The European football level St. Mirren FC 2024/25 thread

[MenstrieSaint]

6 hours ago, Norrie82 said:

So why are we selling for 300k - He looks back to his best again and is again being selected for Australia. The fact is that he could leave for nothing but the chances of us replacing him are slim at best. I don’t understand how if reading on here is correct we’d sell him for 275k actually but would demand 400k extra for Strain? How does that work? Is Baccus not worth the same ? 

The deal we accepted from Bolton had a sell on clause and also had a further £275k should Bolton get promoted so probably worth £450k ..

[Dirty Sanchez]

We were in great shape two games before the split last year.

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

1 minute ago, Dirty Sanchez said:

We were in great shape two games before the split last year.

That Kilmarnock game was the most disappointing game of the season.

There will always be off days. Any team will always have bad games, but that was a desperately bad game for a whole host of reasons.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Just now, Black_and_White_Stripes said:

That Kilmarnock game was the most disappointing game of the season.

There will always be off days. Any team will always have bad games, but that was a desperately bad game for a whole host of reasons.

That combined with Hibs beating Hearts was when you could see it getting away from us.

Failing to turn up for the first half at Easter Road after the split sealed it.

[Arch Stanton]

1 hour ago, MenstrieSaint said:

The deal we accepted from Bolton had a sell on clause and also had a further £275k should Bolton get promoted so probably worth £450k ..

Unless you're Baccus, his agent or on the BOD of either Saints or Bolton, you're indulging in speculation.

[Biscuits]

7 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

Unless you're Baccus, his agent or on the BOD of either Saints or Bolton, you're indulging in speculation.

That's what we're best at though

[Molotov]

9 hours ago, medals said:

Aberdeen went from performing below us to performing much better than us. I don't think keeping Erhahon would have made much difference. They sorted their defence in January.

Hearts went the opposite way. Motherwell went on a fab late run too.

Wins and consistency are everything. That's why a bigger, and more talented squad is enjoyed by the teams who regularly are more successful. They have more money to play with.

But the point I was trying to make was did selling Erhahon (+ Reid) leave us weaker as a squad going into the final stages of the season.

If we sell Baccus and Strain it will make us weaker. 

Erhahon was a standout last season while he was with us. With him in the squad I think we could have got into one of the European spots. 

That would have led to increase prize money for league position which covers the possible transfer fee but no sell on as player leaves on FOC.

 

 

[Molotov]

It is a difficult dilemma for the board.

Getting money or future financial incentives for Brophy, Carson and Gallagher surely makes the decision on whether to sell the Aussies now much easier for the board as they can play hard ball in negotiations - unless their agents have specific trigger fees built into the contract. 

[RandomGuy.]

1 minute ago, Molotov said:

Erhahon was a standout last season while he was with us. With him in the squad I think we could have got into one of the European spots. 

That would have led to increase prize money for league position which covers the possible transfer fee but no sell on as player leaves on FOC.

You think Erhahon was worth over 6pts to you? 

And that he wouldnt have suffered a dip?

Players at this level are generally inconsistent and struggle at points in the season. Bigger clubs generally benefit by having better players who are more consistent, and bigger squads so they have less chance of everyone being off it at once. The idea that one single player, who plays like Erhahon, is making a 7/8pts difference to your season, based on half a seasons worth of form, is wrong IMO.

You should sell one of Strain or Baccus this Summer, but not both. Strain is better so you make your choices based on preference. Money = Sell Strain + Keep Baccus, Quality = Sell Baccus + Keep Strain.

[Molotov]

47 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

You think Erhahon was worth over 6pts to you? 

No one will ever know. That’s the dilemma we are discussing. He was a pivotal part of our success last season while he was at the club. 

The clubs above us had far bigger financial resources and so you would expect them to finish higher.

But to counter that teams like Dundee United had a much bigger budget yet finished way below us. 

Losing Erhahon made us significantly weaker in midfield based on his performance in the first half of the season. 

If we had kept him he could have picked up an injury in training on the 1st February that ruled him out for the rest of the season. No one has a crystal ball. 

We did really well last season and everyone was pleased with the progress on and off the park but we really struggled in the later stages most crucially against Kilmarnock and Hibs. There was possibly six points there. We also lost significant striking resources through injury and other factors. 

St Mirren have no right (on finances alone) to be mixing in the top half of the table. 

I would love to see us have another superb season but the point I’m making is that selling your best players is going to have a detrimental impact on the final league position. 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Molotov

[medals]

52 minutes ago, Molotov said:

But the point I was trying to make was did selling Erhahon (+ Reid) leave us weaker as a squad going into the final stages of the season.

If we sell Baccus and Strain it will make us weaker. 

Erhahon was a standout last season while he was with us. With him in the squad I think we could have got into one of the European spots. 

That would have led to increase prize money for league position which covers the possible transfer fee but no sell on as player leaves on FOC.

Erhahon was good. So losing him made the squad weaker. However week in week out the performance of the midfield was still very good.

Reid didn't contribute really and would not have got many minutes.

My point was it was defense and up front where we were the most stretched during the later stages. Playing Joe and Goga at CB was not great.

Keeping Ethan would not have made up for the above.

Strain and Baccus going though would make us a lot weaker Unless we brought in guys who were as good or better.(unlikely though)

[FTOF]

2 hours ago, Molotov said:

But the point I was trying to make was did selling Erhahon (+ Reid) leave us weaker as a squad going into the final stages of the season.

If we sell Baccus and Strain it will make us weaker. 

Erhahon was a standout last season while he was with us. With him in the squad I think we could have got into one of the European spots. 

That would have led to increase prize money for league position which covers the possible transfer fee but no sell on as player leaves on FOC.

I don't really think losing Erhahon impacted upon us that much. I'd say Baccus being injured after the WC and his subsequent drop in form and dropping in and out of the team had a greater impact on the midfield.

Also, running out of options by losing Ayunga to injury up front didn't help. Even though we brought in Watt, he was woefully unfit and couldn't contribute as much as we needed. Even then we lost him to injury too.

Gallagher getting injured was a huge blow, as he was outstanding before his injury. Gogic and (Ex) Captain Joe did a reasonable job filling in, but were lesser replacements, compared to Gallagher.

Lack of depth in the squad costs us.

Edited August 12, 2023 by FTOF

[AW saint]

26 minutes ago, FTOF said:

I don't really think losing Erhahon impacted upon us that much. I'd say Baccus being injured after the WC and his subsequent drop in form and dropping in and out of the team had a greater impact on the midfield.

Also, running out of options by losing Ayunga to injury up front didn't help. Even though we brought in Watt, he was woefully unfit and couldn't contribute as much as we needed. Even then we lost him to injury too.

Gallagher getting injured was a huge blow, as he was outstanding before his injury. Gogic and (Ex) Captain Joe did a reasonable job filling in, but were lesser replacements, compared to Gallagher.

Lack of depth in the squad costs us.

Spot on. Our squad was stretched to the limits and that is exactly what done us. 

We lost Tait as well and his experience could of helped in the run in. 

[medals]

31 minutes ago, AW saint said:

Spot on. Our squad was stretched to the limits and that is exactly what done us. 

We lost Tait as well and his experience could of helped in the run in. 

We kept Tait 1 year too long.

[Lex]

13 hours ago, Dirty Sanchez said:

We were in great shape two games before the split last year.

Yeah it was quite the collapse. To go from that position to not even being in contention for the top five in the last game was quite something. The loss at home to Killie really killed us. 

[Arch Stanton]

On this day...

12th August 1978, Rangers unfurl the league flag having won the treble the previous season. The Copland Rd end had been demolished so the bigoted animals were on the Broomloan terrace with us.

Ally McLean had the game of his life in goal and Bobby Torrance hit the only goal of the game in the 86th minute.

http://www.stmirrenprogrammes.co.uk/StMirren/STM_Match_Details.php?Season=1978&GameID=197808120

Edited August 12, 2023 by Arch Stanton

[Arch Stanton]

On this day...

12th August 1989, Rangers parade new signings Trevor Steven and Mo Johnston but Saints again win 1-0 thanks to The Mad Monk.

 

 

[AW saint]

Massive blow not to have O'Hara playing today. Thought Toyosi deserved to start also.

[Molotov]

28 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

On this day...

12th August 1978, Rangers unfurl the league flag having won the treble the previous season. The Copland Rd end had been demolished so the bigoted animals were on the Broomloan terrace with us.

Ally McLean had the game of his life in goal and Bobby Torrance hit the only goal of the game in the 86th minute.

http://www.stmirrenprogrammes.co.uk/StMirren/STM_Match_Details.php?Season=1978&GameID=197808120

I watched that game from the auld centenary stand and lived to tell the tale. 

[medals]

1 hour ago, Arch Stanton said:

On this day...

12th August 1978, Rangers unfurl the league flag having won the treble the previous season. The Copland Rd end had been demolished so the bigoted animals were on the Broomloan terrace with us.

Ally McLean had the game of his life in goal and Bobby Torrance hit the only goal of the game in the 86th minute.

http://www.stmirrenprogrammes.co.uk/StMirren/STM_Match_Details.php?Season=1978&GameID=197808120

I was there and nearly got lynched for cheering with my scarf above my head.