The Real Saints

He hasn’t been tested a crazy amount, but I feel like we’ve got a really good keeper here.

It’s all set up for a Jephcott winner off the bench. Not aesthetically pleasing, but defensively we’re holding our own and looking a lot less naive than I expected. Some pleasing aspects. Need to create more of a regular threat though.

I hope Theo gets double-figures this season, further vindicating the belief that Callum Davidson sapped the entire club of its confidence and footballing ability.

Hopefully a comfortable win to shut up Joel Sked and his pals.

Also, what time is the club shop open? Is it open right now?

I think today will be closer than people realise.

Two years ago today, we took the lead at ten-man Galatasaray. They say ‘what goes up must come down’. Without realising at the time, after around a decade of consistent success, this would be the peak of our journey. A two-year decline followed and the club is unrecognisable now. There isn’t a massive gap between the non-OF clubs. We are back to basics, we have a shell of a squad, and we are trying our best to turn things around with more of a long-term strategy. It might take many years, but you never know, maybe we can reach those heights again. The next chapter starts today.

I agree that Brown is the first choice. With no disrespect intended - if he was a tall, dark, handsome man by the name of Jamal Browninho, we’d probably have a higher opinion of James Brown’s footballing abilities.

Mitov (Sinclair) Dare (Brown) McClelland (Gordon) Considine (Parker) Gallacher (Booth) Wright (Kucheriavyi) Phillips (McGowan) Smith (MacPherson/Ballantyne) Carey (Steven) May (Kane) Jephcott (Clark) Not bad. Just need a couple more to make up for current injuries and to maybe allow one of two of these younger lads to go out on loan.

Young, plenty of appearances at Championship and League One level, 19 caps for Wales. I’m very happy. Looks like MacLean is being rewarded for his patience, and signings like Dare are the supplementary ones to provide a bit more depth.

Actually, ‘by quite a distance’ is an exaggeration. I forgot about Steven Naismith for a moment.

To be fair, he’s without a doubt the most socially awkward manager in the Scottish Premiership at the moment. By quite a distance. However, his interviews are SO much better than his predecessor’s. This really is our banter era. Got to embrace it.

He’s there! On the right of the midfield three. Some might argue that this line-up is a bit too attacking and lightweight, but we’ve got Phillips and Gilmour available from the bench.

Haven't paid too much attention during the summer break, but expectations are high. Think we'll win fairly comfortably. This is the line-up I'd go for: Matthews Wright, Mitchell, Considine, Montgomery O'Halloran, Hallberg, Wotherspoon Clark, Kane, Murphy

This is possibly the most bizarre signing I’ve ever seen in my life. I was expecting him to announce his retirement any day now.

Fellow Cinch supporters, it’s all under control here. Worry about your own teams.

Also, at the risk of sounding like AlfieVille, could the SaintsTV commentators just say ‘Parker’ rather than ‘LP’ whenever he touches the ball? The fans barely know who Liam Parker is at this point, and we aren’t friends with him, so let’s just call him by his actual name on official streams.

Played it a bit cautious and went up just one size from my usual for the new shirt. Too big for me. Should have just stuck with an S.

Just watching Steven MacLean’s press conference ahead of the Stirling match. First question: ‘If Saints can’t qualify out of their group, is their League Cup campaign over?’. Great to get some clarity. Was wondering that myself.

I like what I see from Jephcott, but he’s clearly lacking match fitness and, at this point, he seems to be quite the opposite of the ‘goalscorer/poacher who doesn’t do much else’ that I’ve seen him described as. Not sure why our best player Dan Phillips remained on the bench for the entire match. Ballantyne has impressed me in the last two matches but he’s obviously very raw and needs to refrain from rash decision-making, particularly when it comes to tackling opponents/unnecessarily going to ground in the challenge. Max played well, but yes, it’s important that Drey plays in the advanced right position. At this stage of his career, he has much more of a knack for beating his man than Max does. A decent RB is imperative, I feel.

That second half wasn’t a pleasant experience. If we were going into a Championship season, I’d feel quite positive after that. But we’re not.

Much better from Max in general tonight. Nice to see him score.

Extra-frustrating as I think we’ve passed the ball around really well at times and it has been refreshing to watch.

Nobody could possibly read that court transcript and come to the conclusion that David Goodwillie is an innocent man. Therefore it is unsurprising to see that those in support of David Goodwillie are generally illiterate.

Really pleased with some aspects of that. May and Jephcott worked well as a pairing. Gallacher is increasing in confidence with each performance. Neither the new signings nor young players looked out of place. Nice to see McCrystal getting a goal and I thought that was Ballantyne’s best senior performance so far. Looks promising in that advanced role.