northstbuddie

For whatever reason (probably lack of money/good judgement) we have off-loaded a number of players at the end of the last few seasons only to try to make up lost ground as each season progressed by selecting inferior players from those they replaced. We have thus given ourselves a huge hurdle to get over and this all of our own making. Aside from the loan players we have made use of but couldn't afford to keep, we have disposed of the likes of Samson, Carey, McGowan, Harkins, Tesselaar, Imrie and McGinn. Granted not all of them achieved their full potential at St Mirren but where does the fault lie for that? At least we managed to re-sign Tess. As a result of this disruptive strategy we end up chasing our tails after the obligitory poor start to each season. The present pool of players is youthful but could develop into a useful team - given time, which we don't have. Today's game illustrated our obvious weaknesses - an attack with no natural goal scorers and a defence which lacks concentration and organisation and is easily panicked - even by the likes of Ross County! All we can do as supporters is hope that the current personnel can turn things round before it is too late. However we are where we are in the league by merit and nothing else.

An alternative in the meantime would be to bring in a defensive coach to get the best out of what we've got.

Why all the pessimism and negativity - this isn't the Referendum debate? We are already well on the way to achieving one of our principal aims for the season - GREATER CONSISTENCY. Oh for the inconsistency of last season!

Does anyone on board or the management actually care enough to even read the posts on here let alone pay heed to the views expressed by the fans? They fail to do so at their own peril!

It's difficult to say anything positive after that performance. Everything was predictable about this match - missed chances and a porous and accident-prone central defence. These issues have not been addressed and nothing is likely to change in the foreseeable future, since the management are apparently happy with the defenders they've got. We are being described on BBC Radio Scotland as one of the crisis clubs - and that is an outsiders' view! This is the time to separate the men from the boys.

Agree with your comments. The running off the ball was not good last night and that was why there were gaps between the midfield and up front and behind. One report commented on Osbourne 'trading passes' with our central defenders. I felt a bit sorry for him as it only appeared to be Cheesy and Plummer who were making themselves available.

TC's record as a manager is not good for the simple reason he has been a No2 most of his coaching career. I cannot comment on his record in Belgium as I do not know the circumstances that prevailed there (nor does anyone else on here) but even the most successful of managers without exception have had losing streaks. But you cannot judge any manager based on only 20 odd results. I seem to remember that St Mirren's results picked up when TC became DL's assistant and it was being hailed at the time as an inspired appointment. And whilst I would question the extent to which any manager can influence results, at the end of the day it is mostly up to the players on the park to produce the goods. We have had 2 good performances out of 3 league games from the players and I would echo the sentiments expressed on here by others that there are signs of improvement from last season but that relates only to performance so far and not to results. Watch this space!

Overheard Dundee fans after the game saying how lucky they were to get all 3 points. Although it was a huge improvement from the Hamilton game the worrying trend in the 3 games so far is that we have failed to score and we look vulnerable at the back - that's not a hopeful sign for the future. We still need a steady CH but that does not look as if it's going to happen despite how glaringly obvious this shortfall is. Having said that Chessy played well today but has got to take part of the blame for the sucker goal we conceded. Our "rejects" Harkins, McGowan and McGinn all played well and you have to ask is it necessary to have the musical chairs at the end of every season rather than get the best out of the players we have. For instance I cannot remember seeing Harkins play as well for us as he did today for Dundee.

For "GD" read "JG" - not thinking straight in my depressed state!

People on here are not commenting on GD based on this one game but over the past 2 seasons where he has shown a consistency for irresponsibility if it was applied to our results would guarantee us a place in the top three.

So much for the drive for greater consistency and winning 'ugly'. The only things we are consistent at are (1) loosing when we are playing well and (2) Goodwin being red-carded.

Competent performance in monsoon conditions. Unusually, John McGinn had a below par performance but otherwise the team were ok. We had a few good scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise on them. All the new boys showed promise despite the pre-season game atmosphere - unusual for a Renfrewshire Cup final game.

On the chance of giving my age away this team reflects a buddie brilliant team:- Campbell Money Cammy Murray Jim Clunie Jackie Copland Stevie Clarke Paul Lambert Tommy Bryceland Archie Gemmill John McGinn Frank McAvennie Peter Weir Subs: Billy Thomson Iain Munro Gordon McQueen Tony Fitzpatrick Billy Stark Frank McGarvey Tommy Gemmell Steven Thompson Manager: Alex Ferguson