Sons' sorrow

[sons'r'us]

Very strange time for a meet the manager. Being the 1st game of the season additional punters normally come a wee bit earlier than normal for a beer or 2.
Have it at 1pm and you get them in even earlier. Making a bit extra dosh for the club from Bar takings. Add to that the team talk, etc already discussed. Strange.
 
 

I should have added. Fair play to Stevie for being willing to talk to fans so early in the season. He's also looking at a lot more fans being there than is as normal for these things being so close to KO.????

[sonsism]

Think I'll give the session a miss. I'll let the football do the talking on Saturday rather than Aitken rhyming off his usual shtick. Anything interesting will be posted on here/Twitter I'm sure.

[Jan Vojáček]

Getting back to the game today, there was genuinely a few reasons to be cheerful, and I'm not feeling anywhere near as pessimistic as I was after the Annan and Clyde games. 

Handling signing allowed us to get back to a 4-2-3-1, which just seems to suit us. It allows the creative players a bit more freedom, and it leaves us with enough bodies in the middle of the park to cope. He did alright, some nice touches, but obviously needs gametime and fitness. Johnston out wide was a threat on occasions and, whilst he doesn't get as involved as I'd like, he is showing for the ball more and more often. His deliveries are good too. Given time I think he could do reasonably well.

On the other side was Tom Walsh, who jinked his way into quite a few nice positions...and then heavily overhit the cross. His defensive game needs some work too, but again I saw positives. Up top Stewart had a thankless task dealing with long balls, but he did well, go through an absolute power of work and came close a couple of times. He was up against Kirk Broadfoot though, who looks exactly the same as Kirk Broadfoot a few years ago, except without the pace he was absolutely not renowned for...I'd fancy Stevo to beat him in a 100m sprint to be honest.

The two today were Hutton and Wilson, who wouldn't be my two once we have everyone fit. Hutton is so right-footed it's unreal. He makes Aggy look like he has a strong weak foot. He's pretty good at getting the ball onto his right, and played a few cracking outside of the foot passes, but he also doesn't look fit yet, and is extremely clumsy. He was up against a tricky wee player in Adam Frizzell a lot today, and struggled. It was like he couldn't adjust his limbs to deal with him.

Wilson alongside him is absolutely bizarre. There are times where he looks like Xabi Alonso. He plays some belting big passes, calmly saunters out of trouble and breaks up play. Then there are other times where he looks like he's playing in a charity game. His touch is woeful, he can't pass five yards and he falls over the ball. There's a player in there though...I'm sure of it.

Our two centre-backs did well today, especially given how decent Erwin was when he came on. Dowie had his best game, and used all his experience well on Boyd in the first-half. He also looked pretty calm on the ball and kept everyone organised. Alongside him Dougie Hill appears to be absolutely fearless. He'll heeder anything, he'll stick his head in where it hurts and use his massive frame to block anything goalbound. He made just one mistake today, and that was when he stopped keeping it simple. He tried to play his way out of trouble, lost possession and we conceded. If he keeps it basic then he'll do fine for us.

David Smith had a very good first-half, but was roasted a few times by Jordan Jones in the second. No shame in that mind you, as he looked really impressive when McCulloch chucked him on. On the other side Boomer continues to do the same. He's solid at winning headers, has a great left foot, and gets caught in behind all too often. At least he's consistent.

The more I see of Scott Gallacher, the more I think of Shay during his first spell. He's fantastic at the stuff he doesn't have to think about. He pulled off a few wonderful saves, including a stunning instinctive one from a header. His distribution is decent too, and he's pretty strong at one-on-ones. What lets him down is when he has time to think about stuff. Early on he dropped a couple of high balls, and didn't look the most commanding. At full-time he could be pleased with his performance though, and some of the saves will really have helped his confidence.

The SeaGal and Roy both came on, and both made a difference. Roy is wonderfully direct, and seemed to find gaps that didn't exist. His finishing let him down, but at least he did plenty of attacking. He's pretty weak defensively though, which is why I reckon Stevie didn't hand him a start. The SeaGal was pretty physical up top, and should have scored late on, but I doubt he'll have earned a start next week.

Quite a few positves therefore, but also plenty to work on. Ideally I reckon our strongest team at the moment would look something like this:

Gallacher

Smith Dowie Hill McLaughlin

Mango Carswell

Johnston Handling Walsh/Roy

Nade

Mango in midfield is better than Hutton, and he'll be more consistent and effective than Wilson imho. That does leave us with an extremely slow pair of centre-backs, but I'm hopeful their experience will make up for it. It also means no Stewart, but given his indifferent pre-season form I don't think he can complain. He's not a natural winger, and he can't play as a lone striker. 

[sonsanorak]

So8; I respect your opinion but Hutton will absolutely start if fit. There's no way we've signed handling or hutton to sut in the dug out while we crowbar other players into their positions

[Jan Vojáček]

So8; I respect your opinion but Hutton will absolutely start if fit. There's no way we've signed handling or hutton to sut in the dug out while we crowbar other players into their positions

I think you're right, but he's suspended for the next two games and, assuming Carsy is still out, that leaves Barr as the only natural defensive midfielder. If he comes in and plays well then Stevie will find it tough to justify dropping him.

[the snudge]

I thought our centre midfield was solid today so08. Tough tackling and coming away with the ball confidently. A bit more game time and they'll do okay. The only glaring weakness today for me was up top. Roy on the wing looked good going forward. 

[Rovers1992/1993]

Vaughan got a couple for Raith aswell.

He only got 1 goal for us yesterday. That's him on 4 for the season already though and the league hasn't even started yet.

I genuinely think that 5 months spell with you guys helped him a lot.

[lorenzo71]

12 hours ago, the snudge said:

I thought our centre midfield was solid today so08. Tough tackling and coming away with the ball confidently. A bit more game time and they'll do okay. The only glaring weakness today for me was up top. Roy on the wing looked good going forward. 

It seems to be the commom sentiment that our defence and midfield are solid enough but the problem is upfront.Also the style of play of launching long balls is synonymous with our bad spell from last season.I really think if we play on the deck as we can we will get results.A good striker is needed though.I would take Oli Shaw in a heartbeat, but if that does happen i can see Prior and maybe Wilson going out on loan to free up some cash.We are top heavy in midfield.

[RandomGuy.]

A Chris Kane style would be great. 

You should make a cheeky offer and see what happens. He's been pretty poor in pre-season so far, and with us signing O'Halloran and going after another high profile striker there's an argument Kane could be considered fifth choice.

[Thommo90]

You should make a cheeky offer and see what happens. He's been pretty poor in pre-season so far, and with us signing O'Halloran and going after another high profile striker there's an argument Kane could be considered fifth choice.

Get it done stevie.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I can't help but think Kane's development has been massively hindered by the fact he's spent 90% of the last 2 seasons being restricted to cameo roles from the bench.

Tommy Wright should have had him back out on loan to a full-time side after his time with us IMO. He seemed determined to keep him in the St Johnstone squad and never really gave him a proper run of games.

[RandomGuy.]

I can't help but think Kane's development has been massively hindered by the fact he's spent 90% of the last 2 seasons being restricted to cameo roles from the bench.

Tommy Wright should have had him back out on loan to a full-time side after his time with us IMO. He seemed determined to keep him in the St Johnstone squad and never really gave him a proper run of games.

He's never taken his chance, tbh. Hes had runs of six/seven starts and struggles to score more than one in them. Last season we played a 4-4-2 and his competition was Graham Cummins, who was absolutely abysmal, and yet he was still contributing more than Kane.

He just doesn't seem to know what type of striker he is with us. One minute he drops deep, but his touch is poor and hes got no real ability to top flight defenders 1v1, then he tried to hold the ball up, but again his first touch is often poor, and he's too weak for top flight defenders. He's best at getting in behind, but too often he goes far too early and gets caught offside, and even if he doesn't he usually fluffs his shot wide.

I don't think another loan to the Championship will help him that much, but no top flight team would want him.

[the snudge]

Bring him home Stevie

[BallochSonsFan]

Kane isnt going to be top drawer. He's a decent player who could do a job for a full time club, but I'm not sure that he's premier league level.

He'd be a huge signing for a full time championship team. He may even to a job in the bottom 6 of the top flight, although he really needs a run of games where he's showing that kind of form.

I'd take him back at us in a heartbeat but I can see why St Johnstone aren't confident enough in him being a decent part of their squad at this point in time.

[ScottishD81]

Anyone travelling to game on Saturday near Angus (Brechin/Forfar)? Just before I make plans to come through buses etc

[sons'r'us]

Anyone travelling to game on Saturday near Angus (Brechin/Forfar)? Just before I make plans to come through buses etc
[/quote

Well in D81. At least the prices aren't putting everyone off[emoji6]. Making the effort from Angus.

[sons'r'us]

Not sure what happened there[emoji3]

[ScottishD81]

Haha gotta be done I guess

[Rockstar]

I have only made the Clyde game thus far and although we lost to a lower league team which is embarrassing there were some positives. However our new keeper worries me a lot. He has bomb scare written all over him.

[Jan Vojáček]

I have only made the Clyde game thus far and although we lost to a lower league team which is embarrassing there were some positives. However our new keeper worries me a lot. He has bomb scare written all over him.

I'd say that's pretty harsh to be honest. He was excellent on Saturday, as recognised by Lee McCulloch post-match, and really prevented it being a hammering.