St Johnstone vs Livingston - 28/05

[Theyellowbox]

1 hour ago, Widge said:

Think Livi fans will have fun with the boy De Lucas next year, one minute looks really good. The next he’s taking fresh air swipes and falling over his own feet! 

Possibly the worst player I seen in the league this season, United keeper aside, obviously. 

[Dick Van Dyke]

thought we played well until we scored and then started to play again when Kane came on. those set pieces in the first half from Carey and MacPherson were absolutely wild! would be delighted if they were both gone when next season starts

[RandomGuy.]

De Lucas was better than Parkes, who I genuinely felt sorry for in the first half. A good meat and tatties CB probably, but just not up the physicality/pace of this division. De Lucas a better fit but just a bit thick sometimes.

[Cptn Hooch]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

De Lucas was better than Parkes, who I genuinely felt sorry for in the first half. A good meat and tatties CB probably, but just not up the physicality/pace of this division. De Lucas a better fit but just a bit thick sometimes.

Parkes looked like a player who is just coming back from an 18 month injury lay-off. Think the 90 minutes against Motherwell midweek was a step too far, too quick. A good preseason in them both and they look like they could do the business for us

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

What's the deal with only having 4 subs?

[LIVIFOREVER]

8 hours ago, Cptn Hooch said:

We started really brightly and then decided to be afraid of the ball for 10 minutes...that's when St Johnstone scored. Came back into it a bit and now a very even game with f**k all really happening at either end. What I will say is, we don't concede that goal with Shamal George in goals....his kick would have gone for a throw in rather than be sent straight back to him

Yep started both halves brightly but couldn't score, then went back to the faffing about at the back till St Johnstone's strikers pressed us and we fell apart. Far too slow in the build up and then either caught dithering on the ball or just launching it long. Lucky St Johnstone weren't better at finishing or could've been at least 4-0.

Anderson just isn't a Dykes, but we keep launching it long to him, thinking he can get the better of big CB's, he goes through the motions of challenging them, but isn't physically built for the job. Bradley was pretty lightweight looking too, didn't have a very good game. Dunno what i is about our away performances, but since January they've been absolutely dreadful, we better get it sorted for next season or it'll be a long hard slog of a season.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Theyellowbox said:

Possibly the worst player I seen in the league this season, United keeper aside, obviously. 

I remember a St Mirren fan on here saying the same of Montaño, who's been brilliant for us, so I'll take that.

[LIVIFOREVER]

1 hour ago, FreedomFarter said:

I remember a St Mirren fan on here saying the same of Montaño, who's been brilliant for us, so I'll take that.

Aye Montano wasn't great when he first played for us, but has certainly made up for it since. At the moment we're inviting pressure on our CB's with how we're playing away from home, no movement for them to pass to and hanging them out to dry a bit getting mugged on the ball, plus he's still new to Scottish football, when he's been used to having more time on the ball. I think both CB's will be a lot better with a pre season under their belts, just hope to feck we also improve our away form too.

Thing is it was pretty decent up till January, we had some good performances, getting draws at Tynecastle and Ibrox, where we actually deserved wins, and conceded in injury time in both games. Scoring a goal would help, think we need a big disruptive forward for Anderson to play off.

Edited May 29, 2023 by LIVIFOREVER

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Who's the wee baldy, fat guy that plays for St Johnstone? I can see his moobs through his shirt.
Top flight Scottish fitba, eh?

[FrankChickens1]

He did look hefty yeah. No more so than the Livingston CB. 

I guess long periods with career threatening injuries will do that to a man. 

Still had it when he came back on though. 

Only matters how he looks in August 

[Cptn Hooch]

15 hours ago, FreedomFarter said:

We maybe saw a weakness to Parkes there. Slow on the turn. 

I think that's to be expected to an extent after just coming back from such a bad couple of injuries and the types of injury. Think we maybe pushed him too much too quick, his first 90 mins in 18 months v Motherwell midweek into a start yesterday and he looked a bit off the pace. Did the basics well enough to show he can be a real asset next season after a solid preseason

[The Marly]

8 hours ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

What's the deal with only having 4 subs?

You can make 5 subs, but only stop play three times to make them.  Saints had used three subs in two stoppages. So when Mitchell got cramp we could have made two subs at that point but doubt if Muzz could have lasted 20 minutes. 

[PSJ.84]

8 minutes ago, The Marly said:

You can make 5 subs, but only stop play three times to make them.  Saints had used three subs in two stoppages. So when Mitchell got cramp we could have made two subs at that point but doubt if Muzz could have lasted 20 minutes. 

Think it was more that Livi only named four players on their bench 

[Cptn Hooch]

9 hours ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

What's the deal with only having 4 subs?

 

16 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

Think it was more that Livi only named four players on their bench 

Montano - Injured

Fitzwater - Leaving and hasn't been seen for weeks

Guthrie - Originally named on the bench but removed just before kick off (talk of an injury...or maybe just shite)

Nouble - Injured

George - Suspended

Boyes - Injured

Obileye - Injured

 

Add to that, our academy has only just started back up and the boys are reportedly a fair way off being first team ready. I think there's also a bit of Martindale looking at what he has at his disposal for next season and where he needs to strengthen

Edited May 29, 2023 by Cptn Hooch

[Radford]

Can someone please send Cammy MacPherson home with a football for his holidays so he can practice taking set plays if he.is to remain on them next season. Chronic.

[Durnford]

17 hours ago, Cptn Hooch said:

I wasn't saying you "hate" Shamal, I was talking more about the collective hate that he seems to get. As for your comments on Hamilton, I agree to an extent. He's experienced and a fairly decent option at backup. Hopefully Shamal can benefit from working with an experienced keeper....Jack's kicking certainly seems to be better. You never know though....things might just "click" for Jack at Livi and he might prove to be a fantastic bit of business like Sean Kelly or Jon Guthrie who weren't rated at all by their previous clubs

A fair comment. I actually like Shamal George who, at 25, should now be starting to enter his best years as a goalkeeper. My main criticisms would be the somewhat haphazard communication with the defence; a think that has blighted us almost all season irrespective of who's in goal. A large part of this may have been largely attributed to the somewhat fluid nature of the centre backs and defence in general.

His defence of penalties particularly is poor but I would particularly put a large part of that down to training. Its not only reaction times but also telegraphing to the taker what side you're going to dive before he's kicked the ball.

Ball dispersal is a general bugbear for most people, whether kicking or throwing but that's a strategy; particularly the choice of delaying until everyone's back in position including the opposition defence.

His rashness in certain situations is my main concern; his sending off against United and nearly against Ross county were the tip of the iceberg. I do however wonder whether a large amount of that could be down to central defence uncertainty; its difficult to think of similar situations happening with Halkett/Lithgow/Gallagher but maybe nostalgia is getting the best of me.

Much of the above could be covered with better training and coaching and a settled defence but I also remember that our defence in general used to have a far easier job because of the strength of our midfield.  We still have some very good midfield player but they often fail to act as the strong cohesive unit we had during the Keaghan Jacobs years.

[Cptn Hooch]

1 hour ago, Durnford said:

A fair comment. I actually like Shamal George who, at 25, should now be starting to enter his best years as a goalkeeper. My main criticisms would be the somewhat haphazard communication with the defence; a think that has blighted us almost all season irrespective of who's in goal. A large part of this may have been largely attributed to the somewhat fluid nature of the centre backs and defence in general.

His defence of penalties particularly is poor but I would particularly put a large part of that down to training. Its not only reaction times but also telegraphing to the taker what side you're going to dive before he's kicked the ball.

Ball dispersal is a general bugbear for most people, whether kicking or throwing but that's a strategy; particularly the choice of delaying until everyone's back in position including the opposition defence.

His rashness in certain situations is my main concern; his sending off against United and nearly against Ross county were the tip of the iceberg. I do however wonder whether a large amount of that could be down to central defence uncertainty; its difficult to think of similar situations happening with Halkett/Lithgow/Gallagher but maybe nostalgia is getting the best of me.

Much of the above could be covered with better training and coaching and a settled defence but I also remember that our defence in general used to have a far easier job because of the strength of our midfield.  We still have some very good midfield player but they often fail to act as the strong cohesive unit we had during the Keaghan Jacobs years.

I'm certainly putting it down to the uncertainty between defence and keeper. Earlier in the season Shamal would very rarely come off his line but that was when we had a fairly settled CB pairing of Obileye and Fitzwater. When we started to chop and change the pairing you could see Shamal's confidence and decision making take a dive. I remember how cocky he looked when he joined us, winding up opponents and looking like he enjoyed himself, compare that to the last few games and he's lost his confidence. Hopefully we can get that back because he's undoubtedly a good keeper for this level

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

9 hours ago, FreedomFarter said:

I remember a St Mirren fan on here saying the same of Montaño, who's been brilliant for us, so I'll take that.

Aberdeen fans piled into the Saints thread to say the same about Montgomery when he signed for Saints as well. Yesterday another example of how wrong they were. 

Just shows that right management/coaching/tactics etc make a massive difference to how a player performs. 

[Cptn Hooch]

11 minutes ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

Aberdeen fans piled into the Saints thread to say the same about Montgomery when he signed for Saints as well. Yesterday another example of how wrong they were. 

Just shows that right management/coaching/tactics etc make a massive difference to how a player performs. 

100% Martindale has previously spoken about our signing policy is very much taking on players with something to prove and it hasn't worked out for them at other clubs. Nouble, JET, Jon Guthrie, Craig Halkett, Declan Gallagher, Liam Kelly etc. Some have even left us as top players and gone backwards like Declan Gallagher and JET

[tree house tam]

9 hours ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

Who's the wee baldy, fat guy that plays for St Johnstone? I can see his moobs through his shirt.
Top flight Scottish fitba, eh?

You don't need to have hair or be thin to win multiple trophies as Chris Kane and Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima can testify.