The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread

[GAD]

1 hour ago, Coventry Saint said:

The issues* were there for everyone to see on Saturday, but I'm going to go full happy clapper and point out some positives:

1) Ethan was very good. Way better than we had any right to expect. Not everything came off for him, which is understandable, but he was always looking to play forward passes. When there was movement in front of him, he was doing an ok job of finding it. The absolute madness of playing a guy in his preferred position. I think we've got a real talent there and I hope we can somehow still offer him enough minutes when the squad is at full strength (also applies to point 2).

2) MacPherson has lost his place in the first XI, for whatever reason. All you can ask of him is that he works hard and shows that he needs to be included. He did that on Saturday. Coming on at 3-0 down, late in the game, is far from ideal, but he instantly improved the way we were moving the ball around, and he certainly wasn't hiding.

3) Dennis looked rusty and, I assume, picked up a knock, but some of his movement was promising. We won't play 4-4-2 all the time - and certainly won't be on Wednesday - but it has potential.

4) We should have had a penalty, and the third goal should have been chalked off. I'm not saying we get anything from the game if we get those decisions, but 2-1 in the circumstances is a LOT better than 3-0. 

5) This might be the Pro Evo player in me, but I liked the look of Connolly. He's probably a bit of a one-trick pony - head down, kick 'n chase, whipped balls in - but once strikers learn what he's trying to do, he could get a few assists this season. And my god, we need to get balls into the box like I can't describe.

6) I still like Morias as an option from the bench. He's such a unit: much bigger players just bounce off him. He will be our most-used sub this season.

7) I liked the look of Erwin. I'm hoping he turns out to be like a good Cody Cooke.

 

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* Squad depth in defence, Sheron, Durmus has gone missing, McAllister looks lazy and ineffective, we struggle to create chances. McGrath had a very quiet game, too, and I think he could be making way when Flynn gets back.

 

I agree with most of that. To be honest, I think some of the reaction to Saturday is a bit OTT. We were in a shit situation, but we weren't as out of the game as some people are making out. The penalty (or Sheron's miss as well) were pretty pivotal moments for me, at 2-1 at half time we would have been well in it. You can't say for certain, but I don't think we would have conceded two of the goals if Alnwick had been in goals either.

Hibs are a good side, Ross has recruited well again, and they were well worth the win, but I think a lot went against us on Saturday, on the field and off it.

[Coventry Saint]

13 minutes ago, GAD said:

I agree with most of that. To be honest, I think some of the reaction to Saturday is a bit OTT. We were in a shit situation, but we weren't as out of the game as some people are making out. The penalty (or Sheron's miss as well) were pretty pivotal moments for me, at 2-1 at half time we would have been well in it. You can't say for certain, but I don't think we would have conceded two of the goals if Alnwick had been in goals either.

Hibs are a good side, Ross has recruited well again, and they were well worth the win, but I think a lot went against us on Saturday, on the field and off it.

Yeah, I think that was broadly my point (4) - though I was determined not to whinge about the goalie situation, the first one went right through him. The second was a decent finish but the boy was in acres of space to pick his shot. If Sheron's not snuffing out those chances at the edge of the box then I'm really not sure what he's for. I think we had a complete heads gone for the spell that led up to the second, too. Other than that, we actually played some ok stuff at times, albeit most of it at 2-0/3-0 down when Hibs were arguably just in game management/counter-attack mode.

[GAD]

29 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

Yeah, I think that was broadly my point (4) - though I was determined not to whinge about the goalie situation, the first one went right through him. The second was a decent finish but the boy was in acres of space to pick his shot. If Sheron's not snuffing out those chances at the edge of the box then I'm really not sure what he's for. I think we had a complete heads gone for the spell that led up to the second, too. Other than that, we actually played some ok stuff at times, albeit most of it at 2-0/3-0 down when Hibs were arguably just in game management/counter-attack mode.

Yeah, I can't say for sure with the first one, it was a bit unlucky and the guy didn't know much about it, so it's hard to really blame the keeper, but it just felt soft. Third as well, I know it was a handball, and a difficult cross to deal with, but it was in the air a long, long time, and he just sort of flapped at it.

Agree about Sheron. Erhahon put himself about and put in more tackles in midfeild I felt, and at least got us moving forward. Durmus and McAllister have been real let downs this season, absolute ghosts.

[Coventry Saint]

3 minutes ago, GAD said:

Durmus and McAllister have been real let downs this season, absolute ghosts.

We all know Kyle blows hot and cold, but Durmus has been the real shock for me. I had him down to be one of our most influential players this season but he's been atrocious. 

He doesn't look like he's firing on all cylinders at all. If he hadn't just had several months off, you'd say he looks like he needs a rest. It's completely bizarre.

Also though McGrath was quiet on Saturday.

[ZingaliMan]

2 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

We all know Kyle blows hot and cold, but Durmus has been the real shock for me. I had him down to be one of our most influential players this season but he's been atrocious. 

He doesn't look like he's firing on all cylinders at all. If he hadn't just had several months off, you'd say he looks like he needs a rest. It's completely bizarre.

Also though McGrath was quiet on Saturday.

At the moment with McAllister, Durmus , Sheron all performing under par. These guy's should be on the bench to have all three on at the same time is making us weaker. 

[Ric]

The biggest problem I suppose is that we don't have enough midfielders in the squad to shuffle the pack.

Spoiler

Narrator: They did have enough midfielders.

 

[NorthBank]

Both Foley and McCarthy should have cleared the ball for the first goal. And Obika lost the man he was marking for the 3rd. Keeper not directly at fault for either.

[Coventry Saint]

3 hours ago, Coventry Saint said:

If Sheron's not snuffing out those chances at the edge of the box then I'm really not sure what he's for.

I've just watched the highlights again there and, in the interests of balance, I have to say Ethan was horribly out of the game for their second goal. Sheron actually does marginally better, position-wise, but they are both horribly exposed.

Spoilered analysis of the goal below.

Spoiler

 

Erhahon is on Nisbet when the ball is lumped forward by Foley:

But while he and Sheron move forward, Nisbet stops still, so when Porteous heads it back...

They've both left Nisbet in acres of space.

He knocks it out wide and both Sheron and Erhahon make half-arsed attempts at getting back. Sheron does at least stay vaguely close to Nisbet (but not goal side), but Ethan (circled) has made a completely pointless run in behind Tait to mark absolutely nobody:

You can just see Sheron realising too late that nobody has picked up the run of Newell. Here's another look at the moment when the ball lands with Nisbet. You can draw a circle around the four players. Sheron goes with Nisbet; Erhahon does nothing.

Maybe harsh considering he's hardly played, and I'm sure this will be getting worked on this week.

 

 

[Munoz]

10 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

I've just watched the highlights again there and, in the interests of balance, I have to say Ethan was horribly out of the game for their second goal. Sheron actually does marginally better, position-wise, but they are both horribly exposed.

Spoilered analysis of the goal below.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Erhahon is on Nisbet when the ball is lumped forward by Foley:

But while he and Sheron move forward, Nisbet stops still, so when Porteous heads it back...

They've both left Nisbet in acres of space.

He knocks it out wide and both Sheron and Erhahon make half-arsed attempts at getting back. Sheron does at least stay vaguely close to Nisbet (but not goal side), but Ethan (circled) has made a completely pointless run in behind Tait to mark absolutely nobody:

You can just see Sheron realising too late that nobody has picked up the run of Newell. Here's another look at the moment when the ball lands with Nisbet. You can draw a circle around the four players. Sheron goes with Nisbet; Erhahon does nothing.

Maybe harsh considering he's hardly played, and I'm sure this will be getting worked on this week.

 

 

Going by Goodwin's reaction,  he was far from pleased at how easy we gifted the goals.

[Bobby_F]

Having now watched the highlights, my opinion of the game is a bit different than it was based on the awful (official!) stream I was getting.

First goal is freakish; two defensive errors, ball hits off Nesbit and he megs Zlamal as a result.

Third goal I thought even with the crap stream looked like handball.

The penalty decision is astonishing.

2-1, and it would be a different game.

Collum for someone who managed as a 4th official to (correctly) spot something the ref and linesmen missed, somehow can't see these two things.

I actually don't believe he does this intentionally to us, but he really has had some absolute howlers against us over the years.

The Boruc/Coombe ones are my earliest memories of Collum, but the one that will never go is the penalty against Celtic in the 2013 semi.

Without a great save from Samson, that one awful decision would have cost us a national trophy.

(Maybe it's just Goodwin he doesn't like )

[Munoz]

4 minutes ago, Bobby_F said:

Having now watched the highlights, my opinion of the game is a bit different than it was based on the awful (official!) stream I was getting.

First goal is freakish; two defensive errors, ball hits off Nesbit and he megs Zlamal as a result.

Third goal I thought even with the crap stream looked like handball.

The penalty decision is astonishing.

2-1, and it would be a different game.

Collum for someone who managed as a 4th official to (correctly) spot something the ref and linesmen missed, somehow can't see these two things.

I actually don't believe he does this intentionally to us, but he really has had some absolute howlers against us over the years.

The Boruc/Coombe ones are my earliest memories of Collum, but the one that will never go is the penalty against Celtic in the 2013 semi.

Without a great save from Samson, that one awful decision would have cost us a national trophy.

(Maybe it's just Goodwin he doesn't like )

That penalty in the 2013 Semi would now be a penalty according to the rule changes since then.

It shouldn't have been then. 

He's a terrible ref and equally as bad as Andrew Dallas. 

[Torfason]

7 hours ago, Sortmeout said:

Gadz.

 

 

 

I love the fact you committed what little battery life you had left to posting this.

[Bobby_F]

6 minutes ago, Munoz said:

That penalty in the 2013 Semi would now be a penalty according to the rule changes since then.

It shouldn't have been then. 

He's a terrible ref and equally as bad as Andrew Dallas. 

Yup, ball hits player's leg comes up and hits his arm - which stops it from going for a corner.
Penalty, and yellow card to Goodwin. That yellow card to a player who was known to pick up a yellow or two in his time was also something that could have cost us.

[DumbartonBud]

51 minutes ago, Bobby_F said:

Having now watched the highlights, my opinion of the game is a bit different than it was based on the awful (official!) stream I was getting.

First goal is freakish; two defensive errors, ball hits off Nesbit and he megs Zlamal as a result.

Third goal I thought even with the crap stream looked like handball.

The penalty decision is astonishing.

2-1, and it would be a different game.

Collum for someone who managed as a 4th official to (correctly) spot something the ref and linesmen missed, somehow can't see these two things.

I actually don't believe he does this intentionally to us, but he really has had some absolute howlers against us over the years.

The Boruc/Coombe ones are my earliest memories of Collum, but the one that will never go is the penalty against Celtic in the 2013 semi.

Without a great save from Samson, that one awful decision would have cost us a national trophy.

(Maybe it's just Goodwin he doesn't like )

I do wonder if Collum relies on crowd reaction for some of his decisions, I think with a crowd there the two handballs would have been given and his 4th official intervention was after the RC bench reacted to the challenge beside him. 

[Ric]

This is the thing about Collum. I do not think that he is intentionally biased, however there is no doubt he favours the bigger teams. He has the ability to stick his oar in when not in the centre of the pitch yet miss the blindingly obvious right in front of him.

[Biscuits]

He’s not biased - none of our referees are. Anyone who says otherwise obviously has some sort of hidden agenda. Collum is just a shite referee. As soon as you see his name against your match you just know there is going to be at least one horrendous decision in the game. You just have to hope it favours your team.

[Spam_Valley]

I see on Twitter that there are calls for us to release a statement and ‘make a stand’ against Willie Collum and the SFA. Is this really the level we’re at now for f**k sake? We’re very very close to being aligned with the paranoid old firm fans and it’s utterly embarrassing. We’ve got one of the worst twitter fanbases in the Premiership and statements and calls to refuse to play games are only making us more of a laughing stock.

Some of the stuff grown men are posting is utterly cringeworthy. 

[Ric]

19 minutes ago, Spam_Valley said:

I see on Twitter ...

Ah, now you see, that's your problem there!

In terms of protesting, it all depends on the response if any Collum gave to Goodwin after the match. If there was none, or it was "I'm the ref I make decisions, if you don't like it then tough", then I'd be keen for us to put an informal nod towards the SFA that we feel this isn't really acceptable, but I'd stay well away from making any formal complaint or doing a trial by press.

[ZingaliMan]

41 minutes ago, Spam_Valley said:

I see on Twitter that there are calls for us to release a statement and ‘make a stand’ against Willie Collum and the SFA. Is this really the level we’re at now for f**k sake? We’re very very close to being aligned with the paranoid old firm fans and it’s utterly embarrassing. We’ve got one of the worst twitter fanbases in the Premiership and statements and calls to refuse to play games are only making us more of a laughing stock.

Some of the stuff grown men are posting is utterly cringeworthy. 

The club have written to the SPFL for answers as to why the game was forced to go ahead. Both Saints and Hibs are free a week on Wednesday.  So the excuse of games must be played do not stand up. As for the ref he is incompetent shit ref nothing else. To think he is put forward by our officals to ref internationals boggles the mind. 

[Spam_Valley]

27 minutes ago, Ric said:

In terms of protesting, it all depends on the response if any Collum gave to Goodwin after the match. If there was none, or it was "I'm the ref I make decisions, if you don't like it then tough", then I'd be keen for us to put an informal nod towards the SFA that we feel this isn't really acceptable, but I'd stay well away from making any formal complaint or doing a trial by press.

He’s their poster boy. The one that gets international tournaments and champions league games. There’s no danger anything would come of a ‘quiet word’ or a full blown statement. An absolute waste of time. He’s not biased, he’s just a horrible referee.