Kmcalpin

Campbell has gone missing as well.

Get our right hand side sorted out Robbo. Midfield has gone AWOL.

So far so good and we're deservedly 2 - 0 up. Looking lively up front but we're allowing Coleraine too much space and time in midfield. They're able to sling over far too many crosses from the our right hand side.

Its our defensive midfield that is leaving gaps especially on the right.

Does anyone have a link to the live coverage? Edit: got in now thanks.

It won't be easy but we should have enough to progress. Coleraine are part time and will be a bit ring rusty, albeit that they've played some friendlies. They'll come flying out of the traps and if we weather that we should grow stronger as the game goes on.

There may also be issues with the system, I don't know. For the app to be successful in Scotland it will need about 3.8 million downloads. Thats a very ambitious but hopefully feasible target.

One failing, and its a major one in all parts of the UK is that many individuals are not participating i.e. not giving contact details to pubs and restaurants; or perhaps giving false ones. Even if they can be traced they're not answering. Also, many folk don't have sufficiently modern/hi tech phones to use the system. The apps being promoted need to involve something like 70% of the population and we're nowhere near that level of sign up.

That leaves us even lighter in midfield.

You'd imagine that Donnelly would be our defensive midfielder; O'Hara the box to box type to take over from Allan Campbell when he leaves and Liam Polworth the creative one. As we know things have gone a bit awry with Donnelly's injury. We're still short of cover. Short term though, a loan signing for Donnelly might be a relatively cheap option (plenty of options from down south you'd think). It doesn't help that our wingers are failing to perform.

Jamie Semple is an attacking midfeidler but he's injured just now I think. Then there's another midfielder in young Dean Cornelius, who is long due his chance. Thats not to say we pitch them in at the deep end and rely on them week in week out.

The funny thing is that, on paper, we have a stronger squad than last season and I still believe that. In itself though that doesn’t win games. Something doesn’t feel right but I can’t put my finger on what is amiss. In the main we have recruited some decent players but could it be the mix isn’t right. Injuries certainly haven’t helped and unfortunately most have been left sided. I think Robbo is still struggling to find the right formation to bring out the best in the squad.

I'm not in the know, but its the first I've heard of this. In the case of Dundee United, Jackie Macnamara received a modest percentage of transfer income but the external investors were entitled to virtually all of the income, amounting to several millions, in return for their "donations" to the club, when it was very heavily in debt. We are definitely not in that boat.

Allan Campbell will move on, as its part of our business model. I'm not in favour of throwing a bucket of cash at him or indeed any player. Any increase we could offer would be modest, in comparison to what he will be offered in England's leagues outwith the top division.

Campbell might well move on who knows and when he does good luck to him as he's earned a move. The comparison with Dundee United isn't at all accurate as we'll have retained transfer income within the club, as opposed to paying off staff and external "investors" with the proceeds. Anyway this is how our business model works and its successful.

The bottom line is that we won yesterday and that brought a sense of relief. So in some respects it was job done. We're also not adrift at the bottom. But, thats as far it it goes. As others have said the game was a mirror image of matches we've lost this season. Saints dominated possession (59%/41%), created/were gifted 5 chances and took none. We fashioned one, just one, chance ourselves, although Callum Davidson disagreed I believe as he would, and took it. Saints dominated midfield despite us trying to play 3-5-2, looked more committed and competitive and worked harder off the ball than we did but fortunately looked toothless in front of goal as Trevor Carson will gratefully tell you. For long spells our midfield was outfought and anonymous. Whether we tried to sit on our lead on our lead or not I don't know. We certainly missed McGinley when he went off. Saints were gifted the freedom of our left flank late on and slung over cross after cross from there. Thankfully Gallagher and Mugabe were up to the task, although the latter was a bit overly clever at times. He has stepped up to the mark though. Overall, the defence, especially Lamie looked shaky at times, but in fairness they received little support from either Campbell or O'Hara. Polworth was largely anonymous throughout and created nothing. Allan Campbell scored a lovely goal and was far better going forward than defending. I did feel sorry for strikers as they were given nothing to work with and the promised crosses into the box just didn't materialise. Credit to White for soldiering on, but I really think he should have been taken off, before he was. Our build up was slow, tiresome and very predictable. I still feel that our problems lie primarily in midfield where things just aren't happening. Hylton is injured, I think, but in any event our wingers aren't doing it. With the cash coming into the club just now I'm not in favour of spunking it on more players but I'd give Robbo a wee bit to bring in a solid defensive midfielder on loan until January. That shouldn't break the bank.

I had assumed that he added most of those minutes on to compensate for Trevor Carson’s excessive time wasting.

Yes it was a 5-3-2 but was intended to be a 3-5-2. The problem was that St Johnstone won the midfield battle and penned us back for long spells.

I though big Dec and Bevis Mugabi both had decent games today despite a chronic lack of cover in front of them.

Get the midfield sorted out Robbo.

Thats 2 blunders he's now made. Saints 4-1 up on chances.

Another let off for us.

Well taken goal apart we've done nothing. The midfield really needs to step up its game and our build up has been painfully slow. 2 lapses of concentration could have cost us dearly at the back. Still we're ahead and I'll take that.

Stream just died again.

Very very difficult to prove, if not impossible. If it was possible there would have been scores of cases so far relating to transport, parties, pubs, restaurants etc etc. Even if someone did catch the virus at a football match it would be hard to disprove that they didn't catch it elsewhere; especially from someone who was asymptomatic. Even then as Numpty says, they would have to prove negligence.