lovestlegend

Leaving to one side whether he was right or wrong to pursue this, I find it very disheartening how many on here and on twitter have been quick to run a fellow Saints fan into the ground. Poor guy doesn’t deserve that. So much for sticking up for your own.

Some amount a nonsense being talked on here from the usual suspects. Given the candidates, Stubbs was the best possible appointment for St Mirren.
Look at his CV:
Captain of Bolton at 22, England B international, Celtic's record signing, numerous trophies, Champions League experience, played 5 seasons in the English Premiership. Worked for and learned from Bruce Rioch, Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen, Martin O'Neill, Walter Smith, David Moyes and Mick McCarthy, to name a few. He started on the road to management because he was handpicked, at the age of 36, by David Moyes to coach their young players.  Don't forget either that Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer twice; the second time he thought it was gone then they found a tumour at the bottom of his spine during a routine scan. Chemotherapy and an operation followed. His kids were 2 and 4 at the time. He came back from that to play nearly 200 games for Everton. This is a strong and determined character. As for getting the sack from Rotherham, Derek McInnes and Steve Clarke suffered similar fates and are doing okay now...
Who really thinks, if they were a member of our board, that a teacher from Northern Ireland, Jim McIntyre or Gary Caldwell would be better options?
What Stubbs has done so far with us..... obviously his first problem is that he's not Jack Ross and there's nothing he can do about that. The "marquee signings" chat was a mistake. No doubt. I think he was on a wee bit of a high being back in football and after a decent performance against Killie. What's happened with G. Mac and Eck, it doesn't look great from the outside but nobody knows what's happened there (though waiting for billyg to make something up again) Regarding Eck, Stubbs signed him for Hibs so he knew what he was getting with that player. Given Eckersley's age and injury history I think it's safe to say Coulson is a better option. As for signings, they will come.
Call me mad, and I know that a whole 13 days have now passed since his first game in charge, but I remain optimistic we'll be a success under Stubbsy.  
 
 

There are currently volunteers at the club who clean the stands midweek every so often. A fantastic gesture.

Coulson looks decent

injured

I think the vast majority of Saints fans can see the huge positives surrounding SMiSA and what they are doing.
Sure we won't all agree on the discretionary spends (isn't democracy great?) and even some of the decisions that are taken by the organisation, same as we won't always agree with decisions the football club take. That's life as part when you are part of a large group of people.
Nobody I'm sure was in the least bit surprised as to the identity of the first people to jump ship on BuyTheBuds and why these people felt the need to broadcast all about it online.
These are the same people that now spend the vast majority of their online time moaning about how shite it all is.
The rest of us will just keep paying our money and keep supporting the guys who are doing their level best to deliver fan ownership.

SMISA have put their hands up they didn't have the right process in place to back-up the 1,400 and have said they'll try to do better to get to 1,300. Taking a potshot at anyone who's held their hands-up is kinda low don't you think? 
Former members having a go at falling SMISA numbers is like standing on a boat, saying 'it's going to sink' then punching the holes yourself. 

Every senior team in Scotland play in the SPFL.

St Mirren captain Stephen McGinn is hoping for a cup and survival double
4 hrs ago / Exclusive by Graeme Macpherson

STEPHEN McGinn Sr. was said to have been a decent footballer in his day but never made a career out of the game. His wife Mary still plays netball socially, as does their daughter Katie. It speaks to an active family if not one of outstanding sporting pedigree. Which makes the fact that all three of their sons made it as professional footballers all the more remarkable.

Stephen, Paul and John McGinn are not the first trio of siblings to forge a path in the game – the McLeans blazed that trail in the 1960s, before the Wallace triumvirate emerged at Southampton two decades later – but it remains a rare enough feat. All will be in action next weekend at diverse locations; Paul, the middle brother, for Chesterfield at home to Rochdale in League One, John, the youngest, could feature for Scotland in their World Cup qualifying tie against Slovenia, while Stephen, the eldest of the three, will lead out St Mirren for their Irn-Bru Cup final appearance against Dundee United.

If distance means it has been harder to follow Paul’s progress down south, the other two brothers will go and watch each other playing whenever the opportunity arises. And they are not slow to offer feedback either, both complimentary and critical.

“We are a close family,” reveals Stephen over a coffee in a café near St Mirren’s training ground in the Ralston area of Paisley. “But it wasn’t like we were three extremely talented or blessed kids who were definitely going to make it. Certainly Paul and I had to work really hard for everything that we’ve achieved. By all accounts my dad and uncles were good players although none played professionally. My sister and my mum both play netball. So I don’t know if it’s the genes or just because we’re three boys who used to play football all the time as kids. That’s all we every really did growing up.

“I think having two brothers in the game brings the best out in each other. Even when I played against John recently, I wanted to take him on as he’s a Scotland player and I wanted to prove I’m as good as him. We’ll all go and watch the others playing if we can. And we’re not daft. I might come off the park after a game and say, “I was rubbish” and John or Paul will say, “aye, you were”. That spurs you on but it also keeps you grounded.”

He is smiling when he says that he was “completely jealous” of John when he won the League Cup with St Mirren in 2013 and then the Scottish Cup with Hibernian last summer. In truth, he could not be more complimentary of his little brother who, at 22, is six years his junior.

“I’m completely biased but I can’t believe Celtic haven’t come in for John as yet,” offers Stephen. “I think he would definitely do well there. There are teams from England starting to show an interest in him and, although he’s loving it at Hibs, there will come a time when he’s going to be playing at a higher level. He’s an international footballer in the Championship which shows how highly Gordon Strachan thinks of him.

“He’s in no rush to leave Hibs but the pinnacle for any young Scottish player just now is to play for Celtic or in the English Premier League. If John doesn’t ever get to one of those levels I don’t think he’ll have done himself justice.”

It could be said, too, that Stephen is playing below his capabilities having returned to St Mirren in January after spending the best part of the last seven years in England, latterly with Wycombe Wanderers. Rooted to the foot of the Championship, his agent strongly advised against the move. The chance, though, to be reunited with manager Jack Ross – a former team-mate – and the lure of returning to a club he feels passionately about proved too strong to turn down.

“It was tough because of where St Mirren were in the league but I wouldn’t have come back for any other team,” he adds. “I did wonder if I was signing up for a sinking ship heading for relegation.

“But there were two reasons. Firstly, the manager is someone I trust. I thought highly of him before as a player and a team-mate, and then when he went into coaching he had my brother Paul at Dumbarton and he raved about him.

“Plus it was St Mirren. I was talking to my dad the other day about how it has been such a big part of our lives for at least 15 years now. You start to develop a real feeling for a club. Even earlier this season after Wycombe games I’d be checking for the St Mirren score and I’d be gutted if they had lost. The English guys around me couldn’t understand it.

“Having being part of a successful period for five years in my first spell and then John coming on the scene and winning the cup, I still feel a lot for the club. We weren’t boyhood St Mirren supporters but I’d say now I’m a St Mirren fan.

“I feel so invested in wanting to do well here, for the club, for this manager. St Mirren has never been in the third tier and I don’t want to play any part in that happening. We are starting to get some momentum going and we have shown we are a match for anyone in the league. I’d hate to get this far and not get it over the line. Instead I’d love to be remembered as the captain that led us to the great escape.”

McGinn was on the books but still waiting to make his debut when St Mirren last won the Challenge Cup in 2005, and had recently left for Watford when the Paisley side reached and lost the 2010 League Cup final to Rangers. “I remember playing Cardiff on the day of that [latter] final and I cost us a goal as my mind was elsewhere,” he recalls. “I was devastated I wasn’t playing in the final. And to watch it later and see the boys lose to nine men was a horrible feeling. I felt a bit guilty actually that I wasn’t still around to try help them.”

It is why he is treating this cup final appearance – his first at senior level – with the seriousness he feels it merits. “When I came back to the club there were two challenges set: can you stay in the league? And can you win the cup? And those are still the objectives.

“We’ve got a week to look forward to it now and we’ll try to enjoy being able to switch off from the pressures of the league for a short while. It’s a big thing for St Mirren. We’re struggling in the Championship so not in a position to look down our noses at anything.

“I remember being a young player when St Mirren last won this cup and how good a day it was for everyone involved. That team really kicked on after that and won the league. Hopefully it could do something similar for us if we were to win it. If I could finish the season with the cup and having stayed up these would be the proudest months of my career."

Looks like a landslide to me:

1. Proposal to make £50,000 available to part-fund the replacement of the Ralston astroturf:

YES - 579 votes (88%) / NO - 81 votes (12%)

A lot of bitter people on here belly aching and nobody’s listening.

Is he? Totally missed that if so.

The ones who like to be heard, a bit like the yes campaign (I voted yes btw). 
Convinced they are the majority because they're shouting loudest. 

I just voted and Im am NOT a Smisa member.  Perhaps such business should be conducted via Smisa channels as Smisa business is for Smisa members.  Perhaps you could raise this with the committee via proper channels?  Perhaps (if the committee agree) this poll could be sent to Smisa members where a meanignful response could be gleaned.
 
 
I would imagine that Smisa have some sort of regular meeting where Smisa members can discuss Smisa business amongst fellow Smisa members, yes I would imagine that Smisa have some sort of Smisa approved vehicle for Smisa members to discuss Smisa related business amongst Smisa peers in a manner in accordance with the Smisa constitution, in accordance with Smisa constitution amongst fellow Smisa members in a pre=arranged Smisa meeting indeed.
 
Note:  I just said Smisa eighteen times, oops that nineteen times I have said Smisa, woops that's twenty.......

You really shouldn't be trolling this forum with your bitter resentment towards SMISA . We all know this is a matter that requires some clarity but posting this nonsense helps no-one. We all know you resigned , but we really don't give a f**k about the reasons ! Your self importance is breath taking btw.

No son. 
 
In the 1999/2000 the team paraded in an open top bus to a civic reception in the town hall, great day that was.
 
In 2005/2006 season the team took a jaunt in an open top bus to the town hall (but didnae go in), great day that was.
Those are two recent occasions where the people of Paisley openly rejoiced winning Scotland's second tier.  Do you have something against the people of Paisley?
 
Rejoice fellow Buddies, milk it till the udder is red and swollen and then milk it some more. Milk it some more indeed.
 
 
 
 

He’s totally over rated.

He’s totally over rated.

He’s totally over rated.

He’s totally over rated.

He’s totally over rated.

He’s totally over rated.

Well, why read or post on the threads at all then? Nobody is saying that the current group of players won’t get our full support for the rest of this season. Or that they won’t have done an amazing job when we win the title.

But if the thread is about what we will need to survive in a higher league then I think it’s fair enough to offer an opinion on the quality required.

That's fair enough, but, for me anyway, it's all about timing.
The job we are expecting these guys to do isn't complete just yet. There will be an entire close/pre season to ponder and discuss what will be required. In the meantime (and again, this is simply my take on things) we would do well just to focus on the job at hand. That job, from a supporters perspective, is to back these guys all the way.
What some folk are doing is pretty much questioning their quality. There's a time and a place for that. For me, this isn't the time.
Anyway, I appreciate that folk are entitled to discuss what they want to discuss, and I'm probably going out on a limb here.

Well, why read or post on the threads at all then? Nobody is saying that the current group of players won’t get our full support for the rest of this season. Or that they won’t have done an amazing job when we win the title.

But if the thread is about what we will need to survive in a higher league then I think it’s fair enough to offer an opinion on the quality required.