Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread

[jamamafegan]

Some interesting and frankly hilarious chat happening in the Saints banter group that BLK have gone bust. Their website is missing and they are nowhere to be seen. Any truth in the matter?

[RandomGuy.]

27 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

Some interesting and frankly hilarious chat happening in the Saints banter group that BLK have gone bust. Their website is missing and they are nowhere to be seen. Any truth in the matter?

Their UK company is listed as "liquidated" on companies house, but that's dated as August 2018.

A new company under the same name is listed as being created in January. Same address, same directors etc.

I think someones somehow come across the liquidated one and not done anymore digging.

They're certainly still listed as being an active company.

[Crroma]

Just read that big Zander has 11 clean sheets this season, utter nonsense if he's not in the Scotland squad by the end of the season.

[PauloPerth]

Speaking of clean sheets..

 

In 9 matches v Celtic, Rangers and Hearts we have conceded 23 goals and managed 1 clean sheet.

In the other 17 matches, we have conceded just 9 goals and managed 11 clean sheets. 

[ah-dee]

Speaking of clean sheets..
 
In 9 matches v Celtic, Rangers and Hearts we have conceded 23 goals and managed 1 clean sheet.
In the other 17 matches, we have conceded just 9 goals and managed 11 clean sheets. 

you are getting into randoms territory of pointless stats now!

[PauloPerth]

7 hours ago, ah-dee said:

9 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

Speaking of clean sheets..
 
In 9 matches v Celtic, Rangers and Hearts we have conceded 23 goals and managed 1 clean sheet.
In the other 17 matches, we have conceded just 9 goals and managed 11 clean sheets. 

you are getting into randoms territory of pointless stats now!

Was just showing how good a defence we've had this season. Apart from the games where they haven't been so good. Or something..

[The Woolshed]

Maybe a little pessimistic, but 2-4 points from the two home games this week and I fancy us for top 6. A point today and a win on Wed and we are in a great position. Achievable?

[Valentino Bolognese]

1 hour ago, The Woolshed said:

Maybe a little pessimistic, but 2-4 points from the two home games this week and I fancy us for top 6. A point today and a win on Wed and we are in a great position. Achievable?

I'd go the other way, 3 points today draw on Wednesday. I'd rather be playing Aberdeen than Hibs right now.

[Zamora Fan]

Wee word for Saints TV, watching for the first time today. Really impressed with the quality and consistency of the stream which can sometimes be a problem with other clubs offerings, very simple and easy to use site that only took about five minutes to sign up and subscribe to and Gary’s commentary is professional and interesting which is pretty impressive considering he’s probably not done much of this kind of thing before? Interesting variety in co commentators too. Saints have deservedly taken a lot of stick in the past for their media outgoings so thought it was worth praising something that’s being done very well

[7-2]

5 minutes ago, Zamora Fan said:

Wee word for Saints TV, watching for the first time today. Really impressed with the quality and consistency of the stream which can sometimes be a problem with other clubs offerings, very simple and easy to use site that only took about five minutes to sign up and subscribe to and Gary’s commentary is professional and interesting which is pretty impressive considering he’s probably not done much of this kind of thing before? Interesting variety in co commentators too. Saints have deservedly taken a lot of stick in the past for their media outgoings so thought it was worth praising something that’s being done very well

Totally agree. Excellent quality and the commentery's just right.  No overpowering 'listen to me' crap, constant ludicrous stats or over heavily biased.  Colin McCredie's good on co-comms. Strange to listen to two people that aren't mangling the English language. 

[7-2]

Mind you, I'm excitedly* sitting waiting to see if Saints can pull one back from a late corner and the final score comes up on Sky! Obviously there's a transmission delay that they never mentioned. 

 

*This may not be 100% true.

[The Woolshed]

No getting away from another disappointing result. That said, a positive result on Wed and it’s still in our own hands. Lose and I’d say that it’s all over. The season tbh

[Jamie_B]

We need to get back to the basics of what made us successful during the run earlier in the season, pre-Drey Wright’s injury.

Assuming fitness:

Clark/Bell
Foster, Kerr, Shaughnessy, Tanser
MOH, Craig, Davidson, Wotherspoon/Swanson/Alston (if Alston play MOH on left)
Watt, Kennedy

[Radford]

37 minutes ago, The Woolshed said:

Lose and I’d say that it’s all over. 

Aye, alright, Neville Chamberlain.

Nothing will be decided on Wednesday night. We have a decent run of games coming up and there will be points to play for.

Other than Accies, every team we've played in recent weeks has been above us in the table and they are there for a reason. We've six games to the split and only have to play Killie from the top five.

[Jamie_B]

A few years back Gordon Strachan sat at McDiarmid Park and watched Saints take on Hearts, a game in which Jack Hamilton threw at least one in the net while Zander Clark had a very assured game.

 

He picked Hamilton for the next squad a couple of weeks later.

 

Today Alex McLeish sat in the same stand and watched Saints v Aberdeen. Michael Devlin - who has played 18 games of football since May 2017, was outjumped by Matty Kennedy and chronically outpaced to an incredible degree by Chris Kane at one stage, was at one end. Jason Kerr, at the other, was on the losing side but was probably second only to Shinnie in terms of performance on the day. Another great showing.

 

Any guesses as to which of those players is likely to be in the next Scotland squad?

 

 

[The Woolshed]

Aye, alright, Neville Chamberlain.
Nothing will be decided on Wednesday night. We have a decent run of games coming up and there will be points to play for.
Other than Accies, every team we've played in recent weeks has been above us in the table and they are there for a reason. We've six games to the split and only have to play Killie from the top five.

Correct but given how we played against 2bd bottom Accies and the confidence of the current run, I think going into the last 5 if we lose on Wed our confidence and form will be irreparable. Coupled with the fact Hibs would be 3 ahead, with a better GD and and Motherwell could well be ahead. I don’t think I’m being unrealistic in liking us to a a real confidence team. Streaks of Wins/Losses must be more prevalent than any other team. Wednesday to me, would start/continue a then to the split.

[7-2]

28 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

Today Alex McLeish sat in the same stand and watched Saints v Aberdeen. 

 

[RandomGuy.]

We need to score first, that's what needs to happen. Feels like it's a familiar rut we're in, and it's one TW has dragged us out of numerous times.

Hope we do start with more attacking ability on the wings against Hibs, they're prone to throwing bodies forward and over committing, something Aberdeen are too smart to do, so there should be space to exploit.

Main thing is that our "big players" in attack (Watt, Kennedy, MOH, Swanson) need to actually start doing something. Kennedy the best of that bunch by a distance over the past two months, in fairness.

[PauloPerth]

It's back to that dilemma of wanting to pick a consistent team, but the players not performing and so everyone on the bench seems like a better option, so do we keep changing things?

It was completely understandable starting with the same team yesterday as at Ibrox. And we'd started the game the better side up until the first goal. Though I do think that eleven is better at containing teams, and is heavily reliant on Kennedy to make things happen in attack.

Harsh on Alston not getting a run out from the bench after playing well when he came on last week;  his runs from deep beyond Kane might have given the Aberdeen defence something different to think about.  Having said that, I was initially happy when Swanson was brought on but that was short lived when he kept trying to beat the player at half way and losing it.  He needs to play his way into the game more with simple touches and passes to get upto the speed of the game before trying the nutmegs and flicks.

Thats another difficult one. Each time Swanson has joined us it's taken a few matches for him to get upto speed. So do we play him for a few games when he's way short of fitness and form or just keep throwing him in off the bench hoping it suddenly clicks? 

We also are maybe not carrying the luck just now. Alston's lob at Ibrox bouncing off the underside of the bar, and Kennedy's cross/shot yesterday doing the same.  

I'd like to see us go back to Craig and Davidson (or Callachan) protecting the defence, with Alston or Kennedy off Watt up front for the match v Hibs.  A draw would probably be a decent scoreline for us after recent results.

[Radford]

Good and fair post. @PauloPerth

Especially agree about the conundrum of Swanson and the comment on him needing to try and play his way into games is so true. How often does he try and skin a man with his first touch off the bench? That's the sort of thing the management team should be picking up and stressing to him. His fitness should be improving with the reserves back up and running at least. 

I don't think too many players are massively underperforming though. Foster is and the lack of competition (winners need not apply) is a big issue. Wotherspoon is Wotherspoon. The team is still adapting to Goss (and him to Saints) but that will become a decision for the manager if results stay the same. No doubting his range of passing but not sure I like much else about his game. I actually think this is the biggest issue facing the manager at the moment, even more so that getting a blend further forward.