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....

SPL 1 - Aberdeen Away

Polishing a Turd

Few fans can forget the crushing disappointment of Hampden Park semi-finals against Rangers and Motherwell, Lining up with only one striker has plagued and dismayed St Johnstone fans for close on two years. Off the top of my head, we haven’t won an SPL league match playing 4-5-1. Happy to be corrected, though...

Nevertheless, we know full well that Derek McInnes is an arrogant man, who seems unwillingly or unable to admit to his errors. In informal chats he fights his ground in a punchy manner, defending his use of this formation. When you move away from discussion and onto fact, the bottom line is very clear 4-5-1 does not work.

Obviously, I haven’t spoken with Del for many years, but having listened to him speak on the official website http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/audioplayback.php?param=1599 it is clear that he recognises his error. Some give credit for switching it at half time; I certainly don’t.

4-5-1 has failed him time and time again; he mustn’t be allowed to continue hampering our chances. Of course the switch also saw Marcus Haber make his second debut for Saints as a contracted player. The sad news is that we’ve only managed to secure the athletic Canadian on a one year deal.

So we lined up with Enckleman in goal and in front of him came our settled back four of Mackay-Anderson-Wright-C Davidson. In midfield a flat three were Millar-Morris-M Davidson. Sheridan played up front on his own with Craig and Robertson allegedly providing some support.

As ever with this wacky formation, the players seemed totally unsure of their positioning, both in attack and defence. Indeed, in the early stages of the game, we were very much under the cosh. Milsom and Foster were dominant figures in a game that looked like a third round Scottish Cup Tie for long periods.

One of the greatest things about Owen Coyle’s St Johnstone team and the key element of Del’s SFL1 title winning side was an indefatigueable self-belief and hunger. Both commodities evaporated last season and ultimately disappeared from sight at Hampden. Looking at this game in isolation, we have yet to re-discover either characteristic. Aberdeen not only passed the ball around us, they also worked much harder than us on the rare occasions when they lost possession. As the game wore on, they naturally dropped off the pace, bit the tenacity and fitness demonstrated by the Dons is a glowing testament to standout SPL manager, Craig Brown.

What’s also worth noting is that Aberdeen are not yet a good side. Like us, many of their signings have only recently been confirmed and at times their new defence showed some newby wobbles. Sadly for us, we couldn’t exploit it. I would have thought it was perfectly obvious that so many new faces would take time to gel, especially with so many young lads in the team. I’d have went for their throat from the first minute, pinning them back and shocking them into a state of panic. Del’s tactics allowed them to settle down and nail us to our own goal.

What is always worrying is that Del has previously boasted about having the bollocks to make early and brave substitutions. Tony Docherty’s body language made it abundantly clear that things were unacceptable, yet they still waited until half time before making the change. Not only that, but Haber was sent to warm-up around twenty minutes in, only to then return to the dugout and cool down. It’s well known that we have no real warm-up routine at half time, so when Haber was called into the dressing room, we all knew he wasn’t warmed up properly. Curious decision making.

The only guy in the dressing room that could hold his head high was Rangers target, Murray Davidson. The gangly midfielder was touted as the next big thing when he arrived at Saints, but for two years he’s generally looked well out of his depth. Only once have I selected him as Man of The Match, and that was for attitude rather than skill.

For Saturday’s performance he rightly gets my Man of The Match award. Yes, Marcus Haber played well when he came on, but he didn’t have the handicap of playing in a daft line-up. Murray played well in both halves despite looking slightly tentative in the early part of the game and if he can replicate that form, he will finally deserve his starting jersey.

Of the rest of his colleagues; it’s slim pickings, I’m afraid. Starting up top, we all know what to expect from Cillian Sheridan and danced to the tune we all learned two seasons ago. Lazy, half-hearted, disinterested, unco-ordinated and unaware are just a few of his labels. Not once  did hee appear to sprint and he certainly never looked in any danger of getting dirty. Playing with only one up front puts enormous pressure on that striker. He must run, harry, chase and pressurise like there’s no tomorrow. If you’re lone striker saunters around like a steroid, perma tan in The Loft, you’re on a hiding to nothing. That’s exactly what Sheridan did. The really irritating thing is that he actually showed a level of talent and touch hitherto hidden from Saints fans. He’s a Jack Whitehall lookalike with Collin Samuel levels of under-exploited latent talent.

The closest thing he had strike partner in the first half was Davie “The Ghost” Robertson. The ex-Arab again showed some lovely touches and a quick footballing brain. It’s clear to see why the single celled organisms that call themselves Dundee United fans didn’t like him. They are a physical team of immoral cheats, orchestrated by the horrible human, Houston. Davie will drift out of games, no doubt about that, but he has a talent and will be a useful addition to our squad. That said, he’s clearly not read to start for us and as others have rightly pointed out, Del has once again signed too many midfielders and doesn’t know his best four. This could well be a season long failing....

His opposite number, Liam Craig had a difficult game. Because we were pinned back, he ended up playing on the wrong side of the Dons midfield meaning he had to pass two blocks of players in a crowded area of the pitch. As we all know this isn’t Liam’s forte and it was little surprise to see him hooked at half time. Unfortunately, he was removed on the basis of what had happened rather than what was gonna happen. As such, when he was removed and we moved to a midfield four. Davie Robertson ended up on the left and struggled badly. A shame for both players. Be interesting to see if our ill-educated fans see the benefit of Robbo or if he’ll suffer from Murray-syndrome (“We only like boys that clatter into needless tackles coz they’re committed, eh?”)

Morris had a fine enough game, though our dumb congregation couldn’t see it. He played further forward and scarcely wasted a pass. He was very frustrating when we went down to ten men as he didn’t seem to have enough brains to stretch the Dons out, but other than that he played well. Moon would have been a better option but that’s the case most weeks.

Midgie had a poor game by his usual high standards. For whatever reason he never seemed happy on the surface and too often his team mates let him down, leaving him with a tricky pass to complete in order to find a team mate. Nevertheless, he too often lost his footing at crucial times and his touch and decision making simply weren’t up to their usual standard.

The midfield which generally had at least a one man advantage often looked swamped and never seemed able to find safe pass. With Robbo playing in such an advanced role, and with Moon inexplicably benched, we had nobody in midfield that was prepared to take on their man. That’s a real worry as we prepare for Rangers coming to Perth.

In defence, Mackay took an age to come onto a game, eventually turning in a solid performance. His positioning, which I have heavily criticised, was much better. If anything he was a tad conservative. I’ll settle for that every day of the week. Well done, lad.

Anderson had a curious game. The very best and very worst of his game went on show on Saturday. Brilliant, last ditch flicks and tackles, coupled with some really naive dives and rash tackles. All told, he was again the standout defender, but he must really start to compose himself better on matchdays. Alongside him, Frazer Wright had a torrid first half and my pre-season worries were well solidly confirmed. Thankfully, he turned in a solid second half showing, He will be seriously miffed to have picked up a booking following one of many Conroy’s mistakes but if his second half performance is the standard he goes on to attain, we’ll have no reason to worry.

At left back Callum Davidson had an average first half and a worrying second half. He was good in the tackle and generally cleared his lines well enough but communication and organisation were notable absentees in Callum’s locker. Frazer Wright’s determination to play ten yards higher than his defensive team mates made life hard for Callum and Mackay, but stil....

That leaves the substitutes and the goalie....we’ll start with the substitutes! Haber is still a long way from being match ready and if we can get 45 minutes into him in   bounce game on Monday it’ll do him no harm. His pace is returning and his touch is excellent. He ran directly on most occasions. He needs to form a good partnership with Mayso, but that’ll come. Mayso himself did little to impress on Saturday. A very late arrival he had no time to prove  his talent. The same goes for Moon who bravely took a yellow card to halt a very threatening Dons counter late on.

I’m not gonna say much about Enckleman. I’ve never thought he was good enough for us. He’s never been a true number one in the UK and with Mannus finally onboard he’ll struggle to feature for us again. Howler after howler, exacerbated by the wind but mainly caused by his lack of brain power and judgement. He has no command of his box and you could visibly see the centre halves losing confidence in him.

I’d have gladly taken a point before the game, but not creating a chance and being under the cosh for most of the game is not acceptable given the budget allocated to Messrs McInnes and Docherty. It’s futile to call for him to be sacked, but as a genuine supporter, it is my duty to do so. Del must go.

Derek's Latest Disaster

Derek McInnes has played professional football for many years. He’s witnessed managers make signings and whilst at St Johnstone he was heavily involved in Owen Coyle’s dramatic transformation of our great club. He had the greatest teacher in terms of work ethic and logic.

Despite a super grounding, from Saints best ever manager, Derek McInnes stated in December 2009 that he wasn’t looking for a goalie. At this point, lest we forget, Main had been dropped following that game at Rugby Park. The man in the sticks was Graeme Smith; a competent back-up keeper, but clearly not good enough for Saints. I warned him to sign two keepers, he didn’t.

Come the summer of 2010, Tony Docherty admitted that we were struggling to sign a keeper. We ended up with Peter Enckleman. A veteran goalkeeper who had struggled to command the number one shirt at every one of his British clubs. His performances last year left much to be desired and even saw him publicly berated by our clueless manager at New Douglas Park. Thankfully, a number of fans rallied behind the fragile Finn who was genuinely innocent of any failing. We head into the season opener in less than 48 hours, yet our number one keeper is still to be unveiled.

Derek is a lazy and incompetent individual. He took a useless foreigner, Subotic, on trial throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland. He announced on our official site that we were trying to sign the big lad. We made progress and then suddenly pulled out of the deal, despite having asked the SFA to intervene on our behalf. Why? Because Derek has now decided to waste large sums of money on former failure, Cillian Sheridan.

Let’s be clear on some things. Sheridan has a terrific scoring record for Saints. Sheridan is a very funny individual who the players like enormously. Sheridan has far more motivation to play well now, than during his first stint.

Nevertheless, we got rid of Sammy because he’s an enigma. The difference is, an on-form Sammy is a brilliant asset, worthy of a place in the EPL. An on-form Sheridan is scarcely worth a Saints jersey. The usual Sheridan isn’t worthy of a Dundee shirt. He can’t jump. He is lazy. He has no stamina. His general fitness is totally unacceptable in the professional game. His night-time antics leave much to be desired. People well remember that he destroyed Sol Bamba, the night we humped the Hibs; fewer recall his apathetic efforts the very next Saturday at Easter Road. He was a disgrace. Those that remember Rugby Park and him dropping to his knees after ten minutes, totally knackered, should share my disgust at his return.

This is an atrocious signing and yet another damning indictment of Derek McInnes, Football “Manager”. Marcus Haber, from May onwards, should have been his number one priority. He still hasn’t been confirmed. We still don’t have a winger. We came close to signing Subotic, a player that even Del didn’t want! We now have Sheridan onboard.

Murray Davidson, who we need to cash in on, still hasn’t gone and progress appears to be slow. Sandy Clark, personally went to Glasgow to facilitate the sale of Momo Sylla, Del should take the trouble to meet up with A McCoist and ensure that Muzz is turned to money.

The incredible thing about McInnes is that he can be heard http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=1591 speaking about the worst part of his job being when potential signings don’t come to fruition. Yet despite this, it seems he doesn’t ever have a decent back-up plan. When Graeme Smith was signed as back-up to Alan Main, what was he doing to plan for Alzo’s retirement? Mannus, two years later??

Dougie Imrie has admitted being talks with Saints yet we still haven’t signed a wide player, despite McGinn having moved elsewhere. What is the plan B for the winger. Marcus Haber on the wing? Aye, sounds daft and it is, but Del’s subjected the player to that role on previous occasions.

I had really high hopes for this season up until the start of July. Del has completely destroyed my enthusiasm for Saints games, with his idiotic tactics and stupid signings. When Murray Davidson leaves St Johnstone, he’ll be found out in dramatic style, the same goes for Del. The difference is that Murray will leave us shortly, if Del continues to cock things up – we’ll be forced to sack the fud. His goal less run last year should have been enough for him to walk the plank. Until he goes, our club shall not prosper and that breaks my heart.

The Road to Nowhere

An ironic commentator once noted that, “football’s a game of clichés” and fans forums are proof of that pudding. Times without number, I read and hear that Geoff should gamble, speculate to accumulate, loosen the purse strings just a wee bit ....times without number I offer a voice of dissent.

Our trading figures are a few weeks from being finalised but we know the general picture. The disease, perhaps only recently diagnosed, has been in the blood stream of our club for some time now.

Allow me to take you back a few years and reflect on the sacking of John Connolly. JC, who’s initials made you dream the impossible, was replaced some 6 years ago. He led the team to eighth place in the Scottish First Division. Falkirk finished 29 point ahead of us, Clyde (yes the diddy team who are now homeless) were 14 points in front whilst both Ross County and Queen of the South ended up ahead of us in the standings.

The expenditure was high and the fans called for the managers head. Geoff Brown wasted little time in acting but did little to appease a naive support by installing Owen Coyle as manager. Coyle; a lean striker with big knashers and a hint of grey about the temples, had history with Saints. The fans were far from impressed.

Nevertheless, Chairman Brown has achieved much in this business, and it is primarily a business, by showing a foresight far beyond the comprehension of his equivalents at other clubs. Owen’s capture proved shrewd beyond measure. Demonstrating a finely balance amalgam of enthusiasm, ebullience and gregariousness; OC united the fans, galvanised his troops and worked the media with an effect so brilliant that we finished second in the league, his first shot at management.

The following year is etched in the mind of all fans and bears no repeating here. Suffice to say, we were robbed by a common criminal. The greatest tragedy of Brookes Mileson’s death is that we didn’t have time to fully expose his behaviour to the whole nation. Those amongst us who understand, know that dishonesty and immorality stole the league that year. Had we gained the promotion, which was ours by right, who knows where we’d have been today. What’s very clear is that, in the sunshine of New Douglas Park, a crescendo had been reached. Saints fans travelled in hope, expectation and belief; we left shattered, demoralised and deflated.

Throughout the summer, as the truth of Gretna’s theft started to become clear, Saints picked themselves up, ready for the campaign which would see us easily gain promotion. After all, how could we lose? In reality, the players, hurt and smarting at what had befallen them, failed to perform for Owen Coyle. Goals were at a premium and we were clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel when we selected Andy Jackson and  signed Kenny Deuchar. Many idiots, including your author, castigated Owen for signing Dr Goals. Personally, I labelled him a panic signing. In reality he was a long time target who we were lucky to capture.

I remember watching him training, prior to his first game for Saints and issuing a full retraction and apology to Owen. The then gaffer retorted with trademark honesty, “that’s because I know more than you about football players.” He was right and I was wrong.

Dismayed by his players, hurt by Gretna’s “victory” and hamstrung by St Johnstone’s turnover, Owen was quick to jump ship when Burnley came calling. Initial plans by St Johnstone were for Sandy Stewart to step up to become manager, whilst the highly unpopular Derek McInnes would become his assistant. In the days that followed, Coylie, using his full-on persuasional powers, had enticed cup winning Stewart to join him at Burnley and Geoff took the decision to appoint Derek McInnes as manager, allowing him to invite old pal, and former coach, Tony Docherty to McDiarmid.

Somewhere in this story, perhaps at Hamilton, perhaps in the close season, perhaps in the early games of season 2007/8, perhaps at the appointment of Derek McInnes, perhaps under his reign; somewhere our fans lost interest. A malaise set in and, inexorably, our fans turned away from our local club.

Although I’m old enough to have started supporting Saints in the bottom division, I’m not old enough to understand how close we were to closing the doors of St Johnstone Football Club.

Perhaps those days are so far they have been erased from memory. Perhaps the modern era, where clubs like Livingston, Motherwell and Dundee use Administration as a business tool, has seen the fear of failure removed from the minds of the public. I don’t know, the answer, I only see the problems.

Under Derek McInnes, like him or loathe him, we have moved from near the top of the first division to somewhere in the middle of the SPL. Irrespective of the money committed by the board, that remains a tangible achievement. In order to keep the glory hunters happy, we’ve excelled in recent cup competitions. Several semi-finals in the last 5 years have tantalised our support who dream of lifting silverware under Geoff’s stewardship.

As for the football itself, season 2009/10 saw us score 57 league goals and fans who attended all league games saw 118 goals in 38 games, yes three goals per game. We finished in eighth place that season, with better tactics, or a little luck; we’d have made the top six - a terrific achievement given the paucity of our home support. Incredibly, for many fans, they chose this time of great success to turn their back on our club. Season ticket sales dropped by 12 per cent, whilst gate numbers were down 18 per cent. We’re not talking about loose change; almost one in five have walked away from McDiarmid Park, St Johnstone Football Club and the very concept of, “we support our local team.”

There are no logical reasons for this capitulation, no justification for treating our club in such a shabby form. One or two can cite genuine reasons, fiscal and otherwise; the majority simply hang onto one of many excuses. The danger of this disease is that attacks the very life blood of the operation. As I mentioned at the start of the article, football is very much a business. Third Lanark and Clydebank are fact, you folks can argue about the truth of footballing towns.

So with renewal packs due out this week and couple of positive signings to be announced shortly, how many current book holders will re-apply and, perhaps more pertinently – why should we?

Looking at the support this year, I’d suggest we’re close to being at our hardcore support. I can see a drop, but not by much. Those that attend faithfully, grudgingly accept the idiocy of SPL kick-off times, and understand that Messi and Fletcher will not be tempted to McDiarmid in the near future. The split annoys us, the lack of a reserve league perplexes us, the debt-reliant success of our unwashed rivals grates on us – but we were mostly raised as Saintees, we believe in the concept of supporting our local team and we are thankful to Mr Brown and Mr Duff for transforming the club, in every possible way.

There are so many positives with supporting our club. Our fiscal policy means we have no fears of administration, our size enables a bond to be forged between players and fans and for big games, such as cup days, the town and surrounding areas have a real buzz about them. Anyone at St Mirren for our last game of the season will long remember the closing minutes.

We’re privileged to have great board. Self-made individuals who have the best interests of the club, close to their heart. We have folk like Paul Smith, who go far beyond their contractual remit to deliver the highest level of service to our support. We sit in the best stadium in the SPL with the best viewing in the SPL. We gamble on players from lower leagues and are proud of the produce of our youth system. Players hang around, while big name players who have passed through our doors tend to remember Saints with fondness. This is not merely a good club, it’s a great club.

This much is clear; next season will be a battle. St Mirren and Dunfermline should be poor, Killie and the Arabs will hopefully be much closer to us, but Aberdeen will be strong and if Hibs sack Calderwood, they’ll do well again. We once again, have the chance to finish mid-table, even with a much reduced budget. In order to do so, we need every supporter to put in an increased effort to attend home games.

We understand that the stewards do a great job of disguising any common sense and intellect they may possess. The no standing rule, doesn’t bother me in the slightest but watching the OF unwashed stand and sign their bigoted bile does my napper in. But let’s not kid ourselves on, we need their money. This is business; the greater our income, the better our signings can be.

With a significant financial loss this year, the transfer of Murray Davidson will prove most helpful. Our manager, despite his protestations, is using Saints (and used Brentford) to sell himself and attract interest. His departure will also generate income for the club. The directors continue to network in order to attract new sponsors and other revenue streams. Overheads are kept to a minimum at the park, but age is taking its toll on the stadium and that also hits us in the pocket. In addition, partly catalysed by our own fans causing trouble in the national media, Saints have incurred a bill in excess of £10,000 to create the new disabled facilities in the Main Stand (away section).

If we need a player or two in January, this proactive and aggressive board will sanction transfer activity. Robertson and Danny Invincible may have been largely rubbish, but our board did support our gaffer and remember it was Danny’s goal that proved vital at Glebe Park. Cult heroes, Michael Duberry and Jody Morris arrived in the same way as Danny and Jordan....

We are lucky and privileged to support this thriving and enterprising wee club. We have often punched above our weight through a combination of efficiency and expert decision making. Speaking of which, don’t think about it for too long. Buy a season ticket and ensure our continued success. Don’t buy it because it’s value for money, don’t buy it because you believe we’ll play sexy soccer on a new surface; buy it because you care about the club, buy because you don’t want the children in your family growing up to support the Old Firm, buy it because these are golden times. If you supported us under Connolly or before, you’ll see where I’m coming from.

Support the Saints, buy a season ticket!

The Road to Nowhere

An ironic commentator once noted that, “football’s a game of clichés” and fans forums are proof of that pudding. Times without number, I read and hear that Geoff should gamble, speculate to accumulate, loosen the purse strings just a wee bit ....times without number I offer a voice of dissent.

Our trading figures are a few weeks from being finalised but we know the general picture. The disease, perhaps only recently diagnosed, has been in the blood stream of our club for some time now.

Allow me to take you back a few years and reflect on the sacking of John Connolly. JC, who’s initials made you dream the impossible, was replaced some 6 years ago. He led the team to eighth place in the Scottish First Division. Falkirk finished 29 point ahead of us, Clyde (yes the diddy team who are now homeless) were 14 points in front whilst both Ross County and Queen of the South ended up ahead of us in the standings.

The expenditure was high and the fans called for the managers head. Geoff Brown wasted little time in acting but did little to appease a naive support by installing Owen Coyle as manager. Coyle; a lean striker with big knashers and a hint of grey about the temples, had history with Saints. The fans were far from impressed.

Nevertheless, Chairman Brown has achieved much in this business, and it is primarily a business, by showing a foresight far beyond the comprehension of his equivalents at other clubs. Owen’s capture proved shrewd beyond measure. Demonstrating a finely balance amalgam of enthusiasm, ebullience and gregariousness; OC united the fans, galvanised his troops and worked the media with an effect so brilliant that we finished second in the league, his first shot at management.

The following year is etched in the mind of all fans and bears no repeating here. Suffice to say, we were robbed by a common criminal. The greatest tragedy of Brookes Mileson’s death is that we didn’t have time to fully expose his behaviour to the whole nation. Those amongst us who understand, know that dishonesty and immorality stole the league that year. Had we gained the promotion, which was ours by right, who knows where we’d have been today. What’s very clear is that, in the sunshine of New Douglas Park, a crescendo had been reached. Saints fans travelled in hope, expectation and belief; we left shattered, demoralised and deflated.

Throughout the summer, as the truth of Gretna’s theft started to become clear, Saints picked themselves up, ready for the campaign which would see us easily gain promotion. After all, how could we lose? In reality, the players, hurt and smarting at what had befallen them, failed to perform for Owen Coyle. Goals were at a premium and we were clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel when we selected Andy Jackson and  signed Kenny Deuchar. Many idiots, including your author, castigated Owen for signing Dr Goals. Personally, I labelled him a panic signing. In reality he was a long time target who we were lucky to capture.

I remember watching him training, prior to his first game for Saints and issuing a full retraction and apology to Owen. The then gaffer retorted with trademark honesty, “that’s because I know more than you about football players.” He was right and I was wrong.

Dismayed by his players, hurt by Gretna’s “victory” and hamstrung by St Johnstone’s turnover, Owen was quick to jump ship when Burnley came calling. Initial plans by St Johnstone were for Sandy Stewart to step up to become manager, whilst the highly unpopular Derek McInnes would become his assistant. In the days that followed, Coylie, using his full-on persuasional powers, had enticed cup winning Stewart to join him at Burnley and Geoff took the decision to appoint Derek McInnes as manager, allowing him to invite old pal, and former coach, Tony Docherty to McDiarmid.

Somewhere in this story, perhaps at Hamilton, perhaps in the close season, perhaps in the early games of season 2007/8, perhaps at the appointment of Derek McInnes, perhaps under his reign; somewhere our fans lost interest. A malaise set in and, inexorably, our fans turned away from our local club.

Although I’m old enough to have started supporting Saints in the bottom division, I’m not old enough to understand how close we were to closing the doors of St Johnstone Football Club.

Perhaps those days are so far they have been erased from memory. Perhaps the modern era, where clubs like Livingston, Motherwell and Dundee use Administration as a business tool, has seen the fear of failure removed from the minds of the public. I don’t know, the answer, I only see the problems.

Under Derek McInnes, like him or loathe him, we have moved from near the top of the first division to somewhere in the middle of the SPL. Irrespective of the money committed by the board, that remains a tangible achievement. In order to keep the glory hunters happy, we’ve excelled in recent cup competitions. Several semi-finals in the last 5 years have tantalised our support who dream of lifting silverware under Geoff’s stewardship.

As for the football itself, season 2009/10 saw us score 57 league goals and fans who attended all league games saw 118 goals in 38 games, yes three goals per game. We finished in eighth place that season, with better tactics, or a little luck; we’d have made the top six - a terrific achievement given the paucity of our home support. Incredibly, for many fans, they chose this time of great success to turn their back on our club. Season ticket sales dropped by 12 per cent, whilst gate numbers were down 18 per cent. We’re not talking about loose change; almost one in five have walked away from McDiarmid Park, St Johnstone Football Club and the very concept of, “we support our local team.”

There are no logical reasons for this capitulation, no justification for treating our club in such a shabby form. One or two can cite genuine reasons, fiscal and otherwise; the majority simply hang onto one of many excuses. The danger of this disease is that attacks the very life blood of the operation. As I mentioned at the start of the article, football is very much a business. Third Lanark and Clydebank are fact, you folks can argue about the truth of footballing towns.

So with renewal packs due out this week and couple of positive signings to be announced shortly, how many current book holders will re-apply and, perhaps more pertinently – why should we?

Looking at the support this year, I’d suggest we’re close to being at our hardcore support. I can see a drop, but not by much. Those that attend faithfully, grudgingly accept the idiocy of SPL kick-off times, and understand that Messi and Fletcher will not be tempted to McDiarmid in the near future. The split annoys us, the lack of a reserve league perplexes us, the debt-reliant success of our unwashed rivals grates on us – but we were mostly raised as Saintees, we believe in the concept of supporting our local team and we are thankful to Mr Brown and Mr Duff for transforming the club, in every possible way.

There are so many positives with supporting our club. Our fiscal policy means we have no fears of administration, our size enables a bond to be forged between players and fans and for big games, such as cup days, the town and surrounding areas have a real buzz about them. Anyone at St Mirren for our last game of the season will long remember the closing minutes.

We’re privileged to have great board. Self-made individuals who have the best interests of the club, close to their heart. We have folk like Paul Smith, who go far beyond their contractual remit to deliver the highest level of service to our support. We sit in the best stadium in the SPL with the best viewing in the SPL. We gamble on players from lower leagues and are proud of the produce of our youth system. Players hang around, while big name players who have passed through our doors tend to remember Saints with fondness. This is not merely a good club, it’s a great club.

This much is clear; next season will be a battle. St Mirren and Dunfermline should be poor, Killie and the Arabs will hopefully be much closer to us, but Aberdeen will be strong and if Hibs sack Calderwood, they’ll do well again. We once again, have the chance to finish mid-table, even with a much reduced budget. In order to do so, we need every supporter to put in an increased effort to attend home games.

With a significant financial loss this year, the transfer of Murray Davidson will prove most helpful. Our manager, despite his protestations, is using Saints (and used Brentford) to sell himself and attract interest. His departure will also generate income for the club. The directors continue to network in order to attract new sponsors and other revenue streams.

If we need a player or two in January, this proactive and aggressive board will sanction transfer activity. We are lucky and privileged to support this thriving and enterprising wee club. We have punched above our weight through a combination of efficiency and expert decision making. Speaking of which, don’t think about it for too long. Buy a season ticket and ensure our continued success. Don’t by it because it’s value for money, don’t buy it because you believe we’ll play sexy soccer on a new surface; buy it because you care about the club, buy because you don’t want the children in your family growing up to support the Old Firm, buy it because these are golden times. If you supported us under Connolly or before, you’ll see where I’m coming from.

Support the Saints, buy a season ticket!