Mykey

I'm getting nostalgic for the summer of beath, what we wouldn't give for a wardlaw now.

Interesting philosophy that you are somehow not a man unless you follow a guy who is 'The Manager' regardless of his skill-set.
I have never had any say on who is appointed the SMFC manager. Usually it is someone that is not my first choice however regardless on who it is they always start off with me with a clean slate. It is what they do afterwards that either earns my respect or not. Any manager I believe need a strategy, good man management skills and good communication skills. Our current manager has failed miserably on all three counts after only 12 weeks or so.
The squad is arguably weaker now that it was last season in the Championship. Incoming players have not shown to be good enough in games against lower league opposition never mind top clubs. He has alienated most of last season's squad with appalling man management. He made promises he didn't keep and refers to 'the players' instead of 'we' ie a 'them and us' scenario. But we have to continue to back him?
For me 'growing a pair' is not blindly backing someone just because of their job title. For me 'growing a pair' is speaking out when someone has clearly made, and continues to make, huge errors of judgement, not by silence or insincere support.
There is little I can do about the situation. I do not boo. I have purchased my season ticket and will continue to attend Home games but will probably give most Away games a miss until the situation changes. But do not ask me to support someone who is not up to the job and infer that somehow those that don't support the manager are inferior to those that do support him.
And I do not personally know anyone who thought the step up would be easy; nor that we would beat Aberdeen nor anyone who is not supportive of the Board. Every supporter I personally know believes the manager has made a complete mess of an amazingly positive situation and reversed it completely in only a matter of a couple of months by demonstrating very poor management skills.

I'm getting nostalgic for the summer of beath, what we wouldn't give for a wardlaw now.

Aye, and a movie star to boot..............

I must have missed the other 10%, I thought he was the oracle.

While I agree with some of what you have posted here, I would have fancied last year's squad to have lost to Killie, beaten Spartans, beaten Queens Park, and beaten Dumbarton in the League Cup and also progressed from that group. Stubbs had two years at Hibs and a few months at Rotherham as a manager - Jack Ross was a No.2 at Dumbarton, had about 9 months as Alloa manager and then 20 months with us before moving to Sunderland. I don't see how Stubbs is more experienced, Jack has also not had a long period out the game between his time at Dumbarton / Hearts Academy / Alloa / St Mirren / Sunderland.
The bit I disagree with most of "some players have difficulty in accepting the changes - tough. That's life in football. Get on with it". If that's aimed at last year's squad I think it is misplaced. I am sure even a young-ish St Mirren player like Jack Baird will have had something like 5 or 6 St Mirren managers he has worked with in his time at the club, never-mind players like Stephen McGinn, Paul McGinn, Gary MacKenzie, Craig Samson etc who have been used to moving clubs every couple of seasons and working in different environments and leagues and with various managers. Some of the players in the squad who see to have the biggest difficulty in accepting the changes are Stubbs own signings - Heaton, King, Cooke all getting used to playing full time football and being in a professional first team.
I think Stubbs seems like a nice guy but has possibly wanted to compensate for failing at Rotherham and show he can spot young players and develop them and is out to prove that point at St Mirren but there has been a real lack of balance to our activity in this transfer window. I think last year's squad needed some old heads aged 27-32 to join them and help them step up, and Stubbs signings have gone the other way and they need experienced pros to help them - some of them are living away from their parents for the first time as well as getting used to Scottish football.
I don't think anyone who thought that if we added 4 or 5 good signings to last season's squad thought this season was going to be easy and can't think of one person who reckoned we would be sitting "3rd place or higher". What I will say is that Livingston came up via the play-offs perhaps not even expecting to get promoted until they were and seem to be in far better shape to stay in the division despite losing 2 managers since we lost Jack Ross and are making signings while we are "hopeful of maybe" adding a few, and Livingston have also integrated their new signings alongside the core of last year's team. One of their players spoke about their togetherness on the pitch and they all spend day offs together as a group as well; i.e. they have bonded and will fight for each other. At the minute we look ramshackle and more likely to fight with each other than fight for each other!

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

FFS !

Smith of course could play in a diamond midfield, at the top of that diamond, which arguably would be his best position. The problem, of course, with trying to play that formation with the players we have is it leaves the full backs hopelessly exposed, which, with a YTS central defence is asking for trouble.
So Stubbs preferred formation is bollocks. Just like everything else he's done since arriving.

Having had 24 hours to mull over the result and performance yesterday , it’s still pish.

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

That's how livi got rid of Miller without cost thy had a month long probation period in the contract, unfortunately I doubt we have

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

Hold tight to what? The main success last season was galvanising players and fans, creating an atmosphere, making our home a bit of a fortress, cleverly making sure if we went a go all behind the fans would rally and cheer the team on, this season we're holding tight to a omnishambles and the fans will turn when we go goal down because they know that Stubbs hasn't the ability to turn it round. Like others on here when JR was failing there was something inside that thought he could still turn it round, I have no such feelings now.

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season

We slag livi and rightly so, there is something wrong there with that asst manager interviewing for the managers position and the Kenny Miller debacle but one thing they did right was to have a probation clause in the contract, Kenny Miller bombed out without cost, now they may be proved right or wrong to trigger the probation clause, but they had one. I'll bet our chairman and chief exec wish they'd included one in a 3 year contract, if they had Stubbs taxi would have the engine running in greenhill Rd now

We slag livi and rightly so, there is something wrong there with that asst manager interviewing for the managers position and the Kenny Miller debacle but one thing they did right was to have a probation clause in the contract, Kenny Miller bombed out without cost, now they may be proved right or wrong to trigger the probation clause, but they had one. I'll bet our chairman and chief exec wish they'd included one in a 3 year contract, if they had Stubbs taxi would have the engine running in greenhill Rd now

Easy to say, but if the biscuit tin's opened surely you wouldn't trust Stubbs to spend it wisely

Easy to say, but if the biscuit tin's opened surely you wouldn't trust Stubbs to spend it wisely

Hold tight to what? The main success last season was galvanising players and fans, creating an atmosphere, making our home a bit of a fortress, cleverly making sure if we went a go all behind the fans would rally and cheer the team on, this season we're holding tight to a omnishambles and the fans will turn when we go goal down because they know that Stubbs hasn't the ability to turn it round. Like others on here when JR was failing there was something inside that thought he could still turn it round, I have no such feelings now.

When i think back to JR's early days, even  when he was losing there was a shape and purpose to the team, i believed in him and knew he'd  come good. There are no such signs with Stubbs and there's nothing to suggest that will change.

Stubbs has demonstrated Tommy Craig's recruitment policy Alex Rae's media skills and Ian Murray's tactical nous, look forward to the championship next season