We Are Down

[magnus]

James Fowler might be quietly providing the experience that Jack needs. I remember him coming back to Killie as a full back when he was near the end of his career and his bottle and commitment helped them avoid the drop. He was also pretty decent as manager at Queens. There might be a bit of the "wee baldy" about him.

[Mid Calder Saint]

Thing is Jamie Fowler could still play and fill that centre mid spot to guide the youngsters in a 3-5-2 formation.Something worth thinking about surely.Needs must.

[BuddieinEK]

1 hour ago, John Gotti said:

I really want to believe that 1 win in the league will give us some momentum and allow us to start climbing out this hole however if it was that simple then the win against Ayr last week should have done this? The fact it was a win in the cup shouldn't make a difference.

The team lacks leadership and organization and that is something I am hoping Jack Ross can instill in them but after 5 leagues defeats I haven't seen any sign of that. Once again we were bullied on Saturday and beaten by an equally poor side who seemed to want it more than us. All the power point presentations in the world won't change that.

We need to start scrapping for points but this lot look like they don't have any fight in them.

Look at them, a first choice goalie/coach who is so poor he can't get a game and now needs a coach to coach him, a bunch of defenders who look like they have never met each other, a powder-puff midfield with a prima donna, some wee boys and some hasbeens and a couple of strikers who are either too fat, too disinterested or just don't look like scoring goals.

It's not power points this lot need, it's the sack!

And calling Mallan a prima donna helps our team how, exactly?

McGinn was labled a prima donna... as was McLean before him!

How long till you turn on McAllister and Magennis?

YOUNG PLAYERS NEED SUPPORTED THROUGH TOUGH TIMES!

[John Gotti]

1 minute ago, BuddieinEK said:

And calling Mallan a prima donna helps our team how, exactly?

McGinn was labled a prima donna... as was McLean before him!

How long till you turn on McAllister and Magennis?

YOUNG PLAYERS NEED SUPPORTED THROUGH TOUGH TIMES!

I totally agree that young players need support but in Mallans case he also needs told to get back to doing what got him attention.

[BuddieinEK]

1 minute ago, John Gotti said:

I totally agree that young players need support but in Mallans case he also needs told to get back to doing what got him attention.

Mallan has looked a whole lot better in the last few games when back in a midfield five.

The lad is covering every inch of the park and actively seeking the ball rather than hiding.

Sure, sometimes he tries the ridiculous option but that is the price you pay with talent. Personally, I'd rather encourage it.

Charlie Adam was criticised and ridiculed at Rangers for exactly the same thing... but when playing in a better team where he was allowed to shine, did just that.

McGinn is starring for Hibs. McLean is starring for the Dons.

It is nothing to do with the lad being a prima donna... it is more to do with the quality surrounding him and his confidence. We can only impact upon the latter... so lets give it a try! Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[Mr Zo]

It's not looking great but we can still stay up. Losing our last two games has been massively disappointing but Jack Ross and the squad have to pick themselves up and go at it again in our next game.

I hope Jack can source himself a leader or two amongst the group who can organise and lead the team on the park and drive them forward. We really miss a Murray, Broadfoot or Turner in the side. We had McLean a couple of years ago who gave us a fighting chance of staying up before being sold. Who can fill that role within our current squad?

I hope he takes a few of the experienced players aside and gets them to step up to the plate before the pressure of our situation takes its toll on the youngsters who have just came into the team.

We need to stick together and support the team and club as much as we can. The club needs us more now than ever.

It's tough but that's life as a saints fan.

[Lord Pityme]

2 hours ago, Hendo said:

Some on here are looking in entirely the wrong place for our problems. Jack Ross is a good, intelligent manager, but who has inherited a squad with problems - lack of balance, key players who are injury prone, lack of confidence but above all, a lack of on field leadership.

The last of these is the biggest problem. Because of the other issues, there are a lot of youngsters promoted who have talent, but inexperience can lead them to make the wrong on field decisions. The experienced players in the team do not help, encourage or support in any way. Look at the body language of the likes of Irvine, McKenzie, Webster, Clarkson, they are the players who let us down week after week. The first thing we need is an experienced centre half and centre mid who can provide leadership. I'd even be open to our assistant manager playing just to be able to talk the kids through the game.

C'mon...

Ross might be a great fella, but he has no managerial experience other than relegation. If you throw someone in who has failed to deal with a situation before, without giving him the support network to learn, what do you realistically expect of him in the same situation?

he has so far lived up to a realistic expectation, you can't knock the individual for it, his inexperience was there for anyone to see. Yes he talks a good game, but then Jack always did.

[Buddy Marvellous]

GLS has to take a massive part of the responsibility also if only for appointing Jack Ross. He appointed a manager who he feels we will benefit from long term with a long term plan. Problems is we needed a manager who a short term 1-2 years fix to steady a ship that has been sinking since 2013.


Another short term manager is absolutely not what our club needs. Even if we do go down I believe that JR will be the one who takes us back up.

[Stuart Dickson]

3 hours ago, BuddieinEK said:

Mallan has looked a whole lot better in the last few games when back in a midfield five.

The lad is covering every inch of the park and actively seeking the ball rather than hiding.

Sure, sometimes he tries the ridiculous option but that is the price you pay with talent. Personally, I'd rather encourage it.

Charlie Adam was criticised and ridiculed at Rangers for exactly the same thing... but when playing in a better team where he was allowed to shine, did just that.

McGinn is starring for Hibs. McLean is starring for the Dons.

It is nothing to do with the lad being a prima donna... it is more to do with the quality surrounding him and his confidence. We can only impact upon the latter... so lets give it a try! Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Haud on here Brian. This is Stevie Mallan we're talking about. You want to encourage him to try the ridiculous option? Really? This is a lad who can't even pull off the easy one. How many five yard passes has he played this season where he's failed to find his target? Tackles?  The only one I think I've seen him pull off this season was his block of an aimless clearance in the Falkirk game. The ball fired out of play for a Falkirk bye kick and Mallan injured himself in the process. In the Morton game Mallan actually slid into a tackle in the middle of the pitch and missed both the ball and the player by more than 5 yards. Corner kicks and free kicks? No pressure on him, no-one shutting him down. All he has to do is to put the ball into the area where players are expecting him to put it, yet all too often we see his corners or free kicks played into zones where there are no Saints players attacking. What the f**k is going on there? The ridiculous option? 

I paid a lot of attention to Mallan on Saturday. I actually even watched the whole game back again on Alba after seeing people claim that Mallan had played well. I couldn't see it. What I did see was a lot of him strutting around pointing at the ball looking for others to go shut down players that he was closest to. 

If you've got a player that is rated highly you look for them to put their back into it when the team is struggling. You certainly saw that from Charlie Adam and you always saw that from John McGinn. Can you honestly claim you are seeing that from Stevie Mallan? Football players will get criticism but the good ones have the fight, the character, the desire and the will to succeed and prove their critics wrong. If Mallan is as fragile as you are making out Brian, he might as well take up painting and decorating now. 

Oh aye and McLean....he isn't starring for Aberdeen at all. He's playing yes. Sometimes he does OK. But speak to people who watch him regularly he's no different than he was at St Mirren. A lad with promise and ability, but all too often he lacks heart and is far too inconsistent. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Stuart Dickson

[BuddieinEK]

Yet Derek McInnes has him as a first pick every week.
I think I will trust his judgement.

No point in defending Mallan to you Stuart... you hsvr made it very plain that you don't rate him.

Time will prove one of us right and I will try hard not to say I told you so!
[emoji1]

[Stuart Dickson]

50 minutes ago, BuddieinEK said:

Yet Derek McInnes has him as a first pick every week.
I think I will trust his judgement.

No point in defending Mallan to you Stuart... you hsvr made it very plain that you don't rate him.

Time will prove one of us right and I will try hard not to say I told you so!

Does being picked make you a star? I'll watch for the guy at the back end of the panto cow this year getting top billing.

As for Mallan we'll wait and see. Frankly I think Mark Crilly was a better player than Stevie Mallan. Maybe one day he'll prove me wrong, but frankly I doubt it. 

[Dave The Buddie]

Thing is Jamie Fowler could still play and fill that centre mid spot to guide the youngsters in a 3-5-2 formation.Something worth thinking about surely.Needs must.

That ain't going to solve our problems. Anyway I don't believe he registered as a player.

[scottd]

It's a shame that some fans want the manager to fail purely so as they can say 'told you so'.  Still if it makes them feel good about themselves then who am I to argue?

[faraway saint]

2 minutes ago, scottd said:

It's a shame that some fans want the manager to fail purely so as they can say 'told you so'.  Still if it makes them feel good about themselves then who am I to argue?

It's been the same since Gus....................although i did want him to go right enough. 

[shull]

8 minutes ago, faraway saint said:

It's been the same since Gus....................although i did want him to go right enough. 

Bassa 

Gus is God 

[Lord Pityme]

2 hours ago, scottd said:

It's a shame that some fans want the manager to fail purely so as they can say 'told you so'.  Still if it makes them feel good about themselves then who am I to argue?

I suppose we could get behind the guy we know hasn't got it?

I would like the board to explain why they selected Ross, and what proven strengths and achievements did they highlight that convinced them he had the skill set to be successful in his current role? In fact if anyone can shine a light on what strengths Ross actually brings to the job I will give them my full attention. That is an honest open question.

i suppose many Americans are in the same boat knowing the guy getting the big job is goung to crucify them, but hey... at least he tells them that as he nails them to the burning cross.

[Sonny]

Give it a rest LP. From Day one we all knew you did not want Ross and you continue to tell us on a daily basis. Going over old ground just raises your stress levels and bores the tits off the rest of us. We now have Ross and the BOD have stated he will be here for a while. We all need to deal with it by supporting him or at least accepting the situation. We have already talked about this far too many times.

[Tommy]

I suppose we could get behind the guy we know hasn't got it?

I would like the board to explain why they selected Ross, and what proven strengths and achievements did they highlight that convinced them he had the skill set to be successful in his current role? In fact if anyone can shine a light on what strengths Ross actually brings to the job I will give them my full attention. That is an honest open question.

i suppose many Americans are in the same boat knowing the guy getting the big job is goung to crucify them, but hey... at least he tells them that as he nails them to the burning cross.

Maybe he told Tony he agreed with him that we could win the big league in a few years. Tony then tell GS that Jack knows what he is talking about and persuade GS to give him the job [emoji12]

[div]

Quite alarming that after 6 games in the job there are seriously some "supporters" proposing that we sack yet another manager.

Alarming, and yet very predictable.

[Tommy]

Quite alarming that after 6 games in the job there are seriously some "supporters" proposing that we sack yet another manager.

Alarming, and yet very predictable.

Not me. It would be pointless and a waste of money that will be required in January.

[melmac]

It's time to drop the charlatan that is Mallan and put big Naismith there with the sole tasks of letting nothing go by him and winning every header in the middle of the field.

[munoz]

4 minutes ago, melmac said:

It's time to drop the charlatan that is Mallan and put big Naismith there with the sole tasks of letting nothing go by him and winning every header in the middle of the field.

I hope your not thinking about a career in coaching ? 

[whydowebother]

Quite alarming that after 6 games in the job there are seriously some "supporters" proposing that we sack yet another manager.

Alarming, and yet very predictable.

Agreed , yet Rae got 6 games this season , drew 3 lost 3.

Ross will remain , wasn't a great choice & clearly a gamble.

How many defeats is acceptable , when you can add no league wins to compensate for that run ?

[melmac]

17 hours ago, kevo_smfc said:

And undermine the managers abilities. I doubt that would work at all.

The club is bigger than the man, if JR decided he had to walk if someone was brought in to help him and the club, well so be it. Was / is Alex Smith not in a similar role at Falkirk?

[melmac]

1 minute ago, munoz said:

I hope your not thinking about a career in coaching ? 

Can do no worse than what has been in place the last couple of years. The team needs a strong spine but when it gets to the middle of the park, its non existent, too many wee boys who canny tackle, or pass to that matter.