St Johnstone Match Thread - The Dawning Of A New Era!

[east stand loyal]

By the way the Perth pubs are bloody shite. No football colours I haven't a problem with but when they take your money for a round and then tell you to get out there pub is utter bollocks. The perth Police are arseholes as well and only those close to me will know why.

 

Why did they insist on having 5 police officers & 5 stewards in front of about 12 wee guys behind the goals?

 

Because they were standing up?? Naughty naughty

[nethertonwellfan]

Why did they insist on having 5 police officers & 5 stewards in front of about 12 wee guys behind the goals?

 

Because they were standing up?? Naughty naughty

 

Tell me about it. I bet they won't harass either of the old firm like that. Bloody disgrace and put a dampener on a really good day.

[nethertonwellfan]

Some of them got put out as well apparently. They weren't obstructing anyone's view of the game, they were in the bottom tier of the stand, if they did get put out, totally ridiculous decision and whatever jobsworth sanctioned it should be ashamed of themselves.

One guy got put out from my recolletion for going off his head at the disallowed goal. By the way was it a handball? In the heat of the moment i thought it was a great goal but I am disgracefully biased

[Iain7_mfc]

One of the boys got ejected for putting his legs over the wall at the front of the stand. Hardly an offence but i'm sure it was due to it being a threat of going on the pitch. Lot of shite. Alan's no proud

[fat_tony]

By the way the Perth pubs are bloody shite. No football colours I haven't a problem with but when they take your money for a round and then tell you to get out there pub is utter bollocks. The perth Police are arseholes as well and only those close to me will know why.

 

For future visits, the 208 bar is worth heading to. Just about 300 yards along the road past the stadium and it was packed with both Well and St J fans, including a Well merchandise stall.

[Wellarmy]

Ive not really seen anybody mention this. I think the moment that had a bearing on the game was the referees decision not to send off McCaffrey(i think) for taking out McHugh with 15mins to go. The boy is away from him and he just takes him out! I dont give a fuck if it was 40 yards from goal but the wee mans pace wouldve took him right in on goal. McDonald as always shites himself on a big decision.

 

If he goes then we wouldve won the game although I think we shouldve anyways.

 

But well done to the boys for a great 2nd performance and two cracking goals. Also well done to Humphrey and McHugh for coming on and injecting the pace that we badly needed.

[mjw]

going by that performance we will need to score 4/5 goals just to win a game.i honestly thought st johnstone were going to score every time they went up the park there will be a lot more grey hairs if we play like that every week but f*** me it beats asda and grandstand on a saturday also why were all the police in the well end the st j fans seemed to have only stewards in their end

[fat_tony]

Ive not really seen anybody mention this. I think the moment that had a bearing on the game was the referees decision not to send off McCaffrey(i think) for taking out McHugh with 15mins to go. The boy is away from him and he just takes him out! I dont give a fuck if it was 40 yards from goal but the wee mans pace wouldve took him right in on goal. McDonald as always shites himself on a big decision.

 

Yeah, it was definitely a cynical challenge and McHugh was clean through. Really disappointed with the ref's decision. Also thought one of the St J players could have been sent off for his attempted tackle on Hammell in the first half. Launched himself in studs up about knee height and if not for Hammell jumping out the way it could have been serious. Contact or not, it was a very dangerous challenge.

[Iain7_mfc]

Yeah, it was definitely a cynical challenge and McHugh was clean through. Really disappointed with the ref's decision. Also thought one of the St J players could have been sent off for his attempted tackle on Hammell in the first half. Launched himself in studs up about knee height and if not for Hammell jumping out the way it could have been serious. Contact or not, it was a very dangerous challenge.

 

Expect any less from Mr McDonald though? Fucking clown of a guy!

[Finlay]

Hopefully some Championship side will snatch Kyle for a ridiculously low fee on Friday. The defence will need to be at its best for him. If they play like some of them did today he will have a field day. God knows who Gannon will put on him.

[Joeboy]

know idea why McDonald never sent off McCaffrey for the last man tackle on McHugh aswell, shocking.

 

I said at the time he wouldn't have thought twice had McHugh been five yards further up the park. Today was a rollercoaster. Can't decide whether I am happy or not. I think this season won't do our hearts any favours.

 

First half wasn't particularly great for either side in my opinion, I don't think we created anything due to the fact Sutton was isolated up front, and no one seemed to find him, and he didn't seem to find anyone else. I thought if Ruddy hadn't stupidly decided to punch that ball when he could easily have caught it, we wouldn't have gone one down.

 

All credit to Jim Gannon for making those changes at half-time, although the general consensus seems that Craigan was bollocks, I didn't think he was any worse than the rest of the players. Hammell was however. Hutchinson looks as if he is a great prospect, but he will make mistakes and I don't think we can be over-reliant on him. He was badly at fault for that open goal they should have scored. However, the fact that he is a threat from set pieces is something we're not used to!

 

In the second half, Humphrey and Murphy changed it in my opinion. They seemed to be linking up well, and Murphy looks far better through the middle, looked lost in the first half. Humphrey seems to hug the touchline and put crosses in, which we've all been crying out for.

 

So all in all, promising performance, but promise that needs to be fulfilled.

[Tweed]

I know I'm in the minority but I thought Dougie McDonald was right with a yellow card. It was a cynical tackle but I think the defender who was coming back in the middle combined with how wide McHugh was to me preventing it from being a clear goalscoring opportunity. As someone said if McHugh had been a few yards further forward I think a red would have been justified. Though I think he got that right I still think he was a parnickity picky bugger all afternoon and how that game ended up with eight yellow cards is a joke. McCaffrey deserved his, Murphy deserved his if it was handball of which having now seen four or five times I'm still not sure and Hutchinson deserved his even though its a stupid rule. And I suppose number of fouls meant Liam Craig deserved his.

[Guest 'Flow]

True enough but managers and officials have been told only two days ago that ref's would be clamping down on that sort of tackle (i.e. cynical attempt to take out the man with not consideration for the ball). That's under the premise that it doesn't matter where on the park the foul takes place.

[Joeboy]

Basically, none of us should be surprised. McDonald is a tosser of the highest order, and gets paid a ridiculous sum to basically be inept at his job.

[dennyc]

Was at the game and just finished watching rerun on Alba. two great goals from us and two poor goals conceded.

 

Mostly agree with the comments made re our shambolic defending. But let's be honest......the defending was just as bad in the second half and that was without Craigen on the pitch. Second half we were better going forward because we played with more than one man up front and the midfield players were more able to link up the play from defence to attack. Reynolds looked out of place in midfield but was much more assured when he moved back.

 

Most...if not all... of our problems came from the left back position with Hammell getting caught out of position or just plain missing his tackles. And sure, Ruddy did not look as assured as he has in earlier games but let's not forget the fantastic save he made just before Saints scored their first goal or the one handed save he made at the end to keep the scores level. And the deflection of Craigen meant he had no chance whatsoever with the first goal. Once he gets a settled defence in front of him Ruddy will prove what a good goalkeeper he is.

[Wellarmy]

Also thought one of the St J players could have been sent off for his attempted tackle on Hammell in the first half. Launched himself in studs up about knee height and if not for Hammell jumping out the way it could have been serious. Contact or not, it was a very dangerous challenge.

 

It was Liam Craig who was then booked for the exact same sort of challenge, beggars belief

[east stand loyal]

It was Liam Craig who was then booked for the exact same sort of challenge, beggars belief

 

That fanny was at it all day!! Kept pullin our players shirts etc...Wanger

[johnstone]

Great day out in Sunny, nope rainy, nope sunny again Perth!

 

First half was a mess. We looked out of sorts and St Johnstone bossed the game. Second half we ripped them a new arsehole going forward and should have got about 4, but alas it was not to be.

 

In defence we were a shambles. I really like Hutchison, but he needs support and he is not getting it. Hatley did really well as a last minute entry, but is not a right back (he is however a very composed and silky footballer) Hammell got riled by the crowd and had a fucking shocker, that loss of concentration was amatuer stuff to be honest - he was excellent against Steaua, but today looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.

 

In midfield we have Coke who looks to be a fucking magic player. Big, composed and his positional sense is excellent. A real find. Forbes is just class in a glass. 4 goals already this season and three of them being the best we have seen in ages.

 

Up front, I was impressed by McHugh, he has strengh and great movement. He will be a big player in the future. The Humph had a good SPL debut and got three exellent balls into the box. Murphy was also full of running in the second half. As for O'Brien I though he played well today. Good runs into the right areas and caused their right back lots of problems, he desereved a goal for his efforts.

 

Not sure about the substitution of Craigan, but taking of Sutton was the right move, he was isolated up front.

 

As for St Johnstone, they will be fine in the SPL - they are well organised and play the ball on the deck when needed, but also have a big team to cause bother in the air.

 

Shame we didn't see Slane today, but his time will come.

['WellMagic!]

Probably a fair result today, thought our new signings looked mostly good.

 

Ruddy - Wasn't so good today, just reckon he had an off day. Still believe he'll turn out decent.

 

Hately - Thought he had a very solid debut. Uses the ball well when going forward and is pretty pacy. Great Pass for the Forbes goal.

 

Coke - Looks classy, great touch and awareness, never looks under pressure, seems like a great find. Impressed!

 

Humphrey - Looked good today, changed the game to some extent. Had a few excellent one two's with Murphy and McHugh, and his cross for Murphys 'goal' was a topper.

 

 

Also thought O'Brien was outstanding today and Forbes looks to be a player also.

[GazzyB]

I'm just in the door, and I never got a chance to listen to the game today. I can't be arsed reading through a 22 page thread, so would some kind soul post a breakdown of how we did please? The goals we scored & conceded, what were they like? How did we line up, wat subbies did we use, and how did we play?

 

A tad lazy, but it'll only take a few minutes for somebody to reply

 

Cheers.

[ankles]

Great entertainment,going on chances a draw was a fair result.Poor in the first half, but at least we have a manager who has the balls to change things at half time and not wait till the 75th minute. Great goals but if Jimbo's shot had have went in instead of crashing off the woodwork what a goal that would have been.

[worf]

Apologies if mentioned before but what happened to Slane he was warming up and named in team announced over tannoy? Did he pick up aninjury or was he ill

[madwullie]

Hopefully he didn't tell Gannon to go fuck himself in the dressing room

[ABC123]

Apologies if mentioned before but what happened to Slane he was warming up and named in team announced over tannoy? Did he pick up aninjury or was he ill

 

From official site:

 

The Steelmen didn’t have the best preparation when Paul Slane limped off just minutes before kick-off.

 

The young winger had been struggling with a minor calf problem and despite the best efforts of the medical team, just wasn’t able to start the game.

 

“He’s been feeling a tight calf all week but he was wanted to play, in fact, he was desperate to play but as a precaution we felt it best to take him out to ensure he doesn’t do any more damage,” said Gannon.

 

“We made the decision to change it about five or six minutes before the kick-off. He came in complaining about the calf. He got a rub and a bit of treatment and he was keen to play but I could see from his body language that he wasn’t totally happy.

 

“We made a couple of quick adjustments. Like I’ve said, you get paid to make these sorts of calls and we tried to deal with it dynamically. I think it was the safest thing to do but it was a shame for the lad but it gave Tom Hateley the opportunity to come in and done fantastically well.”

 

http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/index.php?op...&Itemid=132

[MelvinBragg]

Where to start...

 

First half, I would agree we looked nervous. Weight of expectations possibly given the optimism about the place? Having said that, re-watching the game on Alba last night, we created more in the first half than I remembered. I don't think Sutton was having that bad a game. Was winning a lot of ball but no one seemed to be getting close enough to him to make enough of the second ball.

 

Second half, we did look a lot more dangerous. Every time we went forward, it looked like we could score. I think Murphy looks a far better player playing as a centre forward and the combination of McHugh and him has potential. Humphrey looked better than he had done previously but I have to say that could have been down to the fact we were putting the ball in front of him with no one to beat and no time to think, just enough time to whip it in. On the odd occasion he had more time to think or had an opponent to beat, he seemed to struggle. Maybe needs a wee bit of coaching on his decisionmaking? No coincidence that we looked better when Coke and Forbes came into the game more. Not sure if there's enough bite in the two of them to play as a midfield 2 in a 4-4-2 in the SPL. Having said that, Coke put in a couple of crunching challenges yesterday, obviously doesn't know McDonald's fondness for sending off Motherwell players.

 

And now on to the defence. Hately did quite well for his debut. Obvious that he wasn't a natural full back but did well enough in the role. I like Hutchison, big and very raw, but I think all the tools are there for him to become a very good centre back. Reynolds even looked decent at centre back. Less said about Hammell the better really. Ruddy is the new Dykstra. Good goalkeeper, but some moments of real insanity.

 

I didn't think Craigan was playing that badly and I thought his distribution was no worse than Hutchisons so the change, even though it worked, does strike me as a strange one. I can see the reasoning behind the Sutton change more as we were obviously going more for the mobile on the deck approach. How the likes of Sutton, Craigan and Lasley react to be benched or sidelined, and how Gannon deals with these players that we will need at some point over the season, will say a lot about each of their characters. Gannon has to be careful not to alienate players he might need to call upon.

 

One thing's for sure. This is not going to be a dull season...