Progress against Partick

Boundless Conceit

Not since Hampden, have I written a report in such a state of apoplexy. What should be a night to be savoured is simply engulfed in rage and bile against Messrs Taylor and McInnes.

A sparse crowd in a soul-less stadium with a horrendous pitch on a miserable night against lower league opposition is hardly a recipe for a great night – yet tonight we saw a key player shove two metaphorical fingers up to Del with a goal fit to win the Cup Final, let alone a low key fifth round tie.

Liam Craig will always be remembered for scoring the most important goal of our promotion winning campaign at East End Park yet tonight’s goal may yet eclipse that one; both in terms of skill and importance. I openly admit that Liam has let me down badly this year, I have tried everything to prompt a suitable contract yet his performances, both on and off-field, have been a massive let down for a player who was our top scorer last season. With the arrival of a fast and flashy Lithuanian, his place in the team is surely in jeopardy but tonight he suffered the ultimate indignity – he was kept out of the team by the worst senior player at the club.

Cleveland Taylor’s performances have been the subject of many a 101 Saint rant. From the first time I saw him play against Dundee at Glenalmond, I’ve been against him and tonight he signed, sealed and delivered his own P45. Never in all my years watching St Johnstone have I been as enraged by a player as tonight.

I accept that the pitch wasn’t great and I accept that Mayzo didn’t supply great balls from wide areas, but, quite simply, he got everything wrong all night. Despite my refusal to tolerate Cleve, I have always freely admitted that he can cross a ball with great aplomb, but tonight he didn’t manage one good cross. His runs are always mis-timed and he obviously doesn’t understand the offside rule. What he cannot do, at SPL level, is take on a full back and put a cross ball into the box. He tried to take on the left back on a few occasions, failing every time. The players then showed him balls in such a fashion that all he had to do was lift it into the box, yet on many occasions he tried a hospital pass or he sclaffed it.

Indeed, twas from a sclaff that Saints opened the scoring tonight and his subsequent celebration tipped me over the edge. Having committed the cardinal sin of taking his eye off the ball, his contact with the ball saw it enter the box in stealth mode. By luck, grit, good judgement or all three, Murray Davidson – enjoying his best match of the season – stuck a strong foot to the ball and poked it past the helpless goalkeeper. The phrase better lucky than good, sprung immediately to mind. Nevertheless, I celebrated like a nipper when the net bulged. What followed caused me to utter some of the most furious words in my vocabulary.

As Murray Davidson was rightly hailed by the East Stand, Cleve had the sheer audacity to open his hands and receive the acclaim of the Mongo Army. Just think about this for a moment. A man who had contributed nothing, on either side of the pitch, mis-hits a cross and as a courageous player is being rightly acknowledged, Cleve tries to steal his thunder. His morals and integrity as a footballer had grave question marks over them prior to this game, tonight they simply have black marks; an utterly horrific player.

Still, we went down the tunnel in the lead and there was one great moment to come before the interval. Collin Samuel, another of dubious footballing integrity, went down in the middle of the park clutching his left ankle. Sammy has many faults, but feigning injury isn’t one of them. I had boldly predicted that he’d surely be substituted because he doesn’t play-act and that was the queue for him to rise to his feet! A drop ball ensued and it was contested. Yes, honestly! I swear that I saw it with my own eyes. Perhaps, when Del and Doc go over their notebooks they’ll remember that these balls are there to be fought for; especially against cheats like Hearts, Hamilton and Kilmarnock.

As the players ran into the tunnel, Liam was the first substitute on the pitch to warm-up and I announced with great confidence that he’s come on for Cleve and turn the game.....

It seems that no match report can be written these days without expressing serious reservations about Derek McInnes. Unlike our previous league games, I have no insight about what messages Del had given to the players in the build up to the game tonight. What I do know, is that just like our game against St Mirren, he got the shape of the team all wrong.

My rants about playing 4-3-3 are all well documented, but tonight was crystal clear proof of how it doesn’t work. Times without number we saw midfielders play their team mates into trouble because we were always outnumbered in midfield and we had no width to open the play.

Sammy was too far from the wide boys to link with them, both Mayzo and Cleve tended to cut in when playing on the left, whilst Mackay had another poor game leaving us weak down the right as Midgie went further and further in-field as the first half progressed.

At one point, just before we opened the scoring, Sammy, Mayzo and Cleve were on the attack with Muzz bursting forward from midfield. The result was that Jody and Midgie dropped so deep in midfield they created an enormous hole between attack midfield. They actually got so deep they forced our back line towards Enckleman.

Jobbie McCall instructed his players to build the foundations of counter-attacks in this wide expanse. Thanks to Anderson playing at international standard, chances were kept to a minimum. Not once did I see McInnes, try to push the centre halves up and close the gap. Bizarre.

When we went 4-4-2 in the second half, all these problems were rectified.

Final talking point of the night has to be the referee booking Peaso for diving. I may be wrong, but I strongly suspect contact was made; but Peaso’s stunt diving was fit for Rugby Park or Tynecastle. His behaviour is not becoming of a St Johnstone player. I was delighted to see him get booked. On a similar note, it was good to see Mayzo play a more honest game tonight. Not once did I cringe at a dive from the wee man.

In a wee deviation from the norm, I’m gonna rate the players in a tabloid style format:

Enckleman – Too many unforced errors. Like Smith last year, he’s been hyped up by our fans. He’s not good enough for Saints and his wages are a burden to the club. A goalkeeper remains the number one signing priority. Communication is no better now than it was in August.

Mackay – Another sub-standard game. Struggled in the 4-3-3 and didn’t get much better when we used 4-4-2 in the second half. I suspect he’s carrying an injury, though my man in the know strongly refutes my hunch. Something isn’t right and he’s definitely gone back to his form of last season.

Duberry – Good performance. Strong in the air, bold in the tackle and rarely caught out of position. Committed to the game, despite the elements.

Anderson – Man of the match by a country mile. Everything a centre half should be. Current form should see him get some sort of international recognition, B cap or some such.

Grainger – A man under pressure from Alan Maybury. Scarcely put a foot wrong despite challenging conditions and a ridiculous first half shape/formation.

Millar – Quiet night but grafted away well. A mature head who showed great bravery on the ball, especially when things were tight in centre-midfield.

Morris – See above. Still looks jaded and tired on a heavy pitch.

Taylor – Waste of a strip

May – Quiet night. McCall has seen a fair bit of Mayzo this year and knew what to expect from him. Still made a valuable contribution; often creating space and never getting flustered.

Samuel – Cameo performance – tantalising all night long without delivering. If only he had finished his one on one....

Craig – Game changing goal. Played some nice balls and showed great tenacity. His partnership with Danny showed signs of being restored and that is crucial to our push for top six.

MacDonald – Hard to judge his contribution as the game was dead when he made his entrance. Dive was poor stuff and his yellow card was thoroughly merited.

Parkin – No time to impress.

McInnes – Shambles of a first half. Corrected at half time but the strikers still weren’t being played in the right areas of the pitch. No excuse for tonight – he should have learned from St Mirren and every other game where he’s tried this stupid tactic.

The Partick Thistle team did their vocal support proud, but we are rightfully into the next round and can look forward to a wee trip to Brechin. It should be a brilliant day, but it’s never gonna be a brilliant game. Can I take a scrappy one-nil now?

Hamilton (Home) 2 February 2011

May Day

Every so often, there comes a magical moment of, “I told you so!” Tuesday night was one such moment.

As Sammy seemed to be heading nowhere, a deserved bit of luck saw him break free and cut back a ball that Stevie May had brilliantly positioned himself to receive. The ball was slightly over-hit and the chance was far from easy, yet it was finished with such aplomb and style that you would be forgiven for thinking the ball was laid on a plate. Watch the highlights and you’ll see the skill in close detail.

The East stand rose as one and a new hero was born. I love these moments, I live for these highs – but I also want to bring a sense of balance and perspective. As I was cuddling my mates and breathing a huge of relief, somewhere in the Main stand sat Andy Jackson...

As I’ve mentioned to many of you, I feel under huge pressure whenever May takes to the pitch. You almost all know that a small number of players enter into a special place in mind. Of the current crop, from back to front, I’ve laid my reputation on the line for Maybury, Gartland, Grainger, Craig, Adams, and Parkin; but Anderson, Moon and May are different. These three guys are fantastically talented lads who have been overlooked in favour other players.

Anderson and Moon have both been in the last chance saloon, whilst May has spent his whole career as second fiddle to Reynolds. Throughout the hullaballoo, I’ve remained convinced by these three and at this point in time, I seem to be wholly vindicated. Nevertheless, it is important to realise that Mayzo is 18. Life changes fast at that age and he’s gonna be far more exposed than Jacko was, because he’s scoring for fun in the SPL not the SFL1. To put things into perspective, we’re talking about a kid that drives an old Renault Clio, who passed his test just a few months ago, who still can’t grow a beard. It’s vital that the readers of this piece of sanctimonious drivel help Stevie, the club and perhaps the national team by supporting him through both the peaks and the valleys.

It’s all peaks this week, as it was for Mooner after his goal scoring start at Broadwood – remember Motherwell on Boxing Day? Mooner with tears in his eyes as he spoke of his disappointment at being played on the left and subsequently being hooked at half time with a rollicking from Del. The valleys are close at hand for Stevie May; we must stand by him at those times.

Anyway, rant over. The important thing is if you thought the first goal was good, watch the second one. A great ball from Liam to the hugely impressive Maybury who attempted a mazy run, sclaffed a ball into the box and watched in admiration as Mayzo poked it him with coolness and ruthless guile – it was trademark Mayzo.

Of course for wee Mayzo to get a couple of goals we had to have a game of football and that generally requires 22 players.

Del’s starting line-up was bizarre at best. Starting at left back, Liam Craig took the berth meaning a start for our latest recruit whose name is simply too hard to type. The wee refugee from Hearts looks like he should be a performer in the Moscow State Circus – soon to appear in Glasgow and the best  £25 you’ll ever spend – he also looks like he could become a football player, but so did Myrie-Williams. Trouble is, like Myrie-Williams, he’s started off very badly; not helped by being thrown into a match far too soon. That he was withdrawn at half-time tells its own story.

It’s beyond doubt that he has massive skill and super pace, but I doubt we’ll ever see him do much and I fear it’s another waste of wage. You also have to suspect that it spells the end of Cleveland Taylor. It’s well known that Del likes an imbalance in his team so that one side is attacking and the other is solid. As Midgie is out-performing Craig, by a handsome margin this season, it’s hard for Cleve to get a game on what might be his strongest side. The capture of Novy, surely means that he’ll generally start ahead of Cleve and that will mean that our winger plays on the left, as Fil Morais so often did last season.

Elsewhere in the line-up, Murray Davidson was probably lucky to retain his berth ahead of Adams, and certainly didn’t justify the pick. He paired Jody Morris who Tweeted that he was struggling on Sunday morning at training. The midfield dynamo was withdrawn a few minutes early and one wonders if Sunday’s session was too far.

Hamilton fielded a decent team but were without Neil and Mensing and such a threadbare squad simply can’t cope without influential players. Elebert was also posted missing following an injury in the warm-up. Up top they fielded the unpronounceable Argie and my old pal Curier.

I fear Curier every time he plays against us, but both him and Damien C were well shackled by Doobs and Ando for most of the night. Very rarely did they threaten our goal. When the Saints reject, Tom Elliot appeared, their goal threat was almost nullified.

Anderson is being heavily patronised by McInnes in the newspapers. Lines of print are being wasted by moronic journalists who are happy to ignorantly write that Duberry is teaching Anderson how to defend. The truth is that Del chose to ignore Anderson’s merits because he doesn’t like the man. I’m the first to admit that Ando has made some daft mistakes, not least in the opening game of the season. But to pretend that he’s somehow a better defender this year than 2006, when he starred at Ibrox, is frankly appalling. He’s flourishing because he’s getting a run of games and that breeds confidence. Such a shame that Del tries to knock his confidence all week, particularly on Thursdays.

His partner in crime has had a topsy turvy January, but on Tuesday night he was back to his dominant best. Doobs will never be good on the deck and he’s arguably not the greatest influence either on or off-field, but he’s a first rate defender who compliments Anderson perfectly. Strong in the tackle, dominant in the air and undoubtedly intimidating in the tunnel – the big man played well.

Behind them, Enckleman only had to work at corner kicks. Dougie Imrie, a man we should have signed when Owen had him watched, dropped some beautifully flighted balls into the box and the big guys of Hamilton tried hard to bully him into the net. The lanky albino was a match for their games and looked genuinely steady – if only he could learn to communicate with his team mates. He’s building a relationship with fans; he should build some ties with his defenders.

One man who he does have an understanding with is Dave Mackay. On at least three occasions we brilliantly exploited Hamilton’s weak left side, when Enckleman threw a long ball into the feet of Cup Tie who carried the Mitre forward, often unchallenged. Hopefully this trick continues to work well and we don’t have to witness the debacle of Midge standing at right back while Cup Tie flaps his hands on the touchline. The right back didn’t shine too brightly, but he didn’t have to. He isn’t the answer at right back, but he’s perhaps good enough to stick with into next year if Duberry remains at Saints. If big Doobs decides to skedaddle, it’ll be Ando and Dave at centre half, but will Maybury be the right back?

On t’other side, Liam Craig had a difficult first 45. Novy is winger, not a worker and Liam found the going tough and the surface tricky. Nevertheless, his discipline is at a terrific level and he’s very level headed these days. He stands up and works hard; he reads the game well. When he moved into midfield, he remained a long way short of his best form from last season, but still showed enough to make a difference.

Liam was replaced at left back by Alan Maybury. My thoughts on Maybury and Parkin have been well documented and their treatment by Del at Tynecastle was indefensible. When we saw him run on, I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, a knob jockey behind me decided to slag him before the match had started and with such experts as Edstar and SaintKev in earshot, I made a deliberate attempt to yell encouragement at the left back all night long. He showed an incredible resolve and wonderful attitude throughout his 45 minutes on the park. He had a couple of slips near the end, but that was exacerbated by Hamilton throwing caution to the wind and Jody slowly vanishing from the game. Overall, to my mind, Maybury has erased Tynecastle with his performance. In some ways it’s a shame that Grainger is back on Saturday.

I mentioned Morris earlier and there’s little doubt that he’s been off games in 2011. Perhaps age is catching up with the Englishman; perhaps the travelling is harder than he thought (especially with the number of days Del’s had the boys in) or perhaps he’s carrying a niggling injury. Whatever the case, he’s struggling a bit and it’s important that he re-discovers his early season form; at least until Mooner gets back!

His play mate in centre midfield is Murray D, a man who’s let down his many fans with an awful run of form. Against Hearts he showed flashes of an upturn in form but it all went wrong again against Hamilton. I’ve called for Adams’ inclusion for the last few weeks and Tuesday was the ideal time to get him back into the first team. Not only did Del fail to do so, he also failed to let him come on as a subbie when it was clear that both midfielders were struggling badly. I’m afraid I can’t explain what Del is thinking. Adams has not let us down and has always looked good. We were comfy at two nil and it was the perfect time to introduce Jamie. Still, in Del some trust....

On the right wing, Midgie had another unconvincing game. The wee grafter is always gonna be one of my favourites, simply because he plays from box to box. Nevertheless, some of his runs seemed badly timed and some of his balls were either the wrong choice or simply poorly executed. His type of play will always suffer with the tattie field playing surface and I suspect that he will come back into form. I certainly wouldn’t consider dropping him.

Up top, Mayzo can’t really be faulted. He could have scored more goals but the two he scored were pretty good weren’t they? Sammy played reasonably well, but I’d still prefer to see May start with Parkin and have Peaso as super-sub. I’m afraid I see no future for Sammy at this club.

The biggest let-down of the night wasn’t Novy the refugee, nor Del’s failure to play Adams, nor the appearance of Cleve – the failure was the crowd. St Johnstone are pulling all the stops to get the crowds into McDiarmid, including a radical overhaul of club staff and board accountability. The offers for Tuesday night were quite exceptional yet our crowd was fit for a top of the table SFL2 derby.

We need to all pull together and get the cash to the club, not to Inverness! Speaking of the Highlanders; we really have no excuse to miss out on top six now. The top four are set in stone while Killie now look quite good for fifth leaving us to fight with the Arabs, Well and ICT for sixth spot. I still think we’ll fail, but it’s looking far better than it did in autumn. Enjoy the ride...