Another St Johnstone European Tour!

[The Real Saints]

A rollercoaster of emotions. The constant sense of uneasiness throughout the match, the ecstasy when Muslera gave away the penalty and got sent off in the process, the tears (this is becoming a regularity in my old age) when Jason Kerr was responsible for an actually successful St. Johnstone penalty, the sobering gut-punch of an almost immediate equaliser for Galatasaray, the dawning realisation that we were being dominated by ten men and that I shouldn't actually feel disappointed about a 1-1 scoreline in Istanbul, the agony of waiting for that final whistle, then ultimately the release of emotions and the feeling of overwhelming pride.

If there's some sort of cheat code for achieving foolproof success in the art of football coaching, Callum Davidson has possibly got it. We are so well-drilled defensively but also capable of providing a real threat on the counter-attack when necessary. I don't fear Galatasaray at McDiarmid Park. Show us what you've got. 

[Enigma]

58 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

 

Such shite.

Spoke to him not long back and asked why and he said he was never asked to play for Scotland.  His Dad's Northern Irish so why shouldn't he be happy to play for them?

He was playing Premiership football for a top six side at 19, strolling it and never even got approached whilst such stellar talents as Lewis Smith and Barry Maguire were getting called up. The blame is 100% on clowns like Steve Clarke and Scot Gemmil and any under age Scotland coaches who ignored him.

Only one country gave him the opportunity to play international football; few players would knock back the chance.

I’ve no problem with him playing for Northern Ireland. As I said, if he wants to do that then he can bash on. Who you play for at international level though is nobody else’s choice but your own and nobody is to “blame” for him choosing Northern Ireland. He clearly wasn’t particularly bothered about playing for Scotland though and I’ve seen nothing to suggest otherwise.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Enigma

[Old Pack]

1 hour ago, Enigma said:

I’ve no problem with him playing for Northern Ireland. As I said, if he wants to do that then he can bash on. Who you play for at international level though is nobody else’s choice but your own and nobody is to “blame” for him choosing Northern Ireland. He clearly wasn’t particularly bothered about playing for Scotland though and I’ve seen nothing to suggest otherwise.

We’ve had loads overlooked for a Scotland call up and he done the right thing.

[Sheep62]

Only watched the first half of your match but outstanding result guys.

Go on and finish the job next week in Perth 

[saint in exile]

3 hours ago, Old Pack said:

We’ve had loads overlooked for a Scotland call up and he done the right thing.

Exactly when did a Saints player ever get capped on merit?

[RandomGuy.]

7 hours ago, Enigma said:

Yeah. I’m guessing the fact he wasn’t willing to wait around for a cap probably tells you he wasn’t particularly keen on playing for Scotland anyway. If he’d rather sing God save the Queen with the obligatory shouts of “No surrender!” before an international match then he can bash on.

He was never spoken to by anyone in the Scoyland set up ever. Even when he'd broken through in the top flight and was clearly a star nobody from the SFA ever contacted the club or player. Tommy Wright mentioned it in the media to goad a reaction and the SFA continued to refuse to contact McCann or Saints.

Then NI came in, gave him a massive report about how they saw his future in terms of when and how he would step up to the first team, got him training with the first team, and had him mentored by Steven Davis as part of that.

And still the SFA never contacted anyone about him.

It was a no brainer as he wanted an International future. Scotland never even made it a choice for him.

[Radford]

Did Martin enjoy the game? @The Real Saints

Last night will always be a fantastic moment for the club in isolation but we'll only know if it was a good result (given Muslera red) next week. 

Shame for Devine making the misjudgement, it happens with young players. There was a comment a few pages back though that he was rubbish. Good to see blue popcorn and Dotty Bars extend to other clubs as well. 

Great to see McCann showcase himself on that stage. Not that any Saints fan (especially if you've seen him for NI) would be surprised. 

[Blootoon87]

Nothing to fear from this mob, finish it next week.

[RandomGuy.]

Most intimidating support in Europe?

So Chris Kane gives them a wee wave while celebrating

[mizfit]

Looks like we did have a supporter there.

[shugster]

 
Details

Nov 2020 made debut for Northern Ireland. Had been on loan at Stranraer that's where he learned to be a class player.

[sjperth]

38 minutes ago, mizfit said:

 

 

 

Looks like we did have a supporter there.

 

 

Aye

Minty made it in. He lives in Baku.

Him and his Mrs were moved at half time for there own safety

Had the whole of the away end to themselves

[Drewmc]

As good a result as there has been from a Scottish club in Europe for a very long time. Very well organised and played without fear. Well done. 

[Scotty Tunbridge]

9 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

 

Such shite.

Spoke to him not long back and asked why and he said he was never asked to play for Scotland.  His Dad's Northern Irish so why shouldn't he be happy to play for them?

He was playing Premiership football for a top six side at 19, strolling it and never even got approached whilst such stellar talents as Lewis Smith and Barry Maguire were getting called up. The blame is 100% on clowns like Steve Clarke and Scot Gemmil and any under age Scotland coaches who ignored him.

Only one country gave him the opportunity to play international football; few players would knock back the chance.

This was a fair enough post which took me back to the McCarthy days and I was thinking yeah fair enough, until for no reason you decided to slate Lewis Smith who plays in a completely different position.

[Jacksgranda]

11 hours ago, tree house tam said:

Why the f**k does Clarke never pick Ali McCann? Him and Gilmour in the middle would stroll it.

 

11 hours ago, shugster said:

11 hours ago, tree house tam said:

Why the f**k does Clarke never pick Ali McCann? Him and Gilmour in the middle would stroll it.

McCann plays fir northern Ireland

 

11 hours ago, Jacksgranda said:

 

Details

 

1 hour ago, shugster said:

11 hours ago, Jacksgranda said:

 
Details

Nov 2020 made debut for Northern Ireland. Had been on loan at Stranraer that's where he learned to be a class player.

[tree house tam]

32 minutes ago, Scotty Tunbridge said:

This was a fair enough post which took me back to the McCarthy days and I was thinking yeah fair enough, until for no reason you decided to slate Lewis Smith who plays in a completely different position.

Hiya wee Scotty, hiya pal.

[craigkillie]

9 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

He was playing Premiership football for a top six side at 19, strolling it and never even got approached whilst such stellar talents as Lewis Smith and Barry Maguire were getting called up. The blame is 100% on clowns like Steve Clarke and Scot Gemmil and any under age Scotland coaches who ignored him.

He had made 18 Premiership appearances by the time he turned 20, and St Johnstone were in the bottom half of the Premiership for almost the entirety of the 2019/20 season which I assume is the one you were referring to. You would most likely have finished in the bottom half but for covid and PPG being used to determine the final positions.

He was already a Northern Ireland youth (maybe U21 too?) international by the time Steve Clarke even took over as Scotland manager, so aside from emptying John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor and the likes from his midfield to fit him in I'm not sure what you'd have expected him to do.

Edited August 6, 2021 by craigkillie

[saint pogo]

Stephen Thompson was saying something like McCann should be so excited playing against good opposition.  Not sure if he knows Ali started against Euro champions Italy for NI in a world cup qualifier....     

  

Edited August 6, 2021 by saint pogo

[craigkillie]

You are famously only allowed to get excited once about playing against good players, and then all excitement has to stop.

[mizfit]

When we expecting a council decision to be made? I presume the club will want to have something ready for season ticket holders.