northstbuddie

Sad - but the pessimists are in the majority on this topic. When we 'peaked' in the 80s, Rangers and Celtic were averaging about half what they get now. Hearts and Hibs are now at almost record attendance levels and Aberdeen have failed to replicate St Mirren in attendance decline since the 80s. So this is not necessarily part of a national decline in attendances - more a local one due to the fact that we have not enjoyed much success in staying in the top six in Scotland since the 80s. I am not saying that we are ready to invest in expanding the stadium at this moment in time, but to aim for say 10,000+ (on at least ten times a season) within five successful years in the Scottish Premiership is not an unreasonable target for a town the size of Paisley. I am afraid that there will be more than a few struggling to get a seat at our dinky little junior football stadium next season if interest in the Scottish Premiership grows as anticipated by some pundits.

That makes sense - only if you consider that St Mirren are incapable of growing to meet future demand. Perhaps you are too young to remember being squashed into Love Street with 30,000+ for a Scottish cup tie with Celtic. Then you will point out that we have deteriorated from these heady days and there is no way back - especially with your pessimistic outlook.

Thanks to JR’s premature departure we have half a team at present - just one week or so before the return to training for the new season. Our immediate target therefore should be to sign the other half.

Now that the new manager situation is practically settled, it’s now time to rekindle the feel-good factor and get behind Alan Stubbs if his appointment is confirmed within the next couple of days. There have been differences aired on here due to the fact there did not appear to be any one outstanding candidate ready to take over the reins from Jack Ross. The St Mirren support was a significant factor in the satisfactory conclusion to the season just ended and it is important that that continues into the new season. Probably very few on here envied the task facing GLS and TF in choosing the right person/s to take over from JR and JF. Now that this unfortunate disruption is nearly over we have a lot of catching up to do to sign the players required to enable the feel-good factor to continue into season 2018/19.

This guy is worth a punt (despite his age) if we could afford him:- https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/when-alex-ferguson-got-sacked-st-mirren-40-years-job-made-him

Atheism is the belief that there is not a god - as you say yourself, that is your own personal belief. I happen to believe along with millions of others that there is. Each to their own belief system.

So what is the position with the sell-on clause in the situation where Celtic and Hibs do a player exchange? I would imagine that it depends on the wording of the sell-on clause agreed by St Mirren with Hibs. Surely it shouldn't matter whether McGinn's overall sell-on valuation is determined purely in pounds sterling or a combination of a swap + cash?

I think that you will find that atheism is generally recognised to be a religion - just like any other belief system. This legal ruling was established by the US Supreme Court in 2005. You either believe in God or you don't - either way it's merely a belief.

Including atheism?

Continuing with the hypothetical theme from earlier discussion, who would you like to see as the respective assistant if any of the following got the manager's job:- Paul Lambert, Robbie Neilson, Jim McInyre or David Hopkin ?

Why did Ferguson take St Mirren to an industrial tribunal (and lost his case against unfair dismissal) then?

On the other hand, the same could be said for Larson in that he did not set the heather on fire as manager . Lambert perhaps does not talk an impressive game (like for instance JR) but he probably has other qualities which would serve St Mirren well. However, like you, I have no way of knowing for certain, as I do not know him personally.

Recruitment selection is a hypothetical exercise in that you usually end up comparing apples with oranges.

Who from the list of names so far quoted in the press, (apart from possibly Steve Clarke), would have done a better job than Lambert at the clubs he was at? Even the great JR suffered in his first 6 months at St Mirren - did we not have the lowest points tally by December 2016 in our entire history? And he failed to prevent Alloa from being relegated in his first season there.

Just like Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock?

Which "Might" would that be - never heard of him. And I thought it was often the player's decision not to renew his contract - eg. Gavin Reilly. Are players in Reilly's situation going to hang on until we appoint a manager if they get a good offer from elsewhere? I have no problem with GS and TF showing due diligence but hopefully they will refrain from dithering in this process. I wholeheartedly agree that GS and TF have been good for St Mirren so far - I am only expressing concern that we don't take too long in this particular situation to come to a decision.

If you say so happy clapper of the highest order.

We were in a position of strength a week or so ago and have now lost our management team and there is the strong possibility we will lose two of our best players and also miss out in signing others who are currently out of contract. By the time we stroke the Ts and dot the Is in possibly 3 weeks time our competitors will have gained the advantage over us. There again, perhaps you prefer the Ipswich way of recruitment as against the Sunderland way? It's not a choice between knicker wetting or happy clapping - just plain common sense and forward planning .

If that's what you're suggesting, that does not make sense. It would appear from press reports that we are starting the recruitment process from scratch. My reference to the past 6 months reflects the very strong possibility that JR intended to move on before next season. He seemed to have itchy feet! However, the writing has been on the wall for the past 2 or 3 weeks and we are at a crucial stage of the year where potential players and managers are in a state of limbo in that contracts are terminating or being reviewed. At least 3 of the prospective candidates are currently free agents. Ipswich Town FC procrastinated and lost their man - or there again maybe JR was not their man. On the other hand, it did not take Sunderland, of the third tier in England, long to appoint JR after their take-over!

I find it incredulous that unless TF and GS have both been in a coma for the past six months, they did not see JR's imminent departure coming and did not therefore have a plan in place to identify their man without going through the laborious process of formal recruitment red tape which could take up to 2 or 3 weeks to conclude at least. In the meantime potential signings are possibly slipping through our hands and the mood of uncertainty and despondency is deepening at a time when we should have been building on the momentum of last season. Are we going to make the same mistake as Ipswich Town FC by fiddling while Rome burns?

Thanks again for this Jack - https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/965273/Sunderland-transfer-news-Jack-Ross-set-to-make-shock-first-signing-EXCLUSIVE

Welcome back to St Mirren Paul. I am sure you and your big brother will be very important players for us next season. However, your wee brother may also be a key "player" in St Mirren's fortunes in their return to the Scottish Premiership.

Having been one of the first to tip Jack Ross for the St Mirren job, based on his St Mirren connections and the fact that he was (even at that time) highly regarded by his peers in the game, I will stick my neck out and suggest that Paul Lambert could (for similar reasons) be the right man for St Mirren at this point in time. However, the big question is would he be interested in coming back to St Mirren (and Scottish football) and could we afford what he would be looking for financially? For several reasons I think this might have some mileage:- He apparently still has a house in the area I would imagine he has already made enough from the game to make him comfortable for the rest of his life and perhaps the salary would not be a major hurdle Despite what others say on here, he has a reasonably good record at a much higher level than us - similar to Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock St Mirren gave him his start in professional football and perhaps he feels an affinity with the club (just like Jack!) He would have an excellent working knowledge of the talent available in England to bring in the quality needed for living in the top six in Scotland St Mirren are a club with the potential for so much more to be achieved and have good facilities to make that happen On the other hand who else has these qualifications for the job and would not have a risk element attached for whatever reason. Even JR was not guaranteed to make a success of things next season in the Scottish Premiership. And for good measure, I would suggest that perhaps Alan McManus should be blooded as his assistant as a possible successor for some time in the future.

For what it's worth:- http://the72.co.uk/103436/former-wolves-stoke-boss-favourite-scottish-job/

How about Arsene Wenger then - he's free.