FeSteve Cheer

Saints fans who survived the McInnes era will look back fondly at the Boxing Day Fixture in 2009. We went to Fir Park, despite tricky road surfaces and watched in delight as Peter MacDonald bagged his final Saints hat trick to send us home in sheer delight. That game was full of mixed emotions for your author as wee Mooner was hung out to dry by our inept manager and folks took great delight in praising Del for correcting his own error. Nevertheless, the day is etched in my mind as one life’s great days.

Heading to East End Park, I was full of dread and pessimism. The three home defeats came as little surprise; each game had some very obvious difficulties. On top of that, we hadn’t really played all the badly. Enckleman cost 4 of the five goals we lost to Well and Dons; as that’s not his usual form, I wasn’t overly concerned. We also know that our gaffer is a cut above most of his rivals. Nevertheless, perhaps depressed by working from eight till twelve, perhaps scunnered by Dunfermline as a town, perhaps irked by the behaviour of our “support”; I really feared that circumstances, or Craig Thomson, would cost us the game. When it came to the crunch, Chris Smith and Jason Thomson gave us an easy two nil lead and our three best attacking players combined to ice the cake at the death.

Lomas rightly stated that we weren’t at our best. He correctly mentioned the three home games where we arguably played better stuff, yet took no points. His outlook is refreshing; his demeanour is mood-reflective. He loves his life and loves his football; his infectious enthusiasm rubs off on everyone in a very Coyle-esque way. No wonder the lads enjoy training under him. Be interesting to see how his Christmas routine works. I happen to think we might just reap the rewards. Killie ought to be jaded when they pull into McDiarmid, I doubt we will be.

The game at East End Park started in tricky conditions, when all four corner flags are blowing in different directions, you don’t wanna be a goalkeeper... Added to the mix Dunfermline is yet another club in crisis. Their own fans are putting the club in jeopardy by refusing to conform to the no-standing regulations. They have shut arguably their best stand and the roof has been stripped from part of the away stand. The Main Stand compares with McDiarmid’s for atmosphere, whilst the Norrie McCathie stand was both empty and quiet. The attendance was at the same level of Falkirk V Ross County and whilst that was a real table topping clash, I doubt many Staggies travelled down. Saints took around 1200 to Dunfermline and the atmosphere in our end was rather good. Some wee dicks decided to let of a flare, and for that the club could be in bother. Sadly, it’s part and parcel of having a large travelling support. Also part and parcel of letting adolescents in for a pound – well eventually letting them in; after a farcical queue, so reminiscent of Dundee during the trough of their financial troubles.

If you ignore the complete lack of defence, Dunfermline aren’t a bad team. Barrowman, Cardle, Kirk and Graham are all decent enough players and with Hardie pulling string in a deep centre midfield role, they created some decent moves. Their defence is hopeless though, and unless they sign two centre halves, they’re likely to fall into the SFL1 at the expense of Inverness who seem certain to hold onto their superstars through the January window. It seems that John Yorkston has finally realised that the club must run within a certain budget, shame it’s taken him so long to realise such a fairly obvious fact of life.

Saints have essentially been run in such a fashion since GSB took over the reins of our great club. His prudence has allowed us to attract players from badly run clubs such as Gretna, Livingston and Dundee. With Lomas in charge, players know that they’ll be treated with respect and dignity. It’s good to see that Lomas has kept some of Del’s training methods as well as bringing in his own ideas. Things have never been so good, in so many ways.

Lomas has to be on his guard though. We have some transition ahead of us and he’ll have to work some magic to ensure we don’t slip too far back. Peter Enckleman is likely to move on in the summer and whilst I have never been fully convinced by him, his record is as good as it gets for a club of our size. Ando has been offered a new contract and it’s vital that we persuade him to sign it quickly; without him, we’re in real bother. Callum Davidson won’t last forever and we know that he’s not exactly bullet proof. The search for his replacement must start now. Sandaza, well we all know what he’s like. Personally, I’d be signing Haber up quick smart. We know he’s one of the best one on one finishers in the league. His jumping ability is probably the best in the league and when he turns on the speed, he’s got most defenders beaten. Yes, he’s a lazy prick, but there are signs that Steve is getting that side of his game sorted. Every time he plays, he chases more and more “lost causes”...

In terms of departures, I’m sad to say that Graham Gartland’s tenure as a Saints player is at an end and that’s a great shame. The popular Irishman came here with huge expectation and a great reputation. Other than a howler at Ibrox, for which he held up his hands, he has been excellent for us. He’s been a great help to the young boys, talking them through bounce games and working on their mindset. He’s a man of real dignity and stamp; I hope his next club provide him with a springboard to unlock his full potential. Wullie Gibson will be the other departure, and he’ll be no loss. Why we signed him, I’ll never know.  I do wonder if Sam Parkin will be another departure. I hope not, but it’s hard to see him getting a game ahead of Haber, Sandaza and Sheridan. A player of his calibre is not gonna be happy to settle for being fourth choice striker.

The game itself was poor fare in the most part. We didn’t get going until the first goal and then half time came. Haber worked well to create the second goal, but their normal keeper would have held Haber’s shot. A proper defender would have mopped up the spillage. Although we got to three nil, it simply wasn’t feasible to blood Ricky or Scotty. Muzz had been struggling for most of the second half whilst both Jody and Sandaza needed subbed given the heavy schedule coming up.

Mooner replaced Jody, but didn’t perform much better than the skipper. It was one of Mooner’s worst ever subbie displays. He is often guilty of being a step ahead of his team mates, but on Saturday he simply wasn’t great. He tried too hard to impress, undoubtedly upset by the way Jody waltzed back into the team despite his long term absence.

Maybury replaced Muzz in a move which saw Millar move inside with Mooner. Muzz had a very quiet game and it’s interesting to see that whoever plays with Morris in centre midfield seems to struggle. Midgie had a much better game. There were still times when he seemed to lack the necessary self-belief, but his closing down and tenacity were all there in abundance. It amuses me that fans get on his back so much; remember that Swanks, Morais, Cleve, JMW, Nova and now Gibson have all failed to win his starting jersey. When he plays well, Saints play well and that’s the highest accolade.

Maybury again proved his worth and versatility when he came on to run the right wing. He is in many ways the ultimate professional. Well worth a new contract offer.

The final subbie was Carl Finnigan and he again looked lively. I really want him to score soon as I get the feeling that the floodgates might just open when he does. He offers us total commitment; I wish I could pull up some of the fans comments when Del signed him.

Of the starting eleven, all played well but none were much above average. Our centre halves probably deserve the most praise for dealing with tricky conditions and making their job look far easier than it actually was. The front guys did okay, but they’ll have to link better to harm Killie on Wednesday.

I’ll do my tabloid round up of the starting eleven for no other reason than they offer no talking points:

Enckleman – One moment of madness when he came for a ball on our left that he simply had no chance of getting. Other than that he was mostly in control. His tip over from Cardle was a belt and braces gesture and he shouldn’t be faulted for being cautious.

Mackay – Didn’t attract any attention. Fine game

McCracken – Lauded my many following a tweet from Jody Morris. Played no better than normal. Vastly underrated.

Anderson – Bossed the defence in his usual unflappable manner. Fans wanted him to go on more mazy runs, but his passing was top drawer again.

C. Davidson – Didn’t get forward enough but cruised through the game.

Millar – Full on effort and commitment. Great play to win the corner that gave our first. No time to star when moved to centre midfield

Morris – Couple of special touches but a fundamental lack of drive going forward. I’m sure Lomas will work on restoring this part of his game.

M. Davidson – Very quiet game. Him and Hardie cancelled each other out.

Craig – Took ages to get going, but was terrific when he did. Reacted brilliantly to Fran’s pass, which must have been unexpected.

Haber – Strong running and much better link play with Midgie and Morris. Bad touch in the box cost us shortly after he created the second.

Sandaza – Great spirit and great play. Brave for the second.

So, we move onto Killie at home on Wednesday, 28 December at McDiarmid. This game will offer half-season ticket holders to use their book for the first time. It’s also the only home game of the festive period. With a night time appointment, and Saints having a great record under the new floodlights (when Sky don’t appear), we should expect a turnout nearing 3500 fans. Let’s hope the noise generated on the steep slopes of Tynecastle and East End Park is replicated in the McDiarmid shallows.

Lomas is a great lad, but to use of his predecessor’s favourite clichés, we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel. This is a collective effort, the top six will not happen without the support of the home support. We have lost seven league games, but we have lost six times at McDiarmid to SPL opposition; five in the league, one in the cup.

With Mooner signing on again, we can be confident that Lomas knows a player when he sees one. The players need noise, need encouragement; that doesn’t make them needy, it makes them normal humans. Back them and they will respond; they’ve proven it on our last three road trips. Don’t question them, just support them. They under Lomas will deliver us the top six we all long for. Get yer mates along, send them this link, post it on yer social network things and let’s show Steve Brown that his job is easier than he fears:

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