norrie82

We will be lucky to finish 7th now. The late collapse against Celtic has come back to haunt us here. The big picture is we have improved and the defence are behind that. The forward play is utterly abysmal and we don’t score anywhere near enough goals. I’m also not a fan of the constant tinkering and I’m sick of Jim being overly cautious at times. Today 1 up and probably looking the better side yet we take off a striker and eventually we have nothing up front . What a chance to make a wee bit of history with our best ever finish and to try and chase down Livingston. Europe for either them or st j possibly. Livingston top 6 back to back and st j now have ten top six finishes. We can only dream of that. Throw in county and thistle as top six clubs of the past And for us never to have made it really is a sickener. As for him today to blame the ref lacks class. We have had some v soft pens this year too and without McGrath’s goals we have scored 19 and even he has six pens in his tally. it was lost today in the last minute but the inability to gather more points from all our home games has killed us. We beat Celtic and after that it all went a bit flat sadly

I despair at some folk . Honestly people wanting our right back replaced . Unbelievable

I’d imagine the boys might get a good rest and between now and Hamilton I’d expect very little strenuous work in training and for the lads to be kept ticking over with the aim of replenished energy stores for that game. Ibrox is a game the boys should enjoy

I can’t believe some of the comments on here. I mean folk saying they’d take county’s right back over ours and we’re not sixth on merit. Look we were not great and haven’t been for past three weeks but we’d have lost these games in the last. The mentality is changing and the back line are driving it - well done to them and Marcus Fraser should be offered a new improved deal ASAP. Outstanding of late particularly at Aberdeen . I wouldn’t want Watson, Naismith or Andreu back - we’ve got better and we are A better Team than them . Well done saints today a close nervy game but you dug in there and got a vital win . COYS

Is this a joke ?? Fraser has been absolutely outstanding. No harm to Jason but he’s not in the same league I’m afraid .

Sadly without Jamie and jake who dictates play our middle of the park is not strong. I’m hoping Flynn plays there on Saturday

Erahon at times looks good at others he passes it poorly. Yes he’s young and pairing him with cammy isn’t going to be the answer. Cammy was one I had high hopes for but I have to say he hasn’t taken his chance when selected to start this year. He’s far too rash in the tackle and gives the call away too. Jim said he needed to improve defensively and when you see the free kicks he conceded you know why. I do realise we are playing a lot of games but these guys are professional footballers and the training will be very little at present t so the tiredness chat needs to be binned. Are we serious about this top six position? If so then the next three games will need to provide a decent points haul otherwise we will be left playing catch up.

The top six remains within reach but we need to avoid losing momentum now. Injuries are worrying and we will need the squad now to step up and deliver. Let’s not forget that a top six position has been regaularly achieved by St Johnstone , Kilmarnock and Motherwell. Add in Ross county , Livingston and Particl Thistle as those who have achieved it and you see that a club of our stature should be aiming for this position every season. This team is good enough and whilst last night was poor it is important the manager finds a winning formula again soon.

I agree McGrath outstanding but I think the role Doyle Hayes does is sometimes easy to overlook. Look we need to see if we can extend all these contracts . Your point is Very valid though

A very solid and professional performance

Great turnaround in our season by the lads now let’s deal these lads in and make sure they aren’t picked off for a nominal fee from Hibs and the like. Let’s hope the board are already well down the line with the lads out of contract this year. Obika, Durmus, Connolly and for me if it takes three players wages get Jake Doyle Hayes signed up if we can. When he’s on it we’re on it. Lads different class.

Magnificent St Mirren after Hampden the response has been sensational

Jim should have believed that he had players to cause them problems - so why he played as if he was scared of them is beyond me. Cup football is there to be won

We picked totally the wrong team. The midfield two of Erahon and Macpherson? What was he thinking. Holt and Bartley won’t have an easier game. Pair one with Foley ? And if Foley isn’t up to it then why is he still here? I struggle to think that he wouldn’t have done better in there . Up front we picked Brophy who was at times the only man in the Livingston half. He was isolated and the team as a whole didn’t perform . Obika and Durmus made a big improvement and what I don’t get is that when we had some success in December it was from pressing teams and bei N in about them. Yesterday we didn’t do anywhere near enough. The galling aspect is that Jim actually believes we had a go. It’s as if the Livingston keeper played a great game had wonder saved and we did everything but score. Nothing could be further from the truth . The boys looked like the occasion got the better of them at times and we never set up to attack them and go win the tie. We set up cautiously and within half an hour he should have been changing his tactics and personnel. He didn’t and obika sitting on the bench for over an hour is a joke. He is the one guy who has good feet and movement and he also scored a goal or two. it’s a chance gone to be in the last three of a National cup when your the biggest team left is the things dreams are made of. We won’t get this chance again and it hurts. Finally Livi have say 1000 fans and don’t own the park. They have assembled a squad capable of going toe to toe with anyone in Scotland and yet saints can only dream of going on a proper unbeaten run. Don’t give me this only lost 3 in 17 etc. Beating qos on pens hardly counts . The team was set up not to lose yesterday and paid for it. It was the complete opposite of the semi final wins v Hearts in 2010 and Celtic in 2013. We simply didn’t turn up.

It would be wrong to over react after today. The performance was extremely poor and very simelar to the loss in Perth at the end of August. I think it’s clear that whilst Erwin might be good in the box he does not have the mobility that is required to lead the line effectively. Obika is a much more difficult opponent and his fast feet and trickery always have defenders on their toes. What I don’t understand is that today our main goal scorer was left on the bench and afforded a mere six minutes of play. It’s unbelievable that Jim felt he didn’t need to add some movement to the attack and bring on someone who at times is capable of holding the ball up. Granted he isn’t brilliant at it but he wins fouls and he can do this role. Our midfield too is another area that we need to look at. McGrath apart the rest seem quite content to pass the pass side ways and back the way whilst never really hurting the opposition. We were passive in both our previous outings at Kilmarnock and last week at home to Motherwell. Doyle Hayes is a class operator but he needs to have people willing to run and take us up the park. Too often lately our play has been predictable and far too slow. we haven’t been able to get Connolly on the ball and isolate the full back that will allow him the opportunity to create for us. Get him in behind like he did in the cup win against Rangers. Durmus too can offer width and whilst he is hot and cold he does deliver good balls at times and with Brophy in the box I’d think he will be recalled. The point being though that we don’t seem to want to play offensive at times and today we played a side that hadn’t won in 10 matches yet they’re unlikely to get an easier game all season. So where are we now? There is no doubt that on our day we are competing in most games. The defensive side has been good and our goalie is having a great season. We do have players who can create but too often the final ball is poor or the team is set up far too cautiously. If we look at next week’s opponents Livingston have went on a tremendous run since they lost to us on November 21st. They are a team that are t bogged down with history . They don’t go into games worrying about the opposition in the way that we do. I don’t know about you but I have been feeling nervous in each of our previous three games because I haven’t seen a team that’s aggressive or in the oppositions faces - I’ve seen a team standing off and looking devoid of the creative spark that they held for a few weeks prior to Christmas . Livingston just go at teams they have no fear they have players that are at it every single week and a side that has went from being relegation candidates to top five in the blink of an eye. They are enjoying a run of form that somehow we can only dream of. These other teams seem able to go on winning runs or have seasons when they are consistently winning games against teams of a similar stature. We haven’t did this for many years and I can’t remember us ever having brilliant runs since we played in the newly formed SPL / SPFL premiership. The manager has been backed in the market and now he needs to find a way of challenging those other teams all battling to break free from the almost inevitable relegation fight. A few weeks ago it looked like we might finally have that consistency but it’s not on the same level as what Livingston have achieved. Theyll be favourites alright next week and quite rightly so. Can Jim put out a team capable of being as aggressive and offensive as they will. Can we match them and the belief they will have ? I hope so and it would be foolish to rule us out but what is clear is that we will need to be at our very best to make the final. How often do you play in a semi final ? Not often and we need to make sure it doesn’t pass us bye this time. COYS

We need cover simple. Foley was excellent in cup win v Aberdeen at centre half

To enter the top flight you should be required to have a grass park with undersoil heating. Astrograss makes us a joke league. Sky should make it a requirement when the next tv deal comes round. finally I heard a rumour the kibble wanted an Astro park at our stadium. If that happened I wouldn’t be back

I worried about today as often you see teams beat the old firm then fall flat in the next game. I don’t think we played brilliant for long spells but the subs changed the game and the club in general is in such a good place right now. The boys are all fighting for each other and they look a really solid side at present. Let’s now press on and get well clear of the drop so that we can really focus on the semi. Well done jim and the boys I was very doubtful about the opportunity to turn it around but take a bow the teams unrecognisable now

Dennis and Erwin aren’t very good. Obika going off was a shocker. The team looks solid but we’ve scored 8 goals all season. If we don’t find a finisher it’ll be hard. Find a finisher then it’s game on

What a difference in saints tonight. They passed it so well and from the start were the better side. They’ll say Aberdeen had injuries but they have a huge squad and we also had three out . Remember we lost up there narrowly when we couldn’t fill the bench but nobody mentioned this. They still had a good side out and we now can look forward with the belief that we can be a solid mid table team

A true Saint RIP Gordian

Really bored watching us this season. Terrible to watch and we don’t create chances . I suppose we limp on but loses to Livingston and Aberdeen are looking very likely on our current form. Nothing there today at all until obika rescued us. Flat and frankly not good enough.

Absolutely terrible. It’s so so boring and sadly it’s been like this all season. No better than Stubbs

I wasn’t a huge fan of Tommy Wright but this job looks made for him. He would definitely get more out of them and whilst I understand he’s look for a bigger job he’s unemployed and might be available. I like jim I really do but this is a terrible watch we have no idea on how to attack teams and tonight again his selection and substitutions were awful.

Wont go ahead if team is isolating