SPL 9 - Killie Away

Scrappy’ll Do!

On a dreich day, at a sodden venue, Saints did just enough to ensure a victory against a mediocre Kilmarnock side, struggling without their big stars of last season. Conditions were nasty underfoot and the pitch took a fair bit of abuse throughout the 90 minutes. Adding to the hassle, the road down wasn’t great, with at least one Saints player have a moment on the dual carriageway. Acht well, who cares? We won and we’re going into the international break with a decent points haul and with big players nearing a return to full fitness. Life is pretty sweet for Saints fans right now.

With the young lads playing Celtic at Lennoxtown in a 1300 kick off, it was an early start for your author. As I travelled through the rains, I did wonder if either game would get going, but I’m pleased to say that both were completed, despite the inclement weather. The pitch at Lennoxtown, undoubtedly put Rugby Park to shame. In the end, our kids were turned over 3-1 but the first half showing was a highly pleasing affair for those with Saints at heart. Alec is doing a grand job and his tactics, shape and instructions were all good. Bright signs in tough economic times.

Heading into Rugby Park, late and rattled, it was little surprise to hear Callum Davidson listed as a starter. What was odd, was the lack of Cracks. At the time, it seemed natural that he had been posted missing due to injury, but Del implied that he had simply been dropped. Now, nobody can work the media as well as Derek; and it may be that he’s keen to disguise the severity of Cracks injury, if not, he made a huge mistake.

I have absolutely no problem with playing a back four of Maybury-Mackay-Anderson-Davidson; it’s one of the strongest permutations we have. What I have a problem with, is Vinnie being on the bench ahead of Cracks. We needed experience yesterday.

 
Vinnie is a young lad with plenty of potential. When he has a good game, it’s a blinder. But he has almost no first team experience at this level and should we have needed to replace a centre-half, on that pitch, with heavy rain, it simply wouldn’t have been wise to bring Mark on. If Cracks wasn’t fit enough for the bench, Del should have swallowed his pride and put Jamie Adams in.

In the event, the back four all managed the full game, but it was another big gamble on a day when it wasn’t necessary to do so. Actually, whilst we’re on the subject of Cracks, did anyone else notice the pert bum on the kiosk lassie?

Aside from defensive cover, Del got the right side of midfield badly wrong. He hasn’t given any reasonable explanation for dropping Chris Millar, but drop him he did. Into his place came the infuriating and enigmatic, David Robertson. I used stronger terminology during the game and perhaps I was harsh, but boy is he a frustrating player! He’s certainly not a wide player. The game passed him by and we really looked forlorn whenever the ball came to him. Jody doesn’t seem to trust him and too often that forced the ball to the left when the right was a better option.

He spent most of the game chasing a runner who’d been given a massive head start and he ended the game being replaced by Wullie Gibson. I guess that says it all. I remain convinced that he is a talented football player, his goal record tells us that he knows how to position himself when in the middle of the park, but he simply won’t get that role at Saints. I praised his capture, I defended his performances, but I’m out of patience with him now. Hands up, I was wrong. David Robertson is not a good signing.

Two other guys on the receiving end of my flak this year are Peter Enckleman and Cillian Sheridan, both of who are starting to show better. Peter didn’t have a great game against Hibs, I still think he should have got something on the Sproule shot; although he was blunder free which is probably the first time since St Mirren away. At Killie, in awful conditions for a keeper, he was top drawer.

He’s a pretty complex individual and one wonders if the arrival of Mannus has spurred him to raise his game. If not, perhaps the pleasure of retaining his jersey against the competition of Mannus has boosted his famously low confidence. Either way, he commands his box much better this season, he’s a little more vocal and he’s pulling off some really good saves. His kicking is much better too; confident, aggressive and accurate.

When the weather was at its worst he correctly elected to roll the ball to the full backs and when under stress he cleared the balls long. He knows when to rush and when to be patient; that’s always been a strong suit, hasn’t it Anthony? There is no doubt about it; he deserves to be number one at present. If, as I suspect, Mannus is the better keeper, he’ll have to wait on a run of poor games from Enckleman. That game should buy him a few breaks.

Now for the contentious bit! Sheridan played well against Hibs, genuinely did what he should. However, against Killie, we saw both sides of Mr Sheridan. In the first half, he was really good. Yes, I know he had some really clumsy touches and broke down at least two good attacks, but the pitch was tricky and nobody went 45 minutes without a mis-placed pass. However, in the second half he just went through the motions. He scarcely looked interested in the game and certainly didn’t attain the required levels of effort. Yet, when an over-hit pass was sent in his general direction, he suddenly showed the pace we all know he has and finished in real style. This after being offside on at least FIVE occasions in the second half through sheer stupidity.

Remember, this is the player that destroyed Bamba for pace on a Wednesday, yet couldn’t keep up with him the very next Saturday. He obviously has mental issues which affect his performance, if Del can press the right buttons; we’ll enjoy having Sheridan here, if he doesn’t these 135 minutes will be a flash in the pan. I’m genuinely intrigued to see how this pans out; the player must know he’s running out of chances, yet he still swaggers around with the insouciance of Swankie. He’s not that good and never will be. Hats off to him for the goal, but in my mind, he hasn’t done enough to warrant his protected start. Interesting to hear him making noises about playing for Sofia....

His strike partner, Francisco Sandaza, is about as marmite as a player can be. His behaviour on the pitch is reprehensible. Any Saints fan that wants O’Connor banned for his cunning stunt, should be vocal in condemning Senor Sandaza for his outrageous dive against Killie. We’ve seen him cheating on several occasions to date, but jumping to the ground in order to have a man sent off is despicable behaviour. I have stood in the stand and brandished a red card as Medhi Taouil for bringing the sport into disrepute, I feel liking doing the same with our goal scoring Spaniard.

He played very well on Saturday, his link play was excellent, his running was good, he moved into great areas and carried the ball well; most importantly, he scored a lovely goal. Yet despite it all, I left the park feeling aggrieved by the manner in which he played the game. What a shame that such a prodigious talent has been devalued by such a poor attitude towards the game and his employers. In line with my fair and balanced reporting, it’s only right that I praise Derek McInnes for his handling of the front man.

I’m not gonna waste time with player ratings, because the game was played with a strong element of farce to it given the underfoot conditions. The one other guy that does need to be focused on is Ian Brines. Kilmarnock’s goal came from a corner kick award which seemed to be a throw-in. Because the BBC simply don’t care about reporting the match in an accurate fashion (Al Lamont actually slagged off Enckleman for spilling one cross, he also wrongly said that Enckleman hadn’t covered the shot which rattled the crossbar) the action replay is chopped short, so I can’t be sure. What we can be sure of, is that Ian Brines is a poor referee. From the time I left the house at 1130, it was obvious that referees would have to show leniency with sliding tackles, Brines decided against such action and booked Anderson for a nothing foul in the middle of nowhere. Almost immediately, and wrongly, he then booked a Kilmarnock player for a nothing foul. I know that physics is a boring subject, but the laws of motion are crucial to being a decent referee. On at least two occasions, he blocked Frank from coming on, despite clear head knocks; Jody ended up with glue on his bonce.

I know the job’s hard, such as Sandaza and O’Connor make it harder still, but we pay top rate money for mediocre officials. He didn’t spoil the game, the weather did that; he has spoiled games previously and will wreck a few more before he’s put out to the garden. Whilst we must suffer the TV cameras, we should use their evidence to control referees wages. Perhaps they should be paid according to performance....

Anyhow, that’s yer lot from the first team until 15 October. There is a Sunday game, and we can’t blame TV for it being a Sunday, when Saints U19s meet Spartans in the Scottish Youth Cup at McDiarmid. The game is on Sunday, 9 October and kicks off at 1300. Fans will be accommodated in the Main Stand and I’d encourage as many as possible to go and watch Alec Cleland’s troops in action. They are playing great football and Alec is working well with the boys. Many of them will be getting their first taste of playing in the main stadium and it would be nice to get a decent crowd. Being a good old fashioned hypocrite, I’m working that day at Knockhill so you’ll have to rely on the official site for a wee match report.

 

Adieu the noo