paisleysaints Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Sort the flecking defence out no clean sheet all season. It's hardly rocket science. Is Arquin just looking to be the most red carded player this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 To be honest doesn't surprise me. We haven't done much business in January most years. Paying off Craig, the poor attendances to the end of his reign (what was it 1800 v Inverness?) and the poor runs in the cup won't help budget. The defence isn't great and we need a new centre back in the Cuthburt/Haining mold. In saying that I thought our defence was ok today it was the midfield that was poor sometimes in giving protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergie's no1 fan Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Centre half please. We'll need to hedge our bet that Thompson will score goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth_Glasgow Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 We need another centre-back and a striker if we want to stay up. I think Thompson is done and Teale clearly doesn't rate Ball so we can't rely on Arquin for the rest of the season. It's a bit of a farce that McAusland's our only natural centre-back too and he's had a poor season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 One player won't save St Mirren's season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Unfortunately my assessment to my mates today that Arquin being there will benefit a Thompson comeback as he'll likely be eased back in to the last 20 mins of matches now falls on deaf ears as if he's fit, he'll probably be chucked back in at the deep end on Friday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deefiant Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Steven Thompson is as much the answer to the St. mirren striker situation as Russell Anderson is to Aberdeens current lack of centre half. He is absolutely useless if he is incapable of playing regardless of how good he was/is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Steven Thompson is as much the answer to the St. mirren striker situation as Russell Anderson is to Aberdeens current lack of centre half. He is absolutely useless if he is incapable of playing regardless of how good he was/is. He was close to making the bench today and is in full training. The point being is that this Friday at Firhill, Arquin would have been obvious to start and Thompson given the last 20-25 given that Teale simply doesn't fancy the look of Calum Ball. With that daft red, the onus is once again on Thommo as things stand and it's totally unfair on the guy to have to carry this burden yet again when coming off an injury. I really hope Teale is given funds for a centre forward and a centre half before Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deefiant Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 He was close to making the bench today and is in full training. The point being is that this Friday at Firhill, Arquin would have been obvious to start and Thompson given the last 20-25 given that Teale simply doesn't fancy the look of Calum Ball. With that daft red, the onus is once again on Thommo as things stand and it's totally unfair on the guy to have to carry this burden yet again when coming off an injury. I really hope Teale is given funds for a centre forward and a centre half before Friday. What you say makes 100% sense, this is exactly how his reintroduction to the team should happen in an ideal world Point is though- we don't live in an ideal world -are you not fed up of him being "in training" and "a week or 2 away" only to never appear or break down a game or 2 after coming back (and being honking as he is nowhere near match sharp?) Tommy craig had this pre written in his team talk from the start of the season and look how that worked out. I rate Thompson and hope he can carry on but St Mirren need to start accepting he may well be finished as a footballer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 What you say makes 100% sense, this is exactly how his reintroduction to the team should happen in an ideal world Point is though- we don't live in an ideal world -are you not fed up of him being "in training" and "a week or 2 away" only to never appear or break down a game or 2 after coming back (and being honking as he is nowhere near match sharp?) Tommy craig had this pre written in his team talk from the start of the season and look how that worked out. I rate Thompson and hope he can carry on but St Mirren need to start accepting he may well be finished as a footballer. We have accepted that he's almost done. He's accepted it himself I feel. The thing is though, his current injury (hernia) is totally unrelated to the injury which had him flip flopping in an out of the team unsuccessfully all early season. My hope is that it being an unrelated injury will be a blessing as a hernia is very straightforward and he has been allowed some extra time to get over his long standing problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 And to answer your other question, no I'm not fed up waiting on him, nor will any St. mirren fan be. For a guy who has had a chequered career in terms of injuries, he's had four full seasons playing for us without so much as a niggle. We knew this would be the case eventually. He's done enough in his career to be considered one of the greatest Saints of the modern era, possibly even ever. If anyone is going to be afforded as much time as Is needed, it's him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deefiant Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 We have accepted that he's almost done. He's accepted it himself I feel. The thing is though, his current injury (hernia) is totally unrelated to the injury which had him flip flopping in an out of the team unsuccessfully all early season. My hope is that it being an unrelated injury will be a blessing as a hernia is very straightforward and he has been allowed some extra time to get over his long standing problem. Didn't know that to be fair - ach well I can see why you have some cause for optimism in that case. I won't be surprised if this seasons pattern of him not lasting any more than a game or 2 carries on though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deefiant Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 And to answer your other question, no I'm not fed up waiting on him, nor will any St. mirren fan be. For a guy who has had a chequered career in terms of injuries, he's had four full seasons playing for us without so much as a niggle. We knew this would be the case eventually. He's done enough in his career to be considered on of the greatest Saints of the modern era, possibly even ever. If anyone is going to be afforded as much time as I'd needed, it's him. I wasn't suggesting you would be fed up with him personally, not his fault after all, but your club (Tommy Craig in particular) seemed to hold him up as the answer to all your problems and perhaps painted him as the messiah he was never going to be capable of being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I wasn't suggesting you would be fed up with him personally, not his fault after all, but your club (Tommy Craig in particular) seemed to hold him up as the answer to all your problems and perhaps painted him as the messiah he was never going to be capable of being. Agreed. Our entire support were underwhelmed at the pressure being put on him and asked the question, 'what if he gets injured?' all pre season. Bizarrely Tommy Craig claimed - now infamously amongst our fans - at the AGM that he had a piece of paper with four 'top class' strikers on it who didn't want to come to us to play second fiddle to Thommo. At this point he'd still only played 45 minutes all season. Understandably he was widely ridiculed for such a load of shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Agreed. Our entire support were underwhelmed at the pressure being put on him and asked the question, 'what if he gets injured?' all pre season. Bizarrely Tommy Craig claimed - now infamously amongst our fans - at the AGM that he had a piece of paper with four 'top class' strikers on it who didn't want to come to us to play second fiddle to Thommo. At this point he'd still only played 45 minutes all season. Understandably he was widely ridiculed for such a load of shite. I don't think that many people did question the pressure on Thompson at the time. I seem to remember someone saying there was no point signing Higdon (not that we could have anyway) because he'd be second fiddle to Thompson. I tried to point out relying so heavily on someone at that stage of their career was folly but the argument seemed to be he hadn't had any injury problems before with us so he'd be fine. That's gone well. Here is the quote from Teale about signings: "You're restricted in terms of what you can do financially, ideally you'd obviously like to bring in a few players, but realistically we'll probably only be able to bring in one. I'll have to do as much homework as I can and try to do as much due diligence on the players that I've looked at and hopefully make the right addition to try and boost what I've already got here." Absolutely ridiculous. I'd love to see the first team wage budget compared from all our years in the top flight as it seems to get smaller each season when it should surely go the other way. Yes, there has been the problems with Setanta and Rangers but that has surely been balanced by cup runs, moving ground and clearing the debt. I'd fancy the team that won the first division to beat most of the sides we've had in the SPL/Premiership. For all the deserved criticism Craig gets for his signing policy it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the guys he brought in were the best we could afford in that particular area - aside from Clarkson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deefiant Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I don't think that many people did question the pressure on Thompson at the time. I seem to remember someone saying there was no point signing Higdon (not that we could have anyway) because he'd be second fiddle to Thompson. I tried to point out relying so heavily on someone at that stage of their career was folly but the argument seemed to be he hadn't had any injury problems before with us so he'd be fine. That's gone well. Here is the quote from Teale about signings: "You're restricted in terms of what you can do financially, ideally you'd obviously like to bring in a few players, but realistically we'll probably only be able to bring in one. I'll have to do as much homework as I can and try to do as much due diligence on the players that I've looked at and hopefully make the right addition to try and boost what I've already got here." Absolutely ridiculous. I'd love to see the first team wage budget compared from all our years in the top flight as it seems to get smaller each season when it should surely go the other way. Yes, there has been the problems with Setanta and Rangers but that has surely been balanced by cup runs, moving ground and clearing the debt. I'd fancy the team that won the first division to beat most of the sides we've had in the SPL/Premiership. For all the deserved criticism Craig gets for his signing policy it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the guys he brought in were the best we could afford in that particular area - aside from Clarkson. Don't be fooled by Clarksons purple patch! He is stinking just now. Personally I think he will improve again and that the truth of his ability lies somewhere between the 2 extremes of his season so far. That said 9 goals would probably have made a big difference to your season to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Don't be fooled by Clarksons purple patch! He is stinking just now. Personally I think he will improve again and that the truth of his ability lies somewhere between the 2 extremes of his season so far. That said 9 goals would probably have made a big difference to your season to date. If Clarkson doesn't score again he'll end the season with more goals than any of our players bar McLean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I wasn't suggesting you would be fed up with him personally, not his fault after all, but your club (Tommy Craig in particular) seemed to hold him up as the answer to all your problems and perhaps painted him as the messiah he was never going to be capable of being. To be fair Deefiant, I think when your club is having a nightmare season, the clubs fans look to anything that could turn their fortunes. St Mirren seem to be having the same 'Colin Cameron syndrome' that we had during the season Rae was sacked (Even though it turned out to be a season far too much for him at a side battling for the top flight). Cameron was a quality, quality signing but his injuries for some (probably me included) were the sole reason we weren't battling at the top. St Mirren fans (not all, far from it) probably think if Thompson was fit they'd be a lot better off but it's the fact, like us that season, we were relying on a player coming to the end of his career and nothing else that proved our total undoing. Thompson could yet save St Mirren that's where the parallel has it's flaw as Cameron was simply past it, but it's the fault of Craig (And in turn Teale - even if harsh) that the club hasn't brought in someone that could fill in for Thommo. As St Mirren are clearly ONLY missing a quality striker from remaining in this league. In my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBud Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Whether Teale fancies Ball or not I really don't think we should be looking at another striker. That would be 4 players for 1 position when there's other areas of the team desperately requiring attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Whether Teale fancies Ball or not I really don't think we should be looking at another striker. That would be 4 players for 1 position when there's other areas of the team desperately requiring attention. I'm inclined to agree. We're at least scoring goals now, if not as many as we should be. Our priority should be the ability not to concede. I know he was injured in the warm up yesterday, but I'd have Kello back ASAP too. Ridgers, although not at fault for either goal, simply doesn't inspire confidence in me or command his box nearly well enough. His kicking is some of the worst I've ever seen from a Saints goalie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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