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St Johnstone vs Motherwell - 12th November 2022


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I thought we were pretty decent in the first half. We are playing the ball on the deck a lot more now and getting through/behind teams regularly. The deflected free kick right on half time was a nightmare, completely undeserved and seemed to give Motherwell a bit of belief after the break.

Second half was far more even although lacking in many clear chances at either end. Very stop start. Our triple sub made us far worse. I didn’t mind taking off Montgomery as he was rattled after his booking but a Crawford/Brown combination down the left was never going to work. Far too often in the second period Carey was the one getting the ball on the right wing with little support and an inability to get a cross in without checking back.

Bir frustrating but you can’t argue with ten points from the last five games.

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Draw fair, to me.

First half we edged and the equaliser felt harsh. Motherwell looked pretty enough but never really bothered our shape, while we posed problems down both flanks. 

Second half Motherwell took control and we never really responded. Not sure what our short goal kicks were about as tbey became predictable after around 15 mins and Motherwell clearly had a plan for them in the 2nd half.

Our subs killed our chances, really. Not sure what to make of them. Brown for Montgomery poor as it stopped us moving up the left, Gallacher surely the call if youre doing anything. Felt a change for changes sake to me. Crawford at least tries to do things, hes soft as paper defensively but he tends to pop up with moments so you can see why hes a late sub these days.

McLennan is a player i just dont rate at all, i honestly think id rather see O'Halloran play as at least theres game intelligence there, McLennan is years from having that. He doesnt suit playing up front either. Murphy was surely the obvious replacement for May?

Bair was Bair, really, just sort of drifts around the game struggling to get involved.

If Motherwell get a run of results and some confidence in the side they could be great fun to watch. Moult and van Veen caused chaos in that second half, and i still love Slattery.

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2 hours ago, nelsjfc said:

Has there been a worse triple substitution in history?

"Flexibility" what we wanted in the summer apparently 

A triple substitution that sums up the manager. Just made us much, much worse. Daniel Phillips offered more in the thirty seconds he was given to make an impression.

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Not much to pick out of that - I'm still reeling from the bizarrely long remembrance session (I'm not sure it needed a speech, some wreath laying, two stone cold classics on the bugle and a bagpipe solo TBH). If the game had been VAR heavy, we'd still be there.

I'm always happy with a point on the road - so would take todays result anytime but the lack of wins is obviously hurting us. Kelly looked bad for the goal - not quite a Craig Samson effort but in the same category. Our goal was a pleasant surprise more than anything else as we didn't look threatening at any point after Saints scored.

2nd half was a little better - a bit more composure and we could have scored again. Moult making 90 mins was an unexpected bonus, even if he was burst after 60 - he showed a couple of classy moments but still isn't as sharp as he would be if he had been playing lots (understandable). 

Glad just to make it to the break - hopefully it's not much time off and lot of work on the training ground as we really need it.

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Those subs baffled everyone. I honestly, perhaps naively thought that he'd moved on from the Crawford experiment but apparently the bromance is still strong.  

First half we should have had it wrapped up or at least have been going in one up. The players (both teams to be fair) looked leggy and overall it was a poor game between two tired teams. 

As others have said our subs just killed us. God alone knows what pictures Crawford has of Davidson. 

@RandomGuy.think that's a bit unfair on Bair, he was hardly on the pitch. 

Still, a good time to take stock and it's obviously a big improvement on last year and we do at least look like a team that are playing for the manager and know what they're expected to be doing. 

Great to see Spoony back but I don't think that was a performance to get him to a world cup (much as I hope I'm wrong). He looks a few games short of fitness and sharpness to me. 

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I think the short kick outs were a necessity @RandomGuy.  Remi Matthews is clearly still struggling with his hip and was wincing every time he kicked the ball. Had that not been the case I imagine we’d have gone long more. That being said, I think today there were some tired legs. Clark, Considine and May all looked a little jaded and out of sorts, same with Gordon. 

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I can only hope this is the last we need to see of crawford at McD and he is away early Jan. I'll be kind and say most of the players looked a bit knackered after so many games in a short space of time, but a few, Gordon being the main one, looked right out of sorts. Hallberg too was stinking. 

Draw probably a fairish result, but has to be said, the ref was shocking. Aye, there was the getting in the way a few times snd some poor decisions (a couple for Saints when clearly a Saints player twice put it out for what should have been Motherwell corners), but a couple of random VAR checks that probably went a bit unnoticed. Spent a fair chunk of the game in the breaks in player with his hand to his ear. Not for the first time we have seen him bring very poor in games involving Saints. 

 

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Results, or more specifically runs of form, are such a short-term indicator in football but it hasn't stopped those with pinniped tendencies falling over themselves to tell us all how sticking by Callum Davidson and giving him license to build an expensive, aging and bloated squad has been some sort of genius.

Home game and zero shots on goal in the final 30 minutes until injury time, when Crawford had a daisy cutter and then that free kick.

Been said but those substitutions. Just baffling.

There are some decent players and we were capable of being that little bit better today and beating an aggressive press that would have opened up many more opportunities, so I think it's only right to be disappointed with the performance and outcome.

Maybe it's because the spectre of last season still looms large but can anyone say with confidence what sort of season we are going to have? We are halfway to the split I still don't know. As said, maybe it's just the scars of last season will take a time to heal...

Drey Wright very good, not even taking the goal into account. Need to see that from him more often. Wing backs maybe aren't quite so important with the switch away from 5-2-3 but, especially at home, having two players who have an instinct to attack makes us much better to watch.

Clark and May both quiet after last week and it remains a frustration that we still don't have a proper CDM despite having a squad of such a size. January will be very interesting on that front.

Will take where we are all day long from where we were in late summer but zero room for complacency.

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Not much to pick out of that - I'm still reeling from the bizarrely long remembrance session (I'm not sure it needed a speech, some wreath laying, two stone cold classics on the bugle and a bagpipe solo TBH). If the game had been VAR heavy, we'd still be there.
I'm always happy with a point on the road - so would take todays result anytime but the lack of wins is obviously hurting us. Kelly looked bad for the goal - not quite a Craig Samson effort but in the same category. Our goal was a pleasant surprise more than anything else as we didn't look threatening at any point after Saints scored.
2nd half was a little better - a bit more composure and we could have scored again. Moult making 90 mins was an unexpected bonus, even if he was burst after 60 - he showed a couple of classy moments but still isn't as sharp as he would be if he had been playing lots (understandable). 
Glad just to make it to the break - hopefully it's not much time off and lot of work on the training ground as we really need it.
Ungrateful tbh.
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We always enjoy our awayday in Perth and yesterday was no exception. The Remembrance Service pre-match was a really nice touch, if a little long, and our club can learn from it. Well done. I always try to bring my lads along to Perth if I can, to show them how, at their level, football should be played. Nothing fancy just get the basics right. I hope too that Stevie Hammell learnt something  from auld heid Callum Davidson.

A draw was the right result. Saints had the better of the first half and we had the better of the second. Both sides could have won and both could have lost it. Credit to Saints, we had to work to make our chances.  No standouts in our team but it was encouraging to see Louis Moult last 90 minutes. He would not have been on for a full game had the WC break not been coming immediately afterwards.

Nick Walsh was overly fussy and inconsistent. Fortunately we escaped any red cards. The worst referee we've had for a wee while, well really a long while. Credit to your players, they know a weak ref when they see one, as they should, and took full advantage, and thats not meant as a criticism thats a compliment.    

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7 hours ago, Dosser2014 said:

 

Nick Walsh was overly fussy and inconsistent. Fortunately we escaped any red cards. The worst referee we've had for a wee while, well really a long while. Credit to your players, they know a weak ref when they see one, as they should, and took full advantage, and thats not meant as a criticism thats a compliment.    

Did the Motherwell players try to "take advantage" of a weak referee and end up taking it to far?

They committed nearly double the fouls Saints did. 

Edited by SJFCtheTeamForMe
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Can’t remember the last time I watched a good game of football where Nick Walsh was the referee. That fucker must be allergic to playing advantage. Stops the game for every small little foul and it drives me absolutely crazy. 

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