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Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread


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33 minutes ago, Radford said:

Not sure when the last time I felt we were ready for a season was but it isn't now either.

 

This is it, it would be nice to be going in to these games with just a couple of faces/tweaks needed but again we still feel miles away. 

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We used 20 outfield players over the two games, and it's no stretch to say that 7 of them might not start a game this season. Another however many may not really be in his plans if he can get players in. 

Come the spring, how many of these 20 players are going to have benefited/be benefiting Saints from the good pre-season that Levein spoke about?

We keep saying every August we can't find ourselves in this situation again, yet we do. Either it's a very hard cycle to break to there is a complete lack of direction coming from somewhere.

I had this constant thing in my head and heart about a relegation reset a few months ago but there was just something that day at Livingston that flipped it round for me and staying up was a great day at Fir Park.

But was it?

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Agree, even without seeing us play it's obvious we're not ready. It must be about 18 players we've lost between released players, loans expiring and players opting to leave and we've only brought in 4. Of those 4, one is already a long term injury, another was clearly brought in to be Mitov's deputy before circumstances changed and the other two, you have to hope, are squad fillers. 
 

We're still short of at least 5 starting players - pretty much the entire back 4 and if you're being generous a central midfielder. I'd argue we need more than that (most likely a goalkeeper, probably the other centre mid and a winger too) 

Arbroath will be interesting. Certainly a big step up in quality of opposition and hopefully a good test ahead of the league cup matches. 

We need bodies in quickly, and they have to be quality additions. No idea if this takeover means that there's still ambiguity about the budget but we really need to get our act together. I highly doubt there's going to be a Livingston in the league this season, unless it's us. 

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32 minutes ago, Radford said:

Either it's a very hard cycle to break

I think this is it, really.

Make a handful of shite signings -> struggle all season -> don't know what division you'll be in until April/May -> miss out on most of the good out of contract players -> take gambles as you've to rebuild the squad -> make a handful of shite signings

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To be honest, I'm not as concerned this season as I was at the same stage last season. Feels that the younger players are better than they were 12 months ago and if needs be, we could use them well in the league cup.

The senior players are better than what we had this time last season and then throw in that, for all the negativity over tactics etc last season, we have a manager who knows what he is doing and has done more pre seasons than pretty much every manager in the country.

Aye, we are light at the back, but in my opinion, centre backs are the quickest position on the pitch for any new player to slot into, so no panic just yet. 

Edited by Theyellowbox
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22 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

To be honest, I'm not as concerned this season as I was at the same stage last season. Feels that the younger players are better than they were 12 months ago and if needs be, we could use them well in the league cup.

The senior players are better than what we had this time last season and then throw in that, for all the negativity over tactics etc last season, we have a manager who knows what he is doing and has done more pre seasons than pretty much every manager in the country.

Aye, we are light at the back, but in my opinion, centre backs are the quickest position on the pitch for any new player to slot into, so no panic just yet. 

Its interesting to compare the team that started the season v Stenhousemuir against what I think is our current strongest 11?

Screenshot2024-06-29222925.thumb.png.a51d791a69729147b8eb5caa6ad0c4d4.png

Mitov on the bench means we're weaker at GK. Defence I'd say weaker too? Midfield probably stronger but you'd probably worry about that 4 in the top flight every week. Up front stronger.

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11 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

I think this is it, really.

Make a handful of shite signings -> struggle all season -> don't know what division you'll be in until April/May -> miss out on most of the good out of contract players -> take gambles as you've to rebuild the squad -> make a handful of shite signings

 
 
 

What do people think is the best way to break this cycle from our current position?
Obviously have to get recruitment right but are we now likely to be looking at the loan market and unknown players from outwith the UK similar to Keltjens and Kimpioka or are there still decent players with experience in our league available within our budget (would someone like Jason Holt be viewed as a good signing?)

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1 hour ago, DunkeldRoad01 said:

What do people think is the best way to break this cycle from our current position?
Obviously have to get recruitment right but are we now likely to be looking at the loan market and unknown players from outwith the UK similar to Keltjens and Kimpioka or are there still decent players with experience in our league available within our budget (would someone like Jason Holt be viewed as a good signing?)

I don’t think we’re onto the loan market yet.

For the past number of years we’ve made many of our ‘bigger’ signings well after the start of the season.

I don’t like it, but it seems with our budget many players are holding out for something better then agree to sign for us nearer the deadline.

As long as we can be competitive during the first month; getting through the LC groups feels important to get some confidence and positivity going in the squad and amongst the support, then build on it with additions.

I’d far prefer we were ready at the very beginning, but that doesn’t seem to be how we do things the past few years.

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6 minutes ago, FrankChickens1 said:

Maroon and gold away kit? 

It’s part of the proposed merger with Motherwell.

The Americans have got together and decided they need a big headline drama for the new Netflix documentary ‘St Motherstone’.

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1 hour ago, DunkeldRoad01 said:

What do people think is the best way to break this cycle from our current position?

Getting some good luck probably. We ideally need a window where about 5-6 top quality players sprout up to help us effectively safe by February/March.

As it is we maybe add 1 or 2 every Summer while adding 3-4 who are off that standard while losing 1 every few years.

I think we're now in such an unappealing situation compared to rival clubs that we're going to be gambling in some way with every signing so it's just hoping they either hit the ground running or we have a manager capable of making average players good.

On a sidenote I see Sidibeh has been pulled out of training for a week as he's already "exhausted".

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12 minutes ago, FrankChickens1 said:

Maroon and gold away kit? 

Last time we had a blue and gold home top, and a maroon away top, was our first season after promotion. 

Going for that combo again kind of feels fitting this season.

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Just now, RandomGuy. said:

 

On a sidenote I see Sidibeh has been pulled out of training for a week as he's already "exhausted".

He made the point in that you tube interview that he thought he would have got a longer holiday after being away with the international squad, but was brought back in to start pre-season at the same time as everyone else.

If true that he’s now exhausted, this is a fairly significant f**k up by our management. He should have been given an extra week or so to rest and have a break then catch up, same with Max. You want players coming back fresh and raring to go, not feeling like they’ve not had a break.

Ot wouldn’t surprise me if there was a group text went out to the squad telling them when to report for training, and nobody thought about Adama or Max.

Either that or his agent’s getting him to start playing up.

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6 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

He made the point in that you tube interview that he thought he would have got a longer holiday after being away with the international squad, but was brought back in to start pre-season at the same time as everyone else.

If true that he’s now exhausted, this is a fairly significant f**k up by our management. He should have been given an extra week or so to rest and have a break then catch up, same with Max. You want players coming back fresh and raring to go, not feeling like they’ve not had a break.

Ot wouldn’t surprise me if there was a group text went out to the squad telling them when to report for training, and nobody thought about Adama or Max.

Either that or his agent’s getting him to start playing up.

Screenshot_20240630_093656_Chrome.thumb.jpg.064eca0b19df61273170e7ffb7b4e602.jpg

 

Sounds like a f**k up tbh, as it sounds like he was always in the plans for this stage of pre-season.

Edited by RandomGuy.
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9 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

I mean, good that we’re acting on it now rather than running him into the ground, but surely they could have predicted that being a possibility 🤷🏽‍♂️

Aye it's a bit strange considering he was struggling with it all last season. Guess they maybe wanted him having a "proper" pre-season due to that though?

Looking forward to Lamie being announced at 12 in the new away top btw.

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