northstbuddie

We have done well so far to be just one point off top spot and if we win our next three games we will be top at the end of the year. However, we appear to struggle against the likes of Dumbarton and Brechin and seem to have very few options in team selection and formation from game to game. We will need to strengthen in the January transfer window if we want to overtake Dundee United to win the Championship. But what a transformation from this time last year! PS: We now have the best goals difference in the league.

Whew !!!

Based on your own reasoning, why should St Mirren take a chance on someone with even less experience than JR?

Do you honestly expect JR to have achieved in just over 1 season what AF did in 4?

Yes you most certainly are.

We at least got nearly 4 seasons out of Sir Alec whose Wikipedia entry reads:- "Ferguson was manager of St Mirren from 1974 until 1978, producing a remarkable transformation of a team in the lower half of the old Second Division watched by crowds of just over 1,000, to First Division champions in 1977, discovering talent like Billy Stark, Tony Fitzpatrick, Lex Richardson, Frank McGarvey, Bobby Reid and Peter Weir while playing superb attacking football. The average age of the league winning team was 19 and the captain, Fitzpatrick, was 20. St Mirren have the distinction of being the only club ever to sack Ferguson. He claimed wrongful dismissal against the club at an industrial tribunal but lost and was given no leave to appeal. According to a Billy Adams Sunday Herald article on 30 May 1999, the official version is that Ferguson was sacked for various breaches of contract including unauthorised payments to players. He was counter-accused of intimidating behaviour towards his office secretary because he wanted players to get some expenses tax free. He did not speak to her for six weeks, confiscated her keys and communicated only through a 17-year-old assistant. The tribunal concluded that Ferguson was "particularly petty" and "immature". It was claimed during the tribunal by St Mirren chairman, Willie Todd, that Ferguson had "no managerial ability". On 31 May 2008, The Guardian published an interview with Todd (then aged 87), who had sacked Ferguson many years earlier. Todd explained that the fundamental reason for the dismissal was a breach of contract relating to Ferguson having agreed to join Aberdeen. Ferguson told journalist Jim Rodger of the Daily Mirror that he had asked at least one member of the squad to go to Aberdeen with him. He told the St Mirren staff he was leaving. Todd expressed regret over what happened but blamed Aberdeen for not approaching his club to discuss compensation In 1977, Ferguson turned down the manager's job at Aberdeen. The role went to Billy McNeill, who returned to Celtic after only a year, leaving the role available for Ferguson once again." Is history about to repeat itself?

All the indications so far from the press and Aberdeen fans are that he is. Sadly Aberdeen is one of the very few teams in Scotland that could perhaps tempt JR to leave St Mirren before the end of this season. The question which might be asked in a few days time is would he and JF have got us promoted this season if they had stayed.

And who are Dumbarton sounding out?

Meanwhile back at the ranch, who are the St Mirren board sounding out?

Two posters on this thread - so it must be true!

If the stories about the planned club bender in Belfast last night are true, it is not surprising that we got the performance we witnessed earlier in the afternoon. Obviously the players' focus was not on the business in hand which is disappointing after the support they got from those fans who travelled to Inverness in Baltic conditions last week. I hope I am wrong in this conclusion.

BBC match stats:- Home TeamSt MirrenAway TeamDumbarton Possession Home52% Away48% Shots Home5 Away11 Shots on Target Home0 Away6 Corners Home3 Away7 Fouls Home8 Away10 The most telling stat is "zero" shots on target (as against 6 to Dumbarton) the whole game closely followed by 11-5 to Dumbarton on shots at goal and 7-3 to Dumbarton on corner kicks. This defeat can't all be apportioned to Stelios' red card. Every team has a bad day and this was one of our most spectacular!

4 of the 5 Saints rejects ran the show today and the 5th - the goalie Gallagher, hardly had the chance to prove himself until a minute from the end. Kyle Hutton did himself justice for a change at Greenhill Road and was the most influential midfielder on the pitch - unfortunately we let him go at a bad time in his career when he was suffering from a severe loss of confidence. Obviously based on this performance we are not yet good enough for a move up a division.

This speculation only serves to remind us that the present feel-good factor is unlikely to last much beyond this season - if that! Should JR & JF succeed in getting us promoted this season, it is only going to be a matter of time until they are enticed to move on to greener pastures, so we should enjoy the present while we can, especially when you remember what kind of situation we were in this time last season. What will be interesting is if the management team are persuaded to leave St Mirren before Lewis Morgan.

But would we want to be promoted if we do not improve on our present level? I agree that we could be promoted with this present team (because there is no clear leader of the pack at present), but we would require a significant step up in performance to survive in the top league if we were to gain promotion. Considering where we were in the Championship this time last year, our management team can be relied upon to achieve that!

The season still has a long way to go, but at this stage we are just falling short of where we need to be to be able to survive in the Premiership (if we were to get there). If we get a windfall from the sell-on clause for John McGinn (if he goes in January) and are able to hold on to Morgan for the rest of the season, we should direct any transfer money into strengthening in all areas of our team in January. Otherwise, another season in the Championship would not be the end of the world.

What is more satisfying/enjoyable - struggling to stay at the top of the Championship or struggling to avoid relegation from the Premiership?

Says a lot about this league when the team which has dropped 4 points in the last 2 matches is still sitting 2 points clear at the top.

We are now starting to develop a level of consistency befitting a championship winning team. What is there not to be happy with?

So?

Strong looking team - we should get 3 points - then again we are St Mirren - so don’t expect us to do this the easy way!

Followed closely by Liam Smith. Scotland's tactics in the first half were to blame for England's domination. Any team that sit back like that can only expect one result. Morgan was reduced to bit-defender in the first half but once Scotland started feeding him in an attacking position in the second half, England were forced to change personnel and formation in an attempt to close him down. He was one Scottish player who would not have looked out of place in the England team. The much lauded Calvert-Lewin had a big impact on the game but only because he got the supply that Lewis lacked.

"They say the mark of champions is to win when not at your best, but quite what it says about St Mirren – who managed to go back to the top of the Championship whilst at times being nothing short of dreadful – remains to be seen." - extract from the Scotsman. We certainly can't argue that we have lacked a rub of the green this season - even several of the games that we have won comfortably in the end, were only after we should have been dead and buried by the opposition. If we are going to win the league we will have to improve significantly - especially in defence. However, injuries have been unkind to us so far this season, and we are after all still sitting top of the table as we go into the international break. What a pleasant change from last season!

"They say the mark of champions is to win when not at your best, but quite what it says about St Mirren – who managed to go back to the top of the Championship whilst at times being nothing short of dreadful – remains to be seen." - extract from the Scotsman. We certainly can't argue that we have lacked a rub of the green this season - even several of the games that we have won comfortably in the end, were only after we should have been dead and buried by the opposition. If we are going to win the league we will have to improve significantly - especially in defence. However, injuries have been unkind to us so far this season, and we are after all still sitting top of the table as we go into the international break. What a pleasant change from last season!

A comfortable win in the end but ICT had 6 really good scoring chances in the second half before we started to dominate. If Lewis Morgan plays like this through to December he will be gone by January for £2M+. Enjoy him while you can.