houston_bud

At first I thought getting Rangers at Ibrox with no fans would help us a little, but the more I think about it the more I think that could be wrong. When teams frustrate Rangers at Ibrox the fans get on the team's back, without the fans Rangers will probably be able to play with more freedom. As always in these fixtures, to take something we'll need to be at our best and hope Rangers have an off day. It's not completely out the question. We looked solid enough on Saturday but it's difficult to see where our goals come from.

I wonder if that's how they are justifying it. As I said in my previous post it's difficult to know how much of an impact he (or the role) has at a club. I just hope it's not a case of knowing the cost but not the value.

Robert Grieve of the Sun is reporting that Gus Macpherson is leaving. Appears that he's done a good job, I suppose with these behind the scenes roles we never really see how much of an impact he's had but I think he'll be a loss. I wonder if they'll look to replace him or use this as a cost cutting exercise. They should bring in Danny Lennon for a nice piece of symmetry.

You know what you're getting with Morais, he'll run and run and try to make a nuisance of himself. McAllister is a more talented plater, no question, but he's a bit of an enigma. I really hope he comes good as on his day he's so exciting to watch.

Not to dwell on a fairly small moment of the game (not for Sibbald admittedly) but I don't think the the fact that he's going for the ball is relevant, he leaped at speed and clattered right through Durmus before getting anywhere near the ball. The ref gave several softer ones for fouls on Obika. It was unintentional and I agree the ref should've stopped play as he took a sore one, but it's still a foul.

That'll be the same sibbald who had to go off injured after being clattered in the air? You must've had your specs on upside down. Sibbald clattered into Durmus. I couldn't believe we never got a free kick there. Thought Saints edged it, our back 4 and keeper looked really good, Foley was brilliant too. Good 3 points.

There was always likely to be teething problems. I'm still hopeful that everyone who wants to see it will be able to but there's no point in worrying about it. There will probably be people at the club getting stressed over it, i hope they don't get abuse if it doesn't happen. I'll have Open All Mics on with a few cans if I can't get the stream working.

Totally agree, seeing young players progress is definitely one of my favourite things. Almost gives you a sort of proud dad feeling to see the likes of McGinn and McLean playing regularly and doing well in the Premier League or turning out for Scotland. At the likes of St Mirren we don't get a lot of silverware, so getting youth players to a high level feels a real achievement for the club.

There's always players, when they leave clubs fans aren't that worried. It's all about who you replace them with. Take Calum Waters for example. I don't think anyone was that fussed when he left but had we replaced him with a Luke Conlon type player that wouldnt have been great. Fraser was a regular for a team at a similar level to us, for several years and was offered a new deal. He's no world beater but I think he'll be more than an adequate signing and depending on who plays right back for Ross County this year their fans might start wishing he'd signed that deal.

I love Fitzy, you couldn't meet a nicer guy. Imagine getting wound up because a club's chief exec thinks they should push for top 6. I'd care more if he said all we want is 10th.

We've been stung more than once with a pre season Pele that turned out to be honking (I'm thinking Callum Ball). I like Jack Ross, but I'd allow myself a wry smile if he signed one of our trialists, who ended up being shite.

I agree. I take my hat off to Livingston they've been excellent since coming up. I really thought they would struggle last year after losing a few important players. I'm under no illusions that we should be regularly pushing for top 6 or anything, but it would be nice to see a season now and again where we're an arms length from relegation. In recent times we've seen Ross County, Falkirk, ICT, Livingston all finish in the top 6 at some point. I suppose we can't complain of boring seasons as a Saints fan!

What players will be modelling it in the photo shoot? I'm going to guess Foley, Obika and McCarthy.

The only way I could see someone like Gordon coming to o St Mirren is if he was being offered a route into coaching. With us having Langfield that doesn't look likely.

I agree, he's unlikely to see much game time but he'll need to be paid if he stays. I don't know how much of his salary Morton covered last year but if there aren't any clubs prepared to take him then he stays.

I think what we're missing with Baird is that he might not get another club. If it turns out the lower leagues are mothballed (is this still on the cards?) then where is he going to go? I'd be happy enough to see him stay, I thought he was good under Kearney in the Premier. He's decent back up and he's still young so might improve.

Still reckon McGinn had something to offer but he was never going to be first choice. Shame we never got to see him for a send off. Mullen and Mackenzie were good players for us but not unexpected. In any normal times Mullen would've got a new team without any hassle. I really hope he can get something sorted. Sad to say but Mackenzie might be done as if money is tight for clubs I'm not sure many will want to take a gamble on a player with his injury history. Hopefully the other players can get something sorted. I reckon a lot of players will be lost to the game because of the current situation. If the lower leagues get mothballed then some of these guys are in trouble. It's a shame.

There have been far worse players than Andrey over the past few years but he hasn't done enough for me. Wallace looked good the games he played but by the time we're playing again he'll be 35 (possibly going on 36) and only played a handful of games in 2 years. Flynn deserves another deal no question. I'd keep Mullen too but Goodwin clearly doesn't fancy him.

If Coulson had been playing in a team with an experienced defence and winger in front he'd have probably been ok. Unfortunately he was thrown into a defence who'd never played together and where Jack Baird was the only player from the previous season. The boy didn't have much of a chance. With all these interviews with Stubbs he says that he takes some of the blame, then goes on to blame other circumstances. The fact that in this interview the only mention of his signings is when he says that the other players didn't like them, rather than admitting he signed guys that weren't up to it, is telling. He also bemoans the lack of a signing structure, that probably has merit given we brought Macpherson in, but it doesn't absolve him of blame for the signings. Jack Ross was able to sign decent players, as was Kearney (outside a transfer window!).

Barnsley, no?

We don't have any wiggle room any more. Were on -18, Hearts and Hamilton both -20 and both have scored more than us. We'll be bottom on Wednesday if we lose, no matter the score. What annoyed me about today's game is that Celtic didn't need to get out of 2nd gear. They'll have tougher games in training. I don't mind losing at Parkhead but let them know they're in a game. Get in their faces, shut them down. There was a point today when Eduoard was literally walking with the ball at his feet.

I think this is right. We had shots from outside the box, a cross that hit the post, but at no point did we carve St Johnstone open. It's amazing how things change so quickly. After winning at Motherwell we were looking above us and hoping to pull away from the bottom two. Fast forward a week and Hearts have had two good wins (albeit one in the cup) and Hamilton have turned over Rangers at Ibrox and we look to be struggling again. Wallace was good, Chabbi's header was decent and a bit unlucky but he didn't have enough time to show more. Thought Andreu and Morais were the wrong subs.

Murray seemed like a good appointment at the time. I have some sympathy with him though, we'd just been relegated, shed a lot of shite from our squad, there was loads going on in the background with trying to get the club sold too. That was a lot of upheaval that anyone would've found hard going. That said, his signings were shite, he appointed a nobody as his assistant, then threw him under a bus when the club wanted Alex Miller in. To his credit he knew he wasn't up to it and fell on his sword.

Obika had a tough shift up front on his own for weeks on end. Some games he was good, others he struggled to get involved which wasn't really his fault. He's got 11 for the season, 7 in the league. I think 12 would be as good a return as a bottom 6 team is likely to get. Even 10 would be reasonable. Jakubiak looks alright too. Chabbi might not get a look in.

With Ross County and Hamilton picking up points at the weekend this game becomes quite important. A point wouldn't be disastrous, three would be very welcome. I hope we go for it as when we attacked last week we were dangerous but our defence looked ropey.