SPL 14 - Rangers Away

Too Many Questions

Steve Lomas was lucky to have his first scheduled cancelled. The visit of the Dons was gonna come too soon to learn the squad and, even allowing it for being his first game in charge, it was a must win fixture for a variety of reasons. It also had the vital ingredients for a Saints defeat; TV cameras, low crowd and easy opposition.

Making his managerial bow at Ibrox was not in the script, I’m sure he anticipated his first match being against Daniel Lennon’s over-rated haddies, but it was always going to be the ideal venue. In the event, he was denied the services of Graham Gartland and Cillian Sheridan (arguably rushed back too soon) for a no pressure game against the reigning champions.

The St Johnstone fans forum is plagued with folk who are easily confused by life, football and what constitutes a constitution. I rarely quote them, save to mock them, but one comment from their ranks is worth lingering on. Tranmere Saintee wrote the following words; “Mr Lomas, how dare you play 4-5-1 at Ibrox and get us a well deserved point.” I don’t know this expert, but I do wonder if bothered to attend Parkhead. For those that don’t know, Celtic are currently a better football team than Rangers. Celtic have a bigger and noisier support, which surely helps to boost their own players. The last time we played Celtic at Parkhead we played with two strikers and we won the game, taking home all three points.

So, whilst Saturday gave a great sense of euphoria, it also served to paper over some cracks in the Lomas reign. Now, don’t get me wrong, Lomas has my full support. I think he’s gonna be a good appointment, but there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that starting with Higgins or Haber, in place of Muzz, would have given us three points. Rangers were poor and that had little to do with us. They were simply off song and couldn’t lift their performance when required to do so. We grew in confidence, but we also got lucky when Jody limped off and Lomas elected to employ the right formation. Be in no doubt, a point away from home against a top side is never a disaster, but we dropped two points yesterday.

That said, a Derek McInnes side, playing that formation would have been humped. The 4-5-1 worked fairly well in spells because the support came from central areas, Murray Davidson doing his best as the forward central midfielder; but the real star of the game was Kevin Moon. His off the ball work was incredible. He’s always looked the part on the ball, but his off the ball movement, when paired with Morris, has often been below par. Yesterday, his runs, marking and movement were absolutely top drawer. If he does leave in January, he’ll prove to be irreplaceable. He only got one vote in the Man of the Match thread, but it says everything that when Jody went off, we lost nothing in midfield despite being 20% down numerically.

It staggers me that Jody can get four times the number of Man of the Match votes compared to wee Mooner. Does Craig Brown stress over his failure to sign Morris? If he gets lucky with injury, he might head South in January – Paul Lambert could do worse than sign our plucky, ball playing number 14.

Jody Morris played some great balls from midfield and played much higher up the field than was the norm under Del. With Moon taking players away from him, he seemed to have much more time than normal and he took full advantage of the space and freedom. Some things Lomas has fixed immediately. It used to be said that Sheerin never wasted a pass and Jody certainly belongs in that bracket. Whatever his standing; either in the game or at Saints, he knows how to retain a ball. The difference on Saturday is that a combination of his positional play and the mindset of our team meant that he usually had a runner to aim for. It makes all the difference, Del.

Murray Davidson completed the midfield trio and that marked his first start since that horrible game against Livi. He worked hard and gave a reasonable account of himself (if you ignore his “attempt” at goal) but he was a shadow of the player I watched at Pittodrie.

Hopefully Lomas will do a Coyle on him, and he’ll play to the Pittodrie standard on a regular basis. His commitment and personality are not in question, his talent has been seen in glimpses but there has never been a breakthrough, yet. I really hoped that Pittodrie would set him on the right course, but he was gash against Rangers, perhaps allowing the speculation to affect him. It’s bizarre that as Saints have rocketed up the table, he has vanished from the radar unnoticed. I wonder how long it’ll be before Del is forgotten?

The wide midfielders were natural picks, Craig and Millar. Both men have come in for dogs abuse from the ill-educated fans of our great club, but worked their socks off on Saturday. Not bad for guys that lack respect, fitness, skill etc...

Liam Craig is the perfect role model, these days. When he arrived he did so with a reputation as being temperamental. He showed flashes early on, often picking up needless bookings. One of the great things about the Del/Doc partnership is that discipline was pretty much in check. They sorted Liam, quick smart and he’s been near flawless ever since. He has naturally low levels of stamina, not helped by his desire to cover every blade of grass, but has worked tirelessly to improve. Funny that Sandaza, who did less running for a significantly shorter period avoided any criticism of his stamina.... Fickle feckers are Saints fans.

As for Midgie, I am intrigued to see him against Hibs. I’ve felt that he’s been off-form all year, and he had two dreadful games under Jody, but he worked well against Rangers. That said, so often he flew down the right wing and dithered before crossing. He had all the hall marks of a man that still doesn’t believe in his own ability. Hopefully, Stevie will take him aside and work on his confidence. A fully working Midgie is an asset to any non-OF SPL side. His crossing can be great, but having said that he won corner after corner and Liam hit each one beautifully. As a man that has been working on taking corners, watching Liam was like a master class for me. Mind you, I’m awful so watching Cleve and Nick McKoy is kinda like a master class....

We should all be grateful to Del and Doc for signing these two and we should be delighted that Midgie spurned Morton’s cash to play for the Saintees. They are assets and we should be grateful. If I’m right that Midgie is gonna struggle all season long, we still should support, still should encourage, still should motivate.

Spearheading things up top was the effervescent, Fran Sandaza. The John Bishop doppelganger ran hard off the ball, worked intelligently to stay onside and charged aggressively when he had the ball. His pass, late in the second half when he fed in Millar (?), was simply perfect. We’ve seen some really grand passing from Saints in the last two games, I really hope this continues. With Lomas in charge, I suspect it will.

I think you’ll also find that Fran is treated in a more robust fashion. Lomas seems to be his own man; anyone that dressed like he did on Saturday clearly doesn’t take advice. In terms of fashion, perhaps he should. In terms of football, he seems to be doing just grand so far.

The backline has come in for great praise since the final whistle blew and rightly so. There is a rare paradox to this game, for all Rangers were poor, their frontline is very good indeed. Sure, we did okay in terms of possession and yes we tried to create chances, but they were the team most likely to win. There was little skill or creativity in their play, but Jelav-Itch can finish and Lafferty knows how to bulge the onion bag. They scarcely got time on the ball, certainly in the danger areas because of the great work, started and organised by Stevie Anderson. I’ve said for years that he’s our best centre back, now that he doesn’t have the unnecessary burden of McInnes’ bullying to contend with, even the thickest fan has been forced to concede the point. Even now, long after the event, I am seething at Del for implying that Anderson needed a good partner. That was, and is, a lie and a slander against one of our best players. What makes this worse is that the childish campaign was perpetuated by the Delophiles of weareperth. Remember when he had the dicky ankle? The same mentally-afflicted individuals slated his performances. There’s little hope for folk dealing with Saints fans.

Frazer Wright is one of the most inconsistent performers to have worn the royal blue of St Johnstone. Immense at Parkhead and flawless in the home league game against Lennon’s louts, the rest of the time he’s been gash. Saturday saw him once again sparkle in the heart of defence.

He really put in a shift against the Currant Buns and those two will get plenty of time to gel unless injury strikes. If Wright can keep up that form, he will keep Cracks and Garts in the stand, if after a while he drops to anything like his Dundee United performance big Garts should be back in.

Another man who played much better than he has of late was Callum Davidson. The wee tough nut has struggles to fill Danny Grainger’s boots but played well on Saturday. I’d still swap them round, but he looked much more confident and his long pass to Liam will not be bettered all season long. He didn’t have to deal with pace, that will continue to hurt him, but he did have to play well to head off some of the Gers moves. On top of that, he’s a fine individual.

Full back Mackay, arguably cost us the game at the death. Dying on his feet, with the proud black and white armband round his left bicep, he lost all composure during a vicious St Johnstone attack and rushed a pass to feet. His facial expression and skyward stare suggested that he knew it wasn’t going to be our day from that point on. That aside, I only spotted one other howler all game, a sliced clearance which set them up for a counter late in the game. He struck the right balance between attacking and defending and that’s a big improvement we’ve seen in him. He’s keeping Maybury out on merit, there is no higher praise.

Enckleman continues to impress. I’m slowly beginning to believe in him as a goalkeeper and that belief is evident in our backline too. He made mostly routine stops, but the save from the freekick was notable for his reaction time. I’m still not convinced, but I am more than happy for him to be our first choice for the foreseeable future.

So what of Lomas? He got the shape wrong, his scarf looked ridiculous and he should have used Higgins instead of Finnigan. Apart from that, he got a point because his tactics and instruction were good; each player looked confident and organised. He was bold in making subbies; he was passionate in voice and action. I like him and whatever my philosophy and belief, I’d have taken the point pre-match.

Thanks to Lomas and Wright for the adrenaline rush at full time. It was awesome and it was shared with a great friend. If this is just the start of the learning curve, I’m gonna enjoy the ride. I’ll leave you with a quote from mainstand. Ignore the fact that he can’t spell, his message is clear, Lomas sessions are fun and high tempo...no further comment necessary:

“Watche dthe squad training today up at Stirling University. Very different from Dels days with the Friday session being at Stirling and added to that was the very relaxed approach. Loads of small sharp team games and sprints. Loads of laughs with STeve and Tommy both playing their part.

Alan Combe continued with teh goalies coaching leaving Wright taking the session, players certainly appear happy and relaxed and fir with 24 in the first team squad only Gartland was not training as he is injured.”

U19 Scottish Cup, 3rd Round - Dunfermline Away

The day the ba’ burst

Alec Cleland has been in an unenviable position of late. Following the departure of former management duo, Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty, the youth coach was asked to look after the first team. Although Steve Lomas has brought Tommy Wright on board as his assistant, Alec has been working closely with the first team as he helps our new management team settle in to their roles.

Today, Alec took charge of our Under 19 players for a Scottish Cup third round tie away to Dunfermline Athletic. Saints went into the game with no striker in the starting XI. Keeper, Ally Worby returned to the goals, meaning the unfortunate Craig Reid dropped to the bench. Under 19 Scotland star, Liam Caddis, slotted in at right back whilst ever ebullient holding midfielder, Ryan Hutchison was played as a striker. Bustling midfielder, Scotty Gray, and top goal scorer, Ricky McIntosh, took turns at supporting the Geordie.

On the left flank Aiden Hendry played in an unaccustomed midfield role, with local lad, Andrew Steeves at full back; tricky winger, Craig Thomson played in front of Liam Caddis. Melrose born Kieran Stewart was the holding midfielder in front of the regular centre half partnership of Gareth Rodger and Skipper, Chris Moffat.

The pitch was a little slow, but other than that, conditions were almost ideal for the time of year. The pitch was in good condition and there was no wind to speak of. The game was prefaced with a respectful two minute silence in memory of fallen, former and active troops.

From the kick off, Saints were the brighter team and despite only having one player up front, we broke quickly and effectively. Ricky McIntosh was a constant threat, as we used Hendry to make decoy runs into the box, freeing up Ricky down the left flank. In the middle of the park, wee Scotty Gray was determined as always, fighting well despite his lack of height. A disappointing feature of Scotty’s play, especially when playing in the middle of the park, is his determination to beat all before him. He fell foul of this attribute a few times against the Pars, though in his defence, he rarely had a forward option. That said, when travelling forward, and with a pursuer at his heels, he didn’t really have the luxury of stopping to spray a pass out wide.

Former Celtic player, Ryan Hutchison, had a difficult shift up front on his own. Few things fell for him and when they did, he was invariably off-balance or out wide. He won plenty of headers and gave his all, but he really was like a fish out of water and I felt very sorry for him today. It was a big ask. If I had any control over affairs, I’d have played Scotty up front and left Hutchy in midfield.

The game should have changed when the Pars went down to ten men. Following a booking for high feet, against Ricky McIntosh, Millen was sent off for an innocuous foul. The referee had a howler of a first half, following the letter of the law in every single occasion. His second half performance was far better as he used common sense and his mouth to control the game. Better a strong word than a whistle and card.

Incredibly, the Under 19s made exactly the same mistake as the first team did against the Dons in our opening match. When we got the man advantage, we continued to try and force our way through the middle of the park. It is basic, basic football to switch the play and stretch the opposition. We signally failed to do so and, quite frankly; it’s incredible that Alec didn’t demand it. There is no excuse as the ordering off happened in the first half and that means he had 15 minutes at half time to change things.

We did eventually get joy by playing things through the middle. Hutchy setting Ricky free and the league’s top scorer made no mistake from 14 yards, lifting over the Dunfermline keeper. Despite the Pars keeper making some good stops in the first half, the lead was only just deserved, especially given the injustice of the sending off.

From that point on, the game turned against us. The Pars rallied and demonstrated a team spirit, the likes of which I’ve scarcely seen. They’re first goal should have been defended better. A ball down by the tunnel corner was poorly defended by Cads, the cross wasn’t dealt with properly; partly because players were out of position and partly because the Pars wanted it more. Cleland was seething with Liam, but as with Hutchy, he’s not and never will be a full back.

He didn’t do himself any favours today, but players need to be played in their natural position to flourish. Football is no different to any other job of work, we all perform to our best when we’re in our natural environment.

The Pars second goal was hardly a thing of beauty. Their energetic attacker was one on one with Chris Moffat, another Saints player (possibly Rodger) was also in the vicinity. The skipper should have fouled his man, but chose not to, the rest is history. The goal came with just minutes left on the clock and their “pile-up” celebration, whilst unpleasant from a Saints view, was a neutral’s dream. The referee’s injustice was undone by grit and perseverance.

Saints pressed hard from the kick off and had a couple of half chances. Steevsie let fly from 35 yards, we had the ball drop inches past the post, skiffing the net as it did so and we had two half chances from snapshots, just inside the area. Alas, it wasn’t to be and we endured another cup disappointment.

I’ve rightly praised Alec for his management philosophy this year, but today he got a few things wrong. Key amongst them was not forcing the players to stretch the game in the second half. That was ultimately what cost us the result.

The boys need to learn from the bitterness of defeat and kick on when the league starts again. They’re good enough, Alec’s good enough; they just need a wee bit of luck. I wish them all well.

Worby

Caddis-Moffat-Rodger-Steeves

Kieran

Thomson-Gray-McIntosh-Hendry

Hutch

SPL 13 St Mirren @ Home

Boss’s Loss

The only silver lining to the seemingly interminable appointment of Steve Lomas, is that even the thickest of St Johnstone fans understand why I was against Jody getting the gig. It is no surprise that we comprehensively failed to perform under his “guidance” and, in the long run, it’s a relief that we didn’t fluke results against two of the worst teams in the league.

Dundee United are a team in disarray, with some reprehensible folk in charge of reprehensible players. St Mirren are a team of average neds, punching above their weight thanks to a siege mentality. Between them, they have limited us to one measly point and hee haw in the way of decent scoring chances.

The removal of Derek McInnes did nothing to clear the McDiarmid naughty step, so Messrs Adams, Garts and Cracks missed out completely. Thankfully, Steve Lomas has brought them all back into the fold and in doing so, it could be said that he stuck two fingers up at Del! The big kraut is certain to be his own man and that’s a huge relief.

On paper, you’d struggle to find too many faults with Morris’ selection, but anyone who witnessed the dirge could see from the opening minutes that we were in big trouble. I’m assured it’s coincidence that Chrissy Miller has had his worst two Saints performances during Jody’s reign, I’m not convinced. The club captain seems to be taking liberties with our club and I don’t like that. Surely his team mates have noticed the way he operates.

Chris Miller hasn’t had a good season, I have said plenty about him having a season like Liam had last time, but he was chronic on Saturday. He wasn’t helped by the debacle which developed inside him, but still....

His position doesn’t require much thought, especially when paired with Dave Mackay. Three of four times, when running without the ball, he pulled up beside an opposition player. He hardly ever took a marker out the game. He’s normally an intelligent player, but he looked thick as mince on Saturday. When he had the ball, he was timid, lacking in confidence and nervous when selecting his final ball. A friend, or indeed a captain, would have had a word, put an arm round him. Jody did neither. Nor for that matter did Dave Mackay. McCracken would have, but he was in the stand because Del doesn’t like him....

Players need a leader, a figurehead and a psychologist. The importance of having a good captain cannot be overlooked. The U19s are transformed this year and the emergence of Moffat is undoubtedly helping. Despite being a nipper, he knows when to chastise and when to praise. Jody could learn a lot from him.

Midgie was very often caught in the middle of the park, frustrating the tits off Liam and Callum who, particularly in the first half, looked to play the big switch only to find nobody on the right wing. Part of the reason why he came in, is that Mooner and Morris were following each other around the park.

The bollocks that I read on fans forums never fails to stagger me, and the latest forum myth is that Mooner and Morris can’t play together – perhaps they’re too small!! It’s utter drivel to suggest that. They are both talented players and they can both; score, tackle, run, dribble, harry, chase, mark and tackle. Jody is more comfortable in tight possession; Mooner is more attack minded and has greater accuracy in front of goal. There is no earthly reason why they can’t work together; they simply need to operate independently. Moon needs to work the space behind the front two; Morris needs to squeeze the midfield. Lomas will sort that out soon enough.

The criticism of Moon is quite unreal. There were only two good bits of passing the whole game and both from Moon. The first was a reverse pass, releasing Davison (iirc) down the left flank; the second was an exquisitely tapped ball through for Liam. The guys that should have been subbed were Morris, for tracking Moon and Midgie for being naff.

The introduction of Muzz did very little, despite his extravagant efforts. If he does go to Bristol, it’ll be intriguing to see how Saints fans sum up his career. It’s not unusual for Saints players, usually when they leave, to share some thoughts via social media sites. Recently, I have been chastised by one of our current stars for slating Muzz. I make no apologies; I see nothing in him that Adams ain’t got; difference being that Jamie can score. He must have the best scoring record of any midfielder at this club if you measure goals per minute. Let’s hope Lomas likes the cut of his jib.

On the left wing, Liam did his normal shift. Quite why scouts overlook him is beyond me. He is always in or around the box when balls are breaking free, he always runs his heart out, he rarely gets booked these days, his passing is grand, his timing is braw, his tackling is generally successful and he has a great intelligence about his play. He, more than anyone in our squad, strikes up a partnership without delay. I hope he stays around for a very long time, because decent left sided players are like hens teeth.

Behind him, Callum Davidson again showed signs of aging. The grizzly defender simply doesn’t have the pace, he once enjoyed and it’s a really hurting his game. His touch remains good, his vision is intact and his tackling is arguably better than any other left back in the league, but more and more he’s getting involved in physical battles due to a lack of pace. He simply doesn’t have the height and weight to win out in these one on ones and it’s clear that Lomas will need to start looking for a replacement. I suspect there’s regret on both sides with Danny....

Frazer Wright, a man so bad at Tannadice I compared him to Kevin Rutkiewicz, put in a decent 45 minutes against Lennon’s louts. It’s quite remarkable how an experienced professional can allow such a variation in form from one week to the next. It’s also hard to work out when he’s injured! At Tannadice, I lost count of how many times he was limping or holding his leg; I was convinced we wouldn’t see him in the second half. Against St Mirren he did much the same, but was subbed at half time with a dead leg. I wonder if he’s been carrying since the week earlier.

Mackay moved over to centre half to cover his withdrawal and was excellent again. It was the clearest indication yet that he’s no right back. Like Ando, he doesn’t have the build to be a centre half, but he has the brain, timing and touch. They are great professionals and shining examples to young Moffat and Rodger.

Indeed, Anderson, has bloomed since Bristol so kindly removed the Del factor. Now that Lomas is in charge, you will see another step up from Ando. He’ll enjoy his work much more and that will shine through in his performances. I am so excited about this new era.

One of Del’s better signings is wee Maybs and he got the second half as a replacement for Frazer Wright. A bit like last year, Maybury hasn’t been a regular pick but has still clocked up the games. I wonder if he will nudge Callum out the team, now that we are under new management. The shift he put in against St Mirren certainly showed that he’s a decent player and his fitness seems to be high.

In the sticks, Enckleman again looked impressive. He had a stupid amount of pass backs to deal with and his kicking was good all day. When the pitch got slick, he correctly turned the ball to the full backs and encouraged us to start over. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on with Tommy Wright.

Up top, Sheridan had one of his usual games so there’s nowt to write about. Fran worked hard and tried some adventurous stuff, but there was absolutely no sign of any partnership between him and Sheridan. Did I mention forum myths? Fran and Sheridan working well together is another one. Sheridan’s movement, both on and off the ball didn’t help matters. His pace didn’t seem to be present; maybe our kitman screwed up and left it on the bus!

So, it’s Aberdeen now. A look at the league table shows that things are nip and tuck from us down. A win would be a massive psychological bonus as it would give a double digit gap to the relegation spot and would give thirty years olds the chance to reminisce of Sandy Clark’s first season in charge. More importantly, it would give some of us reason to cheer the departure of DMcI.