PSJSaint

Looking forward the meltdown on the day we open a brand new stadium but opt to reuse the seats from McDiarmid.

Likewise, ive been a listener for years and have noticed the slow drift towards "professionalism". The days when Craig Fowler used to watch every game in full have long gone as they have got proper jobs etc. Sadly that means they seem to drift towards the same St Johnstone clichés that we have got used to from the traditional media. If a player has a bad game against Hearts/OF then thats whats shapes opinion for the next year or so.

Obviously it's taken a longer than ideal time for the squad to click but hopefully we can't start to throw off some of the lazy and fairly ignorant pundit/podcaster assessments that this Saints squad is devoid of quality. Starting 11 on Saturday had 56 international caps between them including guys like Matt Smith who was in a World Cup squad this time last year. compare that to 1 for Ross County (it's only one metric but has to be considered a useful gauge). We have been told our defence is terrible but now have the best goals conceded in the bottom 6 and the same as St Mirren who have been flying. Biggest issue all along has been our ability to make and convert chances and it is no surprise that once our 2 first choice striking options are available again that that problem starts to fade. There aren't many teams in this league who could lose their equivalent of Kane and Clark and still score the goals they need for results.

Wk 1 - Celtic Wk 2 - Rangers Wk 3 - Hamilton Wk 4 - Dumbarton Wk 5 - Dundee United

Week 4 - Dumbarton

Week 3 - Hamilton

Week 1 - Celtic Week 2 - Rangers

Week 1 - Celtic

Can't put too much stock in one performance but looks like he's got a bit about him based on this.

Not sure if there would be much interest but Danny Cowley would be an interesting shout. Was excellent at Lincoln before being binned at Portsmouth despite a reasonable record. Saints might be an attractive option to get him back on track.

We have signed 5 over 30s (Clark, Carey, Murphy, Considine, and McGowan) who have replaced 5 over 30s (Craig, Ambrose, Butterfield, Bryson and Cifci). The big debate is whether we have replaced Zander Clark, Hendry and Rooney and only time will tell. Rooney was signed with no fanfare and was a bit part candidate for loan out until McNamara's recall accidentally threw him in to the first team as a wing back. Hendry was a promising striker who hit his first purple patch when we needed him most (neither Aberdeen or Kilmarnock were desperate to take him back and you wouldn't be shocked to find him on loan at Partick in 18 months time). There is absolute no reason why Gallacher, Bair, Sandford, Mahon et al won't do the same when serendipity throws them into the spotlight. Who was the last player we signed with great fanfare and expectation who actually delivered? We don't sign heroes, fate makes them. Calm down, enjoy your football and hope that Callum gets brave enough to change system from time to time.

Still 36 days in the transfer window. Clearly there is induced pressure from the earlier start to our league but doesn't mean it applies to any other team we want to deal with.

You're not wrong. Perhaps I'm just an idiot optimist but I don't think you can go through life supporting the likes of Saints being any other way. The alternative seems to be making yourself either depressed or in the end completely disengaging. I'm looking forward to the new season and I'm reasonably optimistic for a number of reasons. Since January our form would've been top 6 and despite a grim end Sep-Dec our defence was nowhere near the worst in the league, we are likely to see a drop off from Clarke and Rooney but our best players have invariably left every single season for the last 10/12 and we always adapt and move on successfully. Admittedly our goalscoring and creativity was awful but now with Bair, Carey, May, Murphy as well as the return of Wotherspoon and Kane we have a variety of options. If you add Halberg to that list then we could potentially get by on set-pieces alone. Bair in particular seems like he'll be fun and will definitely not be here next season for either positive or negative reasons. Starting the season so far ahead of England will always be an issue as we have to wait until they've got their squads sorted before we know who is available (either out of contract and waiting on a better offer or surplus to requirements and available on loan) and i would fully anticipate 2/3 loan or free signings before the end of August. always hit and miss but chance of gem is still there. Finally, Motherwell, Ross County, St Mirren and to a less extent Livvy all look like they will struggle. Motherwell were garbage for huge swathes of last season and with Europe to deal with early could end up being in the situation we were last year. County were defensively dire and managed to ride the Charles-Cooke wave to safety and Top 6 - he's gone and extremely tough to replace. St Mirren may be okay but Robinson looked inept and they look like they will be starting the season without making significant improvements. It'll be okay. One season I'll be wrong but optimism has paid off for the last 13 years so I'm sticking with it.

Straight off the bus and on to the park won't help.

Agree we've done fairly well at balancing youth and experience recently and the 30 y/o+ signings are usually brought in to replace out going older players. If I was offered Conisdine, Murphy and Carey for Ambrose, Butterfield, and Cifti I would have to say that's moving in the right direction.

No sure I really see the major issue. We may not have specifically identified Carey specifically but provided agencies of the criteria we had and they respond with the offer of who is a. available b. interested. You would waste a tonne of resource trying to do it any other way.

What's the issue with how?

I wouldn't be surprised if the change to 5 subs in December completely changed the signing plans and probably meant a few that would've been out the door will stay at least until the end of the season. We can't afford to have players on the bench that aren't able to come on and do a job of some sort and still be able to absorb injuries and suspensions.

In the North Atlantic with no TV and intermittent internet. Only saving grace is that worked in 2014 and in February.

I'm sure there are all sorts of sponsorship bollocks that would stop it happening but playing the game at Dingwall or Inverness and having a few hundred fans a side would be miles better than an empty stadium anywhere. The only benefit of having it at Hampden is that Hibs are even more mentally scarred by the place than us.

You may well be right, and I hope Davidson does eventually move onwards and to more pay (not necessarily upwards) however the most successful manager in Saints history didn't do enough to gain a move to a "bigger club" so I don't think anything is guaranteed. Probably doesn't help their case that a lot of the clubs SPFL manager might have moved to are foreign owned with no real interest in that connection that might have got the likes of Robinson in the door 5-10 years ago.

It's hard to put a measure on "the best" manager in the Premiership but how many right now are likely to move on to a "bigger club" based on current performance and reputation. I would argue that only Gerrard which would be based partly on performance at Rangers but mostly on reputation. I think it's fair to say that if an English Championship team hired any of the other 10 you would be surprised.

Football will be back when it's safe to be back but the clubs might not. Might not make a huge amount of difference but would suggest now is the time to buy that shirt from the club shop. Take that £25 you were going to spend today and subscribe to your teams TV channel. Go and have a meal at the restaurant.

OK, appreciate some of your points and would ask what it would take for you and your pals to come to home games as well. What could they do to make it a better experience? I agree there is a lack of imagination sometimes when it comes to the wider match day experience, perhaps some sort of beer tent and live music etc (not great when its freezing outside and I would imagine licencing and police may be a stopper). Would that make you go? I don't think Saints have got the clout to build pubs nearby. Ticket prices are fairly similar to most other Premiership grounds (cheaper than most). Cold and grey behind the turnstyle? Think we use the same concrete as most other grounds too? Would some plaster board and paint change your mind? Just saying its shite so I'm not interested is the kind of rationale you get from Old Firm fans towards the rest of us or English fans talking about the Scottish game.

Exactly, and I would also put very little stock in "the player said publicly he wanted to stay at the club" - when was the last time you heard a player saying openly "I dont want to be here" or "I am keen to move to where I can get the most money". Again, the club can only really start offering contract extensions when the income for the next season is reasonably secure. You only have to look at the situation ICT are in right now to see why clubs in the lower half of the Premiership can't risk handing our long contracts to their higher earning players when relegation is a constant threat.