northstbuddie

So you think this is the "point" when we should be making the assessment just after JR has brought in 11 new players last month? The team on Sunday (in the second half) were certainly not meandering!

Unbelievable (yet again maybe not) that there are 'supporters' on here who appear to be more obsessed with getting the manager sacked at this time just a couple of weeks after he has brought in 11 players to address the glaring weaknesses which JR inherited, than in commenting on one of the most crucial games in our history this Saturday. In terms of points won since his arrival most of us agree that we had hoped for better but WHO would have been guaranteed to be more successful in that time given that the players inherited by JR were the most imbalanced and demotivated bunch of individuals that I have ever witnessed in St Mirren jerseys? Not one area of the team was functioning properly - from defence to midfield (especially) to attack. The extent of this systematic rot, stretching over several seasons, was such that no manager IMO would have done much better. It is too early to judge the effectiveness of the action taken by JR to rectify the situation but as they say 'Rome was not built in a day'. What I have witnessed in the past couple of weeks is a team which at long last has the potential and the ability to get us out of this mess.

Surely the team is beginning to pick itself after the influx of better quality players in the January transfer window and their performances since then. Barring injuries to key players and our share of good fortune I am confident that we can achieve the great escape. The management team and players have the ability to make up the deficit in points (only a minority on here would disagree) and the supporters have an important part to play in giving all involved their backing to make sure it happens. As other posters have suggested, JR would have to be very strong willed not to pick the starting eleven for the second half of last Sunday's game against TNS but with Cammy Smith replacing Rory Loy who has still to find his match fitness - he would be a good guy to have on the bench and come on as a second half sub if required. We also have the likes of Storie, Fjelde, Mackenzie, Quinn, Gordon (when fit again), Irvine and Todd as back up. That's a pretty decent squad in my books.

McGinn will score one of them but who for?

Wanting Ross out the door makes as much sense as voting for Brexit. Where is the reasoning or rational behind it? Who would be guaranteed to have done/do a better job than Ross? - or do we just keep sacking managers until we find the new Alec Ferguson?

Mixed emotions for you TC. Ross' team in the second half produced our best form of the season. The downer for you is that JR is one game further away from getting the sack. However don't give up hope. The first half was the 'old Saints' the second was the 'new Saints' perhaps an indication of things to come.

Too much is being attributed on here to a manager's potential to influence results as can be observed from Claudio Ranieri's dire experience this season at Leicester in contrast to last year's dream scenario. Sometimes things go wrong without apparent reason (from the manager's point of view) and more often than not the players' role in such circumstances is underplayed. Ranieri has not suddenly become a bad manager - and arguably the best manager in England at present, Arsene Wenger, has had few seasons where he has not experienced a losing streak. St Mirren were (are) in free-fall and have been for some time and even Sir Alec (sacked by St Mirren) has felt the ire of fans on many occasions and would be hard pushed to achieve the great escape for St Mirren in their present state. Jack Ross, despite what some state on here, is highly regarded by fellow professionals in the game and should be given time to prove himself.

With that we are both agreed and also that Ross should be given more time to prove himself. However you are deluded if you consider that the squad performed better with the previous manager although I have to accept that the results do not reflect my point of view.

But he did not have a track record to fall back on before St Mirren signed him as their manager.

It's you who is doing that, not me. If Man U had ditched Ferguson after his first season, he certainly would not have become Sir Alec. It is unbelievable (or maybe not) that there are people on here calling for Ross' head after just one game with a squad that he has had some input in. Before that he inherited the poorest squad in living memory to work with and most supporters recognised the scale of the problem facing the club and the time needed to sort it out.

Ferguson did not inherit a squad as poor as the one Ross got from Rae. Even Ferguson needed a bit of time to work his magic and that is all I am arguing for Ross.

Just like Manchester United did with Alec Ferguson after his first season with them?

I wish you would bin your stats, percentages and calculator - they are totally meaningless and irrelevant. What counts is how Jack's team performs on the park between now and the end of the season. Up until the Dumbarton game it has been Alec's team that has been underperforming. Having said that, neither Jack nor Alec have kicked a ball in anger all season - we perhaps over-estimate the influence managers have on players' performances on the park. What is undeniable is that the players we have had over the past 12 months have been the most under-performing players in the Championship - by a minimum of 7 points and a maximum of 35!

Thanks for pointing out my 'typo'.

Are you seriously suggesting that us grinding out results and escaping the noose last season was down to merit as against good fortune? Good luck is not a "habit you foster" (even by Alec Rae) and is something which happens in football from time to time. Statistics and percentages can be meaningless barometers of how a team is playing especially when churned out in the minutest detail. This season we have not generally had the rub of the green and while I am not using that as an excuse for Jack Ross or his team, I can only make meaningful comparisons of AR and JR's teams and their performances by what I have witnessed with my own eyes and not by interpreting selective statistics of games I had not attended personally. The sad fact is that we picked up a number of points last season that our play did not merit - which we can hardly claim this season! All I can state quite categorically is that JR's team was by far and away the worst St Mirren team I have ever had the displeasure to watch in my lifetime and I was not born yesterday as you may know. JR has had a momentous battle in trying to turn things round and might still yet fail to keep us up. But that is just an indication of how far our standards had dropped under Rae (and previous managers).

Even Jack Ross would not argue that results have been acceptable during his reign to date. However there seems to be a fallacy being put out that Alec Rae's team had the ability to "win ugly" and that was what enabled us to avoid relegation last season. The truth is that in most of the games I witnessed where we amassed a few points we were lucky to do so and it was not down to tactical nuance or stout defending. In practice we were getting out-played at home even by the likes of Alloa and were experiencing a charmed life in many matches where we were picking up points. The team was so imbalanced and could not string more than three passes together and we had absolutely no midfield to speak of. At least now there are signs of improvement but no more than that at this stage. The only so called experts who I have heard who do not rate Jack Ross as a coach are some of our own supporters. Everyone else seem to rate him highly.

Will this 'ambitious' project include the the basic surfacing (not resurfacing) of pavements in adjoining streets and the upliftment of litter? At present you are well advised to wear wellington boots in order to avoid the puddles and muck.

I ask again after the January transfer window - is the greatest escape still on - even although it will be an even greater escape than when this thread was first opened a month ago?

Especially from midfield.

Has the much maligned (and respected) TF had much to do with facilitating the whole process I wonder - along with the encouragement of GLS?

Even although the vast majority of Uk residents will be considerably worse off financially? "Brexit" was not mentioned in the referendum voting paper (check for yourself) - this was a 'Little Britain' slogan devised by the English right wing press. "Brexit means Brexit" was in turn, a catch phrase penned by the Tory propaganda machine and mouthed by Theresa Maybe, who was a remainer. But what does "Brexit means Brexit" mean? However if it means it will hit us severely in our pockets - what then, UK Brexiters?

This situation sums up nicely just why so many Scots are dissatisfied with the so-called Union in its present form. We are told that we are equal partners with a neighbouring country which has 10 times the population of Scotland's and surprise surprise we get outvoted on important issues like Brexit but are assured that the 'Government' will listen to the views of the Scottish people but then in practice nonchalantly ignore them completely. If you are happy with the current voting system and the way the Little Britain mentality functions you will be quite happy to continue supporting Brexit which will involve cutting ties with our closest and largest trading partners (by some considerable margin) and suffering all the financial implications that will involve - makes a lot of sense? However, the SNP should be careful not to jeopardise Scotland's future by pursuing half-baked policies of its own, just like the UK Parliament has on Europe. It seems likely (to me at least) that another Scottish referendum will end up with another 'NO' vote. What is likely to attract greater support is the introduction of a federal set up within the UK which would keep most people happy for most of the time.

Well done guys - a glimmer of light at long last. However, as Saints supporters, we have been here before, but are never the less hoping that this level of performance can be maintained in the league.

Apologies accepted St Ricky. This is one of the more interesting days for team selection in view of the influx of players during the transfer window. Should JR introduce the new players gradually or take this chance in the cup to be more adventurous and try out a basically new formation with a view to achieving the great escape? Taking account of yours and other comments on the team selection, I would therefore go for the following:- O'Brien Irvine, McKenzie, Fjelde, Demetriou McAllister(if fit), Magennis, Storrie, Morgan Sutton, McLear Subs: Langfield, Baird, Quinn, Clarkson, Mallan, Webster This starting formation would allow as many new players as possible to settle in but also allow for subs with experience but perhaps on the way out during this transfer window. If McAllister is not fit I would move Fjelde to midfield and bring in Baird in central defence.

At the risk of sounding a bit of a Jonah (we already have plenty on here and who can blame them), we are not unused to the influx of new faces at this time of the year and during the close season, but some of us are now a bit too long in the tooth to throw caution to the wind and be filled with unbridled enthusiasm for the remainder of this season. Having said that, I would like nothing better than for all of JR's signings to be successes on the field but recent past experiences have shown that things don't always work out as we would hope for. Probably like most on here, I have no personal knowledge of the players who have just joined us, but they sound as if they could do a job for us. We can only hope that JR can succeed where recent managers have blatantly failed - in getting the best out of his new signings and in so doing, getting the team to play to its full potential for a change. We the supporters also have a crucial role to play in backing the team and manager for the remainder of the season. I still think we could see the best ever end to a season in living memory.