Another St Johnstone European Tour!

[PauloPerth]

13 minutes ago, Dvorak said:

Never heard that, just the "prize" money given out.  

Does anyone know if saints are due money from the Europa league defeat(€240k ish at that stage) or only get the cash for the europa conference? 

Can't find anything on that.  As every team that drops out in the third qualifying round of the Europa goes into the conference play off,  would they state two separate figures?  The prize money stated for going out in each is €280k for our Europa exit and €750k for defeat on Thursday.

So if Aberdeen get knocked out on Thursday they get €750,000 whereas we'd get €1,030,000?   I'm guessing here.

If we win on Thursday we get €2,940,000 + €166,000 per draw in the group stage and €500,000 a group stage win.  

 

Throw in the £575,000 prize money from last season's cups and whatever we got for a top six finish.

Maybe we'll get a lick of paint in the concourse after all.

[Dvorak]

5 hours ago, ahemps said:

Do UEFA not subsidise part of the travel costs?

Never heard that, just the "prize" money given out.  

Does anyone know if saints are due money from the Europa league defeat(€240k ish at that stage) or only get the cash for the europa conference? 

[Valentino Bolognese]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

I thought he was pretty meh tbh. Did nothing but recycle the ball about and couldn't do anything under pressure, not quite sure why it's being discussed he's a key player for them or anything.

All about opinions though I guess.

Didn't think much of him in the game but LASK fans seem to rate him as a bit of a midfield enforcer. Which I guess makes it all the better that he was thrown about by Chris Kane. 

 

[Old Pack]

On the box on Thursday again BBC.

[PauloPerth]

4 out of 4 European qualifiers for Saints live on tv.  How box office are we?!

[Valentino Bolognese]

1 hour ago, PauloPerth said:

4 out of 4 European qualifiers for Saints live on tv.  How box office are we?!

Very, obviously.

Assuming Gordon's fit, based on it seeming to be touch and go on Sunday, but who knows. It's clear we really struggle without him, there was at least one moment we nearly let a man in because of a mix-up between Kerr and Muller, could not see that happening with Gordon on the pitch. Spoony; gut feel is that he's been out a wee bit too long to come straight back in and we all know how cautious CD is, but it's so hard to leave him out and this is one game surely even Callum would gamble. Can't think of an acceptable shape that starts with him, Kane, MOH and Glenn other than dropping Murray, which would be tough as he's playing his best football for about 3 years IMO and would be swashbuckling to the point of suicidal. Folk thought that about playing Middleton and MOH in a front 3 but surely it would be a bridge too far. 

Suspect RWB will be targeted again, so I'd quite like MOH on that side as he can and does track back. 

                        Zander

Rooney  Kerr  Gordon  McCart  Booth

             McCann  Davidson

           MOH  Kane  Middleton

Is what I think we might see. If Spoony starts I guess Glenn's on the bench. 

There's a few lineup options but it's going have to be 9/10's and some 10/10's all over the park. Giving Galatasaray a fright when they were playing 'home away' meant we had no surprises left and no complacency from them at McDairmid. Expect the same here. LASK maybe don't have the quality the Turks had but they must have something about them given their previous European form. Then again, they've had a pretty average start to the year and I'm sure we'll have learnt a lot from the Gala game. 

Real danger of thinking we might sneak this one. 

[PauloPerth]

1 hour ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Very, obviously.

Assuming Gordon's fit, based on it seeming to be touch and go on Sunday, but who knows. It's clear we really struggle without him, there was at least one moment we nearly let a man in because of a mix-up between Kerr and Muller, could not see that happening with Gordon on the pitch. Spoony; gut feel is that he's been out a wee bit too long to come straight back in and we all know how cautious CD is, but it's so hard to leave him out and this is one game surely even Callum would gamble. Can't think of an acceptable shape that starts with him, Kane, MOH and Glenn other than dropping Murray, which would be tough as he's playing his best football for about 3 years IMO and would be swashbuckling to the point of suicidal. Folk thought that about playing Middleton and MOH in a front 3 but surely it would be a bridge too far. 

Suspect RWB will be targeted again, so I'd quite like MOH on that side as he can and does track back. 

                        Zander

Rooney  Kerr  Gordon  McCart  Booth

             McCann  Davidson

           MOH  Kane  Middleton

Is what I think we might see. If Spoony starts I guess Glenn's on the bench. 

There's a few lineup options but it's going have to be 9/10's and some 10/10's all over the park. Giving Galatasaray a fright when they were playing 'home away' meant we had no surprises left and no complacency from them at McDairmid. Expect the same here. LASK maybe don't have the quality the Turks had but they must have something about them given their previous European form. Then again, they've had a pretty average start to the year and I'm sure we'll have learnt a lot from the Gala game. 

Real danger of thinking we might sneak this one. 

It's funny but I've gone the other way.  I usually am over-optimistic going into games thinking we can beat anyone.  It's not even that I don't think we are capable of getting the win, we were the better team for an hour in Austria, it's just that I can't picture us in the group stages!

I was confident going into all of our cup wins, I could picture us victorious, but Saints playing in the group stage of a European competition just feels a bit too mental.  I also tend to think foreign sides always have a way of getting the job done, be it against Saints or Scotland.

However, I have so much faith in our manager and this squad of players that anything is possible. 

Think you might be right, Callum will probably start with the same team, but it must be tempting to put Spoony straight in, its only been 2 weeks since his last game and he's the creative spark we miss at times.

[saint in exile]

I think we need to have Gordon playing to stand any chance so here's hoping he`s fit enough to play.Would maybe start with Spoony and use Glen as an impact sub which has certainly worked before to great effect.Anyway all very exciting. Lets try and create an electric atmosphere and make this another special place in our clubs history.COYS !!!

[tree house tam]

I think he's going to go with the same side and 343 system which started over there, then if it's not working he can change it and go 352 with Kane and Middleton up top and bring Spoony on for MOH and play him in behind the strikers. I do think Linz will play a different game though, their more technical wee Asian players should get more of run out, wouldn't be surprised to see the guy who hit the post start.

[RandomGuy.]

12 hours ago, tree house tam said:

I do think Linz will play a different game though, their more technical wee Asian players should get more of run out, wouldn't be surprised to see the guy who hit the post start.

Their first choice holding midfielder last season was James Holland, who I see played at the weekend so presumably has recovered from injury, might be him who comes in depending on fitness etc.

[tree house tam]

5 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Their first choice holding midfielder last season was James Holland, who I see played at the weekend so presumably has recovered from injury, might be him who comes in depending on fitness etc.

He's seemingly not in the listed squad for this game. Their two first choice defenders are nearing full fitness and they're listed so they might change it up there.

[big al]

Best of luck tonight, really hope you make the group stage after last seasons exploits.

[RandomGuy.]

1 hour ago, tree house tam said:

He's seemingly not in the listed squad for this game. Their two first choice defenders are nearing full fitness and they're listed so they might change it up there.

That could be good then, but no idea about the Asian CMs in terms of quality.

Still convinced Michorl is the main danger in midfield, so a bit wary of everyone being delighted Grgic is out. Michorl looked completely average last week though, so I'm probably wrong.

They also started with their 2 big strikers at the weekend, rather than just one plus two wingers. So wonder if their plan is to start closer to way they finished in terms of line up?

Potzmann instead of Flecker, Hong instead of Grgic, Schmidt instead of Balic.

[Radford]

I think we'll change it a bit and play Wotherspoon and Middleton. Former will be charged with floating and identifying the pockets, the latter providing his usual width but also the pace in behind. Neither should crowd Kane though as he'll do his work on his own. 

Having Wotherspoon in there with McCann puts less onus on Davidson to actually receive the football, which will suit him fine. 

Absolutely everything crossed that Gordon is fit. Vital. 

Clark's hard work has seen him rewarded this week, now it's time to step it up a level again. 

What a massive night for the club. Defining. 

[Valentino Bolognese]

9 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

That could be good then, but no idea about the Asian CMs in terms of quality.

Still convinced Michorl is the main danger in midfield, so a bit wary of everyone being delighted Grgic is out. Michorl looked completely average last week though, so I'm probably wrong.

They also started with their 2 big strikers at the weekend, rather than just one plus two wingers. So wonder if their plan is to start closer to way they finished in terms of line up?

Potzmann instead of Flecker, Hong instead of Grgic, Schmidt instead of Balic.

Hong looked dangerous when he came on, seemed pacy and tricky to deal with. Have a feeling he will start. Thought their manager comments reported in the Courier were interesting, didn't seem like a guy full of confidence, relying on having more 'intensity' than Saints doesn't seem sensible. They also seem to put a lot of store in their experience relative to us. Maybe they've not noticed the number of firsts we've achieved this year. If the comments are genuine they seem complacent, if it's bravado they're bricking it. 

Michorl seems to be having a fairly poor season from what I can understand though google translate. Fitness?

Seems like the biggest change from last week will be them having the 2 starting defenders back, but we'll have Spoony. Really could do with big Liam Gordon being fit for this one.

They seem to have good strength in depth and good options, but no real superstars and my worry is that the longer the game is goalless the better for them, but Callum might be cagey at the start, as he seems to be at home.

Can't see them not scoring so we'll need at least 2. Can't think how may times we've done that in the last couple of seasons. 

Bit of a ramble - head's in the bin on this one and it's only 8 in the morning. 

[RandomGuy.]

5 minutes ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Can't see them not scoring so we'll need at least 2. Can't think how may times we've done that in the last couple of seasons. 

Managed it 3 times in the cups last season, against top flight opposition.

2-1 v Motherwell/St Mirren, then 3-0 v Hibs.

We're long, long, overdue a goal fest at home. We seem prone to random games where everything clicks and we go mental, and it feels like LASK are going to try and use the size of crowd to up their intensity and use this is a home game, which hopefully means we can treat it like a domestic away game.

I'm currently at the confident end of the scale. They have the same flaws as us and Wotherspoon should be perfect to exploit every single one. Think tonight might be his night. Give me about 4 hours and I'll be shitting it and convinced we're losing by 4.

As everyone is saying, Liam Gordon is key, defence doesn't work without him.

[tree house tam]

For the first time in my life I'm swinging both ways then hoping for a happy ending.

[mizfit]

I actually argued that in my eyes Gordon should be looking at a cap ahead of Kerr and my pals were absolutely pissing themselves.

Kerr is the captain, but Gordon knows exactly what to do and when to do it.

[Costanza]

Yep, Gordon is absolutely vital for this, missed him massively on Sunday, he seems to knit it all together.  Praying he makes it and there's not any other random absentees out of nowhere like there was for the Gala home game with Spoony.

Very surreal being in this position, like a cup final day I suppose.  Will be little to no work done today anyway.  

[saint in exile]

I guess Gordon was rested in the previous league game too so hopefully just precautionary.Definitely need him in the team.He's the best pure defender we have