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

[Ric]

56 minutes ago, Coventry Saint said:

Not my words and I can't vouch for the source, but if it's true that the management has identified he's making too many errors, then it feels natural that they'd also be looking for improvements.

Robinson did mention making less errors on the left, he never said he was making too many errors.

I was a right sided defender/full back, and when asked to play a couple of games as a left sided (central) midfielder I found I had to concentrate far more due to receiving the ball on my (weaker) left side, I ended up making less mistakes. That's how I feel the Fraser thing has worked out. I seem to remember when he first came to us from County a few people said he had played all across their back 4, starting as a traditional CB. I'm sure some County fans can confirm that, although I have no idea which position he was preferred in when he was at Celtic before them.

Does Robinson prefer a left sided player on the left, yeah, it's clear he does, but equally it's clear he is willing to look at the data and pick players not just on their own natural positioning but also on how they perform in that position. I think that also points to why you'll find McMenamin on the side where he looks less effective.

I like Fraser, I think he's been an excellent servant for us, willing to play anywhere and from the few times he was dropped (notably at the start of Robinson's reign where I believe the complaint was his lack of tracking back from the RB/RWB position) he's not complained or made a big fuss. He's also vice captain, you don't give that to a player who isn't respected in the dressing room, and being picked when your quality doesn't deserve it would not bring that respect.

 

Edit: I think it's a little unfair, no dig at you CS, if people single out Robinson's comments about Fraser. It was in response to a question iirc, rather than him offering up that info unprompted. For all we know the same argument could be made for Gogic's shift to CB, perhaps he makes less mistakes there or whatever metric the data highlights, but as it's not in the public domain it's not discussed. In fact, I would wager the success we've had has been based not just on the team building Robinson has done, but the continual monitoring of player's performances and making minor tweaks with each game.

Edited May 17 by Ric

[Lex]

5 minutes ago, Ric said:

Robinson did mention making less errors on the left, he never said he was making too many errors.

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure the quote was he made less errors than Richard Taylor on the left, which is why Taylor was dropped.

[Ric]

3 minutes ago, Lex said:

I'm pretty sure the quote was he made less errors than Richard Taylor on the left, which is why Taylor was dropped.

Could be, I was backing CS up by saying the comment was made. I also think you are right in that it wasn't an unprompted comment on Fraser's play but in response to a question.

Edited May 17 by Ric

[Coventry Saint]

18 minutes ago, Lex said:

I'm pretty sure the quote was he made less errors than Richard Taylor on the left, which is why Taylor was dropped.

Cheers, that might explain it. 

[medals]

Bedeau contract ends 30th June... which will be around the pre-season return time I suspect unless he gets permission to train with us beforehand.

1st euro leg on the 25th July.

[smellthepaw]

3 hours ago, SS77 said:

No chance that happens now we’ve signed Rooney.

Balmer is a centre half,  whereas Rooney is filling the departed slot that Strain had. Charles Dunne will leave, so there is need for another centre half.

[smellthepaw]

14 minutes ago, medals said:

Bedeau contract ends 30th June... which will be around the pre-season return time I suspect unless he gets permission to train with us beforehand.

1st euro leg on the 25th July.

I'd imagine if he is a pre-contract player he will be announced in the next week or two, like any other targets available on free transfers.

I wonder if we will explore the Australian market again after the success of Baccus and Strain (I know he came via Israel). It's also worked very well for the likes of Hearts. Would be great with extra revenue coming in if we could explore opportunities also the likes of North America for example. Plenty of untapped talent.

[Coventry Saint]

20 minutes ago, smellthepaw said:

Balmer is a centre half,  whereas Rooney is filling the departed slot that Strain had. Charles Dunne will leave, so there is need for another centre half.

If the Bedeau rumours are legit, then he will more likely be the left-sided player coming in to cover.

That'd give us Fraser, Gogic, Bolton, Bedeau and Taylor for three places, which is probably adequate. Rooney could cover there as well if needed.

[Div]

In terms of players leaving you'd have to think all of these will certainly go;

Strain
Dunne
Flynn
Baccus
Greive

The loan players also need to be counted out at this moment so;

Hemming
Kwon
Brown

And then I guess there are question marks about some of the younger players like;

Offord
Kenny
Gaffney

Given the seasons they've had away from the club you'd imagine Taylor and Sutherland will be part of the first team squad next season.

I'd also be hopeful that Hemming will come back, either on a season long loan again or permanently.

Must be a reasonable chance of getting Kwon back too, as there's no chance he'll be getting a game for Celtic IMO.

Going to be a fair amount of churn, and it's going to really have to be done in pretty short order if we are going to have a team ready to be competitive from 25th July.

Exciting few weeks ahead!

[smellthepaw]

31 minutes ago, Div said:

In terms of players leaving you'd have to think all of these will certainly go;

Strain
Dunne
Flynn
Baccus
Greive

The loan players also need to be counted out at this moment so;

Hemming
Kwon
Brown

And then I guess there are question marks about some of the younger players like;

Offord
Kenny
Gaffney

Given the seasons they've had away from the club you'd imagine Taylor and Sutherland will be part of the first team squad next season.

I'd also be hopeful that Hemming will come back, either on a season long loan again or permanently.

Must be a reasonable chance of getting Kwon back too, as there's no chance he'll be getting a game for Celtic IMO.

Going to be a fair amount of churn, and it's going to really have to be done in pretty short order if we are going to have a team ready to be competitive from 25th July.

Exciting few weeks ahead!

Can't argue with that at all.

There is also the possibility in contract players may be attracting interest elsewhere too.
Only a few weeks ago Mandron was linked to a couple of clubs, though I think our other most sellable assets are now entering free agent territory.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

38 minutes ago, Div said:

Must be a reasonable chance of getting Kwon back too, as there's no chance he'll be getting a game for Celtic IMO.

I reckon he will go on loan again - then it just comes down to which other clubs are interested and which manager Celtic feel he should be playing under.

[houston_bud]

1 minute ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

I reckon he will go on loan again - then it just comes down to which other clubs are interested and which manager Celtic feel he should be playing under.

Agreed. I'd hope we'd be in the driving seat to bring him back. I'm not suggesting they'd be interested, but someone like Hibs or Aberdeen might be able to pay a higher proportion of his wages but he'd be going into the unknown with a new manager, whereas Rodgers clearly trusts Robinson and we're off the back of two good seasons. Kwon seemed to enjoy his time with us too.

I'm not in the know or anything, but if he goes out on loan again I reckon we're the most likely destination.

[Billy Jean King]

3 hours ago, Lex said:

Was wondering that myseIf, I think he's had a fine season and was pretty surprised to learn he's become a boo boy target. What's happened over the last few months is Taylor has been dropped, Bolton has taken Marcus' position at right centre back and he's been shifted over to slightly out of position left centre back.  Robinson was asked why the right footer had effectively replaced the left footer at left centre back and he said it's because Fraser makes less mistakes in that position, which seems right to me. Taylor's mistake for the first goal on Wednesday seemed to back that up further.  

He's 29, in his prime and already played 131 games for the club. I see no reason why he can't play 131 more games for us, and I hope he does. 

I've not seen anyone criticising Fraser or heard anyone singling him out at games to be honest so not sure where you get he is a "boo boy" target. I'm just mindful of what happened when Gallagher. This time last season no one was thinking he would have been shipped out before pre season was over but he was. Not saying that is likely with Fraser but it shows Robinson will act quickly if anyone looks like their level is dropping off so much that it goes beyonda loss of form. Clearly this can be applied to everyone in the squad. My main point is signing Rooney ie a RWB will not mean we won't sign another CB. That might be Balmer or someone else. 

[Arch Stanton]

22 hours ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:

Gerd Muller?

Jimmy McGrory.

[Ric]

2 hours ago, Div said:

Must be a reasonable chance of getting Kwon back too, as there's no chance he'll be getting a game for Celtic IMO.

I'd certainly like to see Kwon back with us, whether that is on loan or maybe it Rodgers is totally revamping the side a permanent move (if we could afford it, of course).

My concern would be that Celtic take him back, test him in their pre-season, and only make a decision on whether to loan him out in the final weeks of the window. He's a Celtic player, so they have the right to deal with him in a way that suits them and not us, but I'd not like to be in the position of holding off on getting another midfielder in, in hopes Kwon comes to us late in the window.

[Arch Stanton]

16 hours ago, pozbaird said:

Next season’s Macron strip. Will we see a horrible white patch on the back for European fitba’ reasons? Hope not.

I've heard a rumour that the change kit will be a pale blue similar to this seasons warmup top.

 

[Ric]

1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said:

 Not saying that is likely with Fraser but it shows Robinson will act quickly if anyone looks like their level is dropping off so much that it goes beyonda loss of form.

Wasn't the Gallacher thing purely down to the fact he was fucked with injuries? Getting some money for him, and off our wage bill, was a cracking bit of business from Robinson, imo, and made way for Gogic to cement that central defensive berth.

[Torfason]

1 hour ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

I reckon he will go on loan again - then it just comes down to which other clubs are interested and which manager Celtic feel he should be playing under.

I think Celtic will move him on in the summer, either for a fee or for a 50% sell on.

I don't see him having a future there. 

[Ric]

6 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

I've heard a rumour that the change kit will be a pale blue similar to this seasons warmup top.

Not a keen fan of the pale blue tops, but here are the last 3 blue numbers (taken from stmirren.info)

 

 

Edit: 02/03, 07/08 and 10/11, respectively.

 

Edited May 17 by Ric

[ZingaliMan]

Has a  e-mail been sent out regarding renewal of season tickets. As yet I don't have one nothing in junk mail either I would be quite happy to renew now.