The Original 59er

Who would have thought he'd marry a great jazz pianist then f**k it all up with a classy broad like that!

I genuinely want our team to perform better, to play at the best level they can and sustain that level, but the supporters want more even if we finish 8th in the PL, win a cup or even win two games in a row! Unfortunately I have been here before with the team in the late 60's and early 70's. My God that was a long road and it was a long time ago. Turgid football at times! Bobby Flavell (Dec 1961 – Dec 62) Jackie Cox (Dec 1962 – May 65) Doug Millward (June 1965 – Dec 66) Alex Wright (Dec 1966 – Oct 70) Wilson Humphries (Nov 1970 – Jan 72) Tommy Bryceland (Jan 1972 – May 73) Willie Cunningham (June 1973 – Oct 74) Alex Ferguson (Oct 1974 – May 78) Jim Clunie (June 1978 – Nov 80) Rikki McFarlane (Nov 1980 – Oct 83) Alex Miller (Oct 1983 – Dec 86) Alex Smith (Dec 1986 – April 88) Tony Fitzpatrick (April 1988 – May 91) David Hay (May 1991 – May 92) Jimmy Bone (May 1992 – Aug 96) Iain Munro (9 September 1996 – 10 September 1996) (24 hours) Tony Fitzpatrick (Sept 1996 – Dec 98) Tom Hendrie (Dec 1998 – 2 Sept) John Coughlin (Sept 2002 – Nov 2003) Gus MacPherson (25 Nov 2003 – 11 May 2010) Danny Lennon (7 June 2010 – 12 May 2014) Tommy Craig (13 May 2014 – 9 December 2014) Gary Teale (29 January 2015 – 23 May 2015) Ian Murray (24 May 2015 – present) Gus McPherson is the only Manager to last anything over 4 years at the club since 1960. What that maybe suggests is that the Club has never had the patience to stick with a Manager (maybe Ferguson excepted) and see it through a sticky period. An average of little over 2 years per Manager over a 54 year period................... who the hell wants that job, when in most circumstances they fail and can't get another job at the same level? Maybe it's a combination of expecting more as Paisley had been the 5th largest town / city in our small country for almost that entire period and that stat alone may have engendered optimism that we expect better. Or maybe we think we should be able to tilt at the windmills and occasionally win that battle. Maybe I'm just too old and sanguine, as I said, maybe we expect too much.

No Shull, 05:20 p.m. and I think I can say they are still hingin aboot.

Find some cash to change the piano player at the very top.

Maybe we, as Saints supporters, expect too much. We as a club occasionally rise up towards the sun. We perform on a higher stage briefly then the supporters demand more and the team reaches for the sun and gets burnt. The wax melts, the feathers fall off and we tumble down quickly and given the internet stage that is available to them the supporters who called for more, voice their well-informed opinion with much force and knowledge that change must be implemented. (That by the way is not a further jibe at the power of the internet, the ill-informed buying public nor the armchair critic, it is merely a passing thought that maybe we aim too high!)

I have to agree with Ned. There has been plenty said about DL in the past and how badly he was treated by both the Club and the supporters. Many said that he had not kicked on and in fact his tactics had become so predictable that teams could read us long before they ever ran onto the pitch with Saints. I can see that argument. Saints don't have a history of keeping managers for long periods. They either fail and get shunted, or they move on to pastures new and up the tree a bit. Despite what is currently happening at present on the park, I would like to see IM get more time! I've been here before with Saints in a transitional period.................... it's the nature of the beast I'm afraid!

I once did the tour of the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen. You went in through big doors that had big stone Elephants on either side of the door. They also made Elephant Beer which was pretty strong stuff, but apparently not as strong as the 'Special Brew' that they made back in these days. I think the Special Brew has been toned down a bit since then or at least that's my memory telling me that, not that you had much of a memory after 2 SB's!

'Fowlers Wee Heavy', that was a good drap of the amber nectar

My overall impression of Marc McAusland was that he was an honest trier but he was prone to some very basic errors that would cost us goals, games and points. He would have the occasional good game, the occasional ok game but in the main a potential accident waiting to happen. He never really developed much beyond "promising", maybe as another poster said he lacked having a more experienced, good central defender next to him that could have helped him develop, or an experienced 'head' who could read the game and encourage him to cut out the basic mistakes. Personally I wouldn't have him back, but I know that he has his fans.

I actually thought we lost our shape on Saturday almost immediately after McMullan's departure. The tackle was bad, it certainly could have been a red if you compare it to the yellow to ST for 'persistent fouling'. The daft thing was the Falkirk player already on a yellow made a far worse tackle only 3 minutes before and got let off. I know that sounds like another go at the referees, but it showed up their inconsistencies. I think McMullan's departure created disruption to the set-up and the replacement was not up to the same standard or was asked to play in a position that wasn't ideal, whatever, after Falkirk scored their first goal I said to the guy next to me it would be interesting to see what IM did next as we were on the rack and so something needed changing. Unfortunately whatever tactic he had up his sleeve to try and change things, he left it too late! Yes a pretty awful Saturday afternoon, other than the weather...................... maybe the golf course would have been a better option!

/\ /\ /\ /\ Agreed! It has been reduced to the usual mud slinging and negativity that seems to creep in from a few posters who revel in such an approach. I often wonder if their life is just as meaningless!

1. Better spread in the defence if all are fit. 2. At least a no-nonsense central defender who can help to bring on promising youngsters 3. A different set of forwards who have youth on their side and hopefully know their way to the net 4. A Manager who has promise in terms of how he has approached the signings (maybe one or two exceptions) What other positives would I like to see: Some posters giving the team and management a chance rather than negatively judging them on a very few games. By all means judge them at the end of February.

I generally agree that the Club appears to have difficulties with the internet. With appropriately qualified or enthusiastic people in the right places they could harness the power of the internet better than they do. The power of the internet is probably partially to blame for the demise of DL, maybe TC but probably not GT, but without doubt it also allows a plethora of negative comment to be fired rightly or wrongly over the airwaves into the ether and allows non-skilled individuals to have more say that they would ever normally have enjoyed. Some seem to think that my argument is that no-one should criticise. They missed the point there, everyone, who attends has a right to comment, it just seems that some have (1) a permanent dislike of the BoD's, the management or their appointments, or (2) a warped sense of expectations of what St Mirren are going to achieve and their credentials for making these comments are questionable at best. Returning to the 1st paragraph, Ally, if you think you could do a better job or at least offer an insight to the club where they are going wrong, write to them, construct a letter that points out their failings and do it in such a way that you aren't being condescending but get your point across. If you have the experience, and the understanding of what is needed, it's people like you that can make it better.

Effing brilliant. Passion, maybe alcohol fuelled, but an example of what supporting a team does to someone! You couldn't ever think his support will dwindle away to the OF maybe Cumnock, or Auchenleck but never to the Glasgow twins! I love it.

Wow, weren't you up early to fire the machine gun at the world! I don't expect a non-critical stance taken by every poster / attendee at a Saints game, as I said in my original post everyone has a right to an opinion, especially if they have spent their well earned cash (Oaksoft apart) in attending. My main point, which seems to have been supported by a few is that it's easy and popular for those who are perhaps well versed in 'Football Manager' or have maybe organised their son's / daughter's football side to become experts and highly critical of Managers, coaches and players never having got close to that standard themselves. Yes they have an opinion, but the media in days gone by controlled the excesses of these opinions and as a result the constant negative rumblings never got the same amount of space or opportunity to spout relatively ill-informed opinions. I would say that from watching Saints on Saturday they started very brightly, showed real promise for the first 25 minutes then they seemed to lose their way a bit. I might venture the opinion that they seem to lack confidence or that when a bit of adversity comes along they seem to lose shape, but I've seen lots of Saints teams do this, not just a DL, TC, GT or IM version. I went to watch the Saints in the1960's and 70's and a lot of it wasn't a pretty sight. There were many passengers in the side at times, there was a total lack of conviction and there were very occasional bright spots, but did I write to the newspapers with a diatribe about how crap they were, no, I turned up again and again, no matter how sh*te they were and continued to support them. That was almost a decade of poor fare. My post was described as "pretentious sh*t"..................... I could take a slight exception to that, in fact when I read it I probably did, but I do believe that the internet has opened up an avenue for anyone and anything to post what they want and believe it is true. Ride the roller coaster, go if you want, watch on tv or hide behind the sofa if you want, but accept that being a Buddie has NEVER been easy.

beyond our ken Quite

The main problem with this new fangled medium called the internet and even more radical, a Forum that allows free expression, is that it allows anyone who thinks they have a right to express them selves openly and to criticise, whether they have the knowledge or not, is that they do it regardless. Historically (and I mean probably only as far back as the 80's and early 90's) a medium like this never existed, so if you had any form of a grumble you wrote to the newspaper and they in turn would consider it, edit it and maybe print it if they had nothing better to fill the column inches. Not now, you clatter the keyboard, you vent your spleen and you stand back to admire the negativity you create. In the case of the Saints, well we've been here before and it is a transitional period, however probably none of you who write vindictive and negative sentences have ever managed, coached or played football at the standard you write about. If for example you are a mechanic, does that make you an expert on aircraft design or jet propulsion. If you are a writer of detective novels, does that make you a Shakespearean prose writer? Of course not, so as a follower of football does that give you the ability (note I didn't say the right), to criticise or spout your views on tactics or systems to all and sundry? Let the management team have a season. Let them make mistakes, let them have success. If you were there on Saturday you would see that Saints are a team low on confidence and low on free-flowing expression. That comes with confidence and winning a few games. Just get off their backs for a change!

At last a no-nonsense CB that knows how to organise a defence and will help organise talented but raw players around him. Why oh why have we not been able to find such an individual for the last 4 or 5 seasons?????????? I hope he can stay injury free, lead the defence properly and take some much needed weight off IM's shoulders. The best line ups have a good goalie, a strong CB and someone up front who knows where the net is.................... I believe we are beginning to mould that shape.

Gordon McQueen, Lex Richardson, Hugh Gilshan, to name just three

The dear Lord likes to play little games...................... it brightens up his day no end. No he doesn't like the appointment of Ian Murray and No he has no faith in the current set up. Now that he has illuminated us with that opinion 550 times in the last two months, I think we get the point. So please Lordy, find another wagon to climb onto and join that band.

General Question: Do you think the present Board have a current Business Plan?

Who is accepting failure? I don't think anyone is "accepting failure", I personally believe the team (and the supporters) have forgotten what a winning run is like and what an important element to any success is momentum. Yes we had a winning cup run a couple of years ago, but I mean a league run when we regularly took points away from home and won consistently at home. Come to think of it it's hard to remember when we last had a decent home record - it is certainly back into the Love Street era and maybe a few years back in that time too. We have had no run of success at the New St Mirren Park and to a certain extent, you could say we have failed to make it any kind of advantage.

I do like the misplaced optimism that flows round Crappielow..................... is the 6 million the number of sweeties that you are sponsored by or do you believe that the fairy godmother resides in amongst your family members? Your owner / main benefactor might talk a good game, but I'll eat my hat when he comes up with the £6m sterling that you refer to.

I really find some posts incredibly naive ................... Goodwin was taken off by the manager for every good reason last night, otherwise the ref would have waved his red card at the next opportunity and believe me the next opportunity would have arrived pretty quickly. I think they (Livi) were instructed last night to go out and really mix it. They succeeded and only late on did they have someone sent off. If that is a sign of what Ian Murray believes is where we need to wise up, then he is bang on correct. You play the ref and you play the opposition and if they are being aggressive to the point of getting away with it Ian Murray has to find a leader on the park who will get his message across to the ref that football is the casualty if he lets that aggressive nature continue unchecked. Murray was absolutely right to take Goodwin off, he needs him badly for the league and Jim would have missed at least the next two league games if he had been sent off. In my books that is positive management!

There are a hell of a lot of long faces and cliff jumpers around this morning........... little surprise as this was a cup we were winning just two and a half years ago! I said it a few times last season and I will repeat it. If the management of the club is non-committed (i.e. BoD's) then there is a general lack of direction and genuine ambition. That ultimately filters its way down to the man manager, the coaching staff and the players. No matter how you parcel it up, it is the reason there is no buzz and why players aren't excited about signing for the club. There is a total lack of conviction around the place. I know that the Board want out, I know they want their money out of the club, I know they don't want to put more of their money into the club and I know they don't want to put the club into debt to make it even more unsaleable, but something has to give. Either they take the club off the market and commit to a new business plan for at least two seasons in the belief that they can oversee a resurrection of the club and an improvement in the playing level, or they get out now at whatever price they can extract - if that means walking away, then walk away it is. There is a sickness about the place which will NOT get better as long as this indecisiveness continues. Get off the back of Ian Murray, place all your comments and disappointments squarely on the Board and keep telling them that until they are sick to death of hearing it!