Saints v Celtic, Friday 14th September

[ged62]

Most pleased to see Anton at the final whistle take off his track suit top to show the black and white stripes and join the players enjoying the applause of the Saints supporters In the west stand.
A great attitude from a seasoned professional.
My St, Mirren supporting father was a Coleraine man. He would have enjoyed that tonight.
 
 

Have loads of memories of Coleraine, I was a serving soldier in Ballykelly had many a good night in your dads wee town.

[faraway saint]

8 minutes ago, insaintee said:

Quite a lot made of "Dropped points," and "playing for a draw,." in some quarters (JS). Let me just say that Celtic went out second half to play a safety first keep posession game. They kept posession by playing it between the back three and taking next to no risk going forward. Rodgers set out his team to do this after going to ten men and having a horror show in the first half. I think Celtic were as guilty of accepting a point as we  were, maybe more so.  They showed almost no ambition going forward and did nothing with their posession .

Having said that, if Griffiths had been on side, we'd be hearing about a Rodger tactical master class.

When St Mirren did get the ball, they pushed forward and tried to attack. When not on the ball they defended strongly.

Great point. Sutton is just mad that we did not go for it, leave ourselves exposed and lose to a sucker punch

 

 

Disagree, we sat deep from the start of the 2nd half, had 9 or 10 men behind the ball at every opportunity, leaving us little chance of attacking.

Looks like we tired, no wonder after the first half performance.

A point was more than most hoped for before the game, after the first half we were in with a shout of all 3 points, no doubt.

PS Too many people get excited about what Sutton says, he's a shock commentator, says what he can to cause as much response as possible.

WGAF what he says or thinks. 

Edited September 15, 2018 by faraway saint

[Ayrshire Saints]

8 hours ago, Desperately Seeking Susans said:

I would like to emphasize the part played by Magennis in subduing Celtic's most dangerous player, Forrest.  I thought he played really well in what was a very difficult task. 

Bringing on Coulson to play a forward role was good thinking by OK.  I think Coulson is probably a better forward than he is a fullback.   It's a pity he didn't have  more time to prove himself in this new position.

Congratulations to all tonight.

 

But if we believe some of the "ITK experts" on here, he will be recalled on Monday as he must play at LB. What a lot of bollocks !

[ged62]

I said to my son they would come at us in the 2nd half but TBH Celtic kept doing the same thing & were predictable so we managed them ok. Well deserved point & if we took our chances in the first half we could of had 3. Apart from the morons singing about IRA, atmosphere was great, no trouble so happy to see them having both stand, hopefully the same when their ugly sisters come. Take their money it will only benefit us. [emoji469]

[stlucifer]

8 hours ago, Desperately Seeking Susans said:

I would like to emphasize the part played by Magennis in subduing Celtic's most dangerous player, Forrest.  I thought he played really well in what was a very difficult task. 

Bringing on Coulson to play a forward role was good thinking by OK.  I think Coulson is probably a better forward than he is a fullback.   It's a pity he didn't have  more time to prove himself in this new position.

Congratulations to all tonight.

 

I know it was only for 15 minutes but I thought he looked either a little confused as to what he was supposed to be doing or uninterested. I hope, if either, it's not the latter. I agree he's better deployed forward and hope he gets his chance to run the wing with his pace and drive. Still. This is a time to congratulate.

A wee word re Baird. Thought he looked a totally different player with Anton beside him. Solid performance from the young man. Ferdinand can only be good for him and, by that, good for us.

Edited September 15, 2018 by stlucifer

[stlucifer]

1 minute ago, ged62 said:

I said to my son they would come at us in the 2nd half but TBH Celtic kept doing the same thing & were predictable so we managed them ok. Well deserved point & if we took our chances in the first half we could of had 3. Apart from the morons singing about IRA, atmosphere was great, no trouble so happy to see them having both stand, hopefully the same when their ugly sisters come. Take their money it will only benefit us.

Just watching it back on TV, (sad I know), and the chants heard for most of the time were from us. I suspect the mics were strategically placed.

[faraway saint]

Just now, ged62 said:

I said to my son they would come at us in the 2nd half but TBH Celtic kept doing the same thing & were predictable so we managed them ok. Well deserved point & if we took our chances in the first half we could of had 3. Apart from the morons singing about IRA, atmosphere was great, no trouble so happy to see them having both stand, hopefully the same when their ugly sisters come. Take their money it will only benefit us.

There's no doubt Celtic were slow from the first whistle.

Not sure if they thought we would be an easy touch or, as I've suggested, had their eye on next weeks Europa cup but they were certainly very predictable.

Not detracting form our performance in any way as we were excellent, especially in the first half but Celtic have problems.

Only scored 5 goals in 5 league games, haven't invested, out of the Champions League and not a  happy manager.

[pozbaird]

This morning I’m not getting texts from OF supporting mates laughing at our latest ‘gubbed in under thirty minutes’ debacle. Feels good.

[faraway saint]

1 minute ago, pozbaird said:

This morning I’m not getting texts from OF supporting mates laughing at our latest ‘gubbed in under thirty minutes’ debacle. Feels good.

Not believing that TBH. 

[Desperately Seeking Susans]

Some on here mentioned the lack of fitness but I don't think you could accuse Edwards.  I thought his energy was amazing.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Desperately Seeking Susans

[ALBIONSAINT]

Great game,great performance. Very optimistic going forward now. If we can bring in a good quality front man or if Brock madsen feels transformed we will be mid table by Christmas. 

[linwood-bud]

5 minutes ago, Desperately Seeking Susans said:

Some on here mentioned the lack of fitness but I don't think you could accuse Edwards.  I thought this energy was amazing.

I think we’d cope well going down to 10 men with Cammy, Mullen and Edwards in the side.

3 of the most honest pros you could find. Hard work is sometimes more important than skill.

[norman]

17 minutes ago, Desperately Seeking Susans said:

Some on here mentioned the lack of fitness but I don't think you could accuse Edwards.  I thought this energy was amazing.

To be fair, he did pre season and most of the rest of this season's training with Hearts, not us.

[Bud the Baker]

Good result, great commitment from all the players - a tad disappointed we didn't press a bit more in the 2nd half but I understand why.

A new manager always changes the pecking order but I'd be worried if Mullen is the only forward OK trusts, it's a long time until January.

 

[Kemp]

1 minute ago, Bud the Baker said:

Good result, great commitment from all the players - a tad disappointed we didn't press a bit more in the 2nd half but I understand why.

A new manager always changes the pecking order but I'd be worried if Mullen is the only forward OK trusts, it's a long time until January.

 

We were quite creative in the first half. I don't see any reason Mullen and Cammy Smith can't get back amongst the goals if we keep playing like that.

[DLBud]

[quote post="1578352" timestamp="1536999010" name="faraway.
A point was more than most hoped for before the game, after the first half we were in with a shout of all 3 points, no doubt.


I understand the sentiment but I think if we’d opened up a little more in the second half to press them higher and have a go they’d have cut us open and we’d be talking about a gutsy, yet fruitless, performance.

OK set us up like a zone defence in basketball and it frustrated Celtic all night. I’d take 0-0 like that each time we play the big teams all season.

[Kemp]

1 minute ago, DLBud said:

[quote post="1578352" timestamp="1536999010" name="faraway.
A point was more than most hoped for before the game, after the first half we were in with a shout of all 3 points, no doubt.


I understand the sentiment but I think if we’d opened up a little more in the second half to press them higher and have a go they’d have cut us open and we’d be talking about a gutsy, yet fruitless, performance.

OK set us up like a zone defence in basketball and it frustrated Celtic all night. I’d take 0-0 like that each time we play the big teams all season.

I'm going over this in my head this morning.

I feel a bit disappointed with the second half to be honest.  I think when it was 11 v 11 we were actually the better team, and I would have hoped we could have done more than we did. I don't think we should ever accept a 0-0 v 10 men at home, we should be pushing for a win in that situation. (Unless somehow we were playing a team of much higher quality than Celtic). 

That said, I understand we only had one week to prepare and Kearney drilled them on a game plan which we stuck to magnificently. Hopefully in time we will show a bit more ambition though.

[DLBud]

I feel a bit disappointed with the second half. Hopefully in time we will show a bit more ambition though.

I think given the context of the game (our recent form and turmoil/playing the champions/managers first game) the players reluctance to push forward, whether by design or not, is understandable.

Off form or not they are the best side in the country by a considerable margin and could hurt most teams with 10 men.

Even though we denied them space throughout the match they still had the odd chance and if we’d opened up a bit they’d have found the goal they needed IMO.

They are bigger, faster and stronger and the first quarter of this season is a real learning curve for our young players as they adapt to life at this level. Kyle admitted as much in a recent interview.

Edwards looks like a decent acquisition and Ferdinand (when fit) will be too. I expect OK to make a few more additions to the squad to give us a real chance of having a go at some of the lesser lights in the league.

[Kemp]

5 minutes ago, DLBud said:

 

I think given the context of the game (our recent form and turmoil/playing the champions/managers first game) the players reluctance to push forward, whether by design or not, is understandable.

Off form or not they are the best side in the country by a considerable margin and could hurt most teams with 10 men.

Even though we denied them space throughout the match they still had the odd chance and if we’d opened up a bit they’d have found the goal they needed IMO.

They are bigger, faster and stronger and the first quarter of this season is a real learning curve for our young players as they adapt to life at this level. Kyle admitted as much in a recent interview.

Edwards looks like a decent acquisition and Ferdinand (when fit) will be too. I expect OK to make a few more additions to the squad to give us a real chance of having a go at some of the lesser lights in the league.

 

Yes, it was a pragmatic approach that in end has got us a point. Correct decision, but I do hope long-term we are set up to give Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen the odd scalping when the opportunity arises.

I wonder what Ferdinand's arrival means for Heaton and Kpekewa? The squad is quite big now, is Keaney going to be able to get some of the duds out the door?  Surely we will stick with Heaton given the money we have paid for him, but I just can't see him getting a first team game. What a crazy waste of money...

Edited September 15, 2018 by Kemp

[portmahomack saint]

Proud of the team last night. Be a few sore limbs this morning great effort by all the players. Hard to pick a MOTM. But a special mention for Mullen and Baird. great debuts by Ferdinand and Edwards what energy that boy has.  Could have had all 3pts if Stubbs had got us a front man with pace we were all screaming for.

[delpierro]

After that fame I can see why Stubbs wanted rid of Smith.........f**king, NOT!!!!!!!!

[eastlandssaint]

A great point, well done Saints.

[Sonny]

We spent the first half at some pace by chasing them down and charging on the breakaway. A very exhausting but effective way to play but difficult to sustain for 90 mins.  Tiredness was a major factor in the second half and I would rather be pragmatic and secure the point but more importantly the psychological benefit of drawing with the League Champions than having another glorious defeat.   Celtic had several multi million pound players and many International players on the field last night. We had no-one that we paid a transfer fee for and two guys making a debut.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Sonny

[eastlandssaint]

http://www.scotzine.com/2018/09/kearney-sets-paisley-pattern/

[Drew]

24 minutes ago, delpierro said:

After that fame I can see why Stubbs wanted rid of Smith.........f**king, NOT!!!!!!!!

I reckon that was the final nail for him. A f**king ridiculous position from a man who had clearly lost the plot. Thank christ he has gone.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Drew