northstbuddie

I say it again - thought Fraser got a touch to the ball at the VAR (again) penalty.

Did I imagine Fraser got a touch on the ball before contact with Kent?

It’s not.

Is there a team in this league who is less comfortable on the ball than us? It was purely our effort and aggression that got us into a winning position tonight. Whilst there were a few good individual performances for the Buddies tonight, our basic inability to keep possession is our biggest single weakness over the season so far, couple with our negative/defensive tactics.

Once again we got what we asked for. Instead of staying on the front foot and adding to our score against 10 men, we played for corner tip-taps. We have lost a few points this season with our negative tactics. Having said that, where did the extra extra 2 minutes come from? Should that go to VAR???

Will our 10 men behind the ball tactics continue to reap benefits tonight? - Possibly if our luck holds out Or will we start to play football and lose? - Unlikely, we can't string 2 passes together

Lack of skill was the very point I was trying to make - our negative stategy is dictated by the fact we can't keep possession of the ball. I am old enough to remember the days when the British/Scottish press were very critical of the Inter Milan era in Italy when Celtic had possession but could not break down the Italian "anti-football tactics". At least the Italians of that era had defensive skills to implement that stategy. We have a small handful of players eg. Strain, Erhahon, O'Hara, Flynn and Kiltie who are better than the rest in not giving the ball away to the opposition.

Our home results have certainly been better than we had any right to expect. I have previously given Robinson credit for getting more out the players than Goodwin before him. However, whether at home or certainly away, we have been consistently second best in terms of possession - even against the likes of Kilmarnock and Livi. Was there even one league game this season when we had more possession than the opposition? Sevco, Celtic, Hearts and Dundee United have already confirmed in Europe that defensive strategies are for losers. It must be very doubtful if this negative strategy will continue to work for the whole season.

We are (and have been for some time) the least skillfull team in the SPL. We can hardly string two passes together; are second to every ball; and have no composure in front of goal. Our defensive set-up was supposed to be our strong point, but most teams can cut through us like butter - how many goals have we now conceeded away from home? And our best central defender is continuously left on the bench which says a lot about SR's obstinate and blinkered judgement. Whatever confidence was generated by the players at the start of the season, has now evaporated in a sea of incompteence.

That telephoto shot of the moon has been the highlight of the match so far.

A fairer reflection on the score. No way should we have been winning this game so far on this performance.

A match that truly typifies the Scottish game - absolute garbage. Robinson seems set on re-trying what has obviously been failing from day one. We have no idea how to defend, build up play in midfield or attack - that just about covers every aspect of our play!

Whatever - it doesn’t really matter- it’s keep our shape and DEFEND - a tactic which has not brought dividends up until now away from home and one employed by the ‘Scottish Elite’ in Europe with the same disastrous results. Surely football is all about winning and not ‘not getting beaten’.

And have with some squeaky results at home but have lost a barrow load of goals away. Not a convincing case for our tactics so far this season despite our points tally.

SR in his post match interview was less than coy when asked if he would be interested in the NI job - if offered it. Just as we seem to be making progress we invariably are faced with the threat of a managerial change. I suppose it's a sign that things are going well at the moment.

Thanks a bucket VAR Th

Yet again!

Yet another chance to go third. However, after last week's performance, I'm expecting nothing better than a draw. Yet again, remember this is St Mirren, so if we were lousy last week, the chances are we will be brilliant this week!

I'm in general agreement with your comments and feel that Gogic must now be challenging O'Hara and Erhahon for a starting place. And likewise Dunne's starting place must be at stake on this form, with Shaughnessy being more reliable in the middle. Also when Tanser's mojo's not working, as was the case today, Tait offers more overall to the team - both defensively and attack-wise. Robinson should therefore consider freshening up his starting formation for the match against Dundee United. On the plus side - Strain is a class act.

How can we have played so poorly and not been beaten? We certainly deserved to be - and the clean sheet was more a reflection on Killie's poor finishing than our defensive abilities. In our next game we should possibly try the novel experiment of playing with a midfield.

Hope you're right and I'm wrong.

For the second time this season, we have the chance to go third in the league - albeit after this week's European results, it appears that the SPL is of a second if not third rate standard. Getting back to this afternoon, I have an awful feeling that a draw will be the best we can get - given that Kilmarnock will probably set up similar to ourselves and will be difficult to score against.

And if we had lost today - we would be 7th instead of 3rd. A day to remember - not since the days of Jim Clunie have we sat in such a dizzy height in the top league.