League Cup 1 - Livi @ Home

A Smooth Progression

All the ingredients for a cup shock were in the mixing bowl on Wednesday night, but by 2130 St Johnstone were confirmed in the ball draw for the next round of the League Cup. Indeed, after just 23 minutes the game was effectively over.

The win against Celtic, started a run of three wins in a week and, with training heavily disrupted by the sequence, changes were perhaps inevitable. The scale of the changes was perhaps unforeseen, especially given that Derek McInnes allegedly denied having an interest in signing Crawley Town’s, Wullie Gibson.

The wide boy, who’s signing I’ve vociferously attacked, started on the left wing and performed fairly well. He flighted in a couple of decent crosses, though worryingly many of them had no bend on them. He drifted out the game completely, and whilst some will justify his lack of fitness, I won’t. Irrespective of his desire to leave Crawley Town, he is a professional football player and he should be fit at all times, especially when negotiating a move. I doubt that our managers are impressed by his fitness levels. His pace, on the other hand, is a much needed asset.

I could only laugh when I read this on the forum, “I would like to see a creative midfielder as most of our current midfielders are all the same kind and we could do with a bit more guile in that area of the pitch.” Guess they don’t like Gibson? Maybe they don’t like tattoos, purple boots and naff hair or maybe they don’t like Leigh Griffiths... Whatever, I’m pleased to say that Gibson was better than feared but regret to say that he doesn’t look good enough for this club. Remember that Cleveland Taylor looked good against, big Fotheringham.

Speaking of fat, former full-backs, Gary Bollan must have been deeply unhappy as he travelled home. His side simply didn’t turn up. Kenny Deuchar was clearly injured and it’s crazy that he was allowed to continue to half time. Wee Boaby Barr, didn’t impress at all when he came on and he was one I’d have put money on causing us bother. I guess they used all their energy humping Dundee.

Other than a couple of petulant challenges, I simply didn’t witness any passion from them. Anyone that thinks they watched a good, old-fashioned cup tie is deluded. We witnessed complete and utter capitulation from a team over-awed by all that was put before them. These circumstances make it very hard to rate St Johnstone’s performance.

What is clear is that we won in a comfortable and professional manner. At no point were we in trouble, at no point did we look flustered. Some are disappointed that we didn’t have a higher tempo in the second half, but that was the natural consequences of having little recovery from Sunday and leading a bunch of haddies by three goals to scud. The drop-off is irrelevant and in no way should it reflect on Derek McInnes.

What does reflect on him, and badly at that, is his constant tinkering. He switched between 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 on four separate occasions, usually whilst giving Wullie Gibson an earful. That’s not how football should be played. He confuses players and leaves them wondering where to stand, how far back to travel and when to release the pass. It was dreadful and I have little doubt that it emanates from Largs.

I guess the only real point of note was the injury to Murray Davidson. A few of us have bemoaned the fact that the club are simply not being pro-active enough to sell off M Davidson; Wednesday night highlighted three areas of concern. Firstly, and most importantly, Jamie Adams is a far better player. It’s no longer a secret that Del rushes players back from real injuries, yet folk don’t find it strange that Adams was so often sidelined with niggles! You decide what’s happening there. As with Kevin Moon, it seems that Del simply won’t play him as a first pick, for reasons known only to himself. We should be looking to have Moon and Adams as our first picks next year, yet somehow I suspect that at least one of them will be gone.

Even now, with Muzz out for a couple of months, it seems unlikely that big Jamie will get a decent run ahead of Moon, Midgie and the infuriating Robbo. The big man’s career is a tragic tale of horror injures and managers that don’t believe in him. Let’s hope that changes soon.

The second factor is that Murray Davidson’s tackles are often mis-timed and always full blooded. As such, it’s almost inevitable that a serious injury will come his way, sooner or later. We don’t want to pay for an injured player and we are doing just that at the moment.

The third point, which was really nailed to the mast on Wednesday, is that we, along with every UK football club are strapped for cash. Our crowd on Wednesday was a paltry 2439, despite entry being slashed to £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £1 for nippers. The game is on its knees, clubs will go into administration (some might even die) and I suspect in five years time, the face of our sport will have changed dramatically. Whatever happens, it’s important that we remain solvent. Selling players helps the financial situation and we have now lost the chance to sell Murray before January. That’s poor work from our board. We should have issued public statements and whipped up a frenzy, just like Dundee United did with Goodwillie.

Also injured in the game was Frazer Wright, though thankfully not seriously. His injury gave Alan Maybury another run-out and he again performed superbly at right back. The partnership of Anderson and Mackay looked flawless and Liam Craig was just grand at full-back.

Morris deserves a mention too. I defended him earlier this year, blaming McInnes rather than Jody, for the captain’s poor form. Against Livingston, we again saw Morris playing further forward than he traditionally has. He starred in the game, though it’s hard to judge his performance because of the poor opposition. Nevertheless, it’s good to see him play in this advanced role and long may it continue.

The front line is a repeat of the Celtic blog; Sandaza was excellent, Sheridan was awful. There really is little more to add. Sandaza scored three good goals, though again he was flattered by the Livi team. I was so excited by his capture and the rest of the fans now agree with me.

I was disgusted by the capture of Sheridan and remain so. He offers nothing to the team and on Wednesday, he picked the wrong option or pass every single time he got the ball. He needs to go, he serves no purpose and he’s keeping real players like Haber, Higgy and May on the bench.

Overall, it was a satisfactory result and undoubtedly we avoided a banana skin. I simply can’t be happy with the game as it highlighted too many of Del’s flaws; poor tactics, odd man-management, guaranteed starts for Sheridan and poor signings. I remain perturbed by his tenure and fear that we will again fail to capitalise on our squad. Still, we’re in the pot; let’s hope for the best.

SPL 4 - Celtic Away

Perfection

As with last week’s report, this is a balanced article. Sunday’s victory, irrespective of the sheer pleasure, counts for one thirty eighth of our SPL campaign. Mackay’s deflected shot is our only goal of the season and Derek McInnes has done nothing to redeem himself in my eyes.

Now that we’ve cleared the air, some other points need to be noted. The lack of fans was disgraceful. Irrespective of whether or not you rate Del, the players or the board; St Johnstone are a great club, a local club, our club. They deserve our support and we deserve days like Sunday. Indeed, supporting St Johnstone will never be better than the moment Mr Winters called a halt to the play. Beating the Old Firm is special; beating them in their home stadium is the pinnacle.

Jody Morris, a man who unexpectedly played 10 yards higher than any other game this season, says we rode our luck; he’s right. However, luck was not the defining factor. We created chances and played with a conviction that simply hasn’t been seen in our opening three games. Other than Sheridan, we had no failures in the team.

If you wanna read about Derek McInnes, you’ll have to wait because we’re starting the review in our 18 yard box. Peter Enckleman is far from my favourite player, indeed he’s my third favourite goalkeeper! The big man looks and acts like a man with no belief in his own ability. His kicking is dreadful, his eye for a cross seems wonky and his shot-stopping has never filled me with confidence.

In the early moments of the match he was involved in a controversial incident. Having watched the incident on several occasions, I simply can’t decide if referee Winters got the decision right. Enckleman’s reaction suggested that he was guilty, but TV pictures were far from clear. The good news is that Commons slipped during his run-up and hit a penalty that was as poor as Liam’s last week. Enckleman parried the ball back into play before the Saintees cleared their lines. It was from Enckleman’s only save, but it was the only unexpected save.

Despite the praise being heaped on Big Pete, the fact remains that many of his saves were only possible as a result of poor finishing from Celtic; much like Smith’s performance at Ibrox, the fans over playing the performance of Mr Enckleman. Perversely, you could argue that his showing cements his place in the team and that is to the detriment of the club....

At right back, the amiable wee ginger, Alan Maybury, made his first appearance of the season. I certainly wouldn’t have put him in at right back; I’d have Mackay in his normal position with Maybs in right midfield. Nevertheless, right back was where he was asked to play and boy did he play well. Despite taking a right clattering in his own box, the wee fella performed admirably throughout. Only once did he get properly caught and that stemmed from slipping on the very wet pitch.

Towards the end of the game, he tired and Jamie Adams was stripped to come on. That clearly provided the necessary shot in the arm; Maybs dug deep and finished strongly, keeping Adams on the touchline and costing him a few bob in the process. He has his doubters, but I’m not among them and neither is Dave Mackay who said, "Alan Maybury came in and did a great job at right back and the manager asked me to do the same just in front of him. It's not a role I'm particularly familiar with but I thought the two of us linked up really well." Amen, to that.

The right sided centre half is the latest addition to the 101 Saint hall of greatness. David McCracken’s capture left me cold in June, but as ever I judge players after their first game. Given that I’m a pessimist, I doubted my own judgement after watching him stroll through the Dunfermline game; watching him stroll through the game at

Parkhead confirmed that we have a great player on our books.

Retaining his place as left sided centre back, despite three horrific performances to date, was Frazer Wright. The big man has shown nothing to merit a start, let alone a place on the bench, but was arguably the man of the match. Only two big mistakes spring to mind, one in each half; the first resulted in the injury to Maybury as he gave too much space to the Celtic attacker, the second one was at the death when he took a rush of blood and waded into a battle which Jody Morris had under control. He escaped the second one, as the linesman adjudged some sort of offence had taken place.

I write what I see and simply won’t allow favouritism to blur my reports. Frazer has been awful to date, but he was great on Sunday. If he can retain that form, I’ll become a fan; if he reverts to the form shown in our other games, I’ll stay on his back. As I said at the top, it’s only one game. No decisions will be made, nor opinions changed, on the basis of a 90 minute showing.

At left back, Callum Davidson returned following a leg injury. The former Scotland international wing back is carrying a Duberry sized belly and no longer enjoys a youthful athleticism but he still has talent in abundance. Given that Danny Grainger was never gonna be in our price range, Callum is a cracking replacement. Del spoke of having “the right types” at the club, Callum is such a man. His performance on Sunday simply can’t be viewed in isolation.

Times without number he linked with Liam Craig to snuff out a Celtic attack. It wasn’t pretty at times but it did work well. Liam backed off where possible, inviting the attacker to go wide and Callum stopping the cross ball. It’s a dangerous tactic because if the attacker had cut inside, he’d have a decent goal scoring chance, the Hoops players failed to switch on to this and as such, praise must go to both men. I’d still have preferred to see Liam stand up to his man.

Liam himself is like a man re-born this year. I wrote many times that last year was just a bad year for Liam, this year he’s proved me right. I couldn’t be happier for him. Liam, to my mind, embodies all that is great about this club. Both Liam and Graham Gartland are the types that turn up to under 19 games to support our young guns. They are humble types who earn wages that would embarrass some of our fans. They love the game, they enjoy our club and they do us proud. We should be delighted to have boys like them at our club.

Speaking of which, who wants Jody Morris dropped now?! I can’t deny that he often annoys me with some of his “safety first football”, but he has skill in abundance. The real frustration with Jody is that Del instructs him to play too deep. Sadly I no longer receive dressing room texts so I can’t tell you what was said on Sunday. What I can tell you is that Jody played at least 10 yards higher up the park and the difference was incredible.

Rather than Murray Davidson, blundering forward with his dyslexic feet, Jody was in a more attacking position and able to spray incisive, probing passes which led to goal mouth attacks. Towards the end of the game, in our final foray towards the Lisbon Lions Stand, he was our furthest forward player. The only similar performance from Jody was at Firhill in the first half of the game when Irvine made that incredible goal mouth clearance with a diving header. If he adopts this position against Livi, we’ll annihilate the lions.

Alongside him, I hate to say that the game once again by-passed Murray Davidson. It’s very difficult to establish what’s going with young Muzz. Against Aberdeen, he was simply the best; in all our other games he’s been poor and unable to grab hold of the game. If this continues, he will lose his place in the team. I fervently hope he gets back on track and earns a big money move. I tipped him for the top when we signed him and now we desperately need money. For all concerned, I hope his form changes quickly.

The final midfielder is natural wing back Dave Mackay. You won’t like this, but it needs to be said, Dave’s shot at goal wasn’t great. Furthermore, big Fraser would have made an easy stop were it not for a wicked deflection in the six yard box. Thing is, that’s partly irrelevant. By striking a ball, especially on a volley or half-volley, you create the possibility for such circumstances. Dave had the option to shoot because of a great cross and because he was in space. We played 4-4-2, by the way.

So the front pairing was Sheridan and Sandaza, or should I say chalk and cheese? In Cillian Sheridan we have a man for whom football seems to be a dastardly inconvenience to his business of having fun, whilst Fran seems to embody the best parts of a talented, schoolboy striker. Feisty, determined, aggressive, confident and blessed with a velvet touch; he looked a constant thorn in the flesh of the Hoops. He has shown enormous promise since his capture and vindicated, in my book at least, Derek’s claim that he’d make exciting signings. Cillian Sheridan is a thoroughly miserable signing. Talent hidden by lethargy shall be his epitaph.

He looks unfit, he plays without heart, he’s contact lenses seem to come with blinkers fitted as standard and yet underneath his vices, there’s a pretty talented footballer and he comes out to play every ten games. If only he’d tell us which ten games.

So, I guess we better discuss Mr McInnes then. We’ll, I can’t be bothered. Other than allowing Sheridan and Muzz to start, he got things right. At the crucial moment, he had the bollocks to make the right subbies and he kept us at 4-4-2 when I feared he’s try to park the bus. The thing is, this is no defining moment of inspiration, no landmark victory. Derek McInnes will return to the 4-3-3/4-5-1 with which he has become so obsessed. He hasn’t learned a thing.

Look at Sunday’s victory, he spoke of sticking two fingers up to folk; well he certainly didn’t stick two fingers to me. I’ve pleaded with him to play 4-4-2, involve Jamie Adams and Sean Higgins. He merely vindicated my authority on the matter. But he needs to explain why having pursued Higgy for a couple of years, he gets no involvement all season until we rock up at Parkhead. Was he treating Parkhead with contempt, as he has on so many previous occasions? Was he just getting game time into fringe players? I don’t know, I’ve given up trying to fathom Del. He’s a crazy little fella, with totally bizarre ideas on team selection and tactics. If anything, Sunday merely caused frustration that we’ve wasted great points by playing silly shapes. He doesn’t learn, he’s too arrogant to do so. Check out this quote:

“We tried to be positive with two strikers and we got our just rewards.” Why not try it against other teams? Is it because he backed himself in a corner at the Dunkeld Road club when he called me an “idiot” for stating that 4-4-2 is the only way to play the game?

Two texts keep coming back to me, both from the dressing room of St Johnstone last season. One stated that Del was childish, the other said he treats Ando like a c@nt. I remembered that when I heard McInnes celebrate a momentous victory by saying; "It's great because it's like two fingers up to a lot of people who I think have started to doubt us this year; and I know who they are.”

Del must go.

SPL3 - Dunfermline @ Home

A penny dropped, a bottle crashed...

Much was assumed of this report before I started to write. Many accusations and rumours have surrounded my emotions during and after Saturday’s game. The truth is what follows.

I am a passionate fan of St Johnstone. That involves striving to improve the club in any way possible. It also means that, on various occasions, I say/write things which I later regret. What it also means, is that I hurt with every point dropped; less so against the Old Firm, more so against SPL minnows and lower league opposition. Saturday hurt at the time and continues to sting my heart tonight.

All know my feelings on Derek McInnes and I will endeavour to report the game rather than use this piece to force pressure on our board. Unlike the majority of the forumers on WAP, I have remained consistent in my views over several years. I have enough moral fibre and intellect to form an opinion and thereafter adhere to that opinion. I also have enough nous to amend my position where appropriate.

I wanted Del sacked last season and the season before that. I have rarely seen any talent in Murray Davidson and this season has again highlighted his failings. I have always believed in Jamie Adams and Steven Anderson; the foolish behaviour of our manager does not change my mind. Derek McInnes is tactically inept and has no idea how to sign to players, when to sign players nor does he understand which type of player is necessary to do a job.

Another thing to get clear is that Jody Morris, whilst not blameless, is not the villain our half-wit fans perceive him as. He arrived here as an attacking, goal scoring midfielder. At the end of Saturday’s game, he showed that his attacking play remains of a high level. Our fans bemoan the link between midfield and the front line and blame Morris. Look instead to the dugout. Del is the man responsible for creating the “Jody Role”. Do these fans really think that Jody prefers to forego the glory of scoring for the dirt of defending? In a midfield lacking width and drive, how is he supposed to find a man?

Of course there are times when I wished he’d gamble on a through ball rather than give the ball to a centre half, but when you think that Dunfermline had two chances in the game (both half chances, actually) hiss philosophy isn’t that bad. Playing in a midfield of three will never suit him, though. I fundamentally disagree with Jody when it comes to footballing philosophy. I find his modernity to be inefficient. Derek McInnes called me an “idiot” for suggesting that 4-4-2 is the only way to win games of football. If that’s so, I relish his answer to this question; “When did we last beat an SPL side, in a league match, playing other than 4-4-2?” Readers are free to answer on his behalf.....

So, we started the game wrongly; in every possible way. The team was entirely wrong from goalkeeper to front line. I argued hard for Fran Sandaza to start against the mighty Glasgow Rangers FCLOL, folk now know why. Whilst Morris had an ineffective and half-hearted Murray Davison and an out of position Kevin Moon as his colleagues, the frontline was simply crazy. Carl Finnigan, heavily maligned by fans who hadn’t seen him play, got his first SPL start for Saints, partnering the useless Cillian Sheridan. Marcus Haber was unceremoniously placed in no-man’s land, wide on the right. To compound this ludicrous decision, the trio of central midfielders all seemed to operate in our left of the pitch. Insert ironic comment about tactical genius; remind readers that Bev is selling “In Del we trust T-Shirts in the 208”......

As we move to the backline, the idiocy of McInnes rumbles on. Callum Davidson missed out due to a leg injury, not a hand injury as one forumer intimated. As we all know, Callum Davidson is particularly injury prone; as such you’d expect Del to have a back-up plan. My own backline would have been, Maybury-McCracken-Mackay-Anderson but there are several ways to line up the same four players. Del, for reasons only known to him elected to drop our best defender and retain the bomb scare that is Frazer Wright. Liam Craig, a man slowly getting back to his best, was removed from his customary position on left midfield and forced to play left back. Enckleman continued his heart-stopping act in the sticks. A penny for the thoughts of Mr Mannus.

From the first whistle it was clear that Jim McIntyre’s mob were simply out to avoid a hammering. Despite some very biased reporting, Martin Hardie played a blinder. Linking front to back with irritating ease, he was a constant rock at defensive set pieces and a prickly thorn when they were attacking us. We have a player, cast from the same material but younger, fitter and hungrier; his name is Jamie Adams. Sadly, he seems certain to be a Dundee player before this article gets published.

His “understudy”, Murray Davidson had a very poor game. Murray is a player that truly baffles me. When he signed, I said he was one for the future. Instead, Mr McInnes gave him a regular start and he was a handicap in almost every game.

Last year, when he should have cemented his place in the team he was poor again. At the tail of the season, some awful team performances flattered the blue nose and he was naively called into the full Scotland team. Since then he has had a couple of decent games.

Against Aberdeen he was simply excellent. Lacking in matches and struggling with fitness, he was a commanding figure in midfield. Indeed, he probably earned the point himself. Against Rangers he was awful and against Dunfermline he was anonymous. I cannot fathom how a man with great potential can struggle so badly against mediocrity. What is certain is that Adams would have sparkled like the gem he is.

The lightest midfielder pulled the shortest straw. Kevin Moon, a man with more natural talent than anyone else in the squad, was once again shackled by Derek McInnes. The wee man is a central midfielder, pure and simple. He struggles to play wide right, especially against teams like Rangers and he cannot play wide left against any SPL team. As such, there is no point discussing his performance, suffice to say that when Jody got rattled and bombed forward, Moon filled the Jody role and looked far superior. Nuff said. With our Annual Report set to drop through letterboxes in the coming days, it’s worth mulling over the distinct possibility that Moon not be offered a contract and could be an Aberdeen played in January. That’s right; we could well lose our two best centre midfielders in the coming months.

So what of right midfield, I hear you ask. Well, we were all asking the same questions during the game. It really is the simplest of tasks to observe that Marcus Haber cannot play wide right. Now, as much as I think McInnes is clueless, I am certain that even he knows Haber is wasted out wide. In fact, I suspect the only man in the world who disagrees, posts under the name of Mainstand on the forum. Marcus is certainly working harder this stint, but effort is no match for skill-set. Haber does not have the right attributes to pay wide and therefore struggled, despite the opposition. He showed glimpses of his old self with direct runs and willingness to direct headers towards the goal. There is no doubt the man is a class act; paired through the middle with Sandaza, they’ll trouble many an SPL defence.

Sandaza himself was allowed a short period of the second half to prove his worth and he grasped the opportunity with both hands. Replacing the woeful Cillian Sheridan, Sandaza immediately showed his mettle with a series of bold runs and a boot-full of tricky footwork. He won the penalty with a courageous run into the box and he’ll win more doing the same. Unfortunately, the penalty was a totally debacle. Del’s failure to give clear instruction meant that Sandaza thought he had a right to strike the spot kick and duly collected the ball from the south west corner of the pitch. He marched with style and confidence to the 12 yard plook, only to find Liam standing with his paw out. What followed was a fairly normal situation when a new striker wins a penalty. Derek, clearly ill-prepared for such a scenario, decided that Liam should take the penalty. The rights and wrongs of the decision can be debated endlessly. Suffice to say that Sandaza’s confidence should have swayed McInnes and would have swayed me. They didn’t, Liam’s penalty was poor and we lost a point, at least.

Up until that point, Liam had played very well. We all know he struggles at full-back, but aided by the performance of the visiting team, Liam looked calm and assured throughout. Of course, he would have played better in midfield, but that’s not his fault. We can only judge the players based on the circumstances of the day. The circumstances were a man playing well in a position that’s not naturally his. I have no problem in saluting his efforts.

Alongside him was Frazer Wright and I’m already sick of writing about him. Even when Dunfermline went down to 10 men, he always looked like a man under pressure. His distribution is crap, his timing is crap, his positioning is crap, his heading awful and he doesn’t bully enough. Three consecutive headers, late in the second half, were mis-hit; one going high in the air, the other spinning to his right whilst the third fell far short of its target. Against a true SPL team, those mistakes would be punished....

His partner in central defence was new boy, Cracks. The big man strolled through the game, showing some classy touches and offering real assurance in front of big Pete. It’s easily the most accomplished defensive debut of the millennium. Of course, we must remember that the opposition were awful, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you. It was a great start and the only positive in a dark afternoon.

Cup tie played well on the right, supporting as much as possible and rarely giving the ball away. Defensively, he had nothing to do. Likewise, Enckleman had a boring afternoon. The plus side is that he only screwed up two kicks.

Out of respect, I won’t pass comment of Robertson’s contribution.

It was a horrible day. It hurt at the time and it hurts tonight. It hasn’t catalysed the departure of Del, it simply cost us three easy points.

The training schedule is now ripped up for a couple of weeks and squad rotation will come into play. Parkhead is next, quickly followed by a banana skin cup tie and a derby battle at home. We’ll be out sung and outnumbered in at least two of the games; we need you all to attend, all to support and all to encourage. Away from the ground we can bitch and squabble, in the stadia, we need to urge our troops to victory. Finances are bleak, but our squad is strong – our support should acknowledge this and turn up in force.

Saints Slash Admission

A time to act

When the season ticket renewal packs dropped through our doors in June, there was a strong call to arms from our Chairman. The club which he saved from closure is a completely different beast from the wounded animal he took over in the early eighties.

The first purpose built all seated football stadium, one of the finest pitches in the nation, a thriving non-football business and a board room which symbolises old school success. On the field we are the 8^th best team in our nation and just a year ago were arguably the best team to watch in Scotland.

Despite this incredible transformation, our crowds are low and season ticket sales have dropped from 2400 to 1600 in the space of just two seasons. That might be understandable if the team had suffered a dip in form, but our record over the last few years shows that we won promotion from SFL1 and finished 8^th in the top flight two years on the trot. For a club the size of St Johnstone, this is a golden period.

The older generation preach to the young about how bad things used to be, yet they are among the folk turning away from our club. We sit in McDiarmid Park which was designed and built in such a way that we are almost always sheltered from the elements, we have no pillars restricting our view, we have great leg room, great catering at sensible prices and we watch our team take to a magnificent patch of grass. The stadium boasts the under-utilised Muirton Suite where patrons can enjoy a drink in pleasant surroundings before ambling through the spacious and well priced car park, past the homely club shop (stocked with clothing, magazines and a plethora of products which make excellent presents) and proceed through one of many turnstiles, designed to minimise entrance times.

A close look at the last two seasons makes for worrying reading. Our first season in the SPL saw season tickets at 2400 and the average gate was 4717. Our second season saw the season tickets drop to 2100, whilst the crowd plummeted to 3841. A recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, prompted a flurry of tweets and was the catalyst for some truly awful journalism, namely from Reporting Scotland. Our own fans forum leads a constant crusade for lower ticket prices.

The club have announced cut price admission for the cup against Livingston. Whenever our club lowers the gate price, they are let down by us – the supporters. This is a crucial season for Saints. We are in this together, we need to all put our shoulder to the wheel and ensure that Saints get a decent turn out for this tricky cup tie. My challenge is simple, I want each supporter to try and bring one friend with them. I don’t necessarily mean a newbie; it could be someone who has indicated they won’t be going, someone who has given up their Season Ticket or someone who is a casual supporter.

Let’s work together, let’s turn the doom and gloom on its head, let’s show that we understand what it means to be a supporter and not just a fan. The prices are cheap, the timing is fine, the stadium and pitch are excellent and the opponents should be defeated. Let’s share the magic of the cup with our friends and families. Victory will taste sweeter knowing you played a part in boosting the crowd.

What can you do to help:

Talk! We all have several conversations per day. Make St Johnstone a topic of conversation. Start a debate about football, in any guise and you’ve got an opportunity to mention the game and the reduced admission.

Advertise!. The club have produced a number of posters which will be displayed in local schools, colleges, pubs, shops and work places. If you’re local doesn’t have a poster, contact paul@perthsaints.co.uk and he’ll try to get one sent out.

Network! Most of us have Twitter, Facebook or some other social network site. Get plugging the game on those high tech platforms of information technology. It takes just a few minutes to update and you can reach many folk that otherwise might not now about the game.

Drive! If you own a car, offer a lift to someone. The weather is not guaranteed and some folk are put off by the need to arrange transport. If you have a spare seat, and if you’re travelling from a distance, why not join www.weareperth.co.uk and offer a lift? It’ll cost you nothing, you might get a free pie out of it and you’ll certainly have a warm, fuzzy feeling afterwards.

None of the above is hard, none of it is time-consuming, none of it is costly. Let’s get our tails in gear and fight for this club that we all love. We can’t just shrug our shoulders and point to other failing clubs. We shouldn’t care about them; we should be focussed on Saints alone. If we want a better standard of player, we need to pay for it. If we want a better atmosphere, we need to take our pals.

We can improve our fan base, let’s start the mission today!

SPL 2 - Rangers @ Home

Let Him Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone

Many negative adjectives can be used to describe the game on Saturday, but it needs a little examination.

To paraphrase one sage observer, it’s always like that when we play Rangers. Except maybe this one was different.

Last week in Aberdeen, I raised questions about our fitness and hunger; this week, the rest of the WAPpers have cottoned on to these doubts. Forget about Enckleman’s flaps, ignore Robbo doing his Casper impersonation, erase Wright’s lack of talent and consider the second goal. One of our most talented and surely our most successful player was pushed off the ball by Jelavic. That was perhaps an unfortunate consequence of being off-balance; nevertheless it summed up our afternoon.

The game started well enough with Sheridan looking interested for at least 10 minutes. The Twitter comic and Haber worked well together, constantly swapping roles and causing confusion in the Rangers rearguard. Sheridan is the most frustrating player I have ever witnessed. There are times when his touch makes him look like he’s gonna become a footballer, but sadly we only six or seven of those touches in the whole game. Quite why we allowed him back is anyone’s guess, but you do have to wonder how much influence Jody Morris has on our signing policy.

Jody, himself, has been the focus of much attention recently with many WAPpers wrongly blaming him for our negative style of play. The wee man was an attacking midfielder when he arrived, but Del has destroyed a once flamboyant player and turned him into a midfield pass-master. He’s unduly criticised for the not playing the ball forward and/or delaying his pass. That’s all well and good, but too often it’s because our players are neither in space nor in front of the ball.

Many will remember our turgid slog to the SFL1 crown and the juxtaposition between the first thirty games and the final six. I well remember hearing Derek defend his style of play in the Dunkeld Road club, he explained that he encourages his fullbacks to get forward and supply decent crosses, yet all we saw that year was Irvine floating balls in from 25 yards out. When we got to those last six games, Irvine easily got to the by-line before playing wonderful balls on the cut-back. We won 5 out of our last 6 games.....

Around that time I wrote plenty about Derek’s words not fitting his behaviours, the rest of the world is slowing playing catch-up with me. Derek talks a good game about attacking and playing attractive football. He speaks of signing exciting players yet this is the man who refused to start Swankie in our opening games, despite several crowd pleasing performances in his first pre-season.

Swankie, Morais, Taylor, McCluskey, Myrie-Williams and Novikovas have all failed to secure a regular start under Del; whilst grafters such as Midgie and Craig usually retain their jerseys. His team selection clearly goes against his words. He selects teams to sneak a win. That worked well for Walter Smith because he had a team with pace and a clinical striker. We have no pace and tend to play midgets in midfield. Only Haber could be described as clinical but he’s still struggling to find the last few percent of his sharpness.

On Saturday we witnessed a bank of four central midfielders string out in a line. With our only creative players stuck on the outside of the four, we had no way of getting forward and when McInnes inexplicably switched them, Mooner went from majestic to miserable. Some of the wee man’s touches were the stuff of dreams and if anyone had any doubts about his ability he surely banished them in the first half.

Only Derek can explain why he sold out by playing Moon on the left for the second 45. If anyone needed proof that Del is too arrogant to learn from his mistakes, that decision summed up his refusal to admit his faults. Last time we saw Moon on the left of anything was Fir Park in Boxing Day 2009, we didn’t see him in the second half.

Now, I’m not suggesting that Del is corrupt, but Moon’s showing at Fir Park was on a par with Robertson’s showing on Saturday; Moon got hooked, Robbo got to change position. Murray Davidson, who reverted back to the crap he produced last season, was allowed to be a passenger for 90 minutes, I wonder if he’s one of Del’s favourites....

Speaking of Del’s favourites, this is what Del said of Frazer Wright, “This is a very important and I would even say fantastic signing for St Johnstone and I could not be more pleased.” On hearing the news I posted, “Other than being the right shape, I can't think of a positive in Frazer Wright. Still, we're aiming to sign another centre half so things might work out okay. “Sadly, the other centre half was David McCracken.

Frazer Wright is a left footed version of Kevin Rutkiewicz, well on the field at any rate. He seems incapable of playing a short pass, his positioning is wonky, his tackling is poor, he doesn’t use his body well, he has no partnership with Ando and he doesn’t appear to care about our team.

Mind you, most of players seem a bit like that. In recent years, we’ve had a never say die attitude, I loved that day at Palmerston signing; “We are Unbeatable!” Now though, it seems we’re instantly defeated by the first goal. Despite escaping with a point against the Dons, we were never in the game. Against Rangers, we surrendered well before the thirty minute mark.

The lion hearted bravery that we once had, has gone; stifled by a manager who has run out of ideas. Remember the cavalier attach mode at Ibrox, a day when Caddis showed us a glimpse of things to come? We’ve lost that mindset and I don’t believe that Del has the code to re-set it. With JJ and Billy Broon on the market, there is no better time to get rid of Del than now.....

Of course not all the blame is his to bear, not one player reached their full potential and neither did the wet drip of human life in the stands. I’ve been soap boxing for years about our fans reluctance to support the team for the sake of the team. Saturday was yet more proof that Perth does not deserve St Johnstone.

Season ticket sales are surely lower than any other SPL team, yet Ginger Baker and his rebellious army, yet again choose to swell the coffers of a rival club. It’s so incredible and bizarre that when I try to explain it to non-football supporters, they simply don’t believe me. You’d almost think that the Barossa Street Club wants the McDiarmid board to fail in order that one of their throng can put forward a case for joining the board of St Johnstone.

I worked hard to destroy the creation of a fans forum but I am now powerless to prevent this congregation of largely innocent folk. Many have joined in good faith, believing the rhetoric and spin of the leader. We can only hope that the apathy of the East Stand attacks Barossa Street and the club can return to be a pub of the Orangest Order.

St Johnstone are in for a difficult season; financially, structurally and politically. We have a group of fairly well paid players who don’t particularly care. The team has little spine and attracting players is made hard by the combination of a dwindling support and restless manager.

We should all be pulling in one direction. Geoff, Stevie and Stan have delivered enormous success for this club over the last few years, whilst Geoff and Stewart Duff are jointly responsible for allowing us the privilege to turn up and watch our team play in Perth, in a modern and successful stadium. If we don’t back the board, with our cash, they simply cannot give us a financial platform to remain in the SPL. We need to be focussed and determined; whenever possible we need to promote St Johnstone like an over-zealous car salesman. We can all think of many, many happy moments supporting Saints. We should be enthusing and bringing more folk to the park.

Subtle things like offering a lift to a friend, sharing a season ticket whenever possible,  arranging to meet in the Muirton Suite and discussing the game fervently amongst friends in the work place or in social venues.

Let’s forget about organising buses to away venues, let’s focus on bringing the harvest into St Johnstone’s store house. Let’s start now and build some atmosphere ahead of the Pars game. Imagine the atmosphere if we all took one extra friend to McDairmid....