northstbuddie

Picture shows Fred Douglas and one of St Mirren's former managers. Fred was the brother of Stewart who was a life long St Mirren fan and the man behind Carlton YM for many decades. Stewart was also latterly President of Renfrewshire SFA and had the proud honour of presenting the Renfrewshire Cup to St Mirren at Cappielow during a typical summer monsoon in Greenock. Incidently, the tenement I was born in (in North Street) can be seen over Fergie's right hand shoulder.

I wouldn't be heartbroken if we don't make any more signings before the deadline.

Both are similar in many ways - for instance they are both good communicators and have a strong affinity to St Mirren. However, JG has shown a greater loyalty to the club. Remember the days when JR was being offered more attractive deals at St Mirren, and then the next day was off to 'Wherever FC' to interview to line his pockets further? We have enjoyed a welcome period of stability with JG (as he promised) when he took over the job and no doubt one day he may be tempted to move on to greener fields. But a few of us still remember when he was offered a move to the 'B team' as a player, he chose to remain at St Mirren and the rest is history. Whereas with JR - it seemed to be an almost weekly scenario where he was being lured away from St Mirren. With "St Mirren Till I Die" JR - his actions spoke louder than his words. Having said all that, I will always be appreciative of the hope and new life he gave to St Mirren when we were going through a difficult period in our history.

At this point in time - if we had the choice of Ross or Goodwin as manager of the Buddies - who would you go for?

Are we safe from relegation? Had a dream that we defeated Dundee United 5-1 at Tannadice and then followed that up with a 2-1 victory over Celtic at Parkhead.

Well done everyone. Great result.

Like last Sunday, another example of JG selecting the wrong formation. It's anyone's guess how we line up (and perform).

Not so easy for others to decide - including JG. We are lucky to have this wealth of talent in the midfield. I agree however, that Doyle Hayes offers more bight in the midfield. One of Ethan's weaknesses is his indecision in the tackle, but Erhahon is a classy work in progress. And we haven't even mentioned McGrath yet - one of the most improved players in the SPFL.

Who will make way for Doyle-Hayes? Or should we go with the starting eleven against United?

Jim obviously hasn't quite found the right balance in the past two months. Both Foley and Flynn should have been involved more and this has cost us points and a place in the League Cup final. We are fortunate to have the young talent coming through the ranks but too often they have been left to sink or swim, whereas having a wise 'old head' beside them would have been to their benefit and the team's.

Then don't leave spaces with a 4-4-2 formation. Celtic's main weakness is their defence, but if we are not attacking that weakness, we are unlikely to score. 4-5-1 has not worked well for us in the past and we have had to rely on a bit of luck along the way to pick up as many points as we have.

Sorry - did not notice Obika.

Who are the "two up"?

Surely this is not always the annual answer to our problems - ie. January transfer window panic signings. I would rather see us get the best out of the squad we have (barring injuries) and by finding and fielding our best formation. It's an important part of the manager's job to motivate and build up the players he has. Do the supporters not deserve an explanation as to why the 2 'F's are not getting a chance to prove or establish themselves when it is clear to most people that we need more experience in the midfield. It is also obvious to most of us that we will not get the best out of Brophy by playing him as a single striker. We have only occasionally shown an attacking style to our play and created a lot of scoring opportunities. So perhaps it is the system/formation/coaching that's at fault rather than the personnel.

It's not just effort that wins games - we need a bit of guile and quality. Self belief and concentration have also disappeared in recent weeks. Whilst I rate some of our young midfield players they need some old wise heads beside them and too much has been asked of the young ones. And yes - as everyone else has said, we are far too negative in our formation and attitude. But we have the nucleus of a better team than the one that turned up today.

No we haven't - we've been like this for a while.

If we lose this one - I won't be too disappointed. We do not deserve anything . Lacking quality and second to the ball - and as usual practically no efforts on goal. Someone please point out the silver lining.

3-0 for St Johnstone - our B team are not doing too well.

I was about to say - after today's performance back to lockdown for some light relief!

Agree - left wing is not Erwin's best position - but he gave effort and stayed on his feet most of the time - unlike Obika who probably has more raw talent but struggles to get off the seated position when tackled. Agree also tactics did not help - we were again too cautious going forward. We seem to model our style of play on Alf Ramsey's World Cup-winning team - two to the side and one back. That's me giving my age away.

Plus points today for the benefit of Oaky who was apparently reading a book so cannot comment on our performance today. Defensively again we were ok. Midfield not creative enough in the opposition half - but Erhahon looked more like his old self when he came on. McGrath was again our top midfield performer - but he needs more support. Flynn and Foley must now get their chance to prove their worth. Thought Brophy showed he is an improvement on what we have witnessed so far up front. Erwin played well, showed plenty of effort and linked up quite well with Brophy. Quaner also looked promising until his early retiral - hope his injury is not too serious.

We have not played well since 16 December v Sevco. It's the St Mirren way. Today confirmed that we are a bottom (rather than top) six club unless we can improve with the new signings finding their feet. Since 16 December, we have been fortunate to pick up the few points we have.

Is that players or managers?

The decision to replay these games could work in our favour now that we have signed 2 players who might be able to resolve our goal scoring drought. In all fairness though, should Brophy and Quaner be permitted to play in the matches against Hamilton and Motherwell, as they were not available for the original fixtures?