Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread

[FrankChickens1]

That was my thoughts last season on McClelland too. 

Dare looked off it but with 'potential' whatever that means whereas McClelland didn't. Really didn't see the SPL centre back there at all. 

Didn't see a single minute of him at United though so happy to ignore all that and start fresh though, he's surely progressed at least a bit. 

Which is not to say we don't need actual CBs

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

1 hour ago, FrankChickens1 said:

That was my thoughts last season on McClelland too. 

Dare looked off it but with 'potential' whatever that means whereas McClelland didn't. Really didn't see the SPL centre back there at all. 

Didn't see a single minute of him at United though so happy to ignore all that and start fresh though, he's surely progressed at least a bit. 

Which is not to say we don't need actual CBs

I'd say Dare was worse. 

That performance at Dens where he was giving it big licks to the home fans after he was subbed after being absolutely pumped for an hour summed him up

[RandomGuy.]

I think we'll get somewhere in between with McClelland.

He won't be as good as he was at a lower level with a dominant side, but I think he'll be better than he was in an unorganised rabble of a side where there was no real understanding between anyone else.

Whether that'll be enough I don't know but he deserves a chance to show it.

[DundeeSaint]

I've not posted in a while, but wanted to give my two cents after the Nairn game. Granted it was the first game of pre-season, but I really thought McClelland struggled against a forward who was about the same height as him. 

Seemed like they could easily hold the ball up against him, wasn't really winning any battles in the air. Parker was raw, but I feel he gave a much better account of himself than McCLelland did, and was willing to try and win the ball before the Nairn strikers could get themselves set. 

Looks like Steven could use another loan deal at a slightly higher level. His trick of cutting in on his left foot from the right worked the first couple of times but it was sussed out pretty quickly. 

I wasn't really that impressed with McPake, didn't think he offered a massive amount.

On the goalkeeper front, I'm not as concerned as others. I thought Sinclair was almost ready when he was on loan to Montrose. Looked like a great shot stopper when they played Dunfermline in 2022-2023, it was his distribution that lacked. Rae looked pretty good with the ball at his feet, but that's all I can really say from Nairn. Saturday will definitely be more of an indication of what needs to happen imo. 

I thought it was interesting that you could definitely see the players who looked like they were from a higher level (Wright, Keltjens, Sanders, Carey, Sidibeh, Kimpioka, May, M Smith, Sprangler, C Smith - although not as clear cut as the others).

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

I think we'll get somewhere in between with McClelland.

He won't be as good as he was at a lower level with a dominant side, but I think he'll be better than he was in an unorganised rabble of a side where there was no real understanding between anyone else.

Whether that'll be enough I don't know but he deserves a chance to show it.

Do you think we'll start the season any less of a rabble than we started last?

Not counted but it feels like we're about to go into the League Cup with a smaller squad with less senior players than we did last. 

Of course there's still time for that to improve though. 

[RandomGuy.]

8 minutes ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

Do you think we'll start the season any less of a rabble than we started last?

 

I think we'll be more organised with a worse squad, as it stands. Think that means we should have more chance of getting through but if injuries hit certain players and/or they can't get going, then it'll be a struggle again.

[tree house tam]

8 hours ago, PauloPerth said:

looked miles off it, and painfully slow.

Aye he looked too slow for this league but apart from the mistake where he misjudged a bounce and let the boy in, can't remember who it was against, I thought he was fine defensively.

[Widge]

5 minutes ago, tree house tam said:

Aye he looked too slow for this league but apart from the mistake where he misjudged a bounce and let the boy in, can't remember who it was against, I thought he was fine defensively.

Ross County. 

Thing is we’ve seen slow defenders in this league be absolutely rock solid, I mean for all his flaws Considine was alright the first season. The issue is you need to pair it with quick enough full backs and a covering centreback just in case it does go wrong. I want nothing more than for McClelland to be a massive success and he’s certainly young enough to make a good go of it. 

[Radford]

Scary stuff.

Do ANY of these players get in the decent Saints sides during our first decade or so in the top flight? Maybe Sidibeh and that's it.

Already 23 players (ignoring Phillips) yet we need so much strengthening.

Edited Wednesday at 07:40 by Radford

[Costanza]

Are we just not going to bother with any full backs this season? 

[tree house tam]

Aye 23 players signed but about 15 are squad fillers who you would rather not play 

C'mon Avril give us a decent signing.

[perthsaints99]

Genuine question: what is holding up getting players in the door? Is it as simple as they want the takeover to be done first?

[RandomGuy.]

46 minutes ago, perthsaints99 said:

Genuine question: what is holding up getting players in the door? Is it as simple as they want the takeover to be done first?

 

Everyone expects us to be relegated and Levein sacked within 12 months, we're cutting costs, and we'll pay less than most of the division.

Add in we've no scouting department to create large lists of players so missing out on known targets restarts the whole cycle.

We're having a season of punts on young ones with unfulfilled potential or older ones who need a fresh start. Folk expecting proven, prime age, quality are going to be disappointed. The club has spent the past decade setting itself up to fail and it's finally coming true, Tommy Wright being so good just held it off.

[The Saintee]

Record breaking season coming up and not in a good way. 

[The Saintee]

Phillips confirmed as leaving also. 

 

Thanks Dan for the goals...no....for the assists....no....for the occasional wee flick I suppose. 

[tree house tam]

Just now, The Saintee said:

Phillips confirmed as leaving also. 

 

Thanks Dan for the goals...no....for the assists....no....for the occasional wee flick I suppose. 

Brilliant at turning when under pressure. Passing 5 yards to your teammate after it? Not so much.

[Widge]

Yeah Phillips is no great loss in terms of his overall contribution to the team. I liked him as a player, but I’ve never seen a more infuriating player who clearly has talent just be unable to do the basics at all throughout a game. He can’t play deepest in a midfield as he doesn’t have the disciplined you can’t give it to him close to his own goal as he’ll lose it and you can’t play him further forward as he doesn’t offer anything. So where does he actually play!? 

[RandomGuy.]

39 minutes ago, Widge said:

Yeah Phillips is no great loss in terms of his overall contribution to the team. I liked him as a player, but I’ve never seen a more infuriating player who clearly has talent just be unable to do the basics at all throughout a game. He can’t play deepest in a midfield as he doesn’t have the disciplined you can’t give it to him close to his own goal as he’ll lose it and you can’t play him further forward as he doesn’t offer anything. So where does he actually play!? 

He needs to play in a 3, alongside a defensive midfielder who sits in and playmakes, and a creative one who takes that load off him. You let him press high and win the ball and pass it on, and help him develop his skills as you go.

Under Tommy Wright he plays beside Liam Craig and Wotherspoon, and turns into a McCann-esque figure.

Instead he spent 2 years here standing still development wise with no progress at anything, in a set up that showed up his defensive weaknesses.

If he makes the right move he'll end up playing every week in a top end English Championship side easily.

[THE FAT MAN]

I'm generally positive person ,so called happy clapper what ever that is but with the exception of Shiels I don't think this team that started at Huntly is as bad as some are trying to make out 

With a couple of upgrades,which we will get soon imo 

Starting Huntly team 

1 Sinclair 2 Shiels 3 Keltjens4 Sprinkler 5 Mclelland 6 Olunfunwa 7 May 8 Smith c 10 Ferguson 11 Steven 26 Kimpioke

Bench 

Wright Smith m Sidibeh Carey Parker Sanders Mcpake and youngsters Mylchrest Bright Ellison Hepburn 

With two or 3 additional players with experience I'm not as down beat about the core of a  team and think we are stronger than going into league cup than last season 

And it's a Long time till window closes 

Expecting one maybe two left field new comers 

[DunkeldRoad01]

11 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

He needs to play in a 3, alongside a defensive midfielder who sits in and playmakes, and a creative one who takes that load off him. You let him press high and win the ball and pass it on, and help him develop his skills as you go.

Under Tommy Wright he plays beside Liam Craig and Wotherspoon, and turns into a McCann-esque figure.

Instead he spent 2 years here standing still development wise with no progress at anything, in a set up that showed up his defensive weaknesses.

If he makes the right move he'll end up playing every week in a top end English Championship side easily.

I’d be surprised if a midfielder who needs to play in a 3 because he doesn’t do the defensive or attacking side very well ends up playing for a top end English Championship side but that’s just my opinion. 
 

Think this has been a problem with a lot of our centre half’s and centre mids over the last three years - they always need an extra player beside them to offset their weaknesses and that extra player then takes away from options further up the pitch and doesn’t give the squad enough flexibility when injuries happen. It’s been good to hear Levein talking about attributes signings he’s made will bring to the team and squad - hopefully that eventually results in a squad with a better balance than what we’ve seen over the last few years.