Progress against Partick

Boundless Conceit

Not since Hampden, have I written a report in such a state of apoplexy. What should be a night to be savoured is simply engulfed in rage and bile against Messrs Taylor and McInnes.

A sparse crowd in a soul-less stadium with a horrendous pitch on a miserable night against lower league opposition is hardly a recipe for a great night – yet tonight we saw a key player shove two metaphorical fingers up to Del with a goal fit to win the Cup Final, let alone a low key fifth round tie.

Liam Craig will always be remembered for scoring the most important goal of our promotion winning campaign at East End Park yet tonight’s goal may yet eclipse that one; both in terms of skill and importance. I openly admit that Liam has let me down badly this year, I have tried everything to prompt a suitable contract yet his performances, both on and off-field, have been a massive let down for a player who was our top scorer last season. With the arrival of a fast and flashy Lithuanian, his place in the team is surely in jeopardy but tonight he suffered the ultimate indignity – he was kept out of the team by the worst senior player at the club.

Cleveland Taylor’s performances have been the subject of many a 101 Saint rant. From the first time I saw him play against Dundee at Glenalmond, I’ve been against him and tonight he signed, sealed and delivered his own P45. Never in all my years watching St Johnstone have I been as enraged by a player as tonight.

I accept that the pitch wasn’t great and I accept that Mayzo didn’t supply great balls from wide areas, but, quite simply, he got everything wrong all night. Despite my refusal to tolerate Cleve, I have always freely admitted that he can cross a ball with great aplomb, but tonight he didn’t manage one good cross. His runs are always mis-timed and he obviously doesn’t understand the offside rule. What he cannot do, at SPL level, is take on a full back and put a cross ball into the box. He tried to take on the left back on a few occasions, failing every time. The players then showed him balls in such a fashion that all he had to do was lift it into the box, yet on many occasions he tried a hospital pass or he sclaffed it.

Indeed, twas from a sclaff that Saints opened the scoring tonight and his subsequent celebration tipped me over the edge. Having committed the cardinal sin of taking his eye off the ball, his contact with the ball saw it enter the box in stealth mode. By luck, grit, good judgement or all three, Murray Davidson – enjoying his best match of the season – stuck a strong foot to the ball and poked it past the helpless goalkeeper. The phrase better lucky than good, sprung immediately to mind. Nevertheless, I celebrated like a nipper when the net bulged. What followed caused me to utter some of the most furious words in my vocabulary.

As Murray Davidson was rightly hailed by the East Stand, Cleve had the sheer audacity to open his hands and receive the acclaim of the Mongo Army. Just think about this for a moment. A man who had contributed nothing, on either side of the pitch, mis-hits a cross and as a courageous player is being rightly acknowledged, Cleve tries to steal his thunder. His morals and integrity as a footballer had grave question marks over them prior to this game, tonight they simply have black marks; an utterly horrific player.

Still, we went down the tunnel in the lead and there was one great moment to come before the interval. Collin Samuel, another of dubious footballing integrity, went down in the middle of the park clutching his left ankle. Sammy has many faults, but feigning injury isn’t one of them. I had boldly predicted that he’d surely be substituted because he doesn’t play-act and that was the queue for him to rise to his feet! A drop ball ensued and it was contested. Yes, honestly! I swear that I saw it with my own eyes. Perhaps, when Del and Doc go over their notebooks they’ll remember that these balls are there to be fought for; especially against cheats like Hearts, Hamilton and Kilmarnock.

As the players ran into the tunnel, Liam was the first substitute on the pitch to warm-up and I announced with great confidence that he’s come on for Cleve and turn the game.....

It seems that no match report can be written these days without expressing serious reservations about Derek McInnes. Unlike our previous league games, I have no insight about what messages Del had given to the players in the build up to the game tonight. What I do know, is that just like our game against St Mirren, he got the shape of the team all wrong.

My rants about playing 4-3-3 are all well documented, but tonight was crystal clear proof of how it doesn’t work. Times without number we saw midfielders play their team mates into trouble because we were always outnumbered in midfield and we had no width to open the play.

Sammy was too far from the wide boys to link with them, both Mayzo and Cleve tended to cut in when playing on the left, whilst Mackay had another poor game leaving us weak down the right as Midgie went further and further in-field as the first half progressed.

At one point, just before we opened the scoring, Sammy, Mayzo and Cleve were on the attack with Muzz bursting forward from midfield. The result was that Jody and Midgie dropped so deep in midfield they created an enormous hole between attack midfield. They actually got so deep they forced our back line towards Enckleman.

Jobbie McCall instructed his players to build the foundations of counter-attacks in this wide expanse. Thanks to Anderson playing at international standard, chances were kept to a minimum. Not once did I see McInnes, try to push the centre halves up and close the gap. Bizarre.

When we went 4-4-2 in the second half, all these problems were rectified.

Final talking point of the night has to be the referee booking Peaso for diving. I may be wrong, but I strongly suspect contact was made; but Peaso’s stunt diving was fit for Rugby Park or Tynecastle. His behaviour is not becoming of a St Johnstone player. I was delighted to see him get booked. On a similar note, it was good to see Mayzo play a more honest game tonight. Not once did I cringe at a dive from the wee man.

In a wee deviation from the norm, I’m gonna rate the players in a tabloid style format:

Enckleman – Too many unforced errors. Like Smith last year, he’s been hyped up by our fans. He’s not good enough for Saints and his wages are a burden to the club. A goalkeeper remains the number one signing priority. Communication is no better now than it was in August.

Mackay – Another sub-standard game. Struggled in the 4-3-3 and didn’t get much better when we used 4-4-2 in the second half. I suspect he’s carrying an injury, though my man in the know strongly refutes my hunch. Something isn’t right and he’s definitely gone back to his form of last season.

Duberry – Good performance. Strong in the air, bold in the tackle and rarely caught out of position. Committed to the game, despite the elements.

Anderson – Man of the match by a country mile. Everything a centre half should be. Current form should see him get some sort of international recognition, B cap or some such.

Grainger – A man under pressure from Alan Maybury. Scarcely put a foot wrong despite challenging conditions and a ridiculous first half shape/formation.

Millar – Quiet night but grafted away well. A mature head who showed great bravery on the ball, especially when things were tight in centre-midfield.

Morris – See above. Still looks jaded and tired on a heavy pitch.

Taylor – Waste of a strip

May – Quiet night. McCall has seen a fair bit of Mayzo this year and knew what to expect from him. Still made a valuable contribution; often creating space and never getting flustered.

Samuel – Cameo performance – tantalising all night long without delivering. If only he had finished his one on one....

Craig – Game changing goal. Played some nice balls and showed great tenacity. His partnership with Danny showed signs of being restored and that is crucial to our push for top six.

MacDonald – Hard to judge his contribution as the game was dead when he made his entrance. Dive was poor stuff and his yellow card was thoroughly merited.

Parkin – No time to impress.

McInnes – Shambles of a first half. Corrected at half time but the strikers still weren’t being played in the right areas of the pitch. No excuse for tonight – he should have learned from St Mirren and every other game where he’s tried this stupid tactic.

The Partick Thistle team did their vocal support proud, but we are rightfully into the next round and can look forward to a wee trip to Brechin. It should be a brilliant day, but it’s never gonna be a brilliant game. Can I take a scrappy one-nil now?