A Point Duly Noted

A Point Duly Noted

The talk on Monday had been about Peter Houston’s on field selection dilemmas, but by Tuesday morning it was Derek McInnes’ troubles being debated amongst Saints fans. Sammy Parkin, innocently clattered in Monday’s training, was ruled out for the year, Sammy was not supposed to start and Midgie is out for a few more games. With Mooner still to play a bounce game and Cad inexplicably sent to play for the U19s, options were tight; so tight that McInnes selected Jamie Adams. The big man, as expected, put in his usual sparkling shift and left most of us scratching our heads at his recent exclusion. Cleve also left us scratching our heads, this time in disbelief that he wasn’t hooked at half time. Mr McInnes needs to accept that I’m right and he’s wrong. Cleve is a diddy and doesn’t belong in the SPL, never mind at McDiarmid.

With Danny’s ankle showing no ill-effects from Inverness, it was standard issue at the back; Enckleman in goals and a back four of Mackay, Duberry, Anderson and Danny. In front of them Morris and Davidson were charged with midfield duties and Adams was given (or took up) the role of supporting midfielder, though he still showed his usual hunger and battling qualities – a number of United players will have knocks and sore bits this morning. The flanks saw Liam left and Cleve right with Sammy isolated up top.

Saints started the game in the best way possible. Never in the Derek McInnes era have we come out the traps with such energy and desire. Adams and Muzz were charging into tackles like men possessed whilst both full backs were fully committed to bringing play forward. Doobs and Ando kept the pressure on with strong balls into the box whenever possible. The well-supported visitors were on the ropes and never fully regained their composure in scrappy first half.

It’s fair to say that neither side created in the first half. Indeed the most likely winner was always gonna be the pitch. Enckleman in particular, gave the pitch no respect and again got himself in a muddle by refusing to take a touch. He needs to recognise which full back is on, take a touch and play a short pass to one of his defenders. I know it’s not always possible but he’s made the same errors in three consecutive home games. He surely knows the pitch is crap...

Dave Mackay had a frustrating game at right back. I think everyone has now come to realise that my statements about Cleve are true and he certainly hampers Cup Tie’s game. Nevertheless, there were a good few times when Dave should have made himself available, on the line, to allow Taylor the option of passing the ball back, but he simply wasn’t there. Of course, it’s not easy for Dave; most times Cleve will ignore him and simply gift possession to the opposition, but occasionally he will use help. Sometimes, Dave needs to assert himself more on the pitch. He’ll make a good manager in due course, but he needs to do the shouty stuff more often.

His opposite number was more concerned with defending than attacking, especially in the second half. David Goodwillie, who pulled the strings of the East Stand puppets to absolute perfection, moved to Danny’s area when he realised that Ando was gonna give him no chance. Happily for us, Danny Grainger also had the wee boy in his back pocket and those lovely green boots never got a sight at Enckleman’s similarly coloured outfit. Our awful shape, especially when pinned back in the second half, gave Danny very few options to play the ball out of defence and often he passed in hope, to the loud disgust of the ill-educated. Perhaps if the understood the game, they’d recognise that Del’s misguided line-up left us with a group of players standing together in the centre of the park.

Our centre halves continue to look solid. Ever since his lacklustre showing at Killie, Duberry has really come onto a game. Of course, he remains casual with the ball at his feet, but his strapping physique and Nando’s belly ensure that few folks face up to him when he’s in full flow. David Goodwillie actually bloused a shoulder charge on him midway through the first half. If he’s scared of a big heterosexual....

His partner in crime, seems apt given the opposition’s extra-curricular activities, is our player of the year. Steven Anderson, who so many fans would have released, is finally getting a chance to show what a great player he is. A victim of his own versatility, Ando has benefited from regular games and is surely in Craig Levein’s thoughts for the Brazil friendly. I can think of no better Scottish centre-half.

The midfield simply didn’t work against United. Yes they worked hard and yes they broke down United attacks, but their shape and positioning was poor all night long, indeed it deteriorated throughout the 90 minutes. It’s interesting that folk are telling me that he was right to start 4-5-1 but should have changed to 4-4-2?! Why’s that? What changed in the second half?

We should have started 4-4-2. It was the intention on Monday, so I don’t know why he deviated from the plan. Adams is too committed to a battle to support the front man, Murray simply doesn’t have the ability to link-up or score and Jody is hell-bent on becoming a defensive player in his old age.

As such, we had three players playing the same role albeit Adams did try to get into the box. This meant that the wide players, who were both very poor, had little in the way of support. I struggle to recall a one-two and the central guys must take some responsibility for the poor decisions made by Messrs Craig and Taylor.

That aside, the absolute blame rests with Del and having defended his performance against ICT, he got it both barrels last night. It’s simply not good enough to make such basic tactical errors. He spoke of trying to use our height at set plays, but few teams out-fight United and that plan seemed curious at best.

All the central midfielders played well, but Adams swash-buckling style will always make him my favourite. His timing of runs is impeccable, and his tenacity in the tackle is a joy to behold. His yellow card was a disgrace and Duberry’s Twitter comment was very subtle.

Jody, like Moon last year, needs to learn that the pitch won’t allow him to do the fancy stuff. Too many times he tried to turn a man of play a cute pass, when retaining possession would have been the better option. Perhaps, we should train on the Perth High School blaes to get him used to crappy bounces!

Murray, who had been deplorable all year, really stepped up a gear at Inverness and continued that form into the United game. He must be dropped when Mooner’s ready to return because two decent games in season are simply not enough, but last night he certainly did us proud. His tackle in the second half which preceded a “mazy dribble” was a pleasure to witness.

Liam Craig continues to infuriate me. Big changes in his personal circumstances during the off-season should have seen him kick on this season and win a lucrative contract away from McDiarmid Park, yet the former Falkirk man has flattered to deceive for most of the year. He could, indeed should, have scored the winner deep into the second half when he shot low from the left side of the penalty box. Had that gone in, we’d have won the game as Liam’s goals are almost always match-winners.

There’s not much to say about Cleve that hasn’t been said before. Although he did lack support at times, his effort, timing, ability, speed and brain are not suited to the SPL. He should have been encouraged to find a new club in January. JMW would have offered more last night, Swankie would have created chances.

Sammy should not have started. Del needs to stop gambling with players’ fitness levels. He struggled to shine and again disproved this nonsense about him being effective on his own. No man is an island.

May did not deserve to be dropped and, with Parkin’s injury, Peaso or Reynolds deserved a chance to partner the hairy, wee Newburghite. Two up front, with Jamie and Jody in midfield would have forced a better shape into us. Players are brought up in the classic 4-4-2 and instinctively know where to move and run.

When Del changed it for a 4-3-3, it was clear that our performance remained static despite introducing two great and fresh players. Peaso simply didn’t know where to play and that caused some confusion for the midfield.

Overall, a draw with a clean sheet is a respectable result. Trouble is, I have a fiver riding on us finishing ahead of the Arabs and had we played 4-4-2 from the start we just might have won that game and made my money a wee bit more secure. Perhaps Derek will take some comfort from that ;-)

Ibrox will be a battle and a defeat would see us with just one point from 9 going into a game against a newly resilient Hibernian. It’s an interesting time, leading up to Glebe Park.

Other points that need to be addressed:

Sam Parkin’s broken ankle is not to be confused with his recently documented ankle injuries. Players often play with niggles and many players receive regular medication using a variety of methods. We have three physio’s working with our players, all familiar faces. There are no concerns about the treatment received by our players.

The Under 19s, who were robbed by silly referee on Tuesday, play Kilmarnock on Friday at Tulloch. A victory will see us go top six. This is a huge achievement given that such as Vinnie, Lindsay and Reynolds have been, or are on loan. Additionally, Stevie May and Liam Caddis have missed several matches due to first team involvement. Hats off to all the boys.

On a similar vein, the club have appealed for a volunteer to cover the U19s. A combination of my stupid job and my pathetic attempts to win motor races preclude me from taking in many games. Hopefully, someone can step up to the mark. It would be good to recognise the achievements of these lads and reinforce the need for a reserve or U21 league. It’s tragic that so many good Scottish players are heading for the USA or the scrap heap. We need to start a movement.

A Point Duly Noted

A Point Duly Noted

The talk on Monday had been about Peter Houston’s on field selection dilemmas, but by Tuesday morning it was Derek McInnes’ troubles being debated amongst Saints fans. Sammy Parkin, innocently clattered in Monday’s training, was ruled out for the year, Sammy was not supposed to start and Midgie is out for a few more games. With Mooner still to play a bounce game and Cad inexplicably sent to play for the U19s, options were tight; so tight that McInnes selected Jamie Adams. The big man, as expected, put in his usual sparkling shift and left most of us scratching our heads at his recent exclusion. Cleve also left us scratching our heads, this time in disbelief that he wasn’t hooked at half time. Mr McInnes needs to accept that I’m right and he’s wrong. Cleve is a diddy and doesn’t belong in the SPL, never mind at McDiarmid.

With Danny’s ankle showing no ill-effects from Inverness, it was standard issue at the back; Enckleman in goals and a back four of Mackay, Duberry, Anderson and Danny. In front of them Morris and Davidson were charged with midfield duties and Adams was given (or took up) the role of supporting midfielder, though he still showed his usual hunger and battling qualities – a number of United players will have knocks and sore bits this morning. The flanks saw Liam left and Cleve right with Sammy isolated up top.

Saints started the game in the best way possible. Never in the Derek McInnes era have we come out the traps with such energy and desire. Adams and Muzz were charging into tackles like men possessed whilst both full backs were fully committed to bringing play forward. Doobs and Ando kept the pressure on with strong balls into the box whenever possible. The well-supported visitors were on the ropes and never fully regained their composure in scrappy first half.

It’s fair to say that neither side created in the first half. Indeed the most likely winner was always gonna be the pitch. Enckleman in particular, gave the pitch no respect and again got himself in a muddle by refusing to take a touch. He needs to recognise which full back is on, take a touch and play a short pass to one of his defenders. I know it’s not always possible but he’s made the same errors in three consecutive home games. He surely knows the pitch is crap...

Dave Mackay had a frustrating game at right back. I think everyone has now come to realise that my statements about Cleve are true and he certainly hampers Cup Tie’s game. Nevertheless, there were a good few times when Dave should have made himself available, on the line, to allow Taylor the option of passing the ball back, but he simply wasn’t there. Of course, it’s not easy for Dave; most times Cleve will ignore him and simply gift possession to the opposition, but occasionally he will use help. Sometimes, Dave needs to assert himself more on the pitch. He’ll make a good manager in due course, but he needs to do the shouty stuff more often.

His opposite number was more concerned with defending than attacking, especially in the second half. David Goodwillie, who pulled the strings of the East Stand puppets to absolute perfection, moved to Danny’s area when he realised that Ando was gonna give him no chance. Happily for us, Danny Grainger also had the wee boy in his back pocket and those lovely green boots never got a sight at Enckleman’s similarly coloured outfit. Our awful shape, especially when pinned back in the second half, gave Danny very few options to play the ball out of defence and often he passed in hope, to the loud disgust of the ill-educated. Perhaps if the understood the game, they’d recognise that Del’s misguided line-up left us with a group of players standing together in the centre of the park.

Our centre halves continue to look solid. Ever since his lacklustre showing at Killie, Duberry has really come onto a game. Of course, he remains casual with the ball at his feet, but his strapping physique and Nando’s belly ensure that few folks face up to him when he’s in full flow. David Goodwillie actually bloused a shoulder charge on him midway through the first half. If he’s scared of a big heterosexual....

His partner in crime, seems apt given the opposition’s extra-curricular activities, is our player of the year. Steven Anderson, who so many fans would have released, is finally getting a chance to show what a great player he is. A victim of his own versatility, Ando has benefited from regular games and is surely in Craig Levein’s thoughts for the Brazil friendly. I can think of no better Scottish centre-half.

The midfield simply didn’t work against United. Yes they worked hard and yes they broke down United attacks, but their shape and positioning was poor all night long, indeed it deteriorated throughout the 90 minutes. It’s interesting that folk are telling me that he was right to start 4-5-1 but should have changed to 4-4-2?! Why’s that? What changed in the second half?

We should have started 4-4-2. It was the intention on Monday, so I don’t know why he deviated from the plan. Adams is too committed to a battle to support the front man, Murray simply doesn’t have the ability to link-up or score and Jody is hell-bent on becoming a defensive player in his old age.

As such, we had three players playing the same role albeit Adams did try to get into the box. This meant that the wide players, who were both very poor, had little in the way of support. I struggle to recall a one-two and the central guys must take some responsibility for the poor decisions made by Messrs Craig and Taylor.

That aside, the absolute blame rests with Del and having defended his performance against ICT, he got it both barrels last night. It’s simply not good enough to make such basic tactical errors. He spoke of trying to use our height at set plays, but few teams out-fight United and that plan seemed curious at best.

All the central midfielders played well, but Adams swash-buckling style will always make him my favourite. His timing of runs is impeccable, and his tenacity in the tackle is a joy to behold. His yellow card was a disgrace and Duberry’s Twitter comment was very subtle.

Jody, like Moon last year, needs to learn that the pitch won’t allow him to do the fancy stuff. Too many times he tried to turn a man of play a cute pass, when retaining possession would have been the better option. Perhaps, we should train on the Perth High School blaes to get him used to crappy bounces!

Murray, who had been deplorable all year, really stepped up a gear at Inverness and continued that form into the United game. He must be dropped when Mooner’s ready to return because two decent games in season are simply not enough, but last night he certainly did us proud. His tackle in the second half which preceded a “mazy dribble” was a pleasure to witness.

Liam Craig continues to infuriate me. Big changes in his personal circumstances during the off-season should have seen him kick on this season and win a lucrative contract away from McDiarmid Park, yet the former Falkirk man has flattered to deceive for most of the year. He could, indeed should, have scored the winner deep into the second half when he shot low from the left side of the penalty box. Had that gone in, we’d have won the game as Liam’s goals are almost always match-winners.

There’s not much to say about Cleve that hasn’t been said before. Although he did lack support at times, his effort, timing, ability, speed and brain are not suited to the SPL. He should have been encouraged to find a new club in January. JMW would have offered more last night, Swankie would have created chances.

Sammy should not have started. Del needs to stop gambling with players’ fitness levels. He struggled to shine and again disproved this nonsense about him being effective on his own. No man is an island.

May did not deserve to be dropped and, with Parkin’s injury, Peaso or Reynolds deserved a chance to partner the hairy, wee Newburghite. Two up front, with Jamie and Jody in midfield would have forced a better shape into us. Players are brought up in the classic 4-4-2 and instinctively know where to move and run.

When Del changed it for a 4-3-3, it was clear that our performance remained static despite introducing two great and fresh players. Peaso simply didn’t know where to play and that caused some confusion for the midfield.

Overall, a draw with a clean sheet is a respectable result. Trouble is, I have a fiver riding on us finishing ahead of the Arabs and had we played 4-4-2 from the start we just might have won that game and made my money a wee bit more secure. Perhaps Derek will take some comfort from that ;-)

Ibrox will be a battle and a defeat would see us with just one point from 9 going into a game against a newly resilient Hibernian. It’s an interesting time, leading up to Glebe Park.

Other points that need to be addressed:

Sam Parkin’s broken ankle is not to be confused with his recently documented ankle injuries. Players often play with niggles and many players receive regular medication using a variety of methods. We have three physio’s working with our players, all familiar faces. There are no concerns about the treatment received by our players.

The Under 19s, who were robbed by silly referee on Tuesday, play Kilmarnock on Friday at Tulloch. A victory will see us go top six. This is a huge achievement given that such as Vinnie, Lindsay and Reynolds have been, or are on loan. Additionally, Stevie May and Liam Caddis have missed several matches due to first team involvement. Hats off to all the boys.

On a similar vein, the club have appealed for a volunteer to cover the U19s. A combination of my stupid job and my pathetic attempts to win motor races preclude me from taking in many games. Hopefully, someone can step up to the mark. It would be good to recognise the achievements of these lads and reinforce the need for a reserve or U21 league. It’s tragic that so many good Scottish players are heading for the USA or the scrap heap. We need to start a movement.

Acht

Games involving St Johnstone tend not to have great atmosphere, but for the 30 minutes on Saturday, our fans made a raucous noise and surely provided some form of motivation to the players selected by Derek McInnes. Unfortunately, the players themselves seemed totally indifferent and when Midgie was withdrawn, the final nail was hammered into the coffin of defeat.

In a dreadful game, there was little to sign about. Nevertheless, it’s certainly no excuse for the tiny minority of balm pots turning on a female steward for simply doing her job; protecting the safety of fans and the integrity of the stadium. Seems that we have too many bairns who can’t handle alcohol and disappointment at the same time. Guess they don’t get sex very often!

In a strange break from the norm, Derek McInnes almost got the team selection correct (I’d have played Adams ahead of Murray but that’s only one small point) and got the shape exactly right. Big Sam Parkin found the net with almost every practise shot whilst Peaso missed almost every shot. Although these things can be no pointer to the game, it perhaps suggests that Sam has shown up better in training this week...

He linked well with Mayzo, despite the pair only having played once together – a reserve affair against Cowdenbeath at Tulloch. Mayzo himself looked great and showed terrific bravery on the ball. It was also good to see him go a shift without a blatant dive. Why the puppets on the forum think he needs a break is beyond me. He’s probably never played less football in his life!

Parkin did his usual trick of dropping wide and running into the centre creating space for May, unfortunately both Muzz and Morris were unable to advance. Midgie struggled to break and whilst Liam and Danny linked well, their crosses often went begging.

The drive and fluency that I associate with our best midfields was horrendously absent, so much so that JMW would have been a welcome addition. During the week I had a meeting with some fans of the smaller Tayside clubs and both agreed that when Saints play the ball, we are almost unbeatable. With the Tulloch Stadium in wonderful nick, we should have made the ball do all the work which would have suited Mayzo and Liam. Regrettably we just didn’t get going.

Despite a few half chances, we probably didn’t have one shot on target. Esson palmed away a Nova effort near the death but it looked a few inches wide of Ryan’s right hand post. If only the same could be said for Enckleman.

The first goal came from a corner won by Rooney. The wee ginger kid, stood in front of Enckleman and Anderson (who won the tackle that led to the corner) shackled him well. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Murray Davidson who lost Ross Tokely, allowing the burly skipper to head into the far top corner. Having seen the replay, Tokely moved well, but Muzz should have done better.

The reaction from the goal was more than worrying. Duberry patted Muzz on the bum, whilst every player seemed to fall silent. Skipper Morris jogged forward, a lone figure in the Saints half. There was simply no outward sign of hurt or passion, or any of the base emotions that pitch side fans need to spur them on. The players often ask for increased vocal support, but they have a part to play in ensuring we respond to them. The impassive shrug won’t generate noise.

The loss of Millar might not have been noticed in the stands, but our players trust Midgie implicitly whilst his replacement is odd, at best. There’s no doubt that, like JMW, Nova is full of talent and tricks. Unfortunately, like JMW, it seems he doesn’t have a footballing brain. I am very concerned that he has no end product and one shot on goal has done little to change my mind. His back heel/dummy at the edge of the box late in the second half showed that he has a quick brain and good reading of the ball. Those attributes count for nought if he can’t learn cross or cut into the box.

I actually wonder if the wee refugee could play up front, perhaps with May. He certainly has enough in his portfolio to beat a man and there’s nobody more clinical than wee Mayzo. One thing that Nova can’t say is that he has been stuck in on position. In 60 minutes, he played, right of a front three, right midfield, centre midfield, left midfield and left of a front three!

Whilst normally I’d lambast Del for farting about with his team to such a manic degree, his constant shuffling was an act of desperation; trying to breathe life into a dying team. Throughout the game we witnessed Midgie, Nova, Muzz, May and Liam on the right wing at various points.

The alternative was to do nothing and hope for a miracle or a blunder. Neither seemed destined to happen, so no real criticism for Del from me.

The first substitution was undoubtedly the wrong one, we should have gambled on Reynolds. The gangly, front man has played very well on the wing against such disparate teams as Turriff and Celtic. With Mayzo confirming the old Graham Rix adage about being old enough when you’re good enough, I’d have expected Del to be less reluctant to play the U19s. Given Nova and Liam’s reliance on their left feet, Reynolds was the obvious option. His introduction would have allowed us to play the same shape or change to 4-3-3.

The other subby that would have made sense, would be the introduction of Adams, allowing Jody or Jamie to play in front of a midfield two. Mayzo would have to move to the right wing, but the extra body in midfield might have pushed us further up the park. The danger with the latter subby is that it would be seen as a negative change at a point where we were one nil down but competing well. Such is Derek’s dilemma.

Running through the players on an individual basis I’d comment:

Enckleman – Seemed distracted throughout the game. I’d have expected him to really bond with the fans at this game, yet he made no effort to do so – even during the warm-up. Helpless at the goals, not much else to do. Kicking was a bit better.

Mackay – Struggled once Midgie went off as he couldn’t form a partnership. Committed heavily in the second half and left us wide open in the right back area but we had little option in the circumstances.

Duberry – Big, black and solid at the back. Despite missing some of the training this week, the big lad got stuck in and made very few errors.

Anderson - Kept Rooney quiet for most of the game. Strong early tackles set him up for the game. 

Grainger – Battled hard and had the better of his man for most of the game.

Midgie – Struggled to make much impact but always grafts for the team. His injury will be a big loss.

Morris – Decent game, but simply didn’t stamp any authority on the midfield. Has to show more leadership in the face of adversity.

Muzz – Arguably sold the first goal, but redeemed himself a wee bit with a few good tackles. Missed another sitter at the death and Adams would have been a better choice.

Craig – Much better performance in the opening spell thereafter was moved around the park and struggled to commit forward. Best suited to the left wing and linking well with Danny G again.

Parkin – Good shift which produced next to nothing. Run his socks off and won plenty in the air.

Mayzo – Arguably his best game to date. Brave running and oozing confidence. Must play our next game...whenever that is!

Nova – As above, plenty skill but no end product.

Jacko – Couple of well timed runs into space, but he’s miles off form and shouldn’t have been introduced.

Peaso – Not much time to make an impact.

Del – Can’t be held responsible for the poor performance. The players let him down and that’s something that can’t be said too often.

Overall, a bad day at the office. The top six looks impossible, but we have a cup final to win so no doom and gloom here! The disappointment must be tempered with the knowledge that, yet again, we’re fighting for top six with a budget which is paltry and one of the smallest attendances in the SPL.

We’re doing well, let’s keep supporting the Saints.

A Passionate Defence of a Great Club

Those of us who were at the midweek game against Celtic, should not need reminded of the deluge of rain which fell from heavens that night. Unfortunately, only a few of us knew of the drainage problems afflicting the club at that time, and nobody that I discussed the issue with, knew the severity of the problem.

Perhaps the first true indication came on 12 November when the club issued a statement explaining that a pitch inspection would be carried out early in the morning of the Hearts game. Mike Tumility duly arrived in time for a 0930 inspection and the pitch was declared playable.

The club responded immediately and on 16 November made the following, frank statement:

Saints have carried out a ‘shake up’ of the McDiarmid Park pitch – literally.

The Perth playing surface has taken a hammering over the past month with high levels of rain and four matches in under three weeks leading to a wet, churned up surface which have necessitated two pitch inspections ahead of games against Celtic and Hearts.

With winter still ahead of us, the club have called in agronomists to look at the situation as General Manager Grant Cullen has explained.

“We have called in a company who have worked with several SPL sides including Motherwell and they have given us a detailed report which we are acting on. We have had them bring in a specialist machine which essentially provides an ‘earthquake’ to the whole surface in a bid to improve drainage and this will hopefully help things in the short term.

“However, they have identified a deep-lying drainage problem well below the grass level and beneath the undersoil heating pipes. There is only so much we can do in mid-season but we are working hard to improve it as much as we can, the work carried out now is one of several measures we can take and hopefully we will get a break from the prolonged rain fall of recent weeks.”

It’s a great shame that Saints fans have such short memories. For the avoidance of doubt, the snow fell at the end of November, and fell without much warning.

The snow we took delivery of in November and December was close to unprecedented, certainly, in the history of McDiarmid Park. In mid January, SEPA had 26 warnings issued for the Scotland’s rivers, 5 of them severe. The Crieff Road, just a mile from McDiarmid was closed for several hours, as Almondbank saw water levels rise to flood level.

Several resident loud-mouths in the St Johnstone support took great delight in taking photos of the flooding from their places of work to impress folks from outside Perth. Unfortunately, whenever a game is called off at McDiarmid, they forget their boasts that we had more snow and flooding than anywhere else.

It’s a good job that Saints invested several thousand of pounds in purchasing suitable rain covers for the pitch. Of course the fans want a dome style structure, but they blithely choose to ignore both the purchase cost and the ineffectiveness of the structure in a high wind.

Some, myself included, have questioned Chris’ contribution to the recent pitch damage; particularly as the covers blew off in the wind. Having spoken with the club, I have been made aware that the covers were both pegged down and had weights placed on top to try and stop them blowing away. Regrettably, even this contingency plan failed. Sometimes, there’s a lot to fighting nature’s elements and I for one owe Chris an apology for doubting his competence.

Being in the SPL generally means that a minimum of 4 matches per season will be moved for TV coverage. Thankfully, only one of our league games been on ESPN TV. This is an unexpected bonus for holders of season tickets. In addition, St Johnstone have only been responsible for one SPL call-off this season – the game against Aberdeen on 12 February 2011. The other three were called off as a result of advice from external groups, see below:

St Johnstone v Hamilton (SPL) - Reason for postponement – SPL Decision

St Johnstone v Dundee United (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Fans Safety
St Johnstone v Rangers (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Fans Safety
St Johnstone v Aberdeen (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Waterlogged Pitch

Nevertheless, it’s naive to expect any club to operate for an entire season without human error coming into effect; irrespective of whether it’s players, management or officials. What makes the situation even more bizarre is that the fans of the club are blaming all the wrong people. It seems that, in every circumstance, those with the least knowledge shout the longest.

Season ticket prices have increased by a surprisingly small amount since 2007 whilst the clubs wage bill has rocketed by a substantial margin during the same period.  Some of us are well versed in the increases affecting areas such as power and fuel, not to mention the ever increasing maintenance budget of a stadium which is now entering a mid-life crisis. Nevertheless, the club have traded steadily throughout this period and on the footballing side, we have progressed from bottom half of the SFL1 to our current position which is the cusp of the top six in the SPL – on merit and despite some terribly bad luck.

Folk are keen to point the finger at blame at a lack of expenditure, I would suggest that we, as fans of the club, might want to look at our own actions. Who amongst us genuinely encourages our friends and family to attend games at McDiarmid? Who amongst us is prepared to be put out for the greater good of the club?

I can recall travelling to Glasgow city centre to collect three fans and take them to games in Perth, before driving them home and returning to Perth in the early hours of the morning. A so called “die-hard” told me he’d never do that for Saints! The same die-hard, threatening to surrender his season ticket, calls for greater investment in both players and stadium upgrades!

Last season we had 2400 season ticket holders, this season we have 2100. There was no price rise and it followed our highest ranking in over 8 years! Yes, McInnes cost us top six last season, yes the end of the season was a damp squid at the end, but we finished 8^th best club in the land. Do folks not comprehend the enormity of finishing 8^th in the highest category of our domestic football structure?

When the forumers speak of staff leaving at the club due to a lack of income (something which occurred last year) they would do well to look at their own financial contribution to the club. On many occasions, these idiotic fans arrogantly and falsely claim to pay the wages of the staff at McDiarmid, yet they forget this “fact” when they throw temper tantrums, refuse to attend games or stop buying season tickets.

What more can our club do? Folks want better PR, yet when invited to tell the club what they wanted improved, they simply couldn’t provide a coherent or united set of suggestions. Any ideas that were put forward, generally involved wasting money that we need to spend on players.

The wannabe journalists call for more information to be put on the club website, yet when the club do this, it’s either ignored completely or twisted to suit those that simply wish to deride our great club. At an impromptu “management meeting” for a local sports centre, I was given an interesting insight into the increase in the number of complaints received.

Coupled with my intimate knowledge of my current work place, it is clear that the credit crunch is having a strange effect on once normal people. We have become an expectant culture, demanding that things are structured to suit them and them alone. We have become a conceited and self-serving people, blinded by our own lusts and desires. It’s time for all of us to grow up and get on with it.

On a more personal note, it’s worth spending some time to dispel many of the myths which currently appear on the fans forum ‘WeArePerth’. I will deal with these in bullet point as many of the forumers should be shot with rubber bullets:

·         Geoff is a business man. A highly successful business man. As such, he takes calculated risks to increase profit and reduce unnecessary outgoings. Our balance sheet, tells you that he’s doing a very good job at Saints.

·         As part of the above all our directors want games to take place at times when crowds will be high, both in corporate and in the East Stand. Greater numbers equals greater revenue and generally greater profit.

·         Televised league games do not increase our income, they generally reduce it. Local businesses do not gain from TV exposure so that has no effect on our income.

·         Geoff has recently been accused of losing foresight. He was the one who 20 odd years ago said that undersoil heating appears to damage the playing surface of football pitches. He was regarded as out of touch when he made that comment.

·         He has convinced many fans that the 10 team top tier is to the financial security of clubs like St Johnstone. We appear comfortable in the top ten in the SPL.

·         We have been compared to Kilmarnock( a club with arguably the worst financial position in Scottish Football) and Motherwell (arguably the worst run SPL club in history) yet we have money in the bank and far superior players than either club.

·         Grant Cullen has been blamed for this fiasco. Grant is responsible for many aspects of the club’s corporate activities, but he has little say in the footballing side of the business. His job title is wrong, and I warned the club of this in an email in 2010, when I suggested that it would take two people to replace Mr Duff. With hindsight, they may regret ignoring my warning but then again, what can a practical manager do to repair the pitch mid-season?

·         The pitch inspection for the Aberdeen game could have been announced on Friday, as a precaution if nothing else. Thing is, by announcing such a decision, some folks would have elected to go skiing or some such and revenue would certainly have been lost.

·         The pitch inspection for the Aberdeen game ideally should have been earlier than 1115 but the referee has to travel to the park and these things take time. How many of us are delighted to be woken early on a Saturday and asked to start work early?

Let me make a final and heartfelt plea. I’m on good terms with many folks at McDiarmid and would urge all true supporters to stop emailing the club. The recent staff changes mean that resources are very limited. Grant and Paul read the forum on a regular basis and are fully aware of the opinions expressed therein. Individual emails are extremely expensive to reply to and they do not solve anything. I can only imagine the content....

Too much hot air, against our club has been written, and I don’t for one instant imagine that my words will stop it. I do hope that some of you are ashamed when you read over your posts in the cold light of day. This has been a brilliant season, made possible thanks to having the cash in the bank which allows us to complete the season with a heavy loss. That’s thanks to Geoff and no thanks to the wishy washy fans that failed to renew their season tickets.

A Passionate Defence of a Great Club

Those of us who were at the midweek game against Celtic, should not need reminded of the deluge of rain which fell from heavens that night. Unfortunately, only a few of us knew of the drainage problems afflicting the club at that time, and nobody that I discussed the issue with, knew the severity of the problem.

Perhaps the first true indication came on 12 November when the club issued a statement explaining that a pitch inspection would be carried out early in the morning of the Hearts game. Mike Tumility duly arrived in time for a 0930 inspection and the pitch was declared playable.

The club responded immediately and on 16 November made the following, frank statement:

Saints have carried out a ‘shake up’ of the McDiarmid Park pitch – literally.

The Perth playing surface has taken a hammering over the past month with high levels of rain and four matches in under three weeks leading to a wet, churned up surface which have necessitated two pitch inspections ahead of games against Celtic and Hearts.

With winter still ahead of us, the club have called in agronomists to look at the situation as General Manager Grant Cullen has explained.

“We have called in a company who have worked with several SPL sides including Motherwell and they have given us a detailed report which we are acting on. We have had them bring in a specialist machine which essentially provides an ‘earthquake’ to the whole surface in a bid to improve drainage and this will hopefully help things in the short term.

“However, they have identified a deep-lying drainage problem well below the grass level and beneath the undersoil heating pipes. There is only so much we can do in mid-season but we are working hard to improve it as much as we can, the work carried out now is one of several measures we can take and hopefully we will get a break from the prolonged rain fall of recent weeks.”

It’s a great shame that Saints fans have such short memories. For the avoidance of doubt, the snow fell at the end of November, and fell without much warning.

The snow we took delivery of in November and December was close to unprecedented, certainly, in the history of McDiarmid Park. In mid January, SEPA had 26 warnings issued for the Scotland’s rivers, 5 of them severe. The Crieff Road, just a mile from McDiarmid was closed for several hours, as Almondbank saw water levels rise to flood level.

Several resident loud-mouths in the St Johnstone support took great delight in taking photos of the flooding from their places of work to impress folks from outside Perth. Unfortunately, whenever a game is called off at McDiarmid, they forget their boasts that we had more snow and flooding than anywhere else.

It’s a good job that Saints invested several thousand of pounds in purchasing suitable rain covers for the pitch. Of course the fans want a dome style structure, but they blithely choose to ignore both the purchase cost and the ineffectiveness of the structure in a high wind.

Some, myself included, have questioned Chris’ contribution to the recent pitch damage; particularly as the covers blew off in the wind. Having spoken with the club, I have been made aware that the covers were both pegged down and had weights placed on top to try and stop them blowing away. Regrettably, even this contingency plan failed. Sometimes, there’s a lot to fighting nature’s elements and I for one owe Chris an apology for doubting his competence.

Being in the SPL generally means that a minimum of 4 matches per season will be moved for TV coverage. Thankfully, only one of our league games been on ESPN TV. This is an unexpected bonus for holders of season tickets. In addition, St Johnstone have only been responsible for one SPL call-off this season – the game against Aberdeen on 12 February 2011. The other three were called off as a result of advice from external groups, see below:

St Johnstone v Hamilton (SPL) - Reason for postponement – SPL Decision

St Johnstone v Dundee United (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Fans Safety
St Johnstone v Rangers (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Fans Safety
St Johnstone v Aberdeen (SPL) - Reason for postponement - Waterlogged Pitch

Nevertheless, it’s naive to expect any club to operate for an entire season without human error coming into effect; irrespective of whether it’s players, management or officials. What makes the situation even more bizarre is that the fans of the club are blaming all the wrong people. It seems that, in every circumstance, those with the least knowledge shout the longest.

Season ticket prices have increased by a surprisingly small amount since 2007 whilst the clubs wage bill has rocketed by a substantial margin during the same period.  Some of us are well versed in the increases affecting areas such as power and fuel, not to mention the ever increasing maintenance budget of a stadium which is now entering a mid-life crisis. Nevertheless, the club have traded steadily throughout this period and on the footballing side, we have progressed from bottom half of the SFL1 to our current position which is the cusp of the top six in the SPL – on merit and despite some terribly bad luck.

Folk are keen to point the finger at blame at a lack of expenditure, I would suggest that we, as fans of the club, might want to look at our own actions. Who amongst us genuinely encourages our friends and family to attend games at McDiarmid? Who amongst us is prepared to be put out for the greater good of the club?

I can recall travelling to Glasgow city centre to collect three fans and take them to games in Perth, before driving them home and returning to Perth in the early hours of the morning. A so called “die-hard” told me he’d never do that for Saints! The same die-hard, threatening to surrender his season ticket, calls for greater investment in both players and stadium upgrades!

Last season we had 2400 season ticket holders, this season we have 2100. There was no price rise and it followed our highest ranking in over 8 years! Yes, McInnes cost us top six last season, yes the end of the season was a damp squid at the end, but we finished 8^th best club in the land. Do folks not comprehend the enormity of finishing 8^th in the highest category of our domestic football structure?

When the forumers speak of staff leaving at the club due to a lack of income (something which occurred last year) they would do well to look at their own financial contribution to the club. On many occasions, these idiotic fans arrogantly and falsely claim to pay the wages of the staff at McDiarmid, yet they forget this “fact” when they throw temper tantrums, refuse to attend games or stop buying season tickets.

What more can our club do? Folks want better PR, yet when invited to tell the club what they wanted improved, they simply couldn’t provide a coherent or united set of suggestions. Any ideas that were put forward, generally involved wasting money that we need to spend on players.

The wannabe journalists call for more information to be put on the club website, yet when the club do this, it’s either ignored completely or twisted to suit those that simply wish to deride our great club. At an impromptu “management meeting” for a local sports centre, I was given an interesting insight into the increase in the number of complaints received.

Coupled with my intimate knowledge of my current work place, it is clear that the credit crunch is having a strange effect on once normal people. We have become an expectant culture, demanding that things are structured to suit them and them alone. We have become a conceited and self-serving people, blinded by our own lusts and desires. It’s time for all of us to grow up and get on with it.

On a more personal note, it’s worth spending some time to dispel many of the myths which currently appear on the fans forum ‘WeArePerth’. I will deal with these in bullet point as many of the forumers should be shot with rubber bullets:

·         Geoff is a business man. A highly successful business man. As such, he takes calculated risks to increase profit and reduce unnecessary outgoings. Our balance sheet, tells you that he’s doing a very good job at Saints.

·         As part of the above all our directors want games to take place at times when crowds will be high, both in corporate and in the East Stand. Greater numbers equals greater revenue and generally greater profit.

·         Televised league games do not increase our income, they generally reduce it. Local businesses do not gain from TV exposure so that has no effect on our income.

·         Geoff has recently been accused of losing foresight. He was the one who 20 odd years ago said that undersoil heating appears to damage the playing surface of football pitches. He was regarded as out of touch when he made that comment.

·         He has convinced many fans that the 10 team top tier is to the financial security of clubs like St Johnstone. We appear comfortable in the top ten in the SPL.

·         We have been compared to Kilmarnock( a club with arguably the worst financial position in Scottish Football) and Motherwell (arguably the worst run SPL club in history) yet we have money in the bank and far superior players than either club.

·         Grant Cullen has been blamed for this fiasco. Grant is responsible for many aspects of the club’s corporate activities, but he has little say in the footballing side of the business. His job title is wrong, and I warned the club of this in an email in 2010, when I suggested that it would take two people to replace Mr Duff. With hindsight, they may regret ignoring my warning but then again, what can a practical manager do to repair the pitch mid-season?

·         The pitch inspection for the Aberdeen game could have been announced on Friday, as a precaution if nothing else. Thing is, by announcing such a decision, some folks would have elected to go skiing or some such and revenue would certainly have been lost.

·         The pitch inspection for the Aberdeen game ideally should have been earlier than 1115 but the referee has to travel to the park and these things take time. How many of us are delighted to be woken early on a Saturday and asked to start work early?

Let me make a final and heartfelt plea. I’m on good terms with many folks at McDiarmid and would urge all true supporters to stop emailing the club. The recent staff changes mean that resources are very limited. Grant and Paul read the forum on a regular basis and are fully aware of the opinions expressed therein. Individual emails are extremely expensive to reply to and they do not solve anything. I can only imagine the content....

Too much hot air, against our club has been written, and I don’t for one instant imagine that my words will stop it. I do hope that some of you are ashamed when you read over your posts in the cold light of day. This has been a brilliant season, made possible thanks to having the cash in the bank which allows us to complete the season with a heavy loss. That’s thanks to Geoff and no thanks to the wishy washy fans that failed to renew their season tickets.