, moon, craig, sherrin)

on the plus side to the midfield i think millar may have been just about the best signing a saints manager has made since jason scotland, and that was a while ago

Congatulations POPS.

I thank you

I don't think McKoy did too much wrong on Saturday. I actually like his style in that he is not afraid to keep possession rather than lamping it up to Holmes or row Z, a la Rustybits. I think he will take a bit to adjust to the rough and tumble style of this league but given time could develop into a right good player. He has the physique for it anyway.

The game itself, I thought we had blown it but was thankful that Airdrie scored so early in the 2nd which gave us time to asssert the dominance we had shown in the first half. I know we weren't playing the toughest team in the league but they are no mugs and our technical midfielders Millar, Swankie, Sheerin played some fantastic stuff in patches.

I get the feeling that the momentum is building and Ruti and McCaffrey just need more game time together to settle because they seem a bit at odds with each other positionally at times.

Roll on Livi. We want 7.

I don't want to rock the boat but, on Saturday he was lazy, anonymous, ineffective and generally pish poor.Thats not to say he is a bad player but if he does have any talent he's hidden it pretty well upto now.Mooner is a far better option, and this was proved beyond reasonable doubt when he replaced McKoy at half-time.He was everything McKoy was not.Energetic,conspicuous, effective and overall, excellent.Seeing as he is a Saints player, I hope I'm wrong and he turns out to be a legend but I aint gonna hold my breath

Rest assured you do not rock my boat. No doubt you were one of the guys giving him stick in his first home game for having the audacity to play a square ball to the fullback when all that was required was a traditional hit and hope into the middle of the park that may or may not retain possession.

I jest Ghostie, but seriously the sheer fucking ignorance of some of the Saints support gets on my tits sometimes.

That set the alarm bells ringing for me. Clyde, understandly defending their lead, were sitting deep so it was good to see a midfielder prepared to take the ball from the defence and show some patience... or so I thought. What baffles me is the exact same folk moan when we play a long ball or when a defender takes, in their opinion, too long on the ball looking for a pass. It's nice to know Franco Baresi and Franz Beckenbauer watch Saints every week though.

Livingston are a very patient team, un-Scottish almost and I suspect that's why McKoy looked decent that night. Both Clyde and Airdrie are sides that by their own admission maybe don't have the same quality of player as some other sides in the league but make up for it with graft and fight. Shame on McKoy for not adapting to this Scottish style of playing within two matches!

You have to remember though FS, a section of the Saints support didn't like Jason Scotland because all he did was score goals!

Just because the guy doesn't have the ability or confidence to look for a pass of more than 2 yards does not make him a 'cultured' footballer! I like Sheerin playing deep and taking the ball from the back line, dictating the play and think he does it possibly as well as anyone in this division so the theory that the anti-McKoy supporters just want to see it humped up to Holmes is nil and void as far as I'm concerned. He looked completely lost and like he'd won a radio phone in competition for a place in our starting line up. He was marking up Airdrie players at our throw ins and made no attempt to offer himself up for a pass at any time. He maybe was playing a little further up the park than he's used to but come on, if the guy's going to take a wage for being a professional footballer then he should at least be able to do some of the basics. The reason McInnes played him was to replace the physical presence missing due to Martin Hardie's absence. The harsh reality is that little Kevin Moon has more physical presence than McKoy and looks to make space for himself and take the ball at every opportunity. I really can't believe anyone thinks the guy has any potential. If he ends up doing a decent job and being a half decent player I will be the first on here to apologise but I really can't see it.

see what he does if he gets another chance then everybody can slate him

but he is still not match fit

You are right, he may or may not turn into a half decent player. Its almost irrelevant though, we as a support are consistently over-expectant.

I remember Sheerin (I was one of the biggest culprits) getting slated and Hardie got it tight for several months before they settled in and the rest of the team knew how to maximise their strengths and play off it.

All i'm saying is to give the guy pelters (even booing him!) after what, his 3rd start? That embarassing.

[quote name='Fife Saint' date='Oct 7 2008, 18:29' post='2830999']
You are right, he may or may not turn into a half decent player. Its almost irrelevant though, we as a support are consistently over-expectant.

I remember Sheerin (I was one of the biggest culprits) getting slated and Hardie got it tight for several months before they settled in and the rest of the team knew how to maximise their strengths and play off it.

All i'm saying is to give the guy pelters (even booing him!) after what, his 3rd start? That embarassing.
[/quot

No matter who you are if you dont put in a stevie g performance you'll get booed at mcd

I can't say I heard any booing to be honest. Around me it was mainly people commenting to each other and chuckling at his attempts which whilst maybe harsh in some people's eyes, is not going to be something he is aware of in the slightest.

Not saying you were accusing me but I've never boo'd any player whilst playing for saints as I don't think it helps in the slightest.

Simple fact - Nick McKoy has been guff in his home performances thus far. I don't know why Saints fans are on this thread slagging the McDiarmid faithful for posting their opinion on that on internet forums. He was given as much support as could be expected in his time on the park - I didn't hear anyone booing McKoy or even anyone loudly berating him and the team were clapped off at half-time.

Hardie and Sheerin were completely different - they were clearly not short-term fill-a-jersey signings and they had a decent level of success at their previous clubs.

Every word Baiggers has said was spot on.

I'm not accusing anyone on here but even if i was it would be irrelevant. There were definitely boo's, and the Mcdiarmid faithful should not be exempt from being accused of being miserable in the same way that any other clubs support is open to criticism.

If you rewind to either Sheerin or Hardies first few games there is no way that you could call them stick-ons for a jersey because to be frank they were disappointing. They are now integral to the dynamics of the team but when they first came they were poor.

I don't think he has been guff, admittedly he hasn't set the heather on fire, but you could say that about most of the team so far.

All i'm sayng is the guy should be given time. If he is still shite in 3 months time then fair enough don't renew his contract.