pondsman

After passing up so many chances to turn draws into wins, Hibs' poor form suddenly presents us with an opportunity to take full points from what would usually be a difficult game. Can we grab what looks likely to be our last chance of a win before Christmas? Who knows, but as usual...... COYS!!

Difficult to be too optimistic about this game. We had our bit of luck against the Dons when we played them in Paisley. A draw would be a good result, a win just amazing, but where are our goals going to come from? Nevertheless........ COYS!!

County still bottom of the league but will be no pushovers. They're coming into a bit of form. They beat Hibs last week and then drew with Dundee United yesterday. We'll be without Shaughnessy and McCarthy, and might also be missing Tanser, so we need good replacements in defence. Looking at the December fixtures, this game is still our best chance of taking full points for the next wee while, so........ COYS!!

McGrath's wonder goal masked our continuing failure to craft and score goals. And he'll be gone in January. What then? Can't fault the players for effort but we simply didn't have the guile in the final third. Tried to play through a big, strong defence, but it just wasn't going to work. I'm no tactician, but why was Brophy playing as lone striker in a home game against a team below us in the league? We need to be more attacking than that, surely? Draw takes us to 6th but teams below us now have games in hand and, Ross County apart, we have some tough games coming up. Think we might look back on the last few weeks as the spell that could have cemented our position in the top 6. So many chances missed which could have turned draws into wins!

We need to take 3 points from this game. Will make up for missing the recent chances we blew to get into the top 6. Also, as someone else has recently pointed out, we have more difficult games coming up after Livi. If we don't take full points from them, we could find ourselves going downwards by the end of the year.

I agree that our play yesterday was an improvement on the Dundee game, but failure to make and take decent chances, despite having the majority of the possession and territory, cost us 2 points. This type of performance, which we've seen on several occasions now, threatens to turn our season into a mediocre one instead of being one where we can make real progress. It seems clear now, if it wasn't before, that the problem lies with the strikers. We need at least one striker who is of the same calibre as our other outfield players (McGrath, Ronan, McCarthy, Power etc.). But not so easy to find someone of that quality.

I have my ticket for tomorrow's game. Never easy at MacDiarmid Park. Don't think I've ever been in attendance there when the Buddies have won. With McGrath and Erhahon still missing we will need the rest of the squad to hit the heights if we are to get anything from the game. St. Johnstone 1 - 1 St. Mirren (but that's more the heart talking than the head)

Fine effort but need to keep it going for longer than 25 minutes. Then we went into our shell and they stepped it up a gear. Were holding out well until 2 mistakes gave them the lead. We were not in it second half. No real damage to our goal difference. Most concerning thing was injuries to Erhahon and McGrath - especially McGrath - in the week when we have to play Wednesday and Saturday.

Yesterday's results were kind to us. Whatever happens today our place in the league is secure. Anything we get from this game is a bonus. A draw would be fine, but of course a win would be fantastic, so let's get stuck into them and..... COYS!

Fine three points. Could have made the second half easier for ourselves by scoring at least one more at the start of the second half before County took over and dominated play for the rest of the game, but it's all water under the bridge now. Losses for Perth Saints and Dons were unexpected but good for us. A nice little gap opening up between us and St. Johnstone. Thought McGrath looked more like himself and Matt Miller had his best game so far. Much more involved and effective. Ethan is still a bit of a mystery to me. Great pass to Brophy for the first goal, but he gives away too many fouls, including one on Saturday which led to County's first goal. Still not sure he's as good as others seem to think. Anyway, happy with the performance in general and the result and it's on to Sunday and the Gers. So....... COYS!

Two other games tomorrow which are important for our league position. St. Johnstone v Livingston Dundee v Aberdeen If Perth Saints and Dons both win, which seems quite likely, we need a win at Dingwall to stay above them.

Would love to think Jamie would accept our offer, but the days of player loyalty to a club are long gone. The lad has every right to do as so many others do nowadays and advance his career as well as earn lots more by going elsewhere. We should not begrudge him anything, but thank him for his contribution to the club and wish him well.

Ross County now have game advertised on their ppv service for £15. Think I might take that rather than travel a very long distance and then queue for a ticket at the stadium on the day.

Totally agree with Rascal above. Given the distance involved in travelling to Dingwall, I want to be sure I have my ticket in advance. I don't want to travel that far and then have to queue up for one when I get there. Regardless of difficulties at the RM sorting office in Paisley, the onus is on Ross County to get their act together and maximise the attendance at what is a home game for them. No indication yet on their website that they will be offering tickets to away supporters in advance, but there is still time, I suppose. The game is still a week away.

Sorry, we'd only be 7th. Still, wouldn't be a bad weekend.

Could be a big weekend for us. If we beat Livingston and Celtic beat Aberdeen on Sunday, I calculate that we would be in the top six on Monday morning. Apologies if I've worked that out wrongly, but I think it's correct. So..... COYS!!

Delighted to see us get our first win of the season, though like JG, I think we should have had it a couple of games ago. Yesterday's game turned on the sending-off, which, like almost everyone else, I thought was fully justified. Before then Dons were definitely on top, even if they were using some questionable tactics (the Scott Brown block at their second goal etc.). Can't really blame them, I suppose, as they were as desperate to get out of their slump as we were to get that first win. Thought our successes were Ronan, Power, Fraser throughout, and McGrath in the second half. Although he got Jenks's sending-off correct yesterday, Collum has always been a painful ref to watch. Not able to develop a relationship with players, so hr applies the laws as he sees them very rigidly, which leads to numerous yellow cards (and some reds) in most of his games. We need to capitalise on this performance in our next two games, which, although they are away from home, are against two of the teams around us in the league. Both are quite winnable, I think. So...... COYS!!

Given our recent results and struggles to put the ball in the net (legitimately), it's difficult to see us getting a win today. Hope the defence can produce another excellent clean sheet and we get away with a 0-0. I will, of course, be delighted to be proven wrong if we win 1-0 with a scrappy goal off Main's backside in the 90th minute! COYS11

Poor first half, improved a bit in second half, but still can't score a (legitimate) goal. As someone else has remarked above, the improvement seemed to coincide with the arrival of Flynn and Tait, although the two new boys did OK, I thought. Strikers off target again, but I don't think our failure to score is all down to them. This season I've attended games against Dunfermline, Hearts, Livi and Dundee Utd. In every game I see balls being played up to the feet of our players in midfield and upfront which are not controlled, but are allowed to bounce off the player and run away, either directly to an opposition player or to become a contested ball which we then lose to the opposition. Surely controlling a ball, even one arriving at pace, is something players should be working on during the week. If JG hasn't grasped it yet (and I'm sure he has), he got all the evidence he needed from Dundee Utd on Saturday of what a bit of pace in the team could do. Pawlett and McNulty beat our defence for speed on several occasions. We were lucky that, despite their pace, their finishing was no better than ours. Anyway, we take the point and move on, but we could be looking at a long season. COYS!!

Like others above, received my season ticket today. All set for the game on Saturday. Fully expect to see us win the game. COYS!

Accusations that JG is favouring Irish players or his own signings are wide of the mark. We are discussing one player in particular here - Cammy MacPherson. For some reason or other JG doesn't fancy Cammy and doesn't see him as a major player for us, while many of us disagree with the manager and would have him playing regularly. Cammy had a good season last year and I expected him to improve again this season and be a major player for us. However, JG is the manager and he decides the players and the tactics, but the style of play and the results so far suggest that he hasn't got things right yet. That may change, and we all hope that it does. The fact that Cammy is clearly rated by a successful Premiership manager (Callum Davidson) makes it clear that opinions on him are divided. It remains to be seen whether Davidson can get something out of Cammy that JG couldn't. I'm sure that we will all be watching his progress at St. Johnstone with great interest and are all glad that he can't play against. us. There is also clearly a question for whoever it was at the club who allowed Cammy to go to Perth and play for one of our closest rivals. Even if he can't play in games against us, he might still play a big part in any success they have this season. If that happens, the club will certainly have egg on its face.

Cammy played some very fine games for us last season, but has not been able to have the same effect when he's been on the pitch this season. This may be due to a loss of form, but or just the fact that JG thinks he doesn't fit into the system he wants to play. Despite some of the comments above that Cammy is just a 'fringe squad player', both Stephen Thompson and Michael Stewart rate him better than that. In addition, Callum Davidson, rated one of the best young managers in the country following his two cup successes last season, surely sees something in Cammy or he wouldn't want him in his squad.

From the outside, Cammy moving to St. Johnstone looks very strange. From the way JG has used him this season, it looks like JG doesn't see him being a major part of his plans, but why would we allow Cammy to go to such a close rival? Was there a need to reduce the wage bill? Was Cammy unhappy about not getting much game time? Maybe Cammy saw the writing on the wall with the arrival of Connor Ronan and asked to go elsewhere to get regular games. We cannot know if any of these things are true, but, in my opinion, none of them explains why the lad should go to St. Johnstone. I hope that there is an agreement that he cannot play against us. If not, with new teammates and in a new system, he may well do us a lot of damage. I cannot think that JG would want Cammy to go to Perth, so now the question is: Did JG have any say in where Cammy was going or was the move arranged at a higher level?

Another 'If only....' day, I'm afraid. Team played well first half. Scored a goal which was disallowed (wrongly) and should have got another. Similar to the Livi game where we should have been at least one ahead by halftime. What a turnaround in the second half. Couldn't find a teammate with a pass and midfield completely went AWOL. When that happened in the Livi game, McGrath rolled up his sleeves and went looking for the ball. But yesterday there were worrying signs that the rest of the midfield is now pulling him down to their level. He was rarely seen in the last 30 minutes of the game. I'm now undecided between hoping that he stays and can help the others find form again, and thinking we'd be as well letting him go and getting some money for him. At least McCarthy was back in the team yesterday, but not sure he was in the best position for him. Erhahon now out for the next game after a needless foul in the final minutes. Is Power still suspended for that as well? If so, we will struggle in midfield again. The only correct thing JG said after the game was that we need some real pace in the team. Let's hope we can get someone in this week. COYS!!

Can't make Sunday games unfortunately, so will have to watch on TV - just like the whole of last season. Hopefully JG's system will start to work and we'll get our first league win. It's badly needed - to lift us up the table and to lift everybody's spirits! Is this the game where we get our season up and running? Let's hope so! COYS!!