The_Kincardine Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 We were absolutely abject vs Killy on Saturday AND we don't win many games when Alfie isn't playing. Also, McGregor may be suspended. On the plus side, St Johnstone have lost 4 league games on the trott. Time for The Lanky Flautist to actually justify his transfer. I'll go with: Keeper Tavernier Goldson Katic HallidayMccrorie Kamara Jack Candeias Lafferty Kent Home win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Saints will win this, we can now look forward to playing cannon fodder rather than being cannon fodder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Morelos being out is a massive boost, tbh. Lafferty and Defoe don't seem to be near him in terms of ability (both will score hat-tricks now). Can see us trying O'Halloran as the lone striker in this tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Clark Foster Kerr Shaughnessy Tanser Davidson Goss Swanson Kennedy O'Halloran Watt Swap Joe with big Liam if he hasn't yet apologised for his performances lately. Liam has kept Lafferty in check before and has shown he's not as soft as shite against physical players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 O'Hollaran to score, guaranteed. Need to slightly change our style with Alfredo the great being unjustly suspended. McGregor will be oot, Gerrard isn't going to pick katic so we'll probably go with... Fods Tav, Wirral, Goldson, Barisic McCrorie Jack and Arfy Candy, Defoe and Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Oh ffs. Confirm relegation please, St Johnstone. 4 of our last 5 games against the old firm, 3 of those away from home. I’ll be be back on the 23rd when we start playing the real stuff again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 26 minutes ago, Kyle said: Oh ffs. Confirm relegation please, St Johnstone. 4 of our last 5 games against the old firm, 3 of those away from home. I’ll be be back on the 23rd when we start playing the real stuff again. What about the shitshow at Hamilton ? You trying hard to forget that? Or Tynecastle, no fucking shots on target!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Saints Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Kyle seems to be disregarding the fact that Rangers are absolutely dreadful. Please don't include them in the same breath as Celtic in terms of footballing ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widge Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 0-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Toon Saintee Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Just give us the points now 3-O Watt O'Halloran and Goss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Morelos won Rangers the game in Perth. I've seen them a few times without him and they look a much poorer team for his absence. Lafferty has always caused us problems though, if Gerrard gives him the nod. Been very impressed by Ryan Kent as well, thought he was Rangers' best player against us last time at Ibrox. Not sure Rangers will press a team like Saints quite as hard as Celtic do, so hopefully more opportunity for us to try and play some football. Need the defence to get back to the level they were at before Tynecastle as well though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Clark Foster - Kerr - Shaughnessy - Tanser Goss MOH - Davidson - Alston - Wotherspoon Kennedy Wotherspoon to help protect Tanser against Candieas/Tavernier, MOH to try and exploit Halliday, and Alston always has a stormer at Ibrox, and things like that stay in players heads. Harsh on Craig but it is what it is. Wouldn't be fussed if Kennedy was left with a proper striker up front too, as he does a shift defensively too while not allowing as many crosses as Wotherspoon does, but I'd rather have Kennedy focused solely on attacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 11 hours ago, The Real Saints said: Kyle seems to be disregarding the fact that Rangers are absolutely dreadful. Please don't include them in the same breath as Celtic in terms of footballing ability. Nothing to do with ability, everything to do with another game where we'll try and fail miserably to sit in, show zero ambition the other way and lose 2-0. Going away to Ibrox and Celtic Park is just the pits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightswoodBear Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 It'll be Defoe up front again rather than Lafferty, thankfully. 3-0 Gers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 27 minutes ago, Kyle said: Nothing to do with ability, everything to do with another game where we'll try and fail miserably to sit in, show zero ambition the other way and lose 2-0. Going away to Ibrox and Celtic Park is just the pits. You're so negative, Kyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 The only way to play against better teams is to make it hard for them, otherwise you are just playing into their hands. You don't go toe-to-toe in any sport with an opponent that is better than you, the aim has to be to make it as hard as possible for them, frustrate them, then take a chance if it comes along. Not defending well and not making good use of the ball isn't being negative, it's not doing your job properly and playing poorly. The latter part of that is the big problem for Saints against the better teams. The manager went to Celtic Park a fortnight ago and didn't pick Swanson and O'Halloran so we could defend from the front, it was to try and hurt them but if you can't get the ball to them, they can't do that. If anyone can come up with a plan (in regards to facing Celtic anyway) of how we do that without going too much the other way - see the first ten minutes of the second half on Sunday - then I'm sure TW would be delighted to know. But the simple fact is his midfielders need to do better on the ball, if they have that in them. Rangers were by all accounts very good in the Old Firm game but I don't expect them to play with that intensity (i.e. one to match Celtic) against Saints, so this shouldn't be as daunting a task, although it remains a tough one being at Ibrox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 minute ago, Radford said: The only way to play against better teams is to make it hard for them, otherwise you are just playing into their hands. You don't go toe-to-toe in any sport with an opponent that is better than you, the aim has to be to make it as hard as possible for them, frustrate them, then take a chance if it comes along. Not defending well and not making good use of the ball isn't being negative, it's not doing your job properly and playing poorly. The latter part of that is the big problem for Saints against the better teams. The manager went to Celtic Park a fortnight ago and didn't pick Swanson and O'Halloran so we could defend from the front, it was to try and hurt them but if you can't get the ball to them, they can't do that. If anyone can come up with a plan (in regards to facing Celtic anyway) of how we do that without going too much the other way - see the first ten minutes of the second half on Sunday - then I'm sure TW would be delighted to know. But the simple fact is his midfielders need to do better on the ball, if they have that in them. Rangers were by all accounts very good in the Old Firm game but I don't expect them to play with that intensity (i.e. one to match Celtic) against Saints, so this shouldn't be as daunting a task, although it remains a tough one being at Ibrox. Of course we have to but there's surely a middle ground between having literally zero shots at goal and playing with zero ambition (Celtic away in the league - we only managed 1 shot against Hearts at Tynecastle too) and the second half in the most recent game. After the second goal on Sunday we played with a bit attacking intent in the first half whilst staying in a shape and we created chances and restricted Celtic at the same time. We obviously had to go for it with it being a cup game and got torn apart by their pace and movement but them the rolls. Surely no Saints fan can claim they're enjoying the way we're setting up just now. If we're not sitting in then we're putting square pegs in round holes to accommodate the manager's new signings in the team. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that supporters actually get some semblance of entertainment if they're traveling 60 miles to Glasgow (or slightly less to Edinburgh), pay £30 + travel to spend a large chunk of their Saturday following Saints. I'm not convinced any of our midfielders would say their ideal job in the team is to sit and midfield or protect the back 4. Liam Craig has developed into that kind of player as he's gotten older but he was always a winger/attacking midfielder in his younger days. Goss possibly too but he doesn't seem like the toughest tackler in the world either. Davidson/Callachan look more comfortable on the front foot and the rest of our midfield options are all attack minded. Perhaps this is a problem that needs addressed in the summer but you can only piss with the cock you've got and playing with 11 men behind the ball and trying to break from there just doesn't seem to suit us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintDougie Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 St Johnstone 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 It comes back to what I said though, it's not the ambition that's the issue. They clearly don't set out to not create chances. With the players we have (that I've heard folk claim is our best squad in ages), how do we line up against a side like Celtic and find the balance? He doesn't want eleven men behind the ball but the midfielders aren't doing well enough in possession to avoid it. It doesn't matter if you play 4-4-2, 3-5-2 or whatever if that is happening. I agree the last 25 minutes of the first half on Sunday weren't bad but every time we play them, Rodgers identifies where we've done well and where we might be weak and tweaks things; maybe TW was trying to be one step ahead? I'd have kept it the same though I admit. We've played as we largely always end up playing against Celtic in the last three games but the frustration/negativity/disappointment (whatever you want to call it) has been magnified by it being three games in eleven days, and compounded by the fact we have the next hardest fixture on the calendar following it. Usually we'd just dismiss a match against Celtic and that shouldn't change just because there has been three of them. The squad issue highlighted is there but (forgetting scorelines) how many properly disappointing results have we had this season? At home to Motherwell in horrendous conditions where we gave ourselves a mountain to climb but actually played not too badly after 17 mins, and away at Accies. I think Goss was added to help in games like the Celtic one and it's been unfortunate they've come so quickly after him arriving. But do you go wholesale on a squad that has had maybe two poor results in the hope you get something from Celtic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Games against Celtic aren't what define our season, we're basically safe from relegation already, that's good going for Saints imo. If by the split and we're still playing like we are just now then we can all moan like f**k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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