pondsman

I don't see ourselves, Hamilton or Dundee picking up too many points against anyone outside of our own league of three.
There will be the odd blip here and there but the league table doesn't lie, the three of us are significantly worse than the other 9 teams in the division.
We've obviously overhauled our squad, Dundee have done the same and Accies have a new manager so there *could* yet be a resurgence of form but I really can't see it. This division is brutal, there are some very good teams in it.
Relegation will be decided based on how we do in the head to head games to come.
We've got Dundee Home and Away and Accies Away and Home.
Those are the games that will ultimately determine our fate I think.

Get ready for a barrage Jaybee
I however will not as I am with you ......... I've said before that OK has taken on a poison chalice with this job and coming in at this time after the  Stubbs single handed destruction of any feel good factor between club and fans by the dismantling of a championship winning side (not saying that they would have been good enough without a few good addition in the premiership) but in truth and I think we all know this the damage was done even before Stubbs with the messing around of our once glorious leader and gaffer  JR who and I don't shy behind the fact that he left us in the lurch at his timing when leaving.........So we can point blame here or there but to what purpose???
Fact is OK has now got HIS SQUAD and to be fair to him he has hardly had the same team on the pitch for more than a week or two at a time due to player movements and injuries.
Now I don't have the luxury or "misery some would say" of seeing our Team play week in week out but what I have seen online has shown some potential and given a few weeks and the return from injury I think this squad has every chance of turning out a good one, now whether there is enough time to save us from the drop and I'm hoping there is, then I think even in fitba there is a place for nice guys with "an edge" that I believe OK has.
I've been a Fan of our club for a million lifetimes and have never ever known our clubs fortunes to be anything other than a roller coaster of a ride so the answer is quite simple if ye canny take the bad wi the bad wi the bad and the odd gem bit of Good then your know cut out to be a St Mirren Fan it's who we are and I'm afraid will continue to be we are a small fish in a big puddle and we continually develop decent young talent both within players and management...........the one constant we have are the "loyal stand fast" at times moaning fans that we are only because we all want the best for the best we big club on the planet.
Come what may we are the ones who will still support this club through "hell or high water" and aye ah know it feels like that a lot ....but as I said that's what makes us fans who we are and WE ARE SMFC77.......
So chin up everybody and get used to it and come back and see me in a million lifetimes when you weathered the storm as some of us have
KTF Buds

Jaybee you are correct that although the results are not yet going our way in our last few games our % of possession has been really good, so hopefully the results will follow.

If miserable misbegotten sons of bitches like , well I'll name no names and risk no pack drill Shull, LPm, Farway and any attached aliases can suggest 'negative thoughts' then I for one shall propose positive thinking.
1. maybe all these numpties will stfu
2. give Oran time to try and get the team to connect... there are indications of this already
3. all those numpties should definitely stfu
4. and Oran needs as much time as he needs . end off
5. Our owner / management structure is as it is, anyone who doesn't like it should try to help improve it. NOT denigrate it to all and sundry (see dictionary for sundry Shull)
Me, I am just a fan who spent around 40 odd years at love street and yes I played football although never at a level commiserate with the buddies, but I AM a fan and am heartily sick of the miserable people who profess to support our team, you should be ashamed of the vitriol that you collectively spout.  I am embarrassed on your behalf. Rant over .......... till the next time.

Good common sense here my friend. We have signed some very decent looking players - now time for them to learn to become a team...
Truth is none of us know if Oran and the squad will turn it around, but it is completely unfair to expect it instantly - Oran knows this, and so do the BOD
I do think Oran wants us to have a more menacing attack, and let's be honest we want to be scoring goals regularly. However, most Premiership teams have the ability to be compact, working as a unit all over the park to make themselves difficult to beat 1st - then they break quick and are usually much more clinical that a typical Championship side.
The squad do need to get up to a higher level of fitness physically AND mentally and with the injured players being available ORan will have greater choice and their will be beter competition for a 1st 11 jersey.
Any point or points from Aberdeen or Hearts would be welcome though unlikely - but we must build up the mentality to beat Livi and Dee next time we meet them.. again a surprise result or 2 against Killie and the Fakes would be a real bonus.
It is time for us to learn how to be a team and become difficult to beat enough at least to survive this season  

Thirteen cup finals left with two of our three most difficult games coming up next.
After that, the criminals at home, Killie at home, St J away and Dundee at home should all be opportunities to get points, but I reckon we probably need at least seven points by then to still be in touching distance.
Accies in particular have a pretty difficult run of fixtures coming up.
Far too early to be writing our obituary, but the only way we'll stay up is through hard work. Double training sessions, set piece drills, tracking runners and winning second balls should be drummed into the players. From what I have seen the current crop have the ability, but need to be organised and win battles on the pitch.
Over to you Oran.

I’m in with this.
Fans are saying Hladky, Popescu and Muzek are all improvements. Nazon is an improvement on Mullen/Cooke too. Magennis will be like a new signing once he’s back too.
Tactics may not be on right now, but Oran didn’t manage 7 years at Coleraine and have them fighting for the league title while bringing the Cup home at the same time. Jimmy Nicholl is not pish either, he’s well known and respected in the Scottish game. Things are slowly coming together. Whether we turn it around in time is another question, but I’m willing to keep faith in what we have.

Right I'll pin my colours to the mast.
I'm in your Gang
LETS GET BEHIND ORAN

I know that we're bottom of the league and struggling for form but i think the new players will find form in time to get off the bottom of the league. Bear in mind that we had to overhaul a huge amount of players, you wouldn't even do that pre season in normal circumstances.  Think back to when Jack Ross was in a similar position in the championship, most had us relegated and in that season it took time for the new players to gel, but they did just in time.  I'm not buying into the argument that he's tactically inept we have a huge amount of experience in our coaching staff. I think that it's a mixture of too many player not match fit at the same time and as I've already pointed out, still trying to gel as a team. 
I know that there will be many who disagree but i think we're not far away from being a decent team. 

Utd will be looking forward to this a lot more than us. All the pressure on us. Any kind of win would be precious, even if it’s not in the league. 2-1 Saints and more gelling time and building match fitness for the new boys. Not confident though. Taking my son through for a birthday ‘treat’. Most of his pals are Arabs, so he’s as nervous about the game as his old man.

Have to agree with others who think we were outplayed last night. Got the feeling that, after scoring early (great goal by the way, but we were far too slow in closing him down), Motherwell took their foot off the gas. That allowed us to come into the game a bit. Had we scored with either the Dreyer or McAllister chance, things might have been different, but for much of the time in the first half we were second to the ball. I thought OK  took the wrong man off as Ferdinand did very little to justify his position in the team. In the second half we did put some stuff together and eventually scored. It then looked like Motherwell just changed gear and came back to score within a few minutes.
I'm with those who want to give the new players time to gel, but that may not happen soon enough to save us. Saturday's cup-tie will be interesting. A team full of new players who seem to have gelled quickly and who are moving up in the Championship against a team rock bottom of the Premiership and where the new players are still looking as if they need to get to know each other. Can we do it? Odds look to be against us but...…….
COYS!!

So definitely big mistake setting up with 3 CB's and a "back 5" no question.
Looking at the goals - Hastie ran away from Muzek, Lyons and Ferdinand turned his back as he let rip - 3 of ours did not close him down - it was not  like we did not know in advance that he was a real threat!
Their 2nd - caught on the break, McGinn too easy to run past, and who was marking Campbell - Aye no one - free header 6 yards out....
 
For us - Jackson laid on a peach for Dreyer - at least his shot was on target but not clinical enough - He then ran past 2 Well defenders and laid it on for McAllister (Who skyed it into the crowd)  -   His cross for McGinns goal was very good too though.  Once he gets a goal, his confidence will rise.
Personally I hope Corbu is a really solid and fast RB - we need to learn to think more defensively in the middle of the park too and we need to get up to speed in the next few weeks and beat Livingstone. A few goals and some clean sheets and things will turn around !!!   
 

Ricky, in truth we had few chances. Up to the point of JB coming off I don't think we tested their keeper.
Just after the substitution we had a flurry of activity and he made a great save plus a couple of other incidents that weren't really goal threatening moments. 
In the 2nd half we scored a goal from a header, but I had the distinct impression (up to that point) that we could try all night and not score. Other than that moment we hardly threatened their keeper.
The huge difference between the teams was confidence. Motherwell were slicker in passing, quicker to the tackle, more decisive, played with confidence and meanwhile we were chasing shadows. You sit and watch it and realise that passing across the field or backwards just isn't doing anything other than building up a possession stat. 
After we scored, it didn't look as though we would chase a winner, but my God, Motherwell showed us exactly what to do! 
I have refrained from talking down this team as I want OK to be successful. It will be a blow to go back down to the Championship, but they need to get some confidence from somewhere and start pushing for a result. Show the opposition that we want to win. At times last night I watched Ferdinand or Paul McGinn pass back across the field because no-one was making a run or making space up front for the telling ball.
 
Something needs to change in the team for us to survive! 

And you think hammering Dumbarton was proof we were capable of avoiding relegation under Stubbs? The only thing I took from that game was if we ever need a manager to build a squad capable of beating League 1 opposition comfortably whilst having a premiership budget available Alan Stubbs is the man.
You asked was relegation looking pretty much inevitable after 4 league games. I would argue that the signs were there from the off that Stubbs was toiling immediately with recruitment (Heaton, King, Cooke, Kpekawa and Coulson signed early doors and Stubbs admitting before the Killie cup game most of them were needing time to adjust to full time first team Scottish premiership level football). We looked decent against Killie away, but it is worth remembering that was the first game of the Scottish season and Killie were without 3 or 4 key players and it was a 0-0 draw. The marque signings never transpired. Instead we got signings like Ryan Edwards instead - we were still trying to sign 36 year old Kenny Miller twice on a 2 year deal, Anthony Stokes after going AWOL from La Manga, Adam Rooney while Stubbs claims he could only offer £700 per week in wages. You also had Stubbs own body language and the Ally McLeod-Argentina-esque photo of him head in hands and his own captain going to the press questioning his signing policy. I think it was pretty clear that league win v Dundee aside we were clearly in trouble in July and August and Stubbs had signed 11 players and spent his budget and very few of them (if any) were improvements on last year's Championship squad. 

We should go with continuity rather than listen to idiots suggesting we get rid of another manager who has made a huge number of his own signings. Listening to clowns like you we'd be in debt again very quickly.
Get behind the team and the manager, and try to grow some balls.

I don't think a lot of people would have been posting that all the new signings bar two look worse or no better than the Stubbs signings if it had stayed 1-1. With 15 minutes to go it looked possible could go on and win it.  Motherwell score again and we lose heart and the game peters out.
Dreyer might not be the best winger in the league, but after 3 games with us he is looking useful, he should have scored but at least had his shot on target, he set up McAllister's chance and got the assist for Paul McGinn's goal. According to sme people he is worse than having Ryan Edwards, Cammy Smith, Lee Hodson playing out wide. I genuinely don't get that type of assessment about someone who met his new teammates 2 weeks ago.

Spot on, its 1 week since the transfer window closed, some of our new signings haven't been with us for 2 weeks yet. I thought Dreyer did well to set up McAllister's chance.... a Lewis Morgan-like bit of wing magic. We are missing the killer instinct in front of goal at the minute but at least we are now creating 4 or 5 decent chances in most games now, and tonight I thought we were getting the ball down and playing passes along the deck to our wide men instead of lumping high balls forward to Jackson on his own.
I thnk the current squad will come good and start picking up points, whether that happens soon enough to get us out of trouble remains to be seen.

I am hoping that lightning strikes twice. Around about this time during Jack Ross's reign after QOS had beaten us 3-0 at home I said, that's it we are relegated.  Other results today have definitely not helped our cause. So I am saying again - that's it we are relegated. Here's hoping otherwise.  I do believe that OK will turn us around and if that is in the Championship so be it.  He inherited a poisoned chalice that not many would have taken on I believe. Well maybe Yogi Hughes would have...

I really get your passion - but Eckers and MAcK have not been fit all season so far. Magennis has not managed many games either.
Flynn has played a few games but he is not really the quality we need for the 1st team - at best a squad player.
Sammy left to pursue his future mid-way through the season
C Smith found it hard to get games under both our new managers and when he did he produced very little all this season and that is why he is away. 
Stewart is definitely better than King - but think he is playing more regularly at his level right now - he might kick on - but he was not quite there yet for us this season.
Liam Smith was great going forward but less convincing at time when defending - a couple of games last year he cost us 2 goals in 2 matches.
Sorry I have dismantled your team - but that is exactly what Oran has done - JR may have been more sentimental with guys who had worked for him - but Stubbs was utterly useless. After the double mess the BOD took emergency essential action.
This is why we have had the biggest Transfer window ever [out and in combined] (is it not?) and basically a new team brought in - 8 and still counting.
This is about the Strengthening - now the time to produce more points for the 2nd half of the season.
 

Very disappointed in yesterdays result mostly due to being 1 up and looking pretty decent in the first half. Its the hope that kills you.
Being a buddie you learn to take disappointment in your stride.
Keep the faith.

I agree that he was kicked something awful today and got nothing from the ref but I do wonder how much of it did he bring on himself? Can you imagine Goodwin, Murray, Aber, Millen or any other physical midfielder allowing that to happen? No they would have nailed Mallan and as they helped him to his feet, told him there's plenty more of that if you want it son.
Stephen is a tidy player but without a physical player next to him he is easily bullied. We need a ball winner to set the tone.
It might not be the Barca way but most Scottish sides need a hammer thrower.

Kyle puts that chance away it’s completely different we then can sit back and catch hibs on the counter.
 
Jackson also had a good opportunity to play in 2 players in the second half when we were 1-0 up but made the wrong decision in not passing.
 
It’s a much more balanced team we look a hell of a lot more threatening going forward Jackson looked a lot better with more players getting up to support him and looking to create stuff.
 
Thought Paul possible had his worst performance for us this season and dreyer just seemed to struggle to get involved at all but he only just signed yesterday.
 
 
With the new left back and probably at least 1 more player to come in then hopefully magennis and Mullen back soon we will have a much more balanced starting line up and stronger bench to go ahead in the second half of the season
 

Wasn't a great match. Lots of aimless punts, poor passing and mistakes everywhere from both teams. We shaded the first half with a couple of good plays and passed up a couple of great chances in second, again down to mistakes by hibs. Overall as game progressed we got overrun and overstretched. Still feel new players need time to bed in. At least Hamilton and Dundee lost as well. Motherwell game another big one looming now.

We look much better going forward. McAllister should have buried that open goal but fannied around too much, at 2-0 we would be looking much better.
Keep getting caught down our left - hopefully Muzek is a competent left back and we see improvement there. Feel sorry for Erhahon as he’s hung out to dry.
We still really need a proper DM who will support the back line too. Hopefully once those who are injured return we will have more options on the bench. It’s easy to say we didn’t change things, but who on the bench would have improved us? Flynn hasn’t been up to it, if we had the likes of Magennis, Mullen, Cooke, Hodson on there we could have added that extra energy, you could tell we were tiring later on but the replacements were inadequate.
Positive signs but still a lot of improvement needed.

I do not wish to sound  overly elvismistic but reality is staring us straight in the face.
As things stand at the moment we are clearly the poorest team in the league.
Oran needs to reinforce the squad significantly before the close of the January transfer window to give us a chance of survival.