smellthepaw
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Posts posted by smellthepaw
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15 minutes ago, Stu said:
Yeah, the run before the winter break was awful (aside from the thrown together team drawing against Celtic!). Things then dramatically improved after the winter break, partly because Conor Ronan seemed to be scoring a screamer in pretty much every game.
Goodwin got lucky with the timing of the Aberdeen job - had the form of the two months before the winter break been swapped with the form after it he'd possibly have been fighting to keep his job rather than land a gig elsewhere. All hypothetical nonsense of course!
Yes, his stock was very high at the time of the Aberdeen vacancy due to the run we were on. It was like the Jack Ross situation, off the back of a season high, the following season, every possibility we could have been relegation fodder under him. The move to Sunderland, regardless of his sacking, put his stock higher and the mix for bigger clubs up here and others around the same playing level as Sunderland at the time.
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45 minutes ago, Stu said:
I will allow a handful massive clubs like Barcelona (although I hate the "More than a club" pish) to claim they have a philosophy or style of play. Anyone else is at it and needs to have a good look at themselves. Although would have been funny if Wimbledon fans in the 80s and 90s claimed their team had a philosophy. Of course, one of Sunderland's successful periods came when noted short-arse Niall Quinn played for them.
Anyone trying to make out their club is more special than another is also for the watching. St Mirren are special to me - the same way Motherwell are special to their fans and so on - but I don't try to claim to anyone it's more special than their club.
From when he replaced Goodwin to the end of that season was a bit of a disaster and led to us being dragged into the fringes of a relegation battle we should have been nowhere near so there was understandable concern. The team had been doing well in the months before Goodwin left (although not the last few months of 2021) so it was a bit worrying things had gone so wrong under Robinson.
Ultimately it seems he is pretty wedded to his style (or maybe philosophy...) and perhaps needs his own players a bit more than other managers.
I genuinely think that Goodwin wasn't far away from another clusterfuck run of results. We went on a really good run before he left, though before that run, it wasnt so good. It was heading for that time of the season when we were due a bad turn.
In saying that, adding in a new manager with a different mentality and type of character at a crucial part in the season also had an impact. We were talking of top 6, then a couple of weeks later Robinsons talking about a relegation battle.
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50 minutes ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:
He certainly didn't hit the ground running - to the point that a vocal minority wanted him out after a matter of weeks.
It took us until the start of the following season, about 5/6 months after he took the job, before things started to click.
At a club like Sunderland, I can't see him being given that 5/6 moth bedding in period
It's a completely different animal managing at that level of club too (as Jack Ross found out), from what he has been working with in his three managerial jobs on his CV.
You don't get long to figure out who is going to fit your system and who is not, then there is the demand for a higher quality singing and winning more regularly.
He's managed to work with his same tight nit team so far in his career with budget restraints, though at Sunderland you could find yourself working under people making decisions for you.
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1 hour ago, Stu said:
I know a few folk on here sponsored me so thanks to everyone for their donations - blown away by how much I raised.
Brilliant Stuart, well done!
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7 minutes ago, medals said:
It would have to be a loan. I doubt Hibs were paying too much more than we could afford.
Given we were gonna pay plenty for Van Veen.
The lad no doubt wants 1st team action and play in a European competition with a better team than Hibs... come on SR
Ok it might be pie in the sky, but what we gonna spend all our euro money on?
Given that they were paying Chris Mueller £10k a week a couple of years ago, I would believe they have more muscle than us in the wages department.
They also signed the boy Marcondes from Bournemouth on loan, who is apparently on around £17k a week. I'm sure they must have at least picked half of that wage up.
The euro money isn't huge in the early stages. You have the cost of travel, accommodation etc.
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23 minutes ago, SS77 said:
He’s played internationally with Atkinson, Rowles and Devlin - that’s probably why.
Ryan Strain should be playing English Championship based on his football ability but his fitness for a professional footballer isn’t good enough. He’s blowing out his arse after 60/70 minutes every week.
And there is a demand of more league games and extra cup competitions down south too.
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14 minutes ago, saintmurn said:
An Andorra team (who Hibs got at this round last year) would be excellent. Should win (I know Hibs didn't but that team they played were one of the worst teams I've ever seen and they're Hibs), weather should be nice and you can base yourself in Barcelona then head to Andorra for the game.
Ah that's right, there was a video of Hibs fans in the away end shouting abuse at the players and Lee Johnson, forgot about that. I'm guessing Luzern was the next round up followed by Villa.
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22 hours ago, Billy Jean King said:
I'm the total opposite don't want a Welsh or Irish team. The Welsh clubs have tiny capacities and we wouldn't get anywhere near enough tickets. Ireland meh seen Saints there several times before. Give us a proper European away trip please.
It's most likely I will get to just the one away even if we progress, so something abroad would be more appealing. Hibs got Luzern of Switzerland in 3rd round last year i'm sure. Could live with that.
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54 minutes ago, SS77 said:
I can’t say I’m bothered about Hemming being unavailable. He was good in the first half of the season but looked out of his depth most weeks after Christmas, especially with cross balls and shots close to his body. He seems like a decent guy and I wish him all the best but IMO it’s not the loss some fans seem to think it will be.
There’s been more of an uproar about Hemming leaving than the 3 keepers before him and Zach was nowhere near their level!
He was a very decent keeper I thought. He surprised many of us off the back of the feedback from Killie fans. 15 clean sheets in a season is pretty good.
I am however happy to move on and welcome the new goalie in. We have a very good record of recruiting goalkeepers and this new guy seems to have a good pedigree. Played at a few different levels and at a decent age too. A key area to have covered so early for the new season ahead.
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32 minutes ago, AW saint said:
Would love to get Kwon back. With he and Baccus away we really need a box to box midfielder.
We definitely need two centre mids, an alternative attacking option with pace and possible a centre half. I don't know how ready Luke Kenny or Gallagher Lennon (if they sign their offered deals) would be to step in if required.
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2 hours ago, Billy Jean King said:
I suspect as fans we over estimate the draw of Europe (especially at our level) for players. It's very easy for us all to get super excited and carried away given a huge swathe of our support has never experienced it but as a player I'm not sure how "excited" they get at the opportunity ? If it was guaranteed group stage games then that might influence things but I suspect the prospect is way more enticing for us as fans than any prospective players who will be looking pretty much at the financial side as their main priority.
Yeah, i agree with this. One thing i would say though is that our pulling power should now be slightly stronger with back to back top 6 finishes, showing that we can make a european spot. Various players have had call up to their countries, most making their debuts for their countries whilst playing for us and most notably Baccus playing at a World Cup.
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4 minutes ago, Stu said:
For some reason I thought Richard Taylor was out of contract.
He got a 2 year extension last May.
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4 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:
Was literally just looking for that gif
That is an absolutely astonishing move, tbh. Unless he's got an injury issue that's holding him back and preventing bigger clubs from taking a punt, I absolutely cannot understand why he's taken that move. I think he's a class player. This is mystifying.
As far as I believe he had an injury from at the very least after the World Cup and it scuppered a move to Bolton. Possibly a bigger club would have picked it up in his medical and hes went with a smaller club.
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12 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:
Would the failed move to Bolton maybe have spooked him into taking the first concrete offer?
It was all down to fitness issues that deal failed, so probably seeing the opportunity to play at same level as Bolton as you say a chance worth taking to get himself in the English market.
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1 hour ago, btb said:
I expect next season to be a lot tougher for us I reckon Aberdeen will be much stronger, Hibs
probably stronger and Dundee Utd a vast improvement on Livi - if Saints make the Top6 for a third consecutive season I reckon that SR would be the GOAT manager of my lifetime which goes back past Sir AF.
Yeah, Aberdeen found a bit of form too late this season and have the spending power to make a difference next season.
Dundee Utd a massive upgrade to Livy, though they need to hit the ground running and would probably accept a high bottom half of the table finish on their return. All down to recruitment too as I felt they signed a lot of championship level players last season bar probably Moult.
Dundee will be at it again next season. Relied on a lot of loan players so will be interesting to se how they recruit.
Hibs have a decent budget too and have been way underperforming. A change of manager may have them challenging again
Can't rule out Motherwell either here. For years they were hitting the heights of the top half. They have been similar this season to Aberdeen. Hit form at the wrong time on a small budget.
Killie will be in amongst it again and will probably be one of the favourites to push top 6 again.
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1 hour ago, medals said:
The problem was based around two things :-
1. Injuries, getting up to speed with us and
2. He was touted as a goalscorer.
His second season should see him more settled and used to how we play and hopefully up a notch in fitness.
Goals? All depends on how he is being played and what positions he gets into.
The settled squad will kick on next season overall I expect and the taste of Europe will help.
In addition a few really good additions again is always appreciated.
I think it will also do him and Boyd-Munce the world of good being involved in the national set-up again leading up to our first games.
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14 hours ago, Oldchap said:
I see the BBC comment on the County game points out Aberdeen finished the season with more points than us. This is either total bias from their reporter or a total lack of understanding the system they are supposed to be commenting on . It reinforces for me how proud I am with what we've done and how others can't stomach us , or Dundee for that matter ,doing well.
Combined with the absence of injury time yesterday it shows how much is stacked against us and similar sides . I hope we don't screw up Europe and give them more excuse to lord it over us.
Rant over. Will pour another beer and enjoy sitting in the garden.
They played weaker opposition for the remaining 5 fixtures of the season.
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Was the pattern in the match graphics an easter egg for the away top? I think it was like all black with black stripes including the paisley pattern. Could be wrong as they may want to switch it up after back to back seasons with a black away top.
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31 minutes ago, Div said:
In terms of players leaving you'd have to think all of these will certainly go;
Strain
Dunne
Flynn
Baccus
Greive
The loan players also need to be counted out at this moment so;
Hemming
Kwon
Brown
And then I guess there are question marks about some of the younger players like;
Offord
Kenny
Gaffney
Given the seasons they've had away from the club you'd imagine Taylor and Sutherland will be part of the first team squad next season.
I'd also be hopeful that Hemming will come back, either on a season long loan again or permanently.
Must be a reasonable chance of getting Kwon back too, as there's no chance he'll be getting a game for Celtic IMO.
Going to be a fair amount of churn, and it's going to really have to be done in pretty short order if we are going to have a team ready to be competitive from 25th July.
Exciting few weeks ahead!Can't argue with that at all.
There is also the possibility in contract players may be attracting interest elsewhere too.
Only a few weeks ago Mandron was linked to a couple of clubs, though I think our other most sellable assets are now entering free agent territory.0 -
14 minutes ago, medals said:
Bedeau contract ends 30th June... which will be around the pre-season return time I suspect unless he gets permission to train with us beforehand.
1st euro leg on the 25th July.
I'd imagine if he is a pre-contract player he will be announced in the next week or two, like any other targets available on free transfers.
I wonder if we will explore the Australian market again after the success of Baccus and Strain (I know he came via Israel). It's also worked very well for the likes of Hearts. Would be great with extra revenue coming in if we could explore opportunities also the likes of North America for example. Plenty of untapped talent.
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3 hours ago, SS77 said:
No chance that happens now we’ve signed Rooney.
Balmer is a centre half, whereas Rooney is filling the departed slot that Strain had. Charles Dunne will leave, so there is need for another centre half.
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1 hour ago, djchapsticks said:
Think everyone would have loved Strain to stay. Much like Rooney for Fleetwood, Ryan has had a very stop start season mainly due to injury and lack of fitness.
Strain 100% fit and on his game walks into almost any English 2nd tier side. I think a few clubs at the level he deserves to be will baulk at his injury record and struggles after the 70 minute mark in games. Pains me to see it but I could definitely see him showing up at Hearts.
Will be interesting if Strain does move to England, if he can keep up with the demand of games. Almost 2 league games every week, then the cup games etc.
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1 hour ago, Lex said:
Strain definitely leaving then. Rooney a good signing. It obviously hasn't worked out for him in England but he's certainly good enough or the Scottish Premiership. Scott Tanser on the left Shaun Rooney on the right, full back goals and assists galore.
I think over 80 games and 8 goals is not bad for 2 seasons. Not sure what his assist stats are, though he's had a fair amount of games.
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Just now, RandomGuy. said:
He's a fucking idiot, that's why. He joined Fleetwood Town entirely because Scott Brown was manager, despite their being better and more sensible clubs to join.
He'll be great for you and better than Strain IMO.
Out of interest apart from us, who else were interested at the time he went to Fleetwood?
I'm pretty happy with this signing. Get's forward, has aerial presence at set pieces and chips in with goals. Strain must have been given a cut off date and that time has now passed for him to ponder on it.0
probably stronger and Dundee Utd a vast improvement on Livi - if Saints make the Top6 for a third consecutive season I reckon that SR would be the GOAT manager of my lifetime which goes back past Sir AF.
The European football level St. Mirren FC 2024/25 thread
in Scottish Premiership General Chatter
Posted
Some journey man. You have seen a fair amount of highs and lows.
Outside of the Fergie era, what has been your most enjoyable season(s) or moment(s) to memory?