northstbuddie

And where's the truth in saying something like that? Attendances may have been ok but that is despite the dramatic drop-off in the quality of football we are being asked to watch. Burying our head in the sand is one of the things we are comparatively good at!

It is difficult in the present era in Scotland to generate any enthusiasm for anything to do with football, because as a nation we are rapidly falling off the scales in terms of the quality of football on offer compared to most other countries in Europe. This is made much worse by the fact that St Mirren have fallen so far behind other comparable clubs within Scotland in the past few years. All the more reason to make a special effort to turn things round at St Mirren before it is too late. So anyone who is swithering as to backing the present bid or not - get the finger out or watch your club wither away into oblivion.

This - truly awful.

Season 2016/17 or at least the virtual reality version is obviously providing satisfaction to some.

If we were able to select some of the players we have released/sold-on in the past 3 years we could easily be challenging for at least a top 6 spot in the top league instead of struggling to survive in the second tier.

Are they growing on trees?

Just a thought. If we can't persuade Shankland to return for another season, could we not sound out Mahrez to give St Mirren another go with the promise of better weather this time round? I suppose that is as unlikely as it was for Leicester City winning the Premiership this season after narrowly escaping relegation last year. And that is almost as unlikely as St Mirren winning the Championship next season - based on this season's performances and the player pool that is likely to be available to us. However, it is good that there is an air of optimism on here for a change but let's not get carried away with ourselves - we have a huge mountain to climb from where we are at this moment in time.

A wake up call to remind us of how far we have fallen since 2013

That's rich - coming from you.

You didn't need to go out your way to prove my point - but thanks anyway.

Albeit to the mind of a well-balanced, impartial and knowledgable observer.

So atheism is now the majority belief system in Scotland? That explains a lot of things!

Having 'punted' in the last few seasons the likes of Craig Samson, Jeroen Tesselaar, Paul McGinn, Darren McGregor, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Paul McGowan, Gary Harkins and Doug Imrie, it might be argued that the last thing we need is another clearout of players. However, things are now so bad at Greenhill Road that there is no other choice than to offload as many of the current passengers as possible. Some will no doubt argue that we could not afford to keep some of the above players, but I can't help wondering that if we had had more competent management of the playing resources since 2013, whether a top four finish might have been enough to persuade some of these players to stay, or to persuade others, of proven ability, to join St Mirren. After all, on paper, we had a team capable of a top four finish. The problem was we had to play on grass instead. Alex Rae has a huge task ahead of him in turning things around with even a nucleus of the current squad for next season. The sad reality is that we are all going to severely regret, for the foreseeable future, the palpable failure by the BoD and management of the club in recent years to optimise the resources at their disposal.

You either believe in God or you don't believe in God. No-one is without their own personal belief - atheists included.

I have news for you - there are more than a few leading scientists who are Christians. The 'chance' you are talking about is actually natural mutation which I would fully accept. If you think there is no intelligence involved in bio-chemistry and that it just happens by chance if you give it long enough - then I have to accept that is your belief and nothing I am going to say is going to change that belief. However, try googling DNA molecule, human cell or bacterial flagellum and then explain for my simple mind how there is no intelligent design involved.

A couple of verses from John's gospel (written over 2,000 years ago) relate to much of the debate here:- John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 12:46 I (Jesus) have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. Not everyone accepts what is written in the Bible or that it is the inspired Word of God - but I do along with millions of people throughout the world (including a few in Paisley). ​The people who have an incredible faith are the ones who believe that our world just evolved by pure chance despite the miraculous intricacy and complexity of a finely balanced universe. After thousands of years of research, mankind is only now beginning to scratch the surface of its understanding of the amazing intelligence involved in for example the bio chemistry of the human body which was reflected in today's news that scientists are becoming more aware of how the body's own immune system can be utilised in the treatment of some cancers. The level of intelligence involved in bio chemistry is so complex - yet it all just happened by chance over millions of years? WOWWW! - that is incredible or should that be incredulous?

More than a few on here displaying a knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith which explains their cynicism and sarcastic comments on less important matters.

If only the first team squad could emulate them!

Exactly - I was also happy to get the points last week (and the week before) - I was merely making the point that we certainly did not deserve all three. There is a difference between winning "ugly" and doing so by riding our luck. If we are brutally honest, even Tommy Craig's team are superior to what we are witnessing now. And that's not Alex Rae's fault.

No planes?

Perhaps not - but I was hunted down by the pack last week for suggesting that our performances did not reflect our fair run of recent results.

I do!

Thanks mate. I thought I was stating the obvious and just repeating what many had said on here in recent weeks. Nothing would please me more than to see the Saints go on a good run and I wholeheartedly agree that there has been a significant improvement under Rae and Farrell and I have every confidence that they will reverse the decline we have witnessed in the past year or so. However, our performances will have to improve if we have serious hopes of bagging fourth place this season.

Well spelt for such a big word! I'll take that as a compliment.

Especially when it equates to £20 per shot on target at home in the 'second division'.