RandomGuy. Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 12 minutes ago, Widge said: The 4-0 against Hamilton and then the St Mirren game after it where we could of had 6/7 were both entertaining last year. Yes the opposition was poor, but we were playing some excellent stuff in those games. That St Mirren side was one of the worst I can ever remember seeing at McDiarmid. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gianfranco Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 I’m glad we have no real rivals. The Dundee pish on this thread would bore you more than watching St Johnstone at home as a Saints fan (allegedly). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 The funny thing is...or is it funny.... Is how unrealistic some fans expectations are at all clubs. St Johnstone are arguably a smaller club (attendance based) than Falkirk, Dunfermline, Partick Thistle etc yet they have been fixtures in the top flight for quite a while now while those other clubs have spent long spells in the lower leagues. Qualifying for Europe on a regular basis (at one point) and winning the Scottish Cup. Facts are that is a tremendous achievement for any club. Probably akin to Bournemouth doing same. Not saying don’t moan when things are tough but it is like Aberdeen fans right now. What more should they expect having reached multiple cup finals and finishing second year after year. Even Motherwell fans wanted shot of Robinson a v short while after reaching 2 cup finals. There are probably some now that still want him gone as if in the short term we are likely to get a better Manager. As a Well fan I absolutely recognise our standing in Scottish football. We are smaller in terms of resources than all the City clubs and probably Killie to boot. So anywhere below 8th in the table is a poor season and anything above is a good one. I also recognise that escaping relegation is a target every year. All clubs have highs and lows and it maybe that St Johnstone are due a period of poor results and lower league positions. Would that really be at all surprising. As it is I still think they will finish at worst outside the bottom 2 positions this season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 (edited) Looking at St Johnstone's current situation there are echoes of us at the start of the 15/16 season under Baraclough when we basically set up to go with the shape that bodied Rangers 6-1 over the two legs of the play-off. Johnson and Ainsworth as the wingers, midfield of Lasley, Pearson with McDonald as the attacking mid and one of Moult or Wes Fletcher (lol) as the centre forward in place of Erwin. (For the sake of clarity/accuracy, I should probably mention that Pearson was injured in the first game of the season and replaced by Jake Taylor whose only contribution of note was being sent off for diving in a 2-1 defeat in Perth). On paper it looked absolutely fine. However in practice it just didn't really work. We lost 4 of our opening 5 league games, needed extra time to beat East Fife in the LC before losing (AET) to Morton in the next round and only managed to score 5 goals in the 8 league games before Baraclough was emptied. Obviously there's the chance that the players weren't really buying into what Baraclough was saying (to put it politely and euphemistically) and their performances reflected that but also for whatever reason they didn't look used to the shape and just generally struggled to create much so it just fell apart. Looking at St Johnstone you've got a front 3 of O'Halloran, May and one of Wright/Kennedy which seems appealing. I mean, by all accounts we were very keen on MOH on the regular when he was at Ibrox. On the face of it that starting XI on Saturday was a 433 that matched ours (which we play home and away) the whole 'one up front' criticism doesn't really wash when you've got 2 out and out wingers. The criticism is probably more relevant elsewhere eg: are the midfield getting close to/ahead of the striker etc. Also you've got Holt, McCann and Davidson as your midfield three with Tanser, Kerr, Gordon and Ralston as the back 4. It's not like there are many square pegs in round holes there. The problem (IMO) isn't the shape or formation but rather how the players are coached in that system. If TW is just poking his "attacking" players with a stick saying "C'mon, do something" then that's probably not ideal. Out of curiosity has TW used a 433 often or is this a new shape for him to use? Going back to August you had Wright pretty much saying the squad he'd put together was exactly what he wanted: Quote "When I have Wotherspoon, Wright, Kennedy, O'Halloran, Swanson, Kane, Hendry and my new striker I'll be sitting back happy. We will have the fire power to really hurt teams. That is the perfect scenario for a manager." It's a pretty awkward situation if the manager has gone all in putting together a squad with the intention of playing a specific shape/formation but it doesn't work. Fwiw: the tweak McGhee made when he replaced Baraclough was to drop a winger (Ainsworth) and go with lop-sided 442 with Johnson pushed high on the left and a narrow midfield 3. That was the last season we finished top 6 so still time for TW to get things right lads. Edited September 30, 2019 by capt_oats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 In the context of history, it wouldn't be surprising in the slightest but given the individual players we have and the wage bill, we shouldn't be haunted by relegation. The manager has built an unbalanced squad - both in terms of numbers in certain positions and quality distribution - but we should be better than what we've shown so far this season. We've played 5 top flight teams at home so far this season (4 in the league, the other in the league cup) and we've drawn 1 and lost 4, scoring 3 goals in the process. Given the opposition (County, Livingston, Kilmarnock when they were bottom, Rangers, Motherwell) we should have more to show than that. Even the game we managed to draw, we had to come back from 2-0 down and Livi missed a penalty in the last minute. We need to improve and quickly or we'll find ourselves marooned at the bottom. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marly Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Aye. Routine of Saints game. Slog away matching opponents -> give away stupid fucking goal -> look like you're beginning to dominate, but really it's just because the opposition have decided to protect their lead -> miss the one decent chance you create all match -> lose. We're down. That's our strongest team and we lost that with a fucking whimper.You're a cock. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marly Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 We deserved at least a point. If we had got all three it wouldn't have been a surprise. We will not get relegated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiochas III Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 7 minutes ago, The Marly said: We deserved at least a point. If we had got all three it wouldn't have been a surprise. We will not get relegated. No you didn't deserve a point. You maybe should have got one but deserve - no. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broon_100 Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 6 hours ago, The Real Saints said: Not sure how those two things are linked. He generally fields two wingers like most teams do. Don’t see how that affects his decision to go with one up front. Meant to say midfielders, not wingers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McQueen Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 On 29/09/2019 at 15:53, perthsaint1977 said: 2772 from memory. Nearly 800 away fans On 29/09/2019 at 15:54, Busta Nut said: I read 2900 odd, 700 'Well fans but that was someone on twitter Thanks for your replies, now confirmed on SPFL site as 2972. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloPerth Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 12 hours ago, RandomGuy. said: I had no idea, that's even more frightening! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poet of the Macabre Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Absolutely no chance St J will go down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akuram Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Absolutely no chance St J will go down.What optimism, hope you are right but at the moment it's not looking good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackdaybob Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 3 hours ago, Poet of the Macabre said: Absolutely no chance St J will go down I'm admiring your optimism 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 On 29/09/2019 at 19:21, Casagolda said: I always thought it was an automatic 3 game ban for violent conduct. Could be wrong mind as I’m not actually sure of the rules but I’d have thought he’s looking at 3 matches for that. 2 games it is 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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