The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread

[aldo_j]

5 minutes ago, NorthBank said:

Jim seems to have decided we do not need a midfield this season. Tactic is long balls from the back three  either straight up top to two strikers or out to the wing backs to throw in crosses quickly. I understand what he is doing. We were far too slow last season getting the ball up front with too many side and back passes. And even if the strikers do not win the headers then Kiltie and McGrath are there for the second balls. Problem for me is it is turning into hoof ball and McGrath's talents are wasted. Would have preferred if we had mixed it up more and at least tried some passing through the middle. If we keep this up we won't need McGrath this season.

Slightly concerned yesterday that McGrath was very deep at points of the game. A couple of times Fraser overlapped and McGrath dropped into his space to take the ball. I’d rather McGrath was the one breaking the lines and making that movement.

[NorthBank]

1 minute ago, aldo_j said:

Slightly concerned yesterday that McGrath was very deep at points of the game. A couple of times Fraser overlapped and McGrath dropped into his space to take the ball. I’d rather McGrath was the one breaking the lines and making that movement.

I got the impression that McGrath was frustrated at the lack of ball and dropped back to get a touch. He is wasted if just playing behind a striker waiting for a second ball which he did most of the first half. And as you say in the second half he dropped pretty  deep several times. But it is early days. I get Jim is trying something new as long as we do not play the long ball throughout 90 mins in every game.

[Ric]

Got to say, I've got no real concerns after the Thistle game. We looked busy, industrious and really quite technical at times. The one thing we looked short on was match sharpness. Lots of moves were started but broke down. If we can get a bit of fluidity in those I feel we'll be fine.

[RandomGuy.]

27 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

Joking aside, I've actually not seen him play very much, aside from him tipping the semi final in your favour. 

Real talk: decent singing or not? Bearing in mind we're completely copying your style of play from last season and he doesn't necessarily have a home in that system. Could he play centrally if McGrath was away?

Hard to know as he didn't play enough to fairly judge. Very much one who'd come off the bench, beat a man and create something in the 10 minutes he's on the park, then start the next game and disappear. It'll sound bitter but the hype from our fans is almost entirely due to the Semi Final goal, outwith that he wasn't a huge influence on any of our games apart from being the one to finish a move v County, then be the one who gets handed an open goal by Porteous.

I'd be very, very, wary of trying to copy our style last season. We caught lightening in a bottle in terms of the players we had being perfect for it. I suspect anyone who tries without the perfect amount will find themselves with acres of space in front of their CBs and completely reliant on crosses.

[Ric]

It's a sweet, albeit entirely flawed, notion that somehow the addition of Middleton is the proof that Goodwin is trying to emulate St Johnstone. Not sure if it's a theory bourne from ignorance, arrogance or just general trolling. I'll be charitable and claim it's the latter.

We've taken one player from St Johnstone, Tanser, and yet their fans have been all over this thread. We've secured more players from Killie and Motherwell than from  our farming brethren.

[NorthBank]

6 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Hard to know as he didn't play enough to fairly judge. Very much one who'd come off the bench, beat a man and create something in the 10 minutes he's on the park, then start the next game and disappear. It'll sound bitter but the hype from our fans is almost entirely due to the Semi Final goal, outwith that he wasn't a huge influence on any of our games apart from being the one to finish a move v County, then be the one who gets handed an open goal by Porteous.

I'd be very, very, wary of trying to copy our style last season. We caught lightening in a bottle in terms of the players we had being perfect for it. I suspect anyone who tries without the perfect amount will find themselves with acres of space in front of their CBs and completely reliant on crosses.

That was my concern about yesterday. Especially in the first half Thistle had loads of room in front of our back three. Maybe we are just experimenting with something new but I felt McGrath and Kiltie hardly got a touch playing so far forward.

(And this is just an observation not an angst driven condemnation   )

[Coventry Saint]

24 minutes ago, aldo_j said:

Slightly concerned yesterday that McGrath was very deep at points of the game. A couple of times Fraser overlapped and McGrath dropped into his space to take the ball. I’d rather McGrath was the one breaking the lines and making that movement.

 

16 minutes ago, NorthBank said:

I got the impression that McGrath was frustrated at the lack of ball and dropped back to get a touch. He is wasted if just playing behind a striker waiting for a second ball which he did most of the first half. And as you say in the second half he dropped pretty  deep several times. But it is early days. I get Jim is trying something new as long as we do not play the long ball throughout 90 mins in every game.

Both Goodwin and McGrath have spoken about McGrath perhaps being more of an 8 than a 10. He was definitely playing more alongside Power than Kiltie was.

I dunno, there's still something amiss about the way we play and I can't put my finger on what it is.

[RandomGuy.]

6 minutes ago, NorthBank said:

That was my concern about yesterday. Especially in the first half Thistle had loads of room in front of our back three. Maybe we are just experimenting with something new but I felt McGrath and Kiltie hardly got a touch playing so far forward.

It's the issue we had in the first half of last season, until Liam Craig came into the side and just ran that area of the park. By the end we'd discovered how to defend it without him, but it relied on the back 3 being psychic and the middle 2 knowing exactly what space to defend, it took the best part of a year to be perfected and that's with a manager who'd worked on that system for years before hand.

Goodwin isn't daft though, I doubt he'll try and copy it exactly and it'll just be a twist on it.

[buddie06smfc]

That was my concern about yesterday. Especially in the first half Thistle had loads of room in front of our back three. Maybe we are just experimenting with something new but I felt McGrath and Kiltie hardly got a touch playing so far forward.
(And this is just an observation not an angst driven condemnation [emoji4]  )

Agreed I thought we looked sturdier in the short time we had Power & Erhahon in there. I was going to post after the game asking if we were likely to have McGrath & Kiltie in midfield together regularly or if it was an experiment by Goodwin. Thistle seemed to outnumber us in midfield and from their own goal kicks passed through us with ease in the first half.

McGrath & Kiltie both playing would probably require a similar set up to what we had at Parkhead with McGrath & McAllister in the team. That would be sacrificing a striker, probably Brophy as Main looks to be Goodwin’s first choice. Erhahon looks huge and pretty imposing, I didn’t appreciate just how tall he is when watching on TV.

[Coventry Saint]

4 minutes ago, buddie06smfc said:

Agreed I thought we looked sturdier in the short time we had Power & Erhahon in there. I was going to post after the game asking if we were likely to have McGrath & Kiltie in midfield together regularly or if it was an experiment by Goodwin. Thistle seemed to outnumber us in midfield and from their own goal kicks passed through us with ease in the first half.

McGrath & Kiltie both playing would probably require a similar set up to what we had at Parkhead with McGrath & McAllister in the team. That would be sacrificing a striker, probably Brophy as Main looks to be Goodwin’s first choice. Erhahon looks huge and pretty imposing, I didn’t appreciate just how tall he is when watching on TV.

Looking at the way England set up in a similar(ish) formation (albeit they played a 5-2-3), they heavily relied on that solid platform you've mentioned. We absolutely did look better when Erhahon came on.

[ulysses]

Power(or McGrath even)/Erhahon gives us that natural balance of a right-footer/left-footer  In theory it means you can shift the ball across the pitch much more quickly and in a more comfortable fashion. 

[ZingaliMan]

Was working yesterday so went into SMTV to watch the full match which was not available. Correspondence has told me I have no subscription ( I'm a season ticket holder ) That to keep a sharp look out for an announcement very soon.  Bloody hell I was really looking forward to watching the Thistle game. 

[sergie's no1 fan]

Got to say, I've got no real concerns after the Thistle game. We looked busy, industrious and really quite technical at times. The one thing we looked short on was match sharpness. Lots of moves were started but broke down. If we can get a bit of fluidity in those I feel we'll be fine.

I thought we did well.

First half Thistle looked brighter, had a great chance with Graham but other than that and a couple of dangerous crosses we were OK.

Our quality/fitness showed up well in the 2nd half and I don't think Thistle could have been too upset if it finished 4-0.

We do seem to be able to mix it up a bit, go quite direct then played more football in the 2nd half. Ethan showed up very well I thought. Looked classy on the ball.

[sergie's no1 fan]

Was working yesterday so went into SMTV to watch the full match which was not available. Correspondence has told me I have no subscription ( I'm a season ticket holder ) That to keep a sharp look out for an announcement very soon.  Bloody hell I was really looking forward to watching the Thistle game. 

Don't think it was available on SMTV to ST holders because it was shown on Premier Sports, bud. Might be wrong, usually am.

[FTOF]

2 hours ago, Coventry Saint said:

I agree - but it's a bit concerning given that both McGrath and Kiltie were on the pitch.

To be fair, particularly in the first half,  both McGrath and Kiltie had difficulty creating anything, given that the ball was sailing about 10 feet over their heads, from yet another long ball.

[djchapsticks]

14 minutes ago, ZingaliMan said:

Was working yesterday so went into SMTV to watch the full match which was not available. Correspondence has told me I have no subscription ( I'm a season ticket holder ) That to keep a sharp look out for an announcement very soon.  Bloody hell I was really looking forward to watching the Thistle game. 

ST status has no effect.

It was on Premier Sports so you had to watch through that. Even if it wasn't on Premier, it would still have been requiring PPV as it's a cup game so wouldn't have been covered by the ST.

[FTOF]

16 minutes ago, ZingaliMan said:

Was working yesterday so went into SMTV to watch the full match which was not available. Correspondence has told me I have no subscription ( I'm a season ticket holder ) That to keep a sharp look out for an announcement very soon.  Bloody hell I was really looking forward to watching the Thistle game. 

You have to renew your SMTV yearly subscription.

 

[Coventry Saint]

5 minutes ago, FTOF said:

To be fair, particularly in the first half,  both McGrath and Kiltie had difficulty creating anything, given that the ball was sailing about 10 feet over their heads, from yet another long ball.

I was mostly impressed with Dunne, but I think it's fair to say he needs to find his touch again. He overhit quite a few balls. That said, the thought was there so I think if he can take 10% power off some of his deliveries (and stay fit, etc) he could turn out to be a hell of a player for us.

[Ric]

30 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

I was mostly impressed with Dunne, but I think it's fair to say he needs to find his touch again.

Yeah, very much so. that said, when Rudden (?) waltzed past him only to have Alnwick save his blushes, I certainly had the fear. His distribution was pretty good too, although the caveat is this is Thistle who while giving us a very decent game also gave us a lot of room to play, and pass, into.

He's been out of the game for a long time and I really hope he stays injury free as, like you say, on the showings he's put in so far he could turn out to be a big player for us.

[FTOF]

33 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

I was mostly impressed with Dunne, but I think it's fair to say he needs to find his touch again. He overhit quite a few balls. That said, the thought was there so I think if he can take 10% power off some of his deliveries (and stay fit, etc) he could turn out to be a hell of a player for us.

Best passer on the pitch was Alnwick. I watched the warm up and he was pinging the ball out to Urminsky on the wing. During the game he did it 3 or 4 times when Tanser had space.

I can understand the tactic of getting it out to the wings ASAP, using long balls. However, several times, there was a short pass on to the likes of Kiltie/McGrath/Brophy who were in space, in a central position about 20-25 yards from goal. I'd have liked to have seen them running at the defenders and having a shot, just to mix it up a bit.