No Home Win In Lower League Till At Least November!

[Lord Pityme]

and their colleges

Universities too?

[beyond our ken]

If you drew every home game and won every away game you would go mightily close to winning the Championship............................without winning a home game !!!!!

So that's us then? i never knew we were so successful

[beyond our ken]

I haven't seen any St Mirren Fan celebrating defeat.

All I have noticed is the majority supporting our wonderful Club in the correct manner.

My face was tripping me after losing yesterday bit there was no way I could criticise the

Team after the great performance they put in.

If we play like that in every game then we will cruise up the league in jig time, getting rid of the non-delivering elements of the team will also help

I hope we can sustain that level of performance and even improve on it

Edited October 27, 2015 by beyond our ken

[beyond our ken]

Bobby McCulley , our former coach, and ex Shire player, said recently that Fergie was a "scary bastard" and commanded respect the minute he walked into Firs Park . Fergie was a great appointment for us, and everyone at Love St at the time , players and support, knew it. Most Dumbarton players/employees say Murray was an arse.

I think Spalding will have a kind word for him

[beyond our ken]

The positives from the weekend, for me, is that we played the way I expected us to play all season. We pressed, we harried and we hunted.

It just seems that when we come up against weaker opposition we try this Brendan Rodgers recycle possession pish. It doesn't work at this level, only one thing does....get the f**k in to them!

Hopefully Murray has learned this and we go for Falkirk like we did in the first half against them.

I'd have no issue with us getting in about them, getting the game won early-ish and then settling back to play with possession and something in reserve for the last 10 or so minutes, especially against bottom half sides. that is what builds confidence and adaptibility in a team.

if we go back to defending 1-0 leads or 0-0 scorelines after this then I will be upset

[Lord Pityme]

I'd have no issue with us getting in about them, getting the game won early-ish and then settling back to play with possession and something in reserve for the last 10 or so minutes, especially against bottom half sides. that is what builds confidence and adaptibility in a team.

if we go back to defending 1-0 leads or 0-0 scorelines after this then I will be upset

Heartily agree with the above, sadly experience tells us Murray is devoid of reasoning to allow his teams to express themselves.

[Danny]

Interesting interview with the manager in the Herald http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13897598._The_job_is_far_bigger_than_people_perceive____Graham_Spiers_interviews_Ian_Murray/?ref=mr&lp=16

Signs of a wee change of direction and approach?

[Ayrshire Saints]

So that's us then? i never knew we were so successful

As I said previously I never said if we....I was being hypothetical. Obviously that is not us this season. The home record is piss poor everyone knows that but it has been this way for years and several managers so it's not something that can be pinned solely at IM's door. As to why, clearly no one knows, board, management, players or fans as if someone did know what was causing it then they would have put it right by now. We have never really settled into the new stadium results wise but we have been there too long now to be still using that as an excuse. it's a millstone round the whole club but constantly moaning about it is clearly not going to fix it. As fans probably only greater support is all we can offer but some find that concept difficult.

[Lord Pityme]

Interesting interview with the manager in the Herald http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13897598._The_job_is_far_bigger_than_people_perceive____Graham_Spiers_interviews_Ian_Murray/?ref=mr&lp=16

Signs of a wee change of direction and approach?

Only the first paragraph is available to read on your link where Murray admits the job is too big for him. Not really news then....

[Lord Pityme]

As I said previously I never said if we....I was being hypothetical. Obviously that is not us this season. The home record is piss poor everyone knows that but it has been this way for years and several managers so it's not something that can be pinned solely at IM's door. As to why, clearly no one knows, board, management, players or fans as if someone did know what was causing it then they would have put it right by now. We have never really settled into the new stadium results wise but we have been there too long now to be still using that as an excuse. it's a millstone round the whole club but constantly moaning about it is clearly not going to fix it. As fans probably only greater support is all we can offer but some find that concept difficult.

Enough with desperate long winded attempts at excuses....

This squad, this season belongs to Murray. He chose who he wanted, he selects, coaches and sets up the team. Many, myself included, believe he has enough in that squad to be on Sevco's shoulder. But instead "He" has us at the arse end of the table. Its got feck all to do with four concrete stands. He admits its too big for him.... The only logical "Fix" for that is to get someone who believes they are big enough to do it!

[aldo_j]

I'd have no issue with us getting in about them, getting the game won early-ish and then settling back to play with possession and something in reserve for the last 10 or so minutes, especially against bottom half sides. that is what builds confidence and adaptibility in a team.

if we go back to defending 1-0 leads or 0-0 scorelines after this then I will be upset

Agree 100%.

While we all want to see great passing football, it's very easy to see that high tempo pressing and moving is the only way to get results in the league.

[RussellV1]

"The job is far bigger than people perceive" - Graham Spiers interviews Ian Murray

8:15am Tuesday 27th October 2015

By Graham Spiers

“Get f*****g Shankland on!” a St Mirren fan hollered angrily at Ian Murray on Sunday afternoon as his team fought desperately – and admirably – to get on level terms with Rangers. The sharp language must have been familiar to Murray, a man not short on incoming advice in recent months.

The 34 year old admits he is in at the deep end at St Mirren, a club with fans not missing an attitude or two, and nursing a residual grievance at its relegation from the old SPL last season. Currently seventh in the Ladbrokes Championship, it has been a slow start by Murray and his team, and he confesses to his early failings along the way.

“I’ve made mistakes, and there were maybe things that I underestimated at the start,” said Murray, reflecting on his opening, testy five months at the club. “The job is far bigger than is sometimes perceived. It is a fantastic club with a fantastic fan-base, but the job is a huge challenge.

“The club had been relegated. There had been a large turnover of players. There have been budget cuts. I’m not complaining, because it’s a great job, but it’s maybe only now that I’m getting to grips with it. At the start, maybe I had my eye off the ball on a number of things.”

Well, this is interesting – a football manager happily piping up on where he has gone wrong. You don’t hear this every day. But Murray is quite open about the fact that, in his opening weeks in his new job this summer, he didn’t quite appreciate the new environment he was in.

“It had been a bit of a culture-shock for me,” he says. “I went from being Dumbarton manager, where I saw my players two nights a week at Toryglen, to seeing my players every day here, and sometimes eight or nine days on the trot.

“It was a totally different environment to me. It’s not an excuse, but I think people maybe forget how big a change it represented for me. It’s maybe only now that I feel more in control. I think you’ve seen that in the last three or four weeks in our games.”

Pressed on this further, Murray admits that St Mirren’s sluggish start to this 2015-16 campaign was down to his own pre-conceived ideas which he foisted upon his new players. Were he to go back to August, he says, he might do things a little differently.

“At first maybe I tried too much in terms of formations and strategies. In this league sometimes it’s just about blood and guts, about doing the right things: in terms of tempo, in terms of pressing opponents, doing the right things in the right areas of the park. For instance, I’ve learned now to ask my full-backs, first and foremost, to be defenders. Never mind trying to get them to play like wingers, or whatever.

“All I’m saying is, maybe I was asking too much of my players. I changed things around a lot and it wasn’t working, it wasn’t good for us. At Dumbarton every point was a prisoner. When I first came to St Mirren maybe I chopped and changed things too much.

“If I’ve made mistakes, I’ve tried to recognise them and rectify them. We had a poor start to the season, which is why we are now trying to play catch-up. But I think in recent games, in terms of performance, there has been a resurgence. Mark Warburton made some complimentary comments about the way we tried to play against Rangers on Sunday.”

No-one could accuse Murray of not trying to prepare himself properly as a manager. Even back in 2010, when he was 29 and still a player with Hibs, he took a coaching on on the side with Coldstream of the East of Scotland league, in order to get a taste of a career he was planning ahead of him. When he then got his first job with Dumbarton, and made a success of that, he seemed a man capable of controlling his own destiny.

Alex Smith, a veteran of Scottish football managers, has long held the view that a young manager should start on a low rung, reasonably out of the spotlight, so that he can “make his mistakes and learn from them away from the media glare”.

“Coldstream was just a chance that came my way,” says Murray. “I wanted to get the experience, and it was a level that I felt comfortable with. It gave me a chance to look at things, cope with difficult situations, just really dip my toe in the water. I was still playing for Hibs.

“I know what Alex Smith means. When I was at Dumbarton there was no real great coverage of my work, beyond a very local level. If I made a mistake there, maybe some fans would pick up on it, but no-one else nationally. So you could make a mistake and be forgiven for it.

“Coming to St Mirren, as I say, is a different ball-game. Much bigger and tougher. But I do believe that now we are making progress.”

The pressure is on Murray. The St Mirren fans, quite rightly, expect to be in contention for promotion, which is not apparent in the Championship table at the moment. Murray is very clear about the onus on him, and the flak he has taken from sections of supporters this season.

“This is a tough league,” he says. “You’ve basically got eight full-time clubs gunning for four places at the end of the season. So four are going to miss out, plus you take it as a given that Rangers will probably win the league. So we’ve got to try to make sure we get into one of three remaining play-off positions.

“I don’t mind criticism. You expect that. You’re never going to have 4000 or 5000 happy faces all the time. The fans will always have sharp opinions.

“But if you are going to go with decisions, then make them your decisions. If you are to fall by the sword, then at least do it your way. Yes, there is pressure and expectation at St Mirren. You just handle that. You wouldn’t want it any other way.”

[saint in exile]

Only the first paragraph is available to read on your link where Murray admits the job is too big for him. Not really news then....

Not only do you post pish, but you clearly can't read.

[Lord Pityme]

"The job is far bigger than people perceive" - Graham Spiers interviews Ian Murray

8:15am Tuesday 27th October 2015

By Graham Spiers

“I’ve made mistakes, and there were maybe things that I underestimated at the start,” said Murray, reflecting on his opening, testy five months at the club. “The job is far bigger than is sometimes perceived. It is a fantastic club with a fantastic fan-base, but the job is a huge challenge.

You mean the job is far bigger than you perceived!

“The club had been relegated. There had been a large turnover of players. There have been budget cuts. I’m not complaining,

And you took the money on offer saying you were up to it!

At the start, maybe I had my eye off the ball on a number of things.”

What? You had a side job... thought it was a breeze, just wander round looking important???

“It had been a bit of a culture-shock for me,” he says. “I went from being Dumbarton manager, where I saw my players two nights a week at Toryglen, to seeing my players every day here, and sometimes eight or nine days on the trot.

“It was a totally different environment to me. It’s not an excuse, but I think people maybe forget how big a change it represented for me.

So having more time to get your points across is a bad thing? And for fecks sake how many more "Not Excuses" are you going to list as "Excuses"

“At first maybe I tried too much in terms of formations and strategies. In this league sometimes it’s just about blood and guts, about doing the right things: in terms of tempo, in terms of pressing opponents, doing the right things in the right areas of the park. For instance, I’ve learned now to ask my full-backs, first and foremost, to be defenders. Never mind trying to get them to play like wingers, or whatever.

“All I’m saying is, maybe I was asking too much of my players. I changed things around a lot and it wasn’t working, it wasn’t good for us. At Dumbarton every point was a prisoner. When I first came to St Mirren maybe I chopped and changed things too much.

But Ian one of the main reasons the board gave in appointing you was I quote "you know this league"... Was that utter bollocks on their and your part?

“If I’ve made mistakes, I’ve tried to recognise them and rectify them.

Gow, Conlan, Carswell... agnew mibbaes???

“This is a tough league,” he says. “You’ve basically got eight full-time clubs gunning for four places at the end of the season. So four are going to miss out, plus you take it as a given that Rangers will probably win the league. So we’ve got to try to make sure we get into one of three remaining play-off positions.

But its the league you know? Right Ian???

“I don’t mind criticism. You expect that. You’re never going to have 4000 or 5000 happy faces all the time.

"4000 or 5000 happy faces?" You know Easter road isnt your home ground Ian?

"Yes, there is pressure and expectation at St Mirren. You just handle that. You wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Did ye.... Aye!

Ian you've admitted its too much for you, would it not be a better thing for you and the club to formalise that admission?

[Radar]

Did ye.... Aye!

Ian you've admitted its too much for you, would it not be a better thing for you and the club to formalise that admission?

What???? Where???? Only in your head where the other voices live.

You should get a life and stop working so hard on the negative sub text.

[insaintee]

Universities too?

sure why not

[ErnieT]

Murray and Spaldings start to the season was reflective of two amateurs trying to secure safety for a part time outfit in the championship, we are not Dumbarton and I now believe that they have finally come to realise this.

We are not about shutting up shop and trying to defend slender leads against part time opposition, we should be punishing these teams and putting games to bed. He looks to have binned the 4-5-1 ( isolating Thompson system) and playing a 4-4-2 which suits our flair/pace and youth. I can only hope that he starts Shankland and Gallagher upfront as a partnership more often.

He has bought himself some time in my opinion.

[pozbaird]

Why have the expectation levels at St Mirren FC surprised Ian Murray? Fair enough that the guy has stuck his napper over the parapet to do that sort of interview, but seriously, WTF went on between him and SG at his job interview? After the introductory handshake and cup of tea in the boardroom... At the end of that interview why in the name of fcuk did Murray, or indeed ANYONE interviewed, leave that boardroom without being absolutely crystal clear on the expectation levels, the size of the job, the loyal but rather quick-to-criticise home support, and what was required from the person who got the gig.

Seriously. We were an almost ten-year top flight club who had won a major trophy and lost another final. We had facilities both in stadium terms and training terms that were night and day from Dumbarton. We were full time. We had guys like Thommo and Goodwin, talent like Mallan, a decent core of youngsters on the up. Murray must have toured the stadium, been in corporate - saw the history panels on the walls, toured Ralston...

Either he is #thickasfcuk, or Gilmour has been utterly negligent during the interview process.

Edited October 29, 2015 by pozbaird

[nosferatu]

It was a culture shock for Murray to go from Dumbarton to St. Mirren?

But he's played for Rangers, Hibernian, Norwich City and has been capped 6 times for Scotland!

He also now admits that he chopped and changed things too much?

I pointed that out weeks ago!

If I can spot that before the manager then something is really wrong!

[Lord Pityme]

Why have the expectation levels at St Mirren FC surprised Ian Murray? Fair enough that the guy has stuck his napper over the parapet to do that sort of interview, but seriously, WTF went on between him and SG at his job interview? After the introductory handshake and cup of tea in the boardroom... At the end of that interview why in the name of fcuk did Murray, or indeed ANYONE interviewed, leave that boardroom without being absolutely crystal clear on the expectation levels, the size of the job, the loyal but rather quick-to-criticise home support, and what was required from the person who got the gig.

Seriously. We were an almost ten-year top flight club who had won a major trophy and lost another final. We had facilities both in stadium terms and training terms that were night and day from Dumbarton. We were full time. We had guys like Thommo and Goodwin, talent like Mallan, a decent core of youngsters on the up. Murray must have toured the stadium, been in corporate - saw the history panels on the walls, toured Ralston...

Either he is #thickasfcuk, or Gilmour has been utterly negligent during the interview process.

It was a culture shock for Murray to go from Dumbarton to St. Mirren?

But he's played for Rangers, Hibernian, Norwich City and has been capped 6 times for Scotland!

He also now admits that he chopped and changed things too much?

I pointed that out weeks ago!

If I can spot that before the manager then something is really wrong!

Heartily agree with both posts above. I wonder if anyone else is as pissed off as me to continually hear the board's choice of totally inept managers say "I got things wrong".... Feckin months after the event.

We Know you got it wrong in many different ways Murray, we know the board got it wrong hiring you for something that is beyond you!

What we need is a manager who gets it RIGHT! And burns off the opposition in this league as Hearts did last season.

Enough with the bleating

Get on with the Beating!

[Howard Hughes in BlueSuedeShoes]

We're a happy bunch, aren't we....?

Edited October 29, 2015 by Howard Hughes in BlueSuedeShoes

[pozbaird]

We're a happy bunch, aren't we....?

As a season ticket holder at the DinkyDome, I'd be a bit happier if I saw us win in the league from time to time.

I genuinely cannot remember the last time I did. Honestly. Fcuking bollocks so it is.

[Howard Hughes in BlueSuedeShoes]

As a season ticket holder at the DinkyDome, I'd be a bit happier if I saw us win in the league from time to time.

I genuinely cannot remember the last time I did. Honestly. Fcuking bollocks so it is.

Yet Saints aren't bottom of the league due to a better record away from home, eh? There's something in that, I reckon......

[Hambud]

Why have the expectation levels at St Mirren FC surprised Ian Murray? Fair enough that the guy has stuck his napper over the parapet to do that sort of interview, but seriously, WTF went on between him and SG at his job interview? After the introductory handshake and cup of tea in the boardroom... At the end of that interview why in the name of fcuk did Murray, or indeed ANYONE interviewed, leave that boardroom without being absolutely crystal clear on the expectation levels, the size of the job, the loyal but rather quick-to-criticise home support, and what was required from the person who got the gig.

Seriously. We were an almost ten-year top flight club who had won a major trophy and lost another final. We had facilities both in stadium terms and training terms that were night and day from Dumbarton. We were full time. We had guys like Thommo and Goodwin, talent like Mallan, a decent core of youngsters on the up. Murray must have toured the stadium, been in corporate - saw the history panels on the walls, toured Ralston...

Either he is #thickasfcuk, or Gilmour has been utterly negligent during the interview process.

probably the lack of Hall of famers present on the walls made him think 'small time'.

[bluto]

Down at Polliwilline on the Mull of Kintyre, there's a Hall of Buddie Farmers (ok a byre) and, every year, they make their own presence felt...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvVX-mKmGPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwRRz1fthJo

Big time - and a wee bit mental given THAT is a Ne'erday/Xmas tradition.

Bravo Farmer John! ....