Widge

Suppose we’re expecting to see a little movement when the players start to get back from their holidays in the next week or two. I’m cautiously optimistic about the 5/6 we might bring in, but I’m not optimistic that we’ll play any differently to last season, which would be awful. I’ll renew my season ticket cause I’m an absolute sucker and a glutton for punishment, but I can’t say I’m doing it with any great joy or willingness this season which might be the first time ever!

The difference between Bryson and Swanson is their fitness. Bryson whilst injury prone is still a fit athletic player who’s looked after himself. Swanson was never going to keep himself in shape, he’s just not that way inclined. I suspect Bryson will be a decent signing, if you get 20/25 games out of him for the season his influence will show, but that’s a big if.

The dozy little b*****d shortly after almost falling off the window cill at first floor! Just as well the missus caught her, sometimes I wonder if she’s ever been taught how to be a cat!

Another who’s played his way in to a higher contract elsewhere. Now I may get slaughtered for this and maybe RG has some stats to back it up, but I’m still not convinced he’d be able to back it up again and just think he’s incredibly patchy. I think he had improved as a player and I’d much rather have kept him, but I still think there would be a chance he’d hit 2/3 goals next season much like he did the first time he was made the main striker.

O’Halloron apparently put his house up for sale months ago, admittedly he does live out near Glasgow, but strange move of he expected to stay at saints.

Looking at it logically we were never keeping Rooney simply due to his size, speed and physicality. A team down south who can pay more were always taking a chance on him; however the fact he’s away down south is a relief as it’ll mean we don’t need to face off against him any time soon. I will never begrudge players leaving saints to earn more money and earn a chance of playing at a higher level. Let’s face it, he was moving on irrespective of what deal we put in front of him. I’ll be more annoyed if the likes of Clark pitch up at another Scottish club on a slightly larger wage with no intention of furthering themselves in the game. I think we can all agree Rooney for those 2 years was more than worth it, especially given his first 6 months were a little bit of a right off! So I’ll wish the big mental b*****d all the best and look forward to him bodying folk south of the border.

I found it interesting watching Davidson on the side. He was telling the players to get out and up the pitch, until about 20 minutes from the end when he was actively telling players to stop pushing forward. I think last night was very much a case of the players ignoring the instructions and trying to play with the shackles off. If we'd of done the same in Inverness the tie would of been out of sight on Friday. It's still massively frustrating as there's clearly ability and a willingness to play football on the deck in this team, but they're being prevented by something, most likely the management team and their tactics.

Head knock and an offside, that just about sums out season up in a microsecond

That guy would be Shaun Rooney...

Middleton has played himself in to a start by virtue of the fact he was the only person on Sunday actually attempting to create anything and all our best moves involved him. He's also the only one willing to run in behind a defence and I just think he's only going to need 1 moment against Broadfoot where he's squared up to go past him. It should be the same team as against Aberdeen without a doubt for me.

The fact that Parish was arguably at fault for all of Scott’s goals should realistically signal the end of the road for him. It won’t, but it really should, I’d have made a better stab at saving them all.

Our cat has finally had her outdoor jabs and can finally go outside. I say finally, she's 3 years old and has never been allowed before, but since getting her we were adamant she would get the chance. So far so good, she's curious when we leave the door open and will go outside, but I doubt she'll ever venture too far as she's still a scared little thing, probably dating back to before we rehomed her. Still it's nice not having to worry about the door being closed for the summer!

If this wasn't technically a home game for me, I doubt I'd be going, but as it is and at the risk of us not playing in the Premiership next season, I've forced myself to buy tickets. I'd imagine that this will be a really dull game lacking in any real support or atmosphere, when it should have in reality been a lot of fun and a great way to finish the season, such is how both teams seasons have panned out.

I think once of the biggest reasons we looked better last night was getting Hallberg higher up the pitch where he can use his running and size to get beyond players. He's much more effective there than being pushed wide, as it allows him the freedom to find gaps. The fact that we've persisted with Crawford and MacPherson there is even more infuriating, given how much more comfortable he looked. It also allowed Hendry and Middleton to press more from the front, as Hallberg is very good at the pressing side of the game. As a result we looked better back to front and more like the saints of old. Sure we've still got scoring issues and the system needs to be sorted, but there's signs that some of the players can still flourish. That being said, it took a mysterious injury for it to happen, so it's not like we can even credit the manager for the decision. It was pure luck on his part, but hopefully he learns from it.

I think that's fair. Bair in for Hendry, Sang in for Rooney, Mahon in for Gordon and it'll probably be Liam Craig in for Davidson. Clark Cleary - Mahon - McCart Sang------------------Brown Butterfield - Craig Hallberg Bair - May (if fit) To be fair, wouldn't be averse to seeing the likes of Sinclair get a shot in goals either. It's a fine balancing act between resting folk and keeping them math fit and potentially retaining momentum.

I'm not going tonight, mainly because I've got other commitments for once midweek, but I think my feelings on the match tonight are the same as a lot of peoples. We're clearly going to play for a 0-0 draw and frankly that's no way to play football. I'm in the Davidson out camp for a number of reasons, but his recent interviews are showing levels of disassociation that I've never seen in a saints manager. I can't believe he thinks that this is what fans of the club want to hear, it's almost like he's gotten to the point where he thinks he's doing us a favour by being here. Any manager of St Johnstone should be proud to manage this team and be willing to fit tooth and nail for the club and supporters. I and the fan base can accept when things aren't going well or things are tough, it happens; however, what is currently happening in my eyes is unacceptable. People can cite reasons and solutions to problems as an excuse for Davidson remaining in charge, but I've got less hope about him as a manager than I did when Billy Stark got sacked and he's just about on par with John Connelly right now, which speaks volumes. Even in McInnes 23 goal season, I never wanted him out, so you've got to ask what has Davidson done in 9 months to totally alienate 90% of the support. It's not good!

You’re in a catch 22, people will moan about losing him on a free as we didn’t look to extend his deal last season. Equally, his form was awful last year and didn’t warrant a new deal, let alone one for more money. He’s replaceable and we’ve gotten 5/6 good seasons out of him, which is what you hope for. Given he’s now almost 30, chances of ever getting a fee were slim, so I’m maybe not as annoyed as some of he does leave. If he had more ambition he’d be away down south, but equally United are clearly throwing money at players again.

Yeah we’d looked a lot more effective down that side with Gallacher playing to be honest, he was starting to find his feet I think. Defensively still naive, but more direct and willing to run at players.

The thing I noticed most on Saturday was the lack of confidence that still remains with the team. I think the system we play has its flaws for sure, but it can be effective if the players are brave both on and off the ball. If there's no confidence in the team then players wont look for the ball, or the centre backs wont be brave enough to push on and take a man on. In fact I can count the number of times a player in the saints team actually beat a man in that first half. The answer is 1 and that was McCart in his own half, but low and behold it actually created space and gave the opportunity to get a shot away which we did. The points about teams sitting their wide men on our centre backs is also correct, but if the defenders and midfielders were braver on the ball, then we'd have beaten the Dundee press a lot more and probably created more chances. It was also a slight worry to see Clark back to his flapping best, like he usually does at Dens. Dunno what it is about there, but he always has a shocker. I'd also be looking at Liam Gordon's place in the team right now, his form is poor and his use of the ball is even worse. I know it won't happen with the important games we've got, but Mahon should get a chance next season for sure.

If we play Parish, we could make it a fair fight on the keeper front and see what chaos unfolds in both boxes.

Nobody to blame but himself, correct decision to send him off, even if he didn’t make that much contact, he’s launched himself off the ground!

The f**k is going on

Some things are just predictable.

It’s almost like he doesn’t want to upset anyone in the game, whether that be other managers, players, referees, etc. For all Tommy Wright moaned too much, Davidson is far too passive at all times and it’s pretty annoying that he’s not even willing to stand up for the team when it matters. Like he should of been condemning Penrice’s tackle, it was an absolute shocker and could of broken Cleary’s leg quite easily.

Yeah except that wasn't a foul. If he'd of gone down it would have been a dive and he'd of probably been booked. Just because he gets a hand on his back doesn't mean it's a penalty, even less so when there's zero force in it. Either way this is all immaterial, for all Livi had the ball and dominated possession, Clark had very little to actually do and made the same number of saves Stryjek did. We know we're rubbish, but Martindale didn't exactly try and alter the game in Livi's favour effectively once.