pondsman

Happy New Year to all supporters of SMFC! Looking forward to seeing what new faces OK brings into the club this month. No doubt there will be some surprises, but whoever turns up, let's get right behind them as they shoot us up the table and away from relegation threats in the next few months! COYS!!

This pretty much sums up my feelings. It seems quite clear that Hammill came to kickstart his career and get a move back south. We've been fortunate to benefit from that. If he goes, it should be with our thanks, but it would be great if he stayed till the summer. Anton has had a few fine games for us and has clearly been a good influence on the younger defenders, but he does lack mobility and also seems a bit injury prone. Having said all that I'd like him to stay till the summer. The goalie seems to be a bit of a find and should be signed up.

Disappointing result today. Thought we had some good spells of pressure and had more of the game than Hamilton. However, we were bullied off the ball at times by some physical play and our defence of set pieces was obviously poor. Seems clear that the defence is stronger when Ferdinand plays, so let's get him back asap. As has been said above, I thought the goal just before half-time and the bright start to the second half gave us a real chance to get on even terms, Don't know what happened after that, but we seemed to let them back into the game. I think it's not helpful to criticise players when it's clear that they gave 100% effort. When that's the case they deserve to be applauded at the end of the game, win, lose or draw. What's the alternative? Boo them? That's not going to improve their confidence. We're called supporters. The clue is in the name. It didn't help that we were on the wrong end of some inconsistent refereeing (e.g. the free kick which led to Hamilton's second goal and the decisions to issue yellow cards to some players and not to others). Not an excuse, just a statement of how I saw the game.

Not a great game, I'm afraid. Plenty of effort from both sides, but it was clear that their league positions have left them bereft of confidence. Too many passes went astray. Couldn't see the penalty because the guy in front of me stood up at the vital moment, but Jackson's dive in the second half makes you wonder about the earlier effort. If he is a diver, we don't want him. Also thought P. McGinn and Erhahon had a difficult time. Felt sorry for Erhahon - young lad, still learning the game. Plus points for us were the performance of S. McGinn when he came on and the 90 minutes for Magennis. Thought it was a risk to put him on from the start after such a long absence, but it paid off with a fine return to action. He was behind many of the good things we did. Players definitely trying hard but not sure how we get the confidence back. Without that we're unlikely to get the results we need to move away from the bottom of the table.

I can understand supporters on here being exercised about Killie's second goal and our disallowed goal, but refs and linesmen (assistant refs, for the younger generation) sometimes make poor or wrong decisions, as we all know. Perhaps it was just our turn to be on the wrong end of them. Nothing to do with political affiliations, I'm sure. In any case, no amount of complaining is going to change a result which is already in the record books. I think we should concentrate on the improvement in the team's general performance, which was considerable. So, let's get behind our new manager as he tries to improve the team further and move on to the next game, against St. Johnstone. We can reasonably expect to take something from this game if we play as we did for most of the game on Saturday.

As mentioned by someone above, OK has had another week to get his ideas and plans across to the players. Ferdinand has also had a week to form a partnership with Baird, so I expect a disciplined and organised performance in defence, although I also note what others have said about the plastic pitch. As for the result, we'll need to find someone to put the ball in the net. I'd start with Mullen and Smith who never give less than 100% and had chances last week. I'd keep the big Dane in reserve for later in the game and bring him on to offer something different in attack. Like others, I think it will be tight. A win would be great but this is a game that we mustn't lose! Keeping in mind that Accies get pretty poor crowds, a big travelling support might make the difference. COYS!!

Without re-printing here the whole of Dibble's long post, it pretty much sums up what I've been feeling about our progress this summer. The failure to bring in players who are well-known names with experience of the Scottish game was disappointing, but Jack Ross put together a pretty good team with some players we didn't know, so we shouldn't rush to judgement on that front. Yes, results haven't been too bad but performances have been variable. We played well against Killie and Dumbarton, but were fortunate to beat Dundee, who missed a number of good chances and gifted us a goal. The performances at Ibrox and Pittodrie gave cause for concern. It looked as though the team had decided beforehand that they didn't have a chance and wouldn't be able to compete. As for the manager, opinions remain divided. Dibbles says he's heard that he doesn't communicate with the players, while the new loan player from Ibrox says he's come to the club because he's heard what a good coach he is. He certainly seems a bit diffident in his post-match interviews, but maybe we were spoiled by JR who was very strong in that department. In any case, the manager won't be judged by his interviews, but by performances and results in games. I wasn't sure about his appointment but now that he's here, I'm happy to let him get on with the job and see how things turn out. It's still too early to judge him, so let's back him as much as we can and see what happens. That's the job of supporters. COYS!!

Hard to disagree with this. Not sure that Miller is what we need. His best days are clearly not in front of him. Would not a big centre forward, in the style of the lad Madsen, complement Cammy Smith and Danny Mullen better than another wee guy? Or would Miller displace Cammy or Danny? If so, which one? Also, don't like the way Stubbs has been all over the media indicating his interest in Miller. Could be left with egg on his face. Surely he should have learned his lesson after talking in July about 'marquee signings' which never materialised. Needs to go about his business quietly.

According to reports from Dens Park on Saturday, Aberdeen weren't much better than Dundee who seemed to play fairly similarly to the way they played against us the week before. Made some chances but couldn't take them. The Dons scraped through with a penalty. However, I don't think that we have the cohesion yet that we had last year, and we definitely need more quality in defence and up front. Aberdeen still have many of the fine players they had when we met last season, and remember how they played through our defence and the quality of the GMS goal on that day! As a Buddies supporter I always feel that we have a chance, but we are certainly not favourites. So, Bring it on and...…………………….COYS!!

Can relate to all of this. Not a bad wee team at all....and there is more to come, I'm sure.

Just adding my appreciation for the lads in W7. Their work at games over the last two years has been excellent and definitely adds to the match day experience. Thought Saturday's effort was superb, their best yet. Well done and thanks to all involved! On the topic of the turnstiles, I arrived at 2.30 to find the readers had been changed and I had to present my season ticket in a different way from last year. Caused a bit of confusion and a few moments delay to the folk in the queue behind.. I know I'm not the sharpest when it comes to technology, but did the club produce any explanation of how to use the new readers before the start of the season? If so, I must have missed it.

Would be delighted to have Liam Smith back at the club. He knows his way around the club and also well-acquainted with the players who are still here from last season. As has been stated above, he was an important part of a strong back four last year, was also strong in attack and contributed at least a couple of great goals from distance that I remember. Not surprising that he has been part of Scotland's Under-21 squad. However, he may prefer Ayr as it gives him the same kind of environment as he had with us last season - a team on the way up, where he will get opportunities to push forward and be an attacking full-back.

Was worried about this first game in the Premiership, but we couldn't have had a better preparation than yesterday's fantastic performance. Clearly, we'll be playing better opposition on Saturday, but the same level of skill and team spirit will allow us to compete, so...……………………...COYS!!

Thanks, hmb, gave me a really good chuckle reading that. As for this Saturday, we really need to beat Dumbarton. Despite what's been said about them being well organised etc., they were relegated at the end of last season, while we were promoted. Just like Tuesday night, no excuses for a poor performance, I'm afraid.

Disappointing that the local newspaper can't feature the local club on its cover......and not the most flattering pic of Brendan!

Just watched Stubbs's interview post Queen's Park on the official website and got a strange feeling of deja vu. Anyone else notice that?

Agree with most of this. Strikers are clearly a priority, but not easy to find. In midfield a JG type would be helpful, but more than that we need some creativity. Maybe Magennis will provide that when he gets up to speed after injury. Stubbs is entitled to let players go if he feels that they are not up to the standard we'll need in the Premiership. His problem is that he has not been able to replace them with something better. Perhaps he brought the criticism on himself by talking about quality signings before the deals were done. When he was indicating that signings were imminent, the players on the horizon seemed to be Adam Rooney, Anthony Stokes and the youngster Johnston from Celtic. All of these have now disappeared from the radar for different reasons. He is now playing catch up in order to find decent players in time for the league starting. I hope he finds what he needs but doesn't speak about it before the ink is dry on the contract. As for the fans, surely we can get behind the team in difficult times. After all, we've done it for many years. Remember that last season was a blip in our history, albeit an amazingly enjoyable one!

Ricky, just to be clear, do you know that Hibs have approached St. Mirren about accepting a lower percentage of the sell-on fee or is that just speculation on your part?

Well done to the fans who travelled last night. Couldn't get there myself but watched on TV and the drum and choir made themselves heard throughout. Fine opening performance by our team. Coulson, King, Mullen and the two Cammys were impressive. Jack Baird didn't have his best game, but it's a little early to write him off at this level, I think. Kpekawa was praised on TV for some important interventions, but I thought he was muscled off the ball on a few occasions and needs to bulk up a bit to play in that position. All in all, a really good start by a team who only met each other a few days ago. If Stubbs adds the players he keeps talking about, we could do OK this season. COYS!

I agree with Sonny. It's good to take an interest in the progress of players who have moved on to bigger clubs, especially if we've played a big part in their development (and if we have a financial interest as well). My only worry is how Mallan and Morgan might perform if/when they play against us.

At this stage we have brought in a new manager, assembled half of a new team and we haven't played a game yet, so it's impossible to say how things will go. Given all that, survival must be the first target. A Cup run would also be nice, but staying in the top league MUST be the aim for the season.

I agree with most of the comments above. Players can't be retained out of sentiment and Stubbs must let them go if he thinks they won't be good enough for the Premiership. Just hope he can find better players to replace them. Having said that, three of the guys who are leaving played a big part in our success last season, so they must go with our thanks and best wishes for their futures. When I saw them play, I felt that they all gave 100% for our club. Football is a lucrative profession only for the gifted few at the top. For most, like these guys, it's a precarious business, so I hope they enjoyed the good times of last season and I wish them all luck in finding new clubs.

Celtic have a track record of making a good profit on their transfer dealings. Having got £7m for Armstrong, they won't want to part with more than half of that for McGinn. They might also muddy the waters by offering to include Scott Allan in the deal and paying less cash. If they do that, does anyone know how St. Mirren's share of the deal will be calculated?

We got 300k from Celtic AND we had Lewis' services for the remainder of last season. What value would you put on that, Shull? Seems unlikely that we could have sold him to another club as Celtic was always where Lewis wanted to go. I do agree however that some of the money being mentioned for other players is ridiculous. But as windae cleaner has mentioned, playing for the OF seems to make a big difference when it comes to prices achieved!

Thanks for the information. Will try again tomorrow.