Dare

Thought the side looked a lot more balanced yesterday and our midfield put in some shift. In fact it was the same all over the park where we were hunting Hearts players down in packs of two or three. Gave them no time on the ball and they didn’t like it. Was worried at half time that we wouldn’t last full 90 playing a pressing game but we did and have to say as a team we certainly look fitter. No failures yesterday and really hard to single anyone out - for me both centre backs were immense and Adam Hamill provided a touch of class. Watched his goals back again and again and again ............ f#cken magic ! COYS !

Time for the players to step up - questions are rightly being raised about their ability to compete at this level. I fear we are not physical enough and against Motherwell that will certainly be put to the test. We badly need a win COYS Lets f#cken do this mob !

It’s easy to blame our midfield but all good sides are built on a solid back four which we haven’t had all season. As a team we aren’t playing as a unit and as such our defence keeps dropping deeper which in turn gives the midfield a much bigger area to cover. We are losing on average over 2 goals per game so let’s try and stop leaking goals so that we at least give ourselves a chance.

Reality check for us today with a struggling St Johnstone side giving us a pumping. What has struck me this season is that we are not able to compete with the physical side of the game ........ brushed aside way too easily all over the park, literally men against boys. Last season’s back 4 which had its faults is way better than what we have now. We badly miss Gary Mac’s dominance in the air and I feel we are there for the taking down both flanks. It’s hard to see where our next win is coming from and we could easily get detached at the bottom with our only hope being that Dundee remain as pish as us. Fu#ken depressing after 18 months of hope but hey ho that is what St Mirren do to you. Can only hope that Jan window sees an upturn in our fortunes and we are still in a position to salvage something from what has been a clusterf#ck of a season so far.

Bad news about Hamill, typical the way our luck is going at the moment. What has really concerned me though is how we are being out fought during games ……. we seem to be too nice and easily pushed around. Badly need an Aber / Shuggie Murray type in our midfield.

We are lacking pace all over the park particularly at the back. On Saturday I thought in order to guard against the ball over the top we were sitting way too deep which in turn gave the midfield a far bigger area to cover. We also need to find the right balance in the middle of the park - Saturday showed how much we miss Kyle in there. Could also do with a winger to give us an out-ball rather than hopeful punts up to our front line and whilst I’m all for giving NBM a chance, I’ve not seen anything to date that suggests he is going to be the answer up front. Tough ask for OK but we are where we are and he just needs to find a system that can get the best out of the players we have at our disposal. Hopefully we can pick up a couple of frees that will do us a turn ......... only issue is that at this stage in the season they are usually without a club for good reason !

Think we will take a good support through to Hamilton tomorrow - a win would be a big result for us and put down a marker. Wonder about Ferdinand on that shit surface right enough.

We move on - bottom line Stubbs wasn’t a right fit for the club, these things happen. The change in atmosphere last night was tangible and I don’t think it would have mattered if we had lost the game as there was enough on show to suggest that we will make a fist of staying in this league. A point from one half of the ugly sisters is magic and to hear them greeting about the referee is even better ! Onwards and hopefully upwards ....... it’s going to be OK, get yourselves to Hamilton next week.

Regardless of the result tonight, we have our club back and everything is going to be OK !

Hopefully we put in a good display tonight. Players seem to be up for it - hope ra Cellic think it is just a case of turning up and game is theirs. Lets f#cken do this mob ! COYS !

Hope big Anton does well for us - think it may be a big ask tonight given he hasn’t had much game time. Hopefully it will be OK !

Don’t really need to overthink it - currently our defence is nowhere near good enough and worryingly at the moment we don’t have the personnel to change it either. Last season’s back line wasn’t perfect by any means but it was streets ahead of the shambles that we are currently witnessing on a weekly basis. We urgently need a centre half in the Gary Mac mould ............ Stubbs needs to admit that what he has brought in isn’t the standard required for this league.

For me the central defence is the main problem - we are not winning simple cross balls into the box nor are we dominant in open play - all this is doing is heaping pressure on the midfield as we are being constantly over run. A fit Gary Mac would have made all the difference yesterday - Stubbs has to hold his hands up and admit he’s got it wrong at the back and somehow get a no nonsense centre half from somewhere on a free.

Big test for our back four today and with all the criticism the team have had over last week’s performance I’d like to think that pride will kick in and they will come out fighting and at least show some dig and effort - that should be a given every week. Apart from the Kilmarnock game lets face it we have been rubbish and currently look to be a worse side than the one that won the championship last season. About six of last season’s first team are still there and the goals lost so far have been mainly from our defence not being good enough to cope with the step up. Emphasises the need for a really strong back four in this league which we haven’t had - all heresay really but any combo of Harry Davies/Gary Mac/Baird plus Smith, Eckersley and Stellios looks better than we currently have. Be typical of St Mirren to pull out a result today when no one expects it ......... its the hope that kills you lol !

I wish I had confidence in our recruitment plan but at the moment it appears that Stubbs has badly underestimated the quality of player needed to compete in this league. Any side needs a strong spine and for me solving our central defence problems would go a long way to putting us back on track. Gary Mac is the best centre half we have but he is out injured ......... the worrying thing is that Stubbs obviously thought that the two he brought in are better as he told Gary Mac he could go. Hearts will provide a major test as they are strong up front and fire crosses into the box at every opportunity. Whatever defensive option Stubbs decides to go with on Saturday, this will be a major test. I have the fear !

Yeah fair play to the guys in W7 ....... just a pity the guys on the park didn’t put in the same level of effort.

The f#cking annoying thing is that after years of treading water we produce 18 months of attractive football and then in true St Mirren style go full throttle turbo reverse and manage to piss off an entire support 3 league games into the season. Quite a feat that to be fair !

Think today is up there with one of the worst performances from a St Mirren side since we moved to Greenhill Road and there have been some howlers so that is saying something ! Quite where we go from here I’m not sure - Stubbs has managed to assemble a worse squad than we had in the championship and it looks like a further rebuild is on the cards if we have any chance of staying up. Over to GLS ........... stick or twist ?

Madsen was pathetic - worst performance I’ve seen for a long time. The fact that Stubbs kept him on for 82 mins is a sackable offence in itself !

We have ripped up last years team and started again - Livi more or less the same. That first half is proof that we have regressed at an alarming rate. Totally pissed off !

NBM hasn’t won a ball all day - has the unique ability to jump lower than his 6 ft 3 height Get him off and get Cammy on ffs

Don’t like to criticise players but NBM ....... ffs we would be better off with a wheelie bin playing no 9 !

Afraid I'm in the f*ck them camp on this one - give them the away stand and that's it. As a club GLS has stated we have ambitions to establish ourselves in this league - why then would we give both of the ugly sisters the advantage of having both ends of the ground filled with their fans ? Could be that any point(s) gained could be the difference between us staying up and going down but we are willing to sacrifice that for a fast buck. Pish poor I reckon.

Although it is early days it looks like Stubbs philosophy of bringing in players from the lower English leagues has backfired on us somewhat. Cole and Heaton don’t appear to be the answer to our defensive woes and Cooke and King aren’t getting game time either. Positive is that Alfie Jones appeared to bring some semblance of order when he came on but Aberdeen had the cigars out by that point. Think most fans get the fact that we are not going to beat likes of Aberdeen in our first season back but we should be able to put up a better effort than yesterday or indeed what we witnessed against Rangers. Let’s be honest here yesterday could have been 6 or 7 quite easily and for me we also got off lightly against Sevco as had they kept 11 men on the park that looked like another doing was on the cards. Realise that Stubbs is still trying to establish his best 11 but as it stands right now we are a far weaker side than the one that finished last season in the championship. We need to spend some of that Mcginn money wisely to get us up to speed and to a level that allows us to at least compete.

You have to build from the back - have a strong centre back pairing and same in centre midfield. Facts are that currently we are weak right down the spine of the team and that needs to be urgently addressed. Bad news about Gary Mac as I’ve not seen anything this season to suggest that we are strong enough in defence to compete at this level. Simple balls over the top and crosses into the box and we look like conceding every time. The manner of the last two defeats are a concern ......... didn’t lay a glove on Rangers who played with ten men for an hour and today we were totally outplayed, outfought and outclassed.