St Johnstone vs. Hearts

[Zamora Fan]

If somebody could teach Cammy McPherson to not always get caught on the wrong side of the ball that would be nice. It's like we've signed Paul Paton back.

He’s a bit of a Callachan/Paton hybrid so far for me. Lots of energy but doesn’t really know how to use it while also seeming like he can only play the ball in the direction he’s facing. Not a fan. Early days I guess but we’ve looked far more exposed with him in the midfield recently

[Radford]

15 minutes ago, Costanza said:

If somebody could teach Cammy McPherson to not always get caught on the wrong side of the ball that would be nice. It's like we've signed Paul Paton back.

On early evidence, thank God this is only a loan and not permanent. What a downgrade from McCann. 

[FrankChickens1]

Youtube highlights make it fairly clear that by the time Gordon slid out the box the ball was only touching his knees. Impossible to say whether he or May then got the ball first across either angle, which is probably a good reason to go in keeper's favour in real time.

Clear handball in buildup to Hearts' goal.

Edited October 28, 2021 by FrankChickens1

[RandomGuy.]

6 hours ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

Zander Clark was the only one for dissent.  The other 3 were for really poor tackles.

No argument Devlin could have been booked earlier, think he committed more fouls thanthe rest of our team put together

May got booked for dissent too. Was on the edge of the box when Davidson had cleared and Devlin, again, caught him late, this time above the ankle, and he still wasn't booked.

That's ignoring Halliday avoiding a booking for two late tackles, which both led to injuries causing players to go off at half time, and for his meltdown at the ref.

I've no complaints about the majority of our cards, its just frustrating as f**k when there's no consistency between how he treats teams. 

[RandomGuy.]

I can't see MacPherson or Crawford being here next season tbh, especially if MacPherson likely requires some form of fee due to his age.

Don't think they're anything more than stop gaps in an attempt to add creativity to the midfield until we get more rounded players in.

This Summers window was a farce tbh.

[Jamie_B]

4 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

May got booked for dissent too. Was on the edge of the box when Davidson had cleared and Devlin, again, caught him late, this time above the ankle, and he still wasn't booked.

That's ignoring Halliday avoiding a booking for two late tackles, which both led to injuries causing players to go off at half time, and for his meltdown at the ref.

I've no complaints about the majority of our cards, its just frustrating as f**k when there's no consistency between how he treats teams. 

May's booking was for a foul on Souttar a few seconds earlier. It was a nonsense - he barely touched Souttar, who took three steps then fell down having continued the move forward. It was barely a foul and not in any world a yellow, especially compared with the foul Devlin then put in.

I thought it was Gnanduillet who had injured both Brown and Dendoncker in the first half by steaming into them both late - a challenge that wasn't even given as a foul.

Sportscene analysis was insightful as usual - "it doesn't really show if it hits his arm" as we're shown a freeze frame of the ball clearly hitting the Hearts guy's arm, and "Saints have a chance to deal with it", ignoring that the through ball comes directly from McPherson appearing to be tripped as he turns on the half way line.

[Kyle Reese]

Missed opportunity. We are dominating midfield and possession most weeks, but we just aren’t scoring enough goals. Three point from the last nine is really disappointing. I hope (and suspect) Savage has a striker lined up for January. We are two or three upgrades away from being a very decent side. 

Probably can’t complain too much, but it’s frustrating playing well and not winning.

[Empty It]

So if you listen to the saints boys Gnanduillet injured two and Halliday injured two yet they only made three subs.

[Jamie_B]

7 minutes ago, Kyle Reese said:

Missed opportunity. We are dominating midfield and possession most weeks, but we just aren’t scoring enough goals. Three point from the last nine is really disappointing. I hope (and suspect) Savage has a striker lined up for January. We are two or three upgrades away from being a very decent side. 

Probably can’t complain too much, but it’s frustrating playing well and not winning.

Thought Hearts were, in possession, by far one of the best teams we've played this season. Far superior to Dundee United, for example, who are also right up there in terms of league position. But for all that possession there weren't too many clear chances. I think Clark made one worthwhile save in each half and the rest was all speculative stuff from range, mainly from Souttar.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Jamie_Beatson

[RandomGuy.]

20 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

I thought it was Gnanduillet who had injured both Brown and Dendoncker in the first half by steaming into them both late - a challenge that wasn't even given as a foul.

Halliday caught both them too, then Dendoncker also got melted late by Gnanduillet which you're probably right in saying caused the injury, sure he was hobbling about after it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Davidson and Kane have knocks now too, both landed awkward as f**k after going for headers against Devlin, who didn't even pretend he wanted the ball.

[THE FAT MAN]

7 hours ago, saint in exile said:

He could try starting him for a change?Our strikers aren't exactly banging them in.Whats there to lose?

Points.CD clearly doesn't trust him  just now and if rumours going around fans he's unsettled  and not showing it in training. 

[RandomGuy.]

10 minutes ago, Empty It said:

So if you listen to the saints boys Gnanduillet injured two and Halliday injured two yet they only made three subs.

You realise that situation isnt impossible don't you?

Like teams only have 3 subs so if there's 4 players injured they can't all come off?

Edited October 28, 2021 by RandomGuy.

[Kyle Reese]

7 minutes ago, Jamie_Beatson said:

Thought Hearts were, in possession, by far one of the best teams we've played this season. Far superior to Dundee United, for example, who are also right up there in terms of league position. But for all that possession there weren't too many clear chances. I think Clark made one worthwhile save in each half and the rest was all speculative stuff from range, mainly from Souttar.

Pretty much exactly as I saw it too. I think we have improved dramatically as a team, from last season, but playing three games in a week has exposed our lack of comparable quality in depth. There’s a drop off in quality when the likes of Halliday comes in, and Cochrane goes out. 

[Radford]

35 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

I can't see MacPherson or Crawford being here next season tbh, especially if MacPherson likely requires some form of fee due to his age.

With the caveat that it is early days for the pair, I both hope you are right but don't share your optimism. Maybe the fact we are struggling a little bit might convince the manager that he can't just mould any player into a cog for his system though. 

Ali McCann was a phenomenon, a box-to-box ball winner who could pass the ball. A million-pound player in our midfield. It's going to take some getting used to not having that quality but you can only strive to find the best player possible. I see very little evidence that Cammy MacPherson might meet that criteria. 

Despite us being pretty poor in the second half, it was still an enjoyable game in front of a good crowd, a tonic after the last two outings. 

Was very impressed by Hearts. Can see they have a system and was particularly impressed by the way they cut through the lines with midfield passes. Saints were up-and-at-them, high energy and pressing (first half anyway) but Hearts looked a proper football side. 

Obviously their budget dwarves ours but encouraging to see the role a Head of Recruitment has played in that.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Radford

[Empty It]

You realise that situation isnt impossible don't you?
Like teams only have 3 subs so if there's 4 players injured they can't all come off?

We're at 6 now after Devlin on Kane and Davidson. It's almost as if St Johnstone had twice as many bookings as Hearts.

[RandomGuy.]

11 minutes ago, Radford said:

I see very little evidence that Cammy MacPherson might meet that criteria. 

Guessing that he was the best option on the list of CMs they could get at short notice. McCann not leaving until deadline day probably whittled that list right down. His set plays are usually of a good quality too which will have bumped him up, as daft as that might sound.

Do worry how the manager raved about him when he signed tbh, but still sure the club will be after other CMs in the next 2 windows.

4 minutes ago, Empty It said:

We're at 6 now after Devlin on Kane and Davidson. It's almost as if St Johnstone had twice as many bookings as Hearts.

Again, anyone using that clown referee as a gauge of anything isn't worth listening too. One of the worst refereeing displays I can remember.

The phantom corner is proper pub league stuff.

[Jamie_B]

Thought McPherson's set piece delivery was superb throughout. Only really one that didn't hit the mark and cause problems which was pleasing. But far too often it was just so easy for Hearts to make a pass beyond him and suddenly we looked exposed.

[DC92]

I've often thought we haven't created enough clear opportunities for our possession but I didn't think that in this game. Gnanduillet had 3/4 good chances himself: the header saved at the end of the first half, the shot turned wide by Clark early in the second, the free header straight at Clark on about 65 minutes and the shot just wide from the angle. I also thought Ginnelly's chance at the back post where he tried an acrobatic volley was a good chance and although Souttar's two attempts from range can't be classed as clearcut chances they were very close (one of them very similar to his goal on Saturday).

The dilemma for us is whether we keep the 3-4-3 which has us playing nice football up to the edge of the box but probably leaves us an attacker light, or whether we try make 4-2-3-1, a formation we've usually looked considerably worse in, work.

The most bizarre moment of the match (aside from the blatant corner given as a throw) was early in the second half when St Johnstone swung a free-kick in from the right and McCart, all on his own, put the ball wide. Despite being a great chance it seemed to elicit absolutely zero reaction from the crowd and didn't make the Sportscene highlights. Did I dream this?

[Radford]

If we are gonna start talking about set piece delivery, then MacPherson becomes the full hybrid of Paton, Callachan AND Goss. 

[Valentino Bolognese]

6 minutes ago, Radford said:

With the caveat that it is early days for the pair, I both hope you are right but don't share your optimism. Maybe the fact we are struggling a little bit might convince the manager that he can't just mould any player into a cog for his system though. 

Ali McCann was a phenomenon, a box-to-box ball winner who could pass the ball. A million-pound player in our midfield. It's going to take some getting used to not having that quality but you can only strive to find the best player possible. I see very little evidence that Cammy MacPherson might meet that criteria. 

Despite us being pretty poor in the second half, it was still an enjoyable game in front of a good crowd, a tonic after the last two outings. 

Was very impressed by Hearts. Can see they have a system and was particularly impressed by the way they cut through the lines with midfield passes. Saints were up-and-at-them, high energy and pressing (first half anyway) but Hearts looked a proper football side. 

Obviously their budget dwarves ours but encouraging to see the role a Head of Recruitment has played in that.

There's a player in Crawford and can see that they could maybe be moulded in to makeshift Spoony backup or even replacement. McPherson, not so much. Agree with others that he's got a touch of the Callachan's about him. For the moment though I think we need his set piece delivery. Comparing with McCann isn't really fair. 

With the money from 2 cups, Europe, more ST's sold and player sales it's more than disappointing that we've not improved the squad more than we have - and paid a fee for a player we're not playing (with the caveat that the sales were very late in the day so not much wiggle room, hence Ambrose I guess). Thank god we got some depth into the defence though, looking back it's hard to believe we got through almost all of last season injury-free. 

As for last night (and haven't seen any highlights yet), it was a decent enough game, surface gave it a bit of a cup tie feel. Hearts brought a decent support with them which maybe swayed the ref a bit but if we'd lost by a goal I don't think we could have really complained too much given the second half. Not sure if it's imposed on CD by the squad he has, but that's a few games where we've spent the majority of the game camped up in our own half inviting teams on. That's fine if you have a pacey counter attack but we just don't. If we insist on playing that way I'd like to see us starting with MOH and Middleton again. Rooney is proving a big miss but liked the look of Devine again, thought he was good value.

Hearts looked good for the most part. Only seen Gnandully on the telly before and didn't appreciate the size of the boy, absolutely towered over Liam Gordon and got 2 or 3 clear headers at goal. Against the right defences in this league he'll score a good few IMO.