Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread

[The Real Saints]

Meh. If we’re going to lose in an embarrassing manner, I’d prefer it to be in the first match of the diddy cup. Bear in mind that we drew 0-0 with East Fife at this stage last season, and that was without the injury issues we currently have.

Ross County to be pumped on Sunday afternoon when our season begins in earnest.

[Dee Bliss]

17 minutes ago, ali_91 said:

I said a decent lower league side. There’s a difference between being decent and a decent lower league side. 

[Dee Man]

38 minutes ago, ali_91 said:

Factually correct posts in my own thread >>> some thick, lost sheep posting inane word salad. 

 

It's Kyle's thread. 

[johnnydun]

40 minutes ago, ali_91 said:

some thick, lost sheep posting inane word salad. 

 

Sounds like a Fermers dream date.

[Valentino Bolognese]

1 hour ago, ali_91 said:

Very minimal concern. My biggest worry is we’re cast adrift in the same area as last year early on and we’ve got to spend the last three months playing glorified dead rubbers.  There’s not a chance we don’t go into the league season with a new striker and at least one extra defender. 

There’s a lot of frustration just now, but two weeks ago we were on the whole quite positive, and I wouldn’t be overly surprised if this time next week we’re in a positive mood again.  

I know that the lack of defensive cover has been a concern, and a rightful one, for some, but our injury list is quite frankly ridiculous for this time of the season.

Clark, Gordon, Wright, Craig, Kennedy and Kane are nailed on starters, that’s before you get on to Spoony and Anderson who are first back up in their positions at present. Take six starters out of any side in the league from Rangers down and they’d struggle against a decent lower league side imo, especially on a poor pitch. 

I'd say moderate rather than minimal concern for me. I agree we'll probably fill those posts, which is what's stopping the head from being lost after seeing tonight's 'performance'. 

I agree that not having 6 starters was critical tonight, and without doubt the pitch was a big factor, but there are other concerns. 

Firstly our 'good' players are decent, but let's be realistic they're the level they should be at for a top 6 team. I think we have 3 players that are good (Kerr, Clarke and Kennedy) and 4/5 that are 'good enough' (Gordon, Tanser, Foster, Muzz, maybe MoH). I've no idea what we'll get when Drey Wright comes back. I do not care what's been said about the return of Swanson's form, but tonight he was probably the worst, and the least fit, player on the park. IF we can get a striker that's in the 'good' or better category, we'll be fine.

Positives from tonight: first time I've seen Duffy and he looks fine as a backup but we need Gordon back, McCann showed some good movement. Kerr and Murray were very solid. 

So let's see how we get on Sunday shall we?

PS fair play to Montrose they were up for it and managed the game well. 

[Kyle]

5 minutes ago, Dee Man said:

It's Kyle's thread. 

And don’t fucking forget it, ali_91. 

[Derry Alli]

1 hour ago, tree house tam said:

Do what the Dundee lad did, rolling bet

I have my doubts he ever actually done it tbh. 

[Derry Alli]

1 hour ago, ali_91 said:

 

@Shandon Par is a lot shorter than I imagined. 

[Ranaldo Bairn]

My own club is in a catastrophic situation with board v fans showdowns all over the shop.
But you boys have provided me with some amount of hilarity today. Keep it up!

[PauloPerth]

Poor tonight, but not completely unexpected.

Great performance by Montrose as they defended in numbers, broke quick and passed the ball when they could. Put in a lot of physical challenges, as they should be doing, and created more chances.

Same as in the game at Links Park last season, they are a difficult side to play against with a few seasoned pros in there.

We couldn't get in behind them, held the ball too long, played the return 1-2 just behind our player on a regular basis, and were too afraid to shoot.

The pitch was awful. Not an excuse for the result, but it was very poor. 

It has been well covered, but Hendry cannot play lone striker role, he barely held the ball up all game, and hardly won a header, completely bossed by Dillon. McMillan made a small impact when he came on, and I think we should have gone two up front earlier.

Hendry once again meekly surrendered possession up the park, Montrose broke and Duffy lost his balance and fell over as far as I could see, and the Montrose player finished well.

Scott Tanser looked back to being very weak and brushed aside easily. He also offered nothing going forward. Probably harsh to pick out one player, when could pick out several, but he's not a new lad in the team anymore, he needs to step up and start contributing rather than ghosting through games thinking not making any howlers and being a 5/10 is acceptable.

Callachan had a bit of a howler. Davidson and Kerr did okay.

McCann was okay, but we need someone more forward minded playing off a striker, like Kennedy or Swanson, and I think this made Hendrys role harder. Obviously injuries dictated we probably couldn't do it.

 

I didn't think we were great in the game there last season, and were probably lucky to scrape the win.  This time they got the goal, that's just the way it goes.  As disappointing as it is, its an occupational hazard of playing a competitive cup game in mid-July.  Hearts, Hibs, Livingston, St Mirren and Accies have all failed to win against lower league teams already in this cup so far.

 

 

[dee_62]

 

[The Saintee]

It's the last day of my holiday in Florence. I've had the b*****d of all migraines after the wife had me queue for some shite cathedral in the scorching sun all afternoon and I wake out of my co-codamol induced coma for this bollocks. 

 

Shite state of affairs.

[Templar]

Was not at the game so cannot comment. An observation we should not be beaten by Montrose. The team we fielded was good enough on paper. The lack of goals is still the big issue. But Tommy did say at the end of last season a striker was his number one priority so we should see one soon.

Ross County on Sunday at home, looking forward to watching a victory on TV.

[Radford]

See if you can find Batistuta and ask him if he fancies a gig. @The Saintee

A result last night that goes down in the annals as one of the poorest in the club's history. As touched on, it's potentially the first time we've lost to a team from two leagues below us as a top division team. It seems a long time ago that we used to have no problem in these fixtures under Derek McInnes. 

Situations like this can be the making of players but Hendry has wilted and McMillan has shown himself to be hopeless. Folk don't like Chris Kane but he's miles ahead of both.

It was really a mix though of established stars (Foster, Tanser, Davidson) not doing enough and fringe players (Callachan,  aforementioned strikers) not taking their chance and leaving questions over their claims for a place. 

Sunday is now a knockout tie for us but one which we are woefully underprepared for. The level by which the performance will need to be improved is almost unquantifiable. 

[Coventry Saint]

Sympathies. These sly competitive games masquerading as friendlies when many clubs haven't got squads together can get in the sea.

I give the format a couple more years, tops.

[The Woolshed]

I’ve simmered since last night so can rationalise my thoughts a little better. Agree with a lot of what’s been said above as well. Tanser was absolutely non existent for me and Callachan, whilst not doing masses wrong just didn’t do anything of note. Swanson looked like he’d pulled up injured after 2/3 minutes, not sure if anyone else clocked this? But I agree, he was very poor tonight. Davidson and Kerr at least gave maximum effort without standing out masses. Sunday becomes a huge game not least for the cup but also as it’s against a team I’d hope we would be matching/beating throughout the season. On an aside, did anyone notice how unanimated Tommy was on the sidelines? Took him until the last ten or so to look like he gave a damn what was happening. Maybe just me

[Radford]

25 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

Sympathies. These sly competitive games masquerading as friendlies when many clubs haven't got squads together can get in the sea.

I give the format a couple more years, tops.

This is the last year in the contract for the this format IIRC. I still like it and hope they stick with it but who knows. 

We do have a squad, it's just they are all on the treatment table. We were missing 40% of it last night and are still 2 or 3 players short. 

Hard to be rational though after a defeat like that. 

[RandomGuy.]

And now, onto something completely different...

Best photo I can find of the new dugouts. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by RandomGuy.

[Valentino Bolognese]

3 minutes ago, The Woolshed said:

Swanson looked like he’d pulled up injured after 2/3 minutes, not sure if anyone else clocked this? 

He doesn't look remotely fit to me, and  hasn't since he came back to the club. Once again he was walking when he should have been running, beaten to just about every ball. There was a telling moment about 10 minutes into the second half when he was caught asleep, and needed a half step to recover. Looked like he couldn't be arsed. 

I'm going to be harsh here but be reminds me of like those guys that you see at 5's that used to play to a decent level and have a good touch, so they just hang around the middle of the pitch and amuse themselves with flicks now and again. 

I cannot understand why he still has a Saints shirt.  I've been praying to be proved wrong for months.

[tree house tam]

1 hour ago, Radford said:

Hendry has wilted and McMillan has shown himself to be hopeless. Folk don't like Chris Kane but he's miles ahead of both.

This is the most damning thing about this whole situation, Kane is a 3rd or 4th choice striker at best for any team looking for the league positions we've had in the last 10 years. Over to you young Broon, this is the rainy day you've been keeping that cash for.