Polishing a Turd
Few fans can forget the crushing disappointment of Hampden Park semi-finals against Rangers and Motherwell, Lining up with only one striker has plagued and dismayed St Johnstone fans for close on two years. Off the top of my head, we haven’t won an SPL league match playing 4-5-1. Happy to be corrected, though...
Nevertheless, we know full well that Derek McInnes is an arrogant man, who seems unwillingly or unable to admit to his errors. In informal chats he fights his ground in a punchy manner, defending his use of this formation. When you move away from discussion and onto fact, the bottom line is very clear 4-5-1 does not work.
Obviously, I haven’t spoken with Del for many years, but having listened to him speak on the official website http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/audioplayback.php?param=1599 it is clear that he recognises his error. Some give credit for switching it at half time; I certainly don’t.
4-5-1 has failed him time and time again; he mustn’t be allowed to continue hampering our chances. Of course the switch also saw Marcus Haber make his second debut for Saints as a contracted player. The sad news is that we’ve only managed to secure the athletic Canadian on a one year deal.
So we lined up with Enckleman in goal and in front of him came our settled back four of Mackay-Anderson-Wright-C Davidson. In midfield a flat three were Millar-Morris-M Davidson. Sheridan played up front on his own with Craig and Robertson allegedly providing some support.
As ever with this wacky formation, the players seemed totally unsure of their positioning, both in attack and defence. Indeed, in the early stages of the game, we were very much under the cosh. Milsom and Foster were dominant figures in a game that looked like a third round Scottish Cup Tie for long periods.
One of the greatest things about Owen Coyle’s St Johnstone team and the key element of Del’s SFL1 title winning side was an indefatigueable self-belief and hunger. Both commodities evaporated last season and ultimately disappeared from sight at Hampden. Looking at this game in isolation, we have yet to re-discover either characteristic. Aberdeen not only passed the ball around us, they also worked much harder than us on the rare occasions when they lost possession. As the game wore on, they naturally dropped off the pace, bit the tenacity and fitness demonstrated by the Dons is a glowing testament to standout SPL manager, Craig Brown.
What’s also worth noting is that Aberdeen are not yet a good side. Like us, many of their signings have only recently been confirmed and at times their new defence showed some newby wobbles. Sadly for us, we couldn’t exploit it. I would have thought it was perfectly obvious that so many new faces would take time to gel, especially with so many young lads in the team. I’d have went for their throat from the first minute, pinning them back and shocking them into a state of panic. Del’s tactics allowed them to settle down and nail us to our own goal.
What is always worrying is that Del has previously boasted about having the bollocks to make early and brave substitutions. Tony Docherty’s body language made it abundantly clear that things were unacceptable, yet they still waited until half time before making the change. Not only that, but Haber was sent to warm-up around twenty minutes in, only to then return to the dugout and cool down. It’s well known that we have no real warm-up routine at half time, so when Haber was called into the dressing room, we all knew he wasn’t warmed up properly. Curious decision making.
The only guy in the dressing room that could hold his head high was Rangers target, Murray Davidson. The gangly midfielder was touted as the next big thing when he arrived at Saints, but for two years he’s generally looked well out of his depth. Only once have I selected him as Man of The Match, and that was for attitude rather than skill.
For Saturday’s performance he rightly gets my Man of The Match award. Yes, Marcus Haber played well when he came on, but he didn’t have the handicap of playing in a daft line-up. Murray played well in both halves despite looking slightly tentative in the early part of the game and if he can replicate that form, he will finally deserve his starting jersey.
Of the rest of his colleagues; it’s slim pickings, I’m afraid. Starting up top, we all know what to expect from Cillian Sheridan and danced to the tune we all learned two seasons ago. Lazy, half-hearted, disinterested, unco-ordinated and unaware are just a few of his labels. Not once did hee appear to sprint and he certainly never looked in any danger of getting dirty. Playing with only one up front puts enormous pressure on that striker. He must run, harry, chase and pressurise like there’s no tomorrow. If you’re lone striker saunters around like a steroid, perma tan in The Loft, you’re on a hiding to nothing. That’s exactly what Sheridan did. The really irritating thing is that he actually showed a level of talent and touch hitherto hidden from Saints fans. He’s a Jack Whitehall lookalike with Collin Samuel levels of under-exploited latent talent.
The closest thing he had strike partner in the first half was Davie “The Ghost” Robertson. The ex-Arab again showed some lovely touches and a quick footballing brain. It’s clear to see why the single celled organisms that call themselves Dundee United fans didn’t like him. They are a physical team of immoral cheats, orchestrated by the horrible human, Houston. Davie will drift out of games, no doubt about that, but he has a talent and will be a useful addition to our squad. That said, he’s clearly not read to start for us and as others have rightly pointed out, Del has once again signed too many midfielders and doesn’t know his best four. This could well be a season long failing....
His opposite number, Liam Craig had a difficult game. Because we were pinned back, he ended up playing on the wrong side of the Dons midfield meaning he had to pass two blocks of players in a crowded area of the pitch. As we all know this isn’t Liam’s forte and it was little surprise to see him hooked at half time. Unfortunately, he was removed on the basis of what had happened rather than what was gonna happen. As such, when he was removed and we moved to a midfield four. Davie Robertson ended up on the left and struggled badly. A shame for both players. Be interesting to see if our ill-educated fans see the benefit of Robbo or if he’ll suffer from Murray-syndrome (“We only like boys that clatter into needless tackles coz they’re committed, eh?”)
Morris had a fine enough game, though our dumb congregation couldn’t see it. He played further forward and scarcely wasted a pass. He was very frustrating when we went down to ten men as he didn’t seem to have enough brains to stretch the Dons out, but other than that he played well. Moon would have been a better option but that’s the case most weeks.
Midgie had a poor game by his usual high standards. For whatever reason he never seemed happy on the surface and too often his team mates let him down, leaving him with a tricky pass to complete in order to find a team mate. Nevertheless, he too often lost his footing at crucial times and his touch and decision making simply weren’t up to their usual standard.
The midfield which generally had at least a one man advantage often looked swamped and never seemed able to find safe pass. With Robbo playing in such an advanced role, and with Moon inexplicably benched, we had nobody in midfield that was prepared to take on their man. That’s a real worry as we prepare for Rangers coming to Perth.
In defence, Mackay took an age to come onto a game, eventually turning in a solid performance. His positioning, which I have heavily criticised, was much better. If anything he was a tad conservative. I’ll settle for that every day of the week. Well done, lad.
Anderson had a curious game. The very best and very worst of his game went on show on Saturday. Brilliant, last ditch flicks and tackles, coupled with some really naive dives and rash tackles. All told, he was again the standout defender, but he must really start to compose himself better on matchdays. Alongside him, Frazer Wright had a torrid first half and my pre-season worries were well solidly confirmed. Thankfully, he turned in a solid second half showing, He will be seriously miffed to have picked up a booking following one of many Conroy’s mistakes but if his second half performance is the standard he goes on to attain, we’ll have no reason to worry.
At left back Callum Davidson had an average first half and a worrying second half. He was good in the tackle and generally cleared his lines well enough but communication and organisation were notable absentees in Callum’s locker. Frazer Wright’s determination to play ten yards higher than his defensive team mates made life hard for Callum and Mackay, but stil....
That leaves the substitutes and the goalie....we’ll start with the substitutes! Haber is still a long way from being match ready and if we can get 45 minutes into him in bounce game on Monday it’ll do him no harm. His pace is returning and his touch is excellent. He ran directly on most occasions. He needs to form a good partnership with Mayso, but that’ll come. Mayso himself did little to impress on Saturday. A very late arrival he had no time to prove his talent. The same goes for Moon who bravely took a yellow card to halt a very threatening Dons counter late on.
I’m not gonna say much about Enckleman. I’ve never thought he was good enough for us. He’s never been a true number one in the UK and with Mannus finally onboard he’ll struggle to feature for us again. Howler after howler, exacerbated by the wind but mainly caused by his lack of brain power and judgement. He has no command of his box and you could visibly see the centre halves losing confidence in him.
I’d have gladly taken a point before the game, but not creating a chance and being under the cosh for most of the game is not acceptable given the budget allocated to Messrs McInnes and Docherty. It’s futile to call for him to be sacked, but as a genuine supporter, it is my duty to do so. Del must go.
