PauloPerth Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Captain Jason Kerr suspended. 5 league games with no win, and only 2 league wins in 12. Not the best form to be going into a game with the league leaders, but these are the games where Davidson’s preferred 5-2-3 might be better suited. Conway and Wotherspoon have big roles to play in keeping the rangers full backs quiet. Expect us to be up against it in centre midfield where rangers seem to have plenty of bodies. A good challenge for Ali McCann. Clark Rooney Gordon McCart McNamara Tanser McCann Davidson Conway May Wotherspoon is what I expect. I’d go:- Clark Gordon McCart Booth Rooney Tanser McCann Craig Conway May Wotherspoon Liam Craig sitting in front of the centre backs to provide protection as I don’t think Muzz’s aerial strength is needed so much in midfield for this one. Just a heads up for Rangers fans:- if you sign up for PPV through Saints tv, if you then purchase the match a second time through a separate email account, by some glitch in the system you get to watch the game for free. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentino Bolognese Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Agree both with the team we'll see and your selection. Rooney for McNamara is, I think, the right call although I'd not be as committed to replacing Murray. Booth for Tanser might be one to consider too. Of course this is all assuming that MOH is still out, but even if he's back I don't think he'd be a starter for this one. Think we're really starting to see the strains of having a small squad with so many games being played in a compressed time, an injury and a suspension. One thing that CD seems to be getting right is giving players plenty time to recover. I do hope that in January it's case of bringing players in to get a bit more depth rather than one in / one out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Lot of frustration building up around Saints at the moment but it's been bubbling away by not picking up points when playing well. I think a couple of poor results was always going to cause it to boil over. I think we do start needing to look forward, so personally, this will be last time I go over old ground. We should have dug out results back in the autumn that would have justified sticking with a system that is now coming under fire. Instead there are negatives being focused upon and the manager is going to get criticised if he sticks with it. I still like a lot about the 5-2-3 but it needs to deliver results in the here and now if it's what we are running with. Not so much against Rangers and Aberdeen but the two games following. If it doesn't then - and I'm as guilty as anyone of it - the fact it looked pretty against teams before the clocks went back doesn't matter a bit. We risk becoming the philosophy team that we've mocked others for being. I've found it refreshing that we've had such a clear plan and there hasn't been so much focus on countering the opposition but results are what buys a manager faith. Was really looking forward to this game a few weeks ago in the hope we'd maintained our good run and would be able to have a right crack at Rangers but it's probably become a free hit now and it's far more important we pick up positive results against Accies and County. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Valentino Bolognese said: I do hope that in January it's case of bringing players in to get a bit more depth rather than one in / one out. Best of luck with that hope, I'm not bothering even pretending to believe that will happen this time around. Davidson has probably already been told he has a choice of extending the deals of Booth/Craig/Kane or signing someone in the window. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentino Bolognese Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Best of luck with that hope, I'm not bothering even pretending to believe that will happen this time around. Davidson has probably already been told he has a choice of extending the deals of Booth/Craig/Kane or signing someone in the window. I think you're right. Doesn't stop me hoping. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Valentino Bolognese said: I think you're right. Doesn't stop me hoping. Lets hope you're right. I've no hope for this game, tbh. Rangers are pretty good at figuring out teams weaknesses so they'll have someone floating about in the "10" role for 90 minutes. We'll play the wide open 5-2-3. They ate us alive at Ibrox and only stopping after their 2nd goal to preserve some fitness prevented them bagging us by 5 or 6, every time they bothered to up the tempo they just went straight through us. Even if we somehow stifle the central areas, they'll just overload the wings, and the gaping space behind wings backs will be exploited. Thats ignoring the amount of stupid fouls we give away in our own half. I'm sure Morelos is back for this too, although with Kerr out we might actually have a CB who can match his "run straight at goal" run off the ball. Zero idea where any optimism is coming from. I'll be happy with the idea the teams around us also lose, we pick up no injuries, and we move on from this relatively unharmed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I expect very little in January as well. The worry now is they feel they can't plan ahead for next summer though with the league so tight, that concerns me more. It's not just about renewals but we kind of tred water this summer understandably, so are playing catch up on refreshing the squad. You are already looking at Bryson, Conway and Craig as needing replaced, plus we are light in numbers in other areas. If one or two others choose to move on, the number of signings starts mounting up and that's not a situation we have (or want to) found ourselves in for a long time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Rangers are pretty good at figuring out teams weaknesses so they'll have someone floating about in the "10" role for 90 minutes. We'll play the wide open 5-2-3. They ate us alive at Ibrox and only stopping after their 2nd goal to preserve some fitness prevented them bagging us by 5 or 6, every time they bothered to up the tempo they just went straight through us. Did think there isn't much going for us when you highlight the space in the "10" one week then our inability to deal with crosses the next! Not the best mix! I disagree about Ibrox though. I thought we kept them very quiet in the first half, the only time they overloaded us wide was when they got their goal. That was one of only two touches they had in the central area of the box that half. They had a wee spell after the break and probably did take the foot off the gas but I thought we played them pretty well. The problem is that can still result in a heavy reverse. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, Radford said: Did think there isn't much going for us when you highlight the space in the "10" one week then our inability to deal with crosses the next! Not the best mix! I disagree about Ibrox though. I thought we kept them very quiet in the first half, the only time they overloaded us wide was when they got their goal. That was one of only two touches they had in the central area of the box that half. They had a wee spell after the break and probably did take the foot off the gas but I thought we played them pretty well. The problem is that can still result in a heavy reverse. Theres very little positive about our defence at all this season. Felt like a lot of Rangers issues at Ibrox were of their own making, lack of quality and movement. Since then they've started having their wide men switch wings during attacks/CM push right up into the central areas. Obviously more than a chance I'm wrong, but these changes plus Tavernier deciding hes Beckham feels like its all set up for a rinsing. This is the day the 5-2-3 dies IMO. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Rangers struggled against United the other week, I think that's the kind of performance Saints will be hoping for. If the game was today I think I'd struggle to have the enthusiasm to watch it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Alfredo is back and we've really missed the wee guy dropping deep and creating space, probably too soon for Ryan (another 7 days) Jack to play. I think that we've been getting a bit too cocky recently, showboating and thinking that games are already won, our last two games should've brought us back to earth. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Saints Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I've become embroiled in a Twitter spat with numerous Rangers supporters. Good fun, but I am outnumbered and exhausted. I'll maybe jump back in tomorrow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kincardine Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 0-4 or we've learned nothing from our last three games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 12 hours ago, The Real Saints said: I've become embroiled in a Twitter spat with numerous Rangers supporters. Good fun, but I am outnumbered and exhausted. I'll maybe jump back in tomorrow. No idea how you have the patience for it. HOW MUCH DO THEY USUALLY CHARGE? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloPerth Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 28 minutes ago, Radford said: No idea how you have the patience for it. HOW MUCH DO THEY USUALLY CHARGE? I hope a Saints fan responded with '£10' 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 The outrage that they have to pay for their first stream of the season is delicious. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fife Saint Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 The outrage that they have to pay for their first stream of the season is delicious.It's amazing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G51 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic, Davis, Arfield, Aribo, Kent, Itten, Roofe. My sources have confirmed this is the starting XI. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radford Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 HOW HAVE I NOT PAID FOR AN AWAY GAME? I HAVE SKY, BT AND PREMIER. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJF Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Are they actually outraged at having to pay for a stream? Or, from what I've seen, are they simply saying they won't be paying £18 for it? 1 hour ago, Jamie_Beatson said: The outrage that they have to pay for their first stream of the season is delicious. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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