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.
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