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The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread


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Our possession stats for these 3 victories make for interesting reading:

v Hibs 31%

v Dundee United 31%

v Ross County 41%

Relaxed about giving the opposition the ball as the way we're set up they'll struggle to break us down. Most noticeable on the flanks about 40 yards from goal where we almost seem to be encouraging teams to loft balls into our box. Meat and drink for the likes of Gallagher and Dunne.

Worth mentioning too that, last season, our 4th league came mid-January (Tannadice 2-1). Hopefully we can better that.....

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The one thing I always thought you couldn't criticise Curtis Main about was his work rate. Even last season where he looked less likely than Alnwick to score, he would chase everything down, challenge for every header, run into the channels. The problem was when he'd get the ball he'd do nothing good with it. Someone on here recently mentioned the chance he had in the game against Celtic when we had to play so many youngsters. At no point did I expect him to score. 

 

I do like hard working forward (Stewart Kean, Gareth Wardlaw etc) so I always really wanted things to work out for him. Big, quick and hard working - what's not to like?! And at the end of last season - against St Johnstone and Dundee - he was actually good. Things started to come off for him and he was causing problems for defenders. He was a threat. 

 

This season, he's moved up another level. He's a dirty big b*****d up there - aggressive and effective. And he's getting his rewards for all that hard work - from the fans and with those 2 great finishes last week. 

 

I'm absolutely chuffed for the big man. He deserved that standing ovation today. 

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1 hour ago, elvis said:

What worries me is how narrow we are the amount of space we give  teams we can't play like that against Celtic and rangers they will absolutely trounce us.

If worrying about getting trounced by teams with 25x your budget is the only thing keeping you up at night, you're doing something right.

You will literally never be happy FFS.

 

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12 minutes ago, Buddiesaint said:

In the post match interview Robinson mentions we don't mind giving them possession as they have it where they can't hurt us. Seems like soak up pressure and hit em on the counter to create quality openings is his gameplan, and so far it's working.

We could quite easily be sitting on 13 points by now. I'll settle for the 9.

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9 minutes ago, Buddiesaint said:

In the post match interview Robinson mentions we don't mind giving them possession as they have it where they can't hurt us. Seems like soak up pressure and hit em on the counter to create quality openings is his gameplan, and so far it's working.

The biggest thing I've noticed is that when we do have possession these days, we are very much a team whose players know where they need to be.

Last week at Tannadice and the first half today, there were very few wasted passes and aimless balls. All the players seem to fully know their roles and what areas of the park they should be in.

Last few seasons, and even going back to Kearney, we seemed to be a team who would just lump it forward and see what happens. We never really seemed to have a gameplay or a style of football we wanted to play other than stifle and frustrate and most supporters, myself included, were quick to point out that we were not a pleasant watch or easy on the eye whatsoever. Stifling, difficult, ugly and at times, pretty boring.

This team though, are very strong out of possession and the trade off of not having the ball for most of the game is that when we do have it, we look as threatening as I can remember us in a good few years going forward. I can't remember a Saints side in all the years in the Premier league who have carved out as many clear cut chances as we have in the first 5 games. A bit of composure and the goals that make games like today far more comfortable will definitely come. 

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12 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

The biggest thing I've noticed is that when we do have possession these days, we are very much a team whose players know where they need to be.

Last week at Tannadice and the first half today, there were very few wasted passes and aimless balls. All the players seem to fully know their roles and what areas of the park they should be in.

Last few seasons, and even going back to Kearney, we seemed to be a team who would just lump it forward and see what happens. We never really seemed to have a gameplay or a style of football we wanted to play other than stifle and frustrate and most supporters, myself included, were quick to point out that we were not a pleasant watch or easy on the eye whatsoever. Stifling, difficult, ugly and at times, pretty boring.

This team though, are very strong out of possession and the trade off of not having the ball for most of the game is that when we do have it, we look as threatening as I can remember us in a good few years going forward. I can't remember a Saints side in all the years in the Premier league who have carved out as many clear cut chances as we have in the first 5 games. A bit of composure and the goals that make games like today far more comfortable will definitely come. 

0-5 next week.

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47 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

If worrying about getting trounced by teams with 25x your budget is the only thing keeping you up at night, you're doing something right.

You will literally never be happy FFS.

 

Still 11 against 11

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2 hours ago, elvis said:

What worries me is how narrow we are the amount of space we give  teams we can't play like that against Celtic and rangers they will absolutely trounce us.

I actually think you have s good point. We leave acres of space on our left. Tait is often exposed. I would love to see his distance covered stats. This is why we eventually tweaked the formation by bringing Kiltie on. 

 

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It'll be interesting to see us up against a team as physical and hard working as us, especially in midfeild. I'd say County, Hibs and definitely United are quite soft, especially in midfeild, and Baccus, Erhahon and O'Hara just ate them alive. I think there will be a few teams though that will stand up to that a lot better. If we can beat St Johnstone then the 4 games after that will be a huge test, Hearts, Celtic, Livi, Rangers. None of them will be bullied the way United and Hibs were.

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38 minutes ago, GAD said:

It'll be interesting to see us up against a team as physical and hard working as us, especially in midfeild. I'd say County, Hibs and definitely United are quite soft, especially in midfeild, and Baccus, Erhahon and O'Hara just ate them alive. I think there will be a few teams though that will stand up to that a lot better. If we can beat St Johnstone then the 4 games after that will be a huge test, Hearts, Celtic, Livi, Rangers. None of them will be bullied the way United and Hibs were.

If we can take 3 or even 1 point in Perth, it will be nice going into those 4 games under significantly less pressure than a run like that would bring when on a losing or non-winning streak.

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7 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

If we can take 3 or even 1 point in Perth, it will be nice going into those 4 games under significantly less pressure than a run like that would bring when on a losing or non-winning streak.

Given that everyone is expecting Tait to make way for Tanser when he’s fit again, will Robinson change a winning team in order to shoehorn Tanser in because of the quality of his deliveries into the box

While Tait no longer has the pace required he’s been playing really well in the system the management favour. 


 

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30 minutes ago, glenburn bud said:

Given that everyone is expecting Tait to make way for Tanser when he’s fit again, will Robinson change a winning team in order to shoehorn Tanser in because of the quality of his deliveries into the box

While Tait no longer has the pace required he’s been playing really well in the system the management favour. 


 

Tait has been outstanding. There is no way he should be dropped just now. 

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33 minutes ago, glenburn bud said:

Given that everyone is expecting Tait to make way for Tanser when he’s fit again, will Robinson change a winning team in order to shoehorn Tanser in because of the quality of his deliveries into the box

While Tait no longer has the pace required he’s been playing really well in the system the management favour. 


 

Not possible to drop Tait. His return to form has been welcome and unexpected, as has Marcus Fraser's.

Both looked like their time at club was nearly up not too long ago.

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Securing one point per game is basically 'par' for staying in the league. I said on here after two games that I was worried where our 11 points were coming from after the first round of games.

As people have said, we just look like such a wildly different team to at any point since we got promoted. Obviously bigger tests to come, and we've yet to play the league's best three sides. But the way we're set up, and the aggression and pressing we put teams through, gives me real hope for the season. 

 

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19 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

Not possible to drop Tait. His return to form has been welcome and unexpected, as has Marcus Fraser's.

Both looked like their time at club was nearly up not too long ago.

I feel pretty much the same, in the pre season games or league cup ties, Tait looked like he was done at this level and miles off the pace. 
But he’s been superb in the last few league games when it really matters. Similar to Marcus who looked as if his time was up.

Great credit to both players for showing they can still contribute.

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Like most, I probably considered Tait someone now on the edges of the first team, cover for either Strain or Tanser, but his performance yesterday, and to be fair most of them under Robinson, have been good to excellent. Boyle, the cünt, was always going to be a threat but I saw him swap sides time and again just to find some space (Strain gave him short shrift in the same way Tait did). While Youan (sp?) was equally shut down in a similar manner. In fact I might go as far as to say that replacing Tait with Tanser (if he was fit) and we might not have gotten away with our profligacy in front of goal, as Tait was making key tackles I just wouldn't have expected Tanser to make.

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