The Famous Aberdeen v St Johnstone

[RandomGuy.]

Just now, The Saintee said:

Unofficial Twitter retweeted it, so i went into the comments. Feels like plenty of Aberdeen fans feel the same, while one suggests we try harder against them, while easing off against Celtic and Rangers.

[Suspect Device]

Did think 15/2 was great odds.

Ironic that the only decision the ref got right all day was the pass back.

 

[The Saintee]

49 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Unofficial Twitter retweeted it, so i went into the comments. Feels like plenty of Aberdeen fans feel the same, while one suggests we try harder against them, while easing off against Celtic and Rangers.

Get them posted.

[RussellAnderson]

Ugh that attitude from Dons fans is fucking awful. Team plays defensively, team plays well, team wins. Big fucking deal. If we shithouse our way to a Scottish Cup they wont be complaining. 

[jessmagic]

Well done Saintees.

We can bitch and whine all we want but Tommy Wright has them well drilled and McInnes can't deal with it.

His tactical tombola today was right out of the Calderwood play book. 

Taylor is an aberration of a footballer and Jack played his part in us giving away both goals. 

Easy to blame the referee but that is just another obstacle to overcome.

 

 

[Old Pack]

Good luck in the Cup Final.

[Suspect Device]

We got what we deserved. Nothing.

[tarapoa]

Just an awful spectacle - freezing wind, overly fussy ref and very flat home performance.

St J did their usual shitefest and seemed happy with a point - but similar to the Sevco game we've contrived to give them all three, plus the standard brucey bonus breakaway a minute later.

Our post-split record is so woeful that I still can't feel completely confident we won't mess up 2nd.

[anotherchance]

Well played Saints.

Knew how to play us and played your plan well. And that's not meant in a "you sat back and killed the game" way - you were ultimately the better team and deserved it.

[naegoodinthedark]

Well played Saints. No complaints here, well deserved.

[Steve McQueen]

We saw a fortnight ago that if you stand off Aberdeen they will punish you.

Everyone knows that we can mix it if we need to, away to better teams seems to suit us.

[Dons_1988]

Standard post split performance really!

Well done saints, as per you know how to play us and did a job on us. I thought maybe the incentive of wrapping up 2nd might kick us on today but apparently not.

No complaints at all well done on once again doing a very professional job on us.

[Reina]

1 hour ago, jessmagic said:

 Jack played his part in us giving away both goals. 

And bizarrely, it was announced that he was the fucking MOTM at the end of the game! 

[andrewh]

And bizarrely, it was announced that he was the fucking MOTM at the end of the game! 

I heard that and laughed. Drink must've contributed. Not that I'm complaining of course

[Jamie_B]

What a team.

[RussellAnderson]

If, at the end of the season, this helps St J finish above the ****, we'll class that as a job well done. If, however, we continue to lose and end up in third, a la 2014 v Motherwell, I'll be pretty mad. Hard to get too rattled at this point. 

[jmothecat]

Frustrating game, one of those where it's hard to talk about much other than the referee. Thought St Johnstone were worthy of the win, stuck to their task well and took their opportunities.

As for the ref, what an absolute disaster he had. He's booked Hayes for a perfect challenge, so now he won't be available for the game against the **** for no apparent reason. He gave Stockley a yellow when he was the one who was fouled. St Johnstone's goal came from a 'passback' that basically flicked off Jack, so how that's a passback I'll never know. Second goal Aberdeen overcommitted, something they wouldn't have done if they hadn't conceded. Probably the worst refereeing performance I've seen in a long time.

Dons should have done better with the first goal. The 'wall' wasn't a wall and they basically gifted the goal from the chance Muir gifted St Johnstone. Frustrating game and although we haven't lost ground I am getting worried. Two home losses in a row and that was a game we should at least have got a point from. Our post split form is poor and I don't feel confident looking forward.

[Paris Hilltoon]

So in summary from reading this thread.

Saints shitfested it.
Tommy did a job on Del.
Ref was abysmal.

And 15/2 was an absolutely ludicrous price that was well highlighted pre match, so I hope you all lumped on like I did.

[Cerberus]

Good luck for 3rd place St Johnstone. We're all counting on you.

 

[Radford]

There have been games between the sides over recent seasons that have been panned but unfairly in my eyes. Yesterday really was brutal for long spells though and that was from both teams. A period in the second half was particularly poor and I did think the game had 0-0 written all over it before, who would have guessed, Craig Thomson made a bit of a difference for Saints.

My first instinct was back-pass from Jack in the lead-up to the opener and I'm surprised there is much debate from Dons fans over it. He gets between Thomson and the ball and touches it back to Joe Lewis. I'm a big fan of the Aberdeen goalkeeper but his own positioning looked suspect and obviously the wall was a shambles as I said I couldn't see Swanson scoring from there. I'd barely finished the sentence when the net rustled.

The second was a classic counter-attack, Paton shows more desire to win the cleared ball, getting absolutely wiped out in the process, then Swanson picks the right pass to Thomson, who is bursting a gut to get there, takes a good touch and finishes really well. Not sure we managed anything else on target but then Alan Mannus was hardly leaping around his goal either. Kenny McLean had one glorious chance he put wide and came close with a header but most of the other stuff was from long range and sailed high, wide or both in the case of Ash Taylor.

The extra satisfaction from the victory is knowing how upset some Aberdeen supporters will be because Saints had the temerity to execute a game plan that Tommy Wright best felt would secure a return. A fortnight ago, Aberdeen looked very good for 30 minutes in Perth but Saints didn't get close to them and didn't make tackles. Unfortunately for those Dons supporters, Saints' role isn't to entertain them and the approach was much better yesterday. Aberdeen weren't quite as unstructured as in the game before Xmas but when I saw the starting team was packed with an excessive (IMO) number of attacking players, I did feel the game might follow a similar pattern. I can't grasp the logic either of playing so many players out of their most natural position.

Yesterday is why Saints are successful, Tommy Wright takes every game on its merits. He never babbles on about philosophy or playing football the right way. Actually, he does mention the latter but the right way in his eyes is doing what is required to win matches. He doesn't get it right every time but he's never afraid to change it and I imagine he takes as much satisfaction as our fans from the reaction of opposition supporters to performances like yesterday. His record in post-split games is staggering. Only 2 defeats in 16 games against the best opposition in the league and one of those was when he rested players the week before the Scottish Cup final.

If we can come out of next weekend with the same advantage over Hearts and Thistle (I'm still very much of the mind that I want Rangers to beat the Jags) then Europe will be tantalisingly close again.