Coventry Saint

Any chance of St Johnstone actually coming at us? We appear to play better against teams that try to beat us. We were poor in the cup games, we struggled to beat a 10-man Motherwell, and were taken apart when down to 10 men ourselves against Aberdeen. We relinquish possession, hit fast & direct on the break, and broadly speaking it's been good to watch. However, I suspect even Davidson will be able to see this and will set out quite defensively, resulting in our traditional 0-0.

"Scarf pic this afternoon, Jack. Remember to wear an item of clothing that'll foreshadow the length of your time in charge."

Who was playing?

Hard for Utd fans to see the positives right now, but on the plus side you barely need any changes to the thread title. Swap the -oc for an -eg and you're set for the rest of the season. So it's not all bad news.

Does make me worry about next season's squad depth, tbh.

While you're correct to say McGrath wasn't known for his defensive abilities, his workrate always did stand out for us. He was a phenomenally hard working player and always tracked back diligently. He wasn't always picked as a number 10 but his effort was always beyond reproach. It was odd seeing him being so anonymous last weekend.

Securing one point per game is basically 'par' for staying in the league. I said on here after two games that I was worried where our 11 points were coming from after the first round of games. As people have said, we just look like such a wildly different team to at any point since we got promoted. Obviously bigger tests to come, and we've yet to play the league's best three sides. But the way we're set up, and the aggression and pressing we put teams through, gives me real hope for the season.

FFS man. Give it a rest.

Went for the £5 double on Baccus and Porteous to get booked. Seems a decent shout.

Exactly what I thought when I heard it. Mason gets a pass for his role in the Rangers defeat, at least. Shame the 'defensive winger' role is so rarely necessary.

Missed opportunity to say This is Our Story: Inside Hearts IMO.

That reminds me, how's your transfer market bargain hunt going?

Without trying to be too wanky about this (but probably failing), I think what's going on here is really revealing about the psychology of the Old Firm, on two key levels: 1) Their perception of the power that they feel their strength in numbers gives them. 2) The fact that they feel their sheer spending power gives them a hold over the rest of Scottish football. What Saints have done undermines both of the above and you can see how much it has wounded their fragile pride. Firstly, you can't do whatever you want just because there's more of you and secondly we don't want your money. The most affronted responses all have one or both of the above at heart. They're astounded that we would turn their money away, and/or they're annoyed because we are giving our own fans priority over them. St Mirren have shat on two of the things that they enjoy most about being Old Firm fans and it's fantastic. Not every club of our size is in a position to take this action (we barely are, tbf, hence the plea for contributions) but I really hope we can make it work, and I hope it shows other clubs that it can be done as well. As we see the financial disparity tip even further towards the cheeks (after last night's result), it's more important than ever to take action such as this where it's possible to do so.

Predicting a goal-fest, are you? It'll be 0-0 and we all know it. The sort of match that could just be an email.

I legit predicted he'd go to Killie. Just makes sense all round.

Can't imagine he'd be of the right level for a team with top-six aspirations, tbh. Which, you'd hope, is why we're releasing him.

I'm choosing to take it as a positive sign. If we're in a position to let go players of his ability and standing because there's just too much competition in the squad, then we are in a very good place.

Presumably a nominal fee thrown in as well, unless we're just letting him go on a free to save coin.

It's certainly disappointing as he's been a great servant for us. But Gallagher has been great, Dunne looks solid now, and Gogic is Gogic. I guess Big Joe is too senior a player to be playing back-up. He could easily get another top flight gig, IMO. Could see him at someone like Killie or Livi, maybe.

I'm getting big danger signs here, mainly because I'm feeling somewhat confident. What Saturday showed is that we are, on our day, a sometimes ruthless counterattacking side. Hibs will play on the front foot so that could suit us. Obviously we saw against Motherwell, reduced to 10 men, that we struggled somewhat against a team holding a lead. I think this could be a good game. Hibs marginal favourites IMO but we have some absolute monster players now from back to front. Sneaky 2-1 home win. Main and O'Hara for us, 2x Ayunga assists.

Exactly what @Captain Saintsible said: Celtic had no ground to play in and needed us. Shame you took liberties with that signage; fortunately it was taken down sharply. I'd like to think we wouldn't be so quick to come to Celtic's aid in the future.

It's the latter.

I mean, I could come back and talk about different levels of expectation: one team was hopeful of a run in Europe while the other finished last season as one of the worst teams ever in the top flight. But honestly, I'm out of the energy required to debate which Dundee team is the most disappointing to their respective fans.

Fair enough. TBH, I've already spent more of my Sunday night than I was expecting debating which underperforming Dundee side is underperforming the hardest, so happy to take your word for it.

I clearly know Morton are a worse team than you seem to.