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St Mirren V Morton Spfl Championship 6/8/16


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7 hours ago, Stuart Dickson said:

And yet today people still talk about the PR job Fergie did on the streets of Paisley. :huh: You'd almost think that some people learned nothing from history. Winning is important but it's the feeling of being part of something special that generates loyalty. If that wasn't the case the attendance at Greenhill Road would have been in single figures over the last few years. :rolleyes: 

I don't see how the manager going round the town in a vehicle with a megaphone urging folk to watch the team made the club community focused. It was just a novelty marketing ploy albeit a successful one. Trying to encourage people to watch the team us highly commendable and should be a priority for the club but it's not making us community focused, it's merely PR. As I said a winning team is the best and usually only encouragement people need to turn out. The geographical location now compared to Love Street is a big negative and as I've said before why not try a free shuttle bus service if we want to be proactive ?

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18 hours ago, Liverpool Bud said:

 

 

il be gutted if I can't purchase 3 tickets on Match day!

If you go on the official site you can buy the tickets now then pick them up on the day. Think it'll set you back an extra £1.

Won't be a problem getting 3 tickets but will be difficult to get 3 together in a half-decent position on the day. Might end up in the front row down near the corner flag.

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Andy Webster reckons we are contenders ... (taken from The Unionist, sorry, I mean The Scotsman....)

 

 

St Mirren captain Andy Webster believes the rejuvenation of the Paisley club on and off the field this summer can propel them towards upsetting the odds in the Ladbrokes Championship.

Saints are ranked among the also-rans by the bookmakers who firmly regard Hibs and Dundee United as the leading contenders in the second tier title race this season.

But veteran defender Webster, buoyed by both last month’s takeover of the club by the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association and manager Alex Rae’s close season recruitment, insists he and his team-mates will be serious promotion contenders.

“There will be a lot of teams who will fancy their chances this season and we are one of them,” said the former Hearts, Rangers and Scotland man. “The important thing for us is to try and get off to a good start and build a bit of momentum early on.

“We showed a good run of form in the tail end of last season so if we can start well this time, hopefully we can keep it going. With the squad we have got, we will be more than capable of challenging. We are looking to compete and we feel we have the players who can compete with anyone else in the Championship.

“There is a positive vibe around the club at the moment – both among the players and staff at the training ground and with the things going on off the park as well which will hopefully stand the club in good stead going forward.

“We played reasonably well in our Betfred Cup group matches, so we are looking to take that forward into the league campaign. The manager has done some good business over the summer, especially with bringing in experienced lads like David Clarkson and John Sutton.

“We struggled with inexperience at the start of last season. Without that experience among your squad, it is harder for the younger players to go out and express themselves.

“It’s great to bring in someone like John. If you have a goalscorer at any level, your team will be successful.

“We’ve now got John, along with David, Lawrence Shankland and Ryan Hardie. If we score the goals they are capable of scoring, we will win a lot of football matches this season.”

Following relegation from the top flight in 2015, last season proved a largely dismal experience for Saints who managed only a sixth place finish in the Championship.

Consolation for their supporters came in the resumption of regular Renfrewshire derby meetings with Morton which saw St Mirren remain unbeaten in the four games against their Greenock rivals.

The sides face each other at the Paisley 2021 Stadium in the opening league fixtures of the new campaign this Saturday.

“It doesn’t come much bigger for us than the derby to kick it off,” said 34-year-old Webster. “We are at home and and are relishing it. It definitely gets the juices flowing.

“The highlight for me at St Mirren last season was when we went down to Cappielow on 2 January and Lawrence Shankland scored the winner.

“You know what it means to people, so we know on Saturday we have to be bang at it. That’s why you live as a footballer, to be involved in these kind of games. We know it will be really competitive and difficult. Those are the challenges you face in derbies and we are up for it.”

 
Edited by Sonny
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Jim Duffy was speaking highly about St Mirren in this week's Largs & Millport News. He feels we are looking strong this season with a good squad. I know the Morton fans are critical of Duffy but he comes across as a very decent guy. Incidentally our U20' beat Largs Thistle 4-1 andThistle beat Morton's U 20's by the same margin. Just get a feeling that this is going to be a great league campaign this season.

Edited by magnus
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And yet today people still talk about the PR job Fergie did on the streets of Paisley. :huh: You'd almost think that some people learned nothing from history. Winning is important but it's the feeling of being part of something special that generates loyalty. If that wasn't the case the attendance at Greenhill Road would have been in single figures over the last few years. :rolleyes: 


Different times. Most people then were looking for things to do at weekend's. Nowadays folk have a huge choice and family activities for young families probably means two kids doing two different things in two different places. My neighbour takes her 5yo to Edinburgh for ice dancing then back to Clarkston for judo or something in the afternoon.
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On 8/1/2016 at 11:40 PM, norrie82 said:

Listen on paper our squad should win this bit I'm like many who are worried. I see a narrow loss here or a draw at best. Please ditch the banner! It will only be used as extra motivation to beat us.

Just reveal it as the soapdodgers start to leave... the seethe will be immense!

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5 hours ago, magnus said:

Jim Duffy was speaking highly about St Mirren in this week's Largs & Millport News. He feels we are looking strong this season with a good squad. I know the Morton fans are critical of Duffy but he comes across as a very decent guy. Incidentally our U20' beat Largs Thistle 4-1 andThistle beat Morton's U 20's by the same margin. Just get a feeling that this is going to be a great league campaign this season.

 

Not that it matters but it was actually Morton U17s that Thistle beat.  They're moving up to the development squad this season. Most boys were still at school. As for Saturday I've no idea how it will go.  We're solid defensively but lack firepower.

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I don't see how the manager going round the town in a vehicle with a megaphone urging folk to watch the team made the club community focused. It was just a novelty marketing ploy albeit a successful one. Trying to encourage people to watch the team us highly commendable and should be a priority for the club but it's not making us community focused, it's merely PR. As I said a winning team is the best and usually only encouragement people need to turn out. The geographical location now compared to Love Street is a big negative and as I've said before why not try a free shuttle bus service if we want to be proactive ?


Got to agree with the shuttle bus service idea, every little bit helps.
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10 hours ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

The geographical location now compared to Love Street is a big negative and as I've said before why not try a free shuttle bus service if we want to be proactive ?

 

1 hour ago, melmac said:


Got to agree with the shuttle bus service idea, every little bit helps.

Do the midwives of Paisley nowadays, remove all the legs at the same time as they cut the umbilical?  It's a perfectly good location.

train station nearby, lots of parking and not far from several pubs.  A nice wee walk after a pint or two, I've always found. :)

 

miserable grey dump showing shite fitba when ye get there, but you can't have everything...

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25 minutes ago, antrin said:

 

Do the midwives of Paisley nowadays, remove all the legs at the same time as they cut the umbilical?  It's a perfectly good location.

train station nearby, lots of parking and not far from several pubs.  A nice wee walk after a pint or two, I've always found. :)

 

miserable grey dump showing shite fitba when ye get there, but you can't have everything...

I personally agree but I know several people who have attended regularly in the past who are put off by the walk especially in wet or icy conditions. It would need approx 30-40 additional customers to make 2 buses break even at £20 admission a head. There is surely not too much downside as proactive experiments go.

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Coming over for this match. My first for a while. Staying in the Watermill tomorrow and Saturday. Looking forward to it and expect a win. I have only been at a handful of games at the new ground but have never felt any atmosphere. Hope this is a bit better.

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You don't need a shuttle bus to get to the ground easily.

Leave Bankhouse at 2.45pm
Arrive at Gilmour Street
Get on 2.52pm Train (Ensure you get on at the opposite end as the conductor to ensure a freebie)
Arrive at St James' at 2.54pm

Enough time for a piss before the game kicks off.

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25 minutes ago, Tam M said:

You don't need a shuttle bus to get to the ground easily.

Leave Bankhouse at 2.45pm
Arrive at Gilmour Street
Get on 2.52pm Train (Ensure you get on at the opposite end as the conductor to ensure a freebie)
Arrive at St James' at 2.54pm

Enough time for a piss before the game kicks off.

I do this myself in inclement weather. 

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2 hours ago, RickMcD said:

Coming over for this match. My first for a while. Staying in the Watermill tomorrow and Saturday. Looking forward to it and expect a win. I have only been at a handful of games at the new ground but have never felt any atmosphere. Hope this is a bit better.

Beware the VERY squeaky floorboards...

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17 hours ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

I don't see how the manager going round the town in a vehicle with a megaphone urging folk to watch the team made the club community focused. It was just a novelty marketing ploy albeit a successful one. Trying to encourage people to watch the team us highly commendable and should be a priority for the club but it's not making us community focused, it's merely PR. As I said a winning team is the best and usually only encouragement people need to turn out. The geographical location now compared to Love Street is a big negative and as I've said before why not try a free shuttle bus service if we want to be proactive ?

Tell me Ayrshire - I'm being serious here - what drew you in as a St Mirren supporter? Was it a thrilling win in your first game? Scintillating football? The heady atmosphere in the crowd? My first game was an incredibly dull 1-1 draw versus Partick Thistle on a wet and cold Saturday afternoon, in front of a crowd that as I remember it made no more noise than the 1,000 or so support I'd stood beside at Hampden Park for a Queens Park match the week before. What drew me in was nothing to do with the football being played, even if it was by Fergies kids. What endured with me was seeing the players signing autographs for kids around the pitch during their warm ups. In the match programme there was an advert - "Real Saints Don't Smoke". Also in the programme was photos of various visits to schools that the players had taken part in the week before. After the match I learned - don't know where from - about Fergie regularly being seen in the Piazza trying to drum up support. The impression it gave me was that St Mirren was an open club where the players and the manager were approachable, and very much a part of the community. I liked that and it stuck with me, keeping me loyal as a supporter long after watching dire seasons with Alex Miller, Tony Fitzpatrick, Davie Hay and Jimmy Bone in charge. 

My sons both became St Mirren supporters despite my fall out with the club. Why? Well my eldest enjoyed watching Paisley Panda getting up to his antics and in particular the fact that Paisley Panda came over to speak to him, to shake his hand and to give him a signed poster at one of his first matches. We're not talking about the rather tame Panda that wanders around these days - it was one of the funny ones. Either Mk1 or 2, I can't remember. What I do know was that I'd dropped him a message on one of these forums and he looked my son out in the crowd to give him what was basically just a print out of a graphic, that he'd signed and put some paw prints on. Whatever, my eldest was hooked. 

My youngest became friends with Jose Quitongo's son, Jai who will no doubt be lining up for Morton on Saturday, at nursery school and was taken along by Jose and his then wife Sharon to watch Jose play for the Saints. In his case the hook was nothing to do with the football on offer, it was the experience of meeting players like Mark Yardley and Stevie McGarry, and sitting with Tom Hendries child - I'm pretty sure it was his daughter - in the stand and having a pen fight with them.  

I don't know how many, if any, followed the club for similar reasons but I'd quite happily bet there aren't many on here who come back week after week because of the results. Now maybe I'm being simplistic, but marketing or not, real or not, I reckon somehow St Mirren NEED to get those kind of impressions out to a wider audience to bring in more supporters. Yeah winning is good, but that's not always sustainable, and it's certainly never guaranteed. But a feeling of being emotionally attached, personally involved, and of being a part of something special.....well I reckon that might draw people in.  

Edited by Stuart Dickson
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