Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread

[capt_oats]

11 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

I fully expect it to be Ryan Dow and Denny Johnstone on permanent deals, and a whole Summer wasted hunting O'Halloran before he joins Motherwell.

I know you're just using us as an example of a mid-table side but he's someone who we've been vaguely linked with a lot over the past few windows. Granted it was always as a "makeweight" in some made up scenario where we were selling Moult to Rangers but nevertheless there was chat towards the end of the last window that he was someone we were interested in but were miles away from any sort of agreement with.

We seem to have a habit of going back in for targets (Ciftci's a good example; we were trying to sign him 3 windows running and every manager going back to McCall has said at one point or another they'd want him at the club) and based on his comments earlier in the season the feeling around FP is that Robinson's going to be looking to overhaul his forward options and has frequently bemoaned a lack of pace and creativity up front. Robinson also seems to be the sort of guy who takes note of performances against us (see him signing Alex Fisher last summer) and obviously O'Halloran took us apart in the first meeting up in Perth this season.

With that in mind, how effective if MOH as a striker? I know he's played as both a winger and a striker for you guys? Would he be a realistic option to play alongside Main and/or Ciftci (assuming Celtic let him go and he sticks around with us)?

Much like Ciftci at Celtic I can't really see anyone willing to pay cash for MOH given his lack of football and equally I can't see anyone willing to match or come close to his salary at Ibrox.

[Kyle]

I'm still not sure what MOH's best position is to be honest. Just before he moved to Rangers, he had an excellent run on the right wing. This time around, he looked better on the left wing. His final ball is pretty poor on the wing though (either gets to the byline and cuts it back low across the 6 yard box or it seems to end up in the stands). He's played up front and stretched defences well but doesn't score enough from there and he's played the number 10 role to a good standard too., but he's not really intelligent enough to play consistently there. We signed him as a striker initially and that seems to be where he played in his early career, but I thought he looked better on the wings. 

I think his end product lets him down in all positions. It's too inconsistent. He's a terrific player to watch though. His pace and strength are frightening and he barrels past 4 or 5 challenges with ease when he's on form and confident. Watching 4 or 5 Alashkert players chase him up the wing, only for him to emerge into the box time and again was hilarious viewing.

 

[capt_oats]

Cheers @Kyle.

It's entirely speculation on my part, it's just that we seem to have shifted our recruitment profile a bit since Robinson came in and are putting a focus on players who are clearly better than what we have but have been marginalised at their current clubs (for whatever reason). Ciftci's the obvious one there but equally Hartley was nowhere near Blackpool's first team, Main only had 74 mins of first team football since mid-October at Portsmouth, Aldred had only played 3 league games since November for Bury. 

In that respect (assuming there has actually been some interest on our part in recent seasons) MOH would fall pretty squarely into that sort of bracket of player given his situation at Rangers. We've got absolutely no one up front who can stretch a defence and Robinson's been critical of most of our options up front this season bar Moult, Main, Ciftci and Tanner (who's not even a striker).

How come MOH ended up back at Rangers? Did he and TW fall out or was it just a case of Rangers hoping they could punt him in January?

[RandomGuy.]

Might didn't choose Motherwell as a random example, your manager is constantly on about getting a striker with pace and he seems a really obvious signing. 

[Widge]

Cheers [mention=498]Kyle[/mention].
How come MOH ended up back at Rangers? Did he and TW fall out or was it just a case of Rangers hoping they could punt him in January?

His loan was only ever until January, but yeah I suspect Rangers were hoping to shift him on during the window. Thing was, he was good for the first 5/6 games then got injured and didn’t look like he could be bothered after that. He’s incredibly frustrating as he can be brilliant, but unless his hearts in it, you’re a man down. For that reason alone, I don’t particularly want him back at saints. As Kyle had alluded to, he’s lethal on the break and a joy to watch 10% of the time. The other percentage though he losing the ball constantly, running down blind alleys and wasting passes. Compare him to a Swanson or Williams this season and you can tell he’s got now footballing brain, it’s all using pace and if he didn’t have that Olympic sprint on him, he’d definitely not be a footballer as when you look at everything else, he’s very average to say the least.

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, Widge said:

His loan was only ever until January, but yeah I suspect Rangers were hoping to shift him on during the window. Thing was, he was good for the first 5/6 games then got injured and didn’t look like he could be bothered after that. He’s incredibly frustrating as he can be brilliant, but unless his hearts in it, you’re a man down. For that reason alone, I don’t particularly want him back at saints. As Kyle had alluded to, he’s lethal on the break and a joy to watch 10% of the time. The other percentage though he losing the ball constantly, running down blind alleys and wasting passes. Compare him to a Swanson or Williams this season and you can tell he’s got now footballing brain, it’s all using pace and if he didn’t have that Olympic sprint on him, he’d definitely not be a footballer as when you look at everything else, he’s very average to say the least.

 

Aye, I knew it was an initial 6 month deal I just assumed that it was the sort of agreement that would have been naturally extended rather than him going back to Ibrox to not play or, at best, sit on the bench.

I think I was kind of conflating some of the stuff I'd read on here post-injury and how he looked disinterested and TW's criticism after he and Foster (?) were late for a kick off when they were stuck in traffic following a car crash. I'd wondered whether someone had taken the huff somewhere along the line and that had been a part of him not going back or not or whether it was just a straight up "that's your 6 months done".

[RandomGuy.]

13 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Aye, I knew it was an initial 6 month deal I just assumed that it was the sort of agreement that would have been naturally extended rather than him going back to Ibrox to not play or, at best, sit on the bench.

I think I was kind of conflating some of the stuff I'd read on here post-injury and how he looked disinterested and TW's criticism after he and Foster (?) were late for a kick off when they were stuck in traffic following a car crash. I'd wondered whether someone had taken the huff somewhere along the line and that had been a part of him not going back or not or whether it was just a straight up "that's your 6 months done".

We wasted the January window trying to get O'Halloran back, Rangers kept refusing. No idea why but Rangers do as Rangers does. 

I'd like some good news soon from Saints. The past few weeks have been targets signing elsewhere, a never ending run of injuries, and now at least one fan favourite leaving for a team in the same league. 

[Radford]

Even if O'Halloran was disinterested (he wasn't) I'd take him over every single player in our current squad. He contributed more in the first five games than pretty much every other player we have.

[RandomGuy.]

1 minute ago, Radford said:

Even if O'Halloran was disinterested (he wasn't) I'd take him over every single player in our current squad. He contributed more in the first five games than pretty much every other player we have.

This. I was critical of him before he left but he's virtually kept us up this season despite only playing for two months. All these form tables Killie fans post since Clarke took charge have us bottom.

[Kyle]

Absolutely. Without O'Halloran's early season contribution we certainly wouldn't be safe now. I don't think he was disinterested but he did strike me as a player carrying injuries after Dundee clogged him out of the game in September. I'd love to have him back again but I don't want us holding off, waiting until August, not getting him and either signing no one or Denny Johnstone's winger cousin.

I'd imagine we'll be asking about him and Swanson again in the summer. If we're being fucked about by either club or player, we should move on sharpish and go full tilt for the next player on our list.

[Radford]

4 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Absolutely. Without O'Halloran's early season contribution we certainly wouldn't be safe now. I don't think he was disinterested but he did strike me as a player carrying injuries after Dundee clogged him out of the game in September. I'd love to have him back again but I don't want us holding off, waiting until August, not getting him and either signing no one or Denny Johnstone's winger cousin.

I'd imagine we'll be asking about him and Swanson again in the summer. If we're being fucked about by either club or player, we should move on sharpish and go full tilt for the next player on our list.

Agree with all of that. O'Halloran was flying until he was injured at Dens. He came back against Hearts and was kicked off the park again. That afternoon, I think every single occasion he had the ball ended with a Saints free kick. You could tell the next week at Firhill that he wasn't fit. And I actually thought he was pretty decent in the month before his loan ended but without getting the reward.

If Saints want deals to happen this summer, they need to make them happen and not just sit and hope.

[RandomGuy.]

8 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Absolutely. Without O'Halloran's early season contribution we certainly wouldn't be safe now. I don't think he was disinterested but he did strike me as a player carrying injuries after Dundee clogged him out of the game in September. I'd love to have him back again but I don't want us holding off, waiting until August, not getting him and either signing no one or Denny Johnstone's winger cousin.

I'd imagine we'll be asking about him and Swanson again in the summer. If we're being fucked about by either club or player, we should move on sharpish and go full tilt for the next player on our list.

We should be asking about O'Halloran now, he must be desperate to get out of Rangers and I can see them wanting rid to help fund moves for Murphy and Cummings. 

Swansons a funny one. Will he give up on his Hibs dream after one season? 

[Kyle]

2 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

We should be asking about O'Halloran now, he must be desperate to get out of Rangers and I can see them wanting rid to help fund moves for Murphy and Cummings. 

Swansons a funny one. Will he give up on his Hibs dream after one season? 

I think there's a fair chance he will. When we approached him in January, he should've signed the loan deal then, picked up some form and gone back to Hibs confident and ready to go next season. Instead he stayed where he is, things haven't really changed for him at Hibs and there's a fair chance he'll be considering his future again this summer. I bet he regrets his decision now.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Kyle

[Shaggy Jenkins]

This pining over MOH and Swanson is embarrassing we should stop turning up a their door drunk begging for them to take us back, occasionally get a shag before they bugger off for the ripped guy down the street.  Its time to go out and find a nice girl......

[Kyle]

2 minutes ago, Shaggy Jenkins said:

This pining over MOH and Swanson is embarrassing we should stop turning up a their door drunk begging for them to take us back, occasionally get a shag before they bugger off for the ripped guy down the street.  Its time to go out and find a nice girl......

Leaving behind Margo Robbie and Jennifer Lawrence to go pump Kathy Bates. We all know that Wright will speak to Rangers/Hibs and try and get them back. It's just what he and we do.

[tree house tam]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

 I bet he regrets his decision now.

I bet he doesn't. 

[Mr Heliums]

1 hour ago, Shaggy Jenkins said:

This pining over MOH and Swanson is embarrassing we should stop turning up a their door drunk begging for them to take us back, occasionally get a shag before they bugger off for the ripped guy down the street.  Its time to go out and find a nice girl......

More so with Swanson. How many times has he rejected us – three times now? – only to come back when there's no better option? Plus he seems to take a while to get match fit. But MOH in a heartbeat.

[RandomGuy.]

1 hour ago, Mr Heliums said:

More so with Swanson. How many times has he rejected us – three times now? – only to come back when there's no better option? Plus he seems to take a while to get match fit. But MOH in a heartbeat.

Swanson a wee cute chubby c**t who nutmegs folk for fun, though. 

[Fifespud]

So, just out of curiosity would MOH or Swanson be good signings for any bottom 6 side?

[tree house tam]

2 minutes ago, Fifespud said:

So, just out of curiosity would MOH or Swanson be good signings for any bottom 6 side?

Of course they would but you already know this.