Temple Of Saints - 2003 Archive News From The Oracle
December
December 31st - It's looking
like Rudi Vata will sign until the end
of the season with Billy Stark saying
he's "reasonably hopeful" of landing the midfielder.
There is a potential glitch in the offing though with the Japanese FA, who
hold his registration not opening until January 5th - possibly ruling him
out of Saturday's game.
December
30th - With it almost safe to look over the parapet following
Saturday's disgrace, it appears that Billy
Stark was just as angry with the Saints players ordered in for
training on Sunday and a public apology in the papers for the performance
at Inverness.
Geoff Brown(right)Geoff Brown has
given permission for the signings during the window. He said, "The
manager has been trying to identify potential signings who will strengthen
his squad when the transfer window opens up. I can assure our fans there
will be activity and it would have happened regardless of the result and
performance at Inverness. December has been a disaster. It leaves you
wondering what happened to the team which played so well to knock
Dunfermline out of the CIS Cup. Hopefully, Saturday was just a bad day at
the office and the players can show what they're made of in the weeks
ahead." As for Mark Robertson
quitting the chairman went on, "We were paying out good money for
Robertson and there's a gap there that definitely needs to be filled. The
supporters should appreciate that he was on around £2000-a-week at
Dundee and we simply can't afford to go down that road, no matter how
desperately we want to get back to the SPL. While I can't promise
promotion, I will assure our fans that they will still have a club to
support in 2004 and 2005. Given the financial mess of Scottish football,
I'm not sure how many Premierleague chairmen can give the same pledge to
their supporters right now."
Rudi Vata is still in the frame but
Saints don't intend paying over the odds to get their man. "We've
done that in the past and we won't be doing it again. It proved very
expensive when we got caught out with Graeme
Jones, Craig Russell and other
duds. We will go with what the manager advises and try to bring in his
targets. But it's to his credit that he fully appreciates the price range
we are operating in."
But Billy Stark's not holding back on
the criticism at the weekend either. He said, "It was desperately
disappointing. Unlike previous weeks when we played well enough to win but
threw points away, this was a poor performance. I would be struggling to
say we did anything well. The centre-halves didn't win headers and they
didn't clear their lines, the full-backs didn't win enough tackles or get
forward enough, the midfielders weren't adventurous enough in terms of
going forward and pressing Inverness and the front two didn't keep the
ball. Now we all have to respond in the right manner."
This afternoon the reserves romped home 8-0 against East Stirling with
(surprise, surprise) Rudi Vata in the
side.
Finally it's been confirmed that Paul
Bernard misses both this weekend's visit of Brechin and the trip to
Clyde a fortnight later thanks to breaking the points barrier.
December
27th - Ian Maxwell(right) is
the man who's making the understatement of the week with today's trip to
Inverness being described as a "massive game". The
defender said, "With the Falkirk against Inverness Caley game
being called off last weekend we knew that a win against Queen of the
South would have given us the chance of going top if we were able to beat
Inverness this weekend. So it was really disappointing to only draw.
Having said that, when you get a goal in injury-time it makes the draw
feel better than it has when we’ve let leads slip. We’ve only
had something like one defeat in the last 12 but four of them have been
draws and, as the manager has said, we should have closed out most of
them. Draws are killing us and we’re getting to the situation we had
with Falkirk last season. When we went to Brockville in September we lost
to go seven points behind them. We know exactly how difficult it is to get
that back because we went on an eight-game winning run at one point and
still we couldn’t catch them. The Ross County and Falkirk matches
were big, big games and we’ve done better in the big games this year
than we did last. Caley have been flying recently, especially at their
place, but if we win we’re level with them on points and very much in
the thick of things. As long as we’re in touch with the top at the
other side of Christmas, that’s the main thing. We’ve worked
really hard to get ourselves back into contention, so the last thing we
want to do is chuck it all away again. That’s what makes Saturday
massive."
9pm - Well so much for the massive game tag as a half-hearted
amateurish performance by some alleged professionals saw us lucky to only
lose 1-0 to Caley Thistle with the
penalty winner also seeing Paul Bernard
red-carded. Calls for the manager's head haven't been too frequent
recently but a large Saints support who were cheated after making the trip
north weren't slow to voice their criticisms.
December 26th - Saints have
finally given up on trying to sign Mark
Robertson with the ex-Scumdee midfielder heading south for some
trials in Ingerlund. Billy Stark said,
"It’s dead in the water now. He’s going to take his
chances with the offer of a few trials in England. It’s disappointing
because I think he was showing in this loan spell what he was capable of.
We would probably have lost him after this weekend even if he hadn’t
been released by Dundee because if he was to come here permanently they
would have had to pay him some money, which wouldn’t have happened.
That’s the way I’m looking at it. "
Saints are planning to dip into the transfer market in January with a
midfielder and a central defender the targeted positions.
For tomorrow's game, Saints have been boosted by
Mark Reilly not requiring an operation
and being able to train fully this week. The manager said, "He
has trained fully and felt OK. I don’t want to make too much of it
but we’ll see how he goes for the rest of the week. Even if he had
needed an operation it would have been hard to fit him in at this time of
year anyway, so nothing will be lost". And he also found time to
praise Ryan Stevenson's stand-in
midfield role over the last few games. "He has looked a
determined boy in the last few matches and that’s what we’re
looking for from younger players who come into the first team. I don’t
like to hark back to the good old days because it probably wasn’t
that different then, but you did seem to see more hunger from youngsters.
Ryan has looked that way recently and he’s taken his chance to make
an impression. We know he has ability and we’re looking for him to
grow in confidence now."
December 24th - Not much news
today with the air of gloom still hanging over the Saints support. So
forget about the performances for the next 72 hours or so and from the
Temple, have a Merry Xmas !!!!!!
Rudi Vata meanwhile apparently trained
with Partick on Tuesday and looks set to sign for them ahead of Saints. Oh
dear, how sad.
December
23rd - It's looking more and more unlikely that
M-Ro(right) will sign for Saints.
Billy Stark said, "Mark is in a
difficult position in that he wants to get as close as he can to what he
was on at Dens Park, whereas we can offer less than half of that wage. The
situation isn’t dead yet but it is still very much up in the air"
. Of course the more cynical might think he's just stringing Saints
along until the end of December to give him some money and training
facilities. He's rumoured to have been offered trials in England and
Belgium but no firm deals.
Meanwhile, Rudi Vata is still training
in Perth and the manager said, "Having played his last game in
Japan less than four weeks ago he is not a million miles away from being
fully fit. But how we proceed with this one is undecided at the moment.
There is interest in Rudi from elsewhere but he is still contracted to
Yokohama until the 31st so it’s not as if we could play him now
anyway."
Chris Hay has resumed training.
December
22nd - Craig Nelson(right), who
made his debut against QoS at the weekend, is hoping that Saturday's
repeat of the draw 12 months ago against QoS will act as a catalyst for a
resurgence in the title challenge. He said, "It didn’t look
like we were going to take anything from the match until
Mixu popped up and got the equaliser. We
dug in and got the goal in the end, though, and when you’re 2-1 down
with seconds to go in injury-time you’re delighted to get a point.
That’s the only positive you can take out of it because we were
expecting to win, but that’s how you have to look at it. We’ve
got a massive game at Inverness next week which we know we have to win. If
we can do that then we will have put the pressure back on the teams at the
top."
As for his own performance he continued, "It could certainly
have been a better day and unfortunately we didn’t get the right
result, but it was good to get my first start. I knew when I came here
that Kevin had played well last season
and that it would be hard for me to get in the team but now that I’ve
been given my chance I’ve got to attempt to stay in the team. It’s
important that I put in a few good performances now and we’ll see
what happens from there.".
Meanwhile word on the M-Ro saga is
that Saints and Ballymena are the only clubs to offer him a deal but
there's a chance of a trial with Swindon and it looks like the Aussie
midfielder will be heading there.
December 21st - Media
Falsehoods galore today (well we are only a diddy league). Flak is
still flying from yesterday's draw as well - although the Saints players
were claiming handball at the Doonhamer's first goal - with the manager's
head on the block again. Speaking of the draw,
Billy Stark said, "We played
well in the first half and got into a winning position through the own
goal and then had the chance to make it 2-0 when we hit the bar but then
we go and lose an absolutely ridiculous goal to allow them back into it.
We had chances to clear the ball and failed to do so and were punished.
That knocked us back on our heels a bit. I talked to the team earlier this
week about the goals we are losing from set pieces and then we go and
allow a header from a corner kick to find the back of the net, it’s
incredible. We can’t give away goals of the sort we did today and
expect to win games."
Meanwhile the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup sees us play host to Motherwell
on Saturday 10th January.
December 20th - Paul
Lovering is grateful to be back in the squad for the first time
since August. "I’m obviously dying to get back into the
team. The manager has stressed the importance of me being match fit before
he put me back in the squad so I’ve taken my time and played four
reserve games and done extra running after training before being brought
back in. I actually got the injury in pre-season but played on, and then
it went in the Inverness game. I’m probably one of the worst
spectators and my wife will probably tell you how tough it’s been,
with my bad moods! It’s been all the more frustrating because I’ve
just come to a new club, and I hardly picked up an injury in my years at
Ayr and Hibs before that."
As for today's game he knows the importance of it for Saints."Inverness
have opened up a small gap at the top and it’s important we don’t
allow that gap to grow and make it tough for ourselves to claw it back.
The boys were really disappointed to drop points in our last two games and
we want to bounce back to winning ways tomorrow.".
Billy Stark has already said that a
repeat of last week's performance is "totally unacceptable".
He said, "There have been five games which we’ve drawn this
season and in four of them we’ve been ahead. You can live with that
happening once, but four times is too many and we need to realise that we
have to see a game through to the final whistle. You always take stock at
this stage of the season and it has been brought into focus that we’ve
squandered points, which we can’t afford to do. Those squandered
points have been what has stopped us sitting top of the league."
7.00pm - It took a 93rd minute blessed equaliser from the
Mother Superior to salvage a point in a
downpour as Saints drew 2-2 with QoS..
Not a classic game with all 3 other goals coming from QoS players despite
Peaso hitting the woodwork. Results
elsewhere saw the Falkirk v ICT game off along with Raith v St Midden
whilst Clyde beat Ayr 2-1 to go top and Ross County got a similar victory
over Brechin.
December
19th - Saints have confirmed that Cap'n
Jim(right) is set to be awarded a testimonial by Saints to celebrate
his 10th year at the club. Impersonating Darth Vader in Wegieland for the
Xmas party (see below), he says he's "overwhelmed" by
the tribute. "Having experienced Roddy Grant’s and Allan
Preston’s testimonials I always hoped I would be here long enough to
get one, and I’m absolutely thrilled that a committee has come
forward. I have to thank the club for sticking by me at times when I haven’t
been able to give much back in return because of injuries. And the
supporters here have been fantastic to me. When I’ve been out injured
and times have been tough, the people of Perth have been the biggest
encouragement to me to get back to fitness." .
As for finally making this years Xmas night out, he said, "Last
year I was just out of hospital in London and my leg was in a full-length
plaster after an operation on a snapped knee tendon. The previous year I
collided with keeper Kevin Cuthbert in
training the day before the lads' night out. I fractured my cheekbone and
wasn't in the mood for Christmas turkey especially the way my wife Susan
cooks! Players look forward to their Christmas night out but it was a bit
more special this year. We decided on a Villains and Super Heroes theme
and the characters went into the hat. I landed Darth Vadar. Gaffer,
Billy Stark thought he was doing
Mixu Paatelainen a favour by drawing him
out early. He got Wonder Woman but couldn't get a costume to fit. So he
opted for an alternative nun's outfit! It was great being part of a squad
night out again especially as I'm almost ready for first-team football."
He's getting closer to a comeback to the first team and said, "To
return to the first team and help win the first division championship
would be Roy Of The Rovers stuff. It would top everything. When we won the
league before it was the greatest moment of my career and to have the
possibility of that at the end of this season is what dreams are made of.
I’ve played four 90 minutes now for the reserves and behind closed
doors and I still feel that I have a lot to give the club if I can get a
wee run of luck and stay injury-free."
Meanwhile the soon-to-be-legendary Xmas party photo can be revealed (see
below). Identified so far in the line-up we have
Ross Forsyth as The Flash,
Martyn Fotheringham as the Penguin,
Ian Maxwell as the Joker,
Mark Ferry as Robin,
Peaso as Robin Hood,
Ryan Stevenson as ?,
Eddie Malone as Captain America,
Darren Dods as ?,
Paul Lovering as Skeletor,
Paddy Connolly as Austin Powers,
Craig Nelson as SuperSaint,
Paul Bernard as Spiderman,
Chris Hay as Capt Hook(?) and
Mixu Paatelainen as the Mother Superior.
In the front is Simon Donnelly as the
Mask, Keigan as Superman,
Kevin Cuthbert as Dr Evil,
Cap'n Jim as Darth Vader, Unknown as
Buzz Lightyear, Unknown as ? and finally
Brian McLaughlin is Catwoman
And "Catwoman" McLaughlin
has said that losing the goal at Ayr was more depressing for the team than
the gubbing by the Bairns at McDiarmid. "That was the lowest the
dressing room has been all season at the end of a game. We were in shock.
The disappointment only kicked in later. We dropped two points. Basically
it was a defeat. It was terrible and we had only ourselves to blame. Ayr
should have been killed off. We thought we'd battled to a 1-0 win and
taken three vital points. Now we have to bounce back against Queen of the
South. That's twice we've failed to beat Ayr. But we seem to have a better
record against the title challengers and we have to start winning again
after a couple of draws. We've slipped four behind the leaders. For the
past couple of months we've been looking to go top and right now we can't
do it with one result. But that's the aim because I believe we will handle
the pressure of leading from the front. If they keep their players fit and
free from suspension, Queen of the South will be there all the way. But
this is a home game for us and one we have to win."
The Rudi Vata saga is still on - his
deal with Yokohama expires at the end of the month and he could move to
Saints in a possible short-term deal. Another potential signing is
M-Ro with a decision expected in the
next few days (still) although the ex-Dundee player apparently has options
in England as well. Elsewhere in the squad and Chris
Hay should make the bench despite hardly training this week thanks
to a hamstring strain. Billy Stark said,
"We've played really well in both games against Queen of the
South so we have to maintain those standards. We've drawn too many games
that should have been wins - but the draw at Dumfries was acceptable. I've
spoken to the players about going ahead and losing the lead. We're now
searching for the x-factor that turns draws into victories. One draw now
and then happens but four of these results have been unacceptable."
December 18th - Confirmation
today that ex-Celtic Albanian star (well there are loads of them)
Rudi Vata is training with Saints. The
34-yr old left-sided midfielder / defender played for the reserves and has
been given training facilities by the club after being released by
Yokohama a month early. Of course the ex-Celt connection is the main
reason to give him loads of coverage but as a signing it's not exactly
inspiring to the Saints fans. Billy Stark
said, "We’ve been having a look at him in training and it’s
a case of seeing what happens from here.".
December 17th - Little happening
at McD today. M-Ro has been offered
a deal (believed to be financed by the Death Star receipts from a
fortnight ago) but has still to give a response - the player will miss out
this weekend anyway due to injury. Chris Hay
still hasn't trained due to his hamstring strain.
December
15th - M-Ro's future at McD
looks like being settled soon. Whilst we can play him up to three times as
a trialist, Saints want things sorted out sooner rather than later.
Billy Stark said, "Mark is
feeling better now after his injury and if he were in full training by the
middle of the week it isn’t out of the question that he might be
involved against Queen of the South on Saturday. But we’ll need to
talk to him to see what he is planning to do.". He's also calling
on the players to stay calm amidst the flak they've been getting for the
last two performances. "Because we didn't win at the weekend
we've left ourselves open to criticism. We have to take heed of the
warning and be strong enough to handle it. But we've only lost once in 11
games and that tells you about the mettle of the players here."
The reserves beat Airdrie 2-0 last night and both
Paul Lovering(right) and
Cap'n Jim played. The manager said, "That’s
Paul and Jim got four games under their belts now. But while Paul isn’t
far away from being ready for a first-team return, Jim will likely need
another four matches before he could be considered.".
Chris Hay missed training yesterday with a
strain picked up at Somerset Park.
December 14th - Little comment
from Saints in the papers although Billy
Stark believed we should have wrapped up the points on Saturday but
"failed to take our chances".
December
13th - Ahead of today's Ayr game, Ian
Maxwell(right) is one of the Saints players targetting the top spot
over the festive period. "We could be second right through to the
final game and then go top at the last gasp. But ideally I'd like things
to be a bit more comfortable. The players would be better off financially
by getting to the top of the league but that isn't the main incentive. We
want to get ourselves in front so our fate is in our own hands."
As for the last time Saints met Ayr, the central defender said, "That
was one of our most disappointing results. We didn't play well but we were
ahead until late in the game and should have taken all three points. It
was a poor one coming on the back of a great win at Falkirk. Ayr are
fighting for their lives. They're not giving up their First Division place
without a fight and we have to be ready for it. But if we can win this one
and beat Queen of the South it would set-up a cracker and a chance to go
top at Inverness on the 27th. But we have to take care of the first two
before thinking of that game."
Billy Stark is also under no illusions
as the first half of the season draws to a close. "Everybody
knows this is a crucial part of the season and I’ve spoken to the
players about that. They were as disappointed as I was to only draw last
Saturday and we want to make sure we stay right in the thick of things
over the four or five game spell during Christmas and New Year. In our
last 10 games we’ve won six, drawn three and lost just one. I think
that type of form would get us there, I’d take it. There are some
interesting fixtures coming up, but when six teams are involved it will
inevitably be that way."
7pm - Paul Bernard's 65th
minute goal looked to have us on easy street but a 93rd minute
wind-assisted equaliser meant a 1-1 draw at
Ayr and Saints now four points off the pace following Caley
Thistle's win at Raith and Clyde's single-goal victory at Dingwall.
December 12th - There's been
little happening at McD this week but the good news is that all the
strikers are fit for tomorrow's trip to Somerset Park.
Billy Stark said, "The striking
position is one that demands sharpness and that’s why its great to
have choice. We have not been in this position since the start of the
season." . M-Ro will miss
out but should be back for the QoS game giving him a chance to make a
claim for a permanent deal (or else impress the scouts watching depending
on your degree of cynicism). And fellow midfielder
Mark Reilly has had the protective boot
removed from his ankle which means he should be back in training in the
next couple of weeks.
December 10th - So much for the
comeback with last night's reserve game at McDiarmid being postponed due
to frost.
December 9th - Paul
Lovering and Cap'n Jim are set to
play for the reserves tonight and get another 90 minutes under their
belts. The news isn't so good for M-Ro
who is already quoted as "doubtful" for this weekend's
trip to Somerset Park.
December 7th - Yesterday's draw
was a fair result according to Billy Stark
who reckoned Ibrox took it's toll on the players. Speaking after the game
he said, "I thought we played a lot of good football in spells,
particularly in the first half but as the game wore we became a bit stodgy
and there were a few heavy legs. Ross County are probably not the side you
want to be meeting after a Wednesday night match at Ibrox because they are
full of running power and broke very quickly. There was a lack of
sharpness in front of goal today and that can be crucial. Ross County
showed today why they are up there challenging and whilst I would
obviously have wanted a win, I’m not too unhappy with a point. We’ve
lost only once in ten league games."
December
6th - Ryan Stevenson(right)
looks set to get another start today following the injury to
M-Ro. The Rocket believes that
Wednesday was the "best night of my life" and said "It
was a great experience to play against top players, and it was games like
that which were the reason for coming up to St Johnstone. It was probably
the best night of my life. Before I came on as a sub I was stood on the
touchline for what seemed to be about five minutes. The ball never seemed
to go out and I was looking about the stadium thinking ‘please don’t
give the ball away with your first touch!’. I’d certainly love
to get back there and play again. The manager said to us, 'make sure you’re
going back to Ibrox and Celtic Park twice next year.'. "
Mixu Paatelainen trained yesterday after
the flu bug and Billy Stark said, "Mixu
should be OK. It would be disappointing if he wasn’t available, after
leaving him out on Wednesday night. Sometimes you find that players do
well against certain clubs, like Keigan Parker who has a good record
against St Mirren. Mixu’s playing well just now—he made an
impact when he came on against Rangers—and he immediately has an
intimidating presence on players because of the level he’s played it.".
And the manager is less than impressed with Alex "Dour Git"
Smith's comments following our win at Dingwall earlier in the season. "I’ve
seen myself how things can come out differently from what you’ve
meant, but I see that Alex has said that we caught them on three
counter-attacks. It’s a strange comment if he’s made it because
it’s certainly not what I remember of the game. Ross County are a
youthful and vibrant side who have some good players. They’re top
scorers and have done well to come back from a couple of bad defeats. We
need to get back to what we were doing at Raith Rovers last Saturday,
creating chances and having a lot of efforts on goal."
7.00pm- Well Mixu Paatelainen got
the early goal but a controversial equaliser from an ex-Coagie meant
a 1-1 draw against Ross County.
Results elsewhere keep us in 2nd with only Caley winning out of the top 6.
December
5th - M-Ro's thigh strain
which flared up again at Ibrox means he's almost certain to miss
tomorrow's clash at home to Ross County. Billy
Stark(right) explained his decision to gamble on the Aussie at the
Death Star saying, "I felt that after he trained on Monday and
Tuesday with no reaction Mark would be OK. The injury isn’t as tender
as it was when he got it at Brechin but next Saturday is looking more
likely than this Saturday.". Elsewhere Mixu
Paatelainen and Brian McLaughlin
didn't train after picking up a bug and a tight hamstring respectively but
the manager doesn't think that will affect their chances for Saturday.
And he was also looking on the "glass half-full" side of things
from the defeat at the Death Star. "We didn’t play as well
as we could and I felt that when we had the ball we gave it away
carelessly. But in terms of workrate and the shape of the side, I couldn’t
complain. Also, at no time did the team panic or lose their discipline,
and that’s a positive factor." And financially it wasn't too
bad either with Saints banking around £100,000 from the game.
December 4th - Billy
Stark admitted his disappointment at Saints performance last night.
He said, "I’m a wee bit disappointed. We can do better than
that but that tends to happen. We started the second half well but then we
lost a goal just when we were starting to look like we were getting near
their goal. We didn’t start the game particularly well and they
scored a good goal. It might be a big churlish, but the goals were
preventable from our point of view."
December
3rd - Simon Donnelly(right)
came up with the understatement of the season yesterday discussing
tonight's CIS quarter-final tie After being presented with an award for
being the player of the last round he said, "The boys are quite
excited about this match. I think we can go there relaxed and try to play
some decent football. The onus will be on Rangers to get the win and
nobody will expect us to do anything. The team took a lot of confidence
from beating Dunfermline because if you take the scalp of an SPL team it’s
always a good result. Without getting carried away, we think we can do
something at Ibrox. It will obviously be very difficult but if you don’t
think you have a chance there would be no point in going."
Peaso agreed saying, "I
definitely think we’ve got a chance. None of the boys are scared of
Rangers and we’re really up for it. We’ve been concentrating on
the league since the draw was made but now that we can think about the
match we’re really looking forward to it. I’d like to think we
can get at least a goal at Ibrox. We’ve won a lot of games well this
season and there are four strikers fighting to hold down two places, so
competition is good."
Billy Stark had some good news with
Keigan Parker,
M-Ro, Paul
Bernard and Simon Donnelly all
expected to be fit enough for the Death Star match. The manager said, "In
a general sense we’ve been in a position where we’ve been
expected to win every game in the First Division. Obviously that was never
going to happen but the pressure is there nonetheless. The big thing
tomorrow from our point of view is that we won’t have that pressure
and will be huge underdogs. I would qualify that by saying that it won’t
just be a case of us turning up there to enjoy ourselves though. It’s
about us believing we can play on that sort of stage, and going for us is
the fact that we have a few players who have played at the top level and
know what’s required."
11.45pm - Well unfortunately we were never really in it although a
spirited perfromance from Saints meant a flattering
3-0 win to TFOD (or 2-0 if you're
amongst the hordes of home fans who left early).
M-Ro played but only lasted just
over half an hour.
Elsewhere there was some good news in the league as QoS went down 2-1 at
home to St Midden blowing their chance to regain the top slot.
December 2nd - The good news is
that it appears that Mark Robertson
is still technically on loan to us because the SFA have not received his
acceptance of his contract being terminated. This means he's cleared to
play at the Death Star tomorrow night. Billy
Stark said, "We thought the loan was terminated by Dundee
terminating Mark’s contract but that’s not quite true. It turns
out Mark has to sign something with Dundee which hasn’t happened so
at the moment the loan is still in place." .
Having said all that the thigh strain might still keep the Aussie out and
Paul Bernard and
Simon Donnelly are also doubtful. The
manager said, "Paul hurt a calf in training last Friday and
although he managed to play at the weekend he couldn’t train today
and we’ll just have to see if it settles down. Simon also has a thigh
problem, although I’d be hopeful both he and Paul will make it."
.
As for the game, the manager said, "We are big underdogs and we
don’t find ourselves in that situation very often in the first
division. As this game is different in nature to what we are used to it is
one we can perhaps enjoy a bit more. But we want to go to Ibrox and show
we can handle this match."
December
1st - Mixu(right) reckons the
scoreline flattered us at the weekend but is more than happy to get the 3
points on board. He said, "The three-goal margin suggests things
were more comfortable for us than they actually were. In fact, we had to
work really hard for a victory that was vital as we needed to put the
Falkirk result behind us.". Billy
Stark was a happy man as well saying, "I didn’t think
we deserved our goal in the first half and we needed to step things up a
bit in the second. We got our reward when we did that and, while we had to
hang on a bit when they scored and played five up, we got a good third
goal and the fourth was a bonus."
No word on any injuries ahead of Wednesday's trip to the Death Star.
Billy
Stark also revealed the reason for Keigan's
absence on Saturday. He said, "I'm absolutely delighted, over the
moon with Saturday's result. It speaks volumes for the players to go to
Kirkcaldy on such a horrible day and get such a good result. It's worth
pointing out that we managed that result without
Mark Robertson and
Mark Reilly who were injured and
Darren Dods who was suspended. Added to
that, Keigan Parker called off an hour
before kick off with a chest infection and Paul
Bernard played through with a calf strain. Although Raith don't have
a tremendous record at home, Starks Park will be a very difficult place to
go this season and I'm glad we've bounced back from last week and got all
three points." There's no word yet from
Mark Robertson on whether or not
he'll sign a permanent deal with Saints but it seems as though the clubs
aren't exactly beating a path to his door with offers.
Finally and Roddy Grant(right) has left
Peterhead as his playing career in senior football appears to be over -
the Legend is now playing for Linlithgow juniors.
Top Of News
November
November
29th - M-Ro has finally
spoken out about his contract situation. Whilst there is interest
elsewhere, it seems that only Saints have made him an actual offer
although the wage cut is something which he says he can't afford (strange
how the rest manage on these wages). The midfielder said, "I was
told going into the meeting on Monday to expect the worst and thought I
had prepared myself for that but as it turned out it was even worse. I was
expecting to be asked to take a wage cut to help the club, which wouldn’t
have been a problem, but to come out without a contract or a penny in
compensation and effectively be unemployed was devastating. My contract
was terminated as of that moment and that meant my Dundee contract, my St
Johnstone contract and my whole income was gone. It is just in the last
couple of days it has really hit me. While I love it here, I’ve still
to make sure the bills are paid more than anything so it boils down to
whether I can afford to pay the mortgage at the end of the month. But I’ve
enjoyed my time here and feel I’m playing good football and the
manager has total faith in me and has been really supportive this week."
Assuming he's passed fit he will play today even if we have to play him
as a trialist.
7.00pm - Well we're back on form with a great
4-1 win at Raith thanks to goals from
Brian McLaughlin(right),
Chris Hay, Mixu
Paatelainen and a brilliant finish from
Peaso. With the Weans collapsing to
Clyde and QoS match postponed it means that we're 2nd now behind ICT who
put FIVE past Brechin.
November
28th - No more word on the signing of
M-Ro with Saints admitting that the
next decision is with the player. Billy
Stark said, "The problem is what we can offer him is only a
small proportion of what he was getting at Dundee and he has to decide
whether to sign here or try and get what he was on elsewhere. We’d be
prepared to go ahead with a short-term or trialist arrangement, but if
Mark wants to play against Rangers in the cup next week he’ll have to
sign.". It's also been revealed that Saints owe Dundee money for
the player's wages. Basically Saints paid a part of the player's wages but
did this via a payment to Dundee who passed the cash onto
M-Ro. However we're looking for a
guarantee that he'll receive any subsequent payment and that the money
will not become part of the general club funds before paying November's
wages. Complicated stuff this financial lark.
Meanwhile tomorrow's opponents Raith have expanded their Latin cheating
quota by signing Dundee redundancy victims Jamie Langfeld and Beto
Carranza - and to celebrate the fact they've put their away prices up £2
so it's £14 to get in. And looking ahead to the game,
The Cat (right) is one player who
believes he's already recovered from losing 4 goals last week especially
since the last time it happened against Hibs it cost the manager his job.
"While the Falkirk loss was bitterly disappointing, we could
still go top of the table if results work for us this weekend. The
circumstances are totally different. We'd only lost two goals in our
previous seven games. One defeat in eight isn't bad going and we don't
want to undo all our good work. That will drive us on to get a win against
Raith Rovers at Kirkcaldy." As for last weekend's refereeing he
said, "At first I didn't think Darren was going to be sent off.
Then Russell Latapy followed it up with one of his classic free-kicks. But
it wasn't as if Falkirk played us off the park, even when we were down to
10 men. It was painful losing four, especially at home in a big game, but
it's only three points dropped. We can even go top if Clyde beat Falkirk
this weekend, but we have to take care of Raith. We have to go about our
business properly. They beat us in Perth and that was a poor team
performance. But we bounced back with that undefeated run. We've faced
tougher tests than coming back from this Falkirk defeat and we've passed
them. There's a chance here to get revenge for the Raith defeat. If we'd
won that day, we'd already be top and that's our target."
Team news for tomorrow sees both Chris Hay
and Ryan Stevenson in line for
starting jerseys with Mark Robertson
doubtful due to injury / contract worries etc. With
Darren Dods suspended the defence is
likely to get a shake-up as well with John
Robertson switching to the centre. Kevin
Cuthbert said, "John
is an experienced player who has filled that role in the past. There won't
be any problem.".
Billy Stark realises the importance of
this weekend's match. "This is a tough spell coming up for us
with three games in a week, but we've already put the Falkirk result
behind us and we're looking for another good run starting this weekend.
That was the biggest defeat I've suffered since coming in as manager, but
we could go top if things work out for us this weekend. That's how close
it is in this league. We have to show our mettle again. The Rangers game
will be blocked out of our minds. To be fair, I haven't seen any signs of
the players contemplating that one. They all know that the Kirkcaldy trip
is the immediate priority. But with three games in a week, our squad will
be tested again. We will be making use of the available front players
because they have the toughest job of all in terms of creativity and
sharpness."
November 27th - Billy
Stark has confirmed that Saints would like to sign
M-Ro. Formal clarification is still
awaited from the SFA regarding the freed player's transfer status but the
manager said, "This week’s events have been a bit of a bolt
out of the blue so he is just getting his mind round it at the moment.
Effectively he is a free agent and SFL clubs can sign players outwith the
transfer window and he also knows we want him here and we would be looking
to keep him to the end of the season. Obviously the wage level may not be
the same as what he was on but I think that may be the case for all the
lads who were freed. ". The good news is that the Aussie has
restarted training after his thigh strain cleared up.
As for this weekend's game, the manager said, "We have the option
of playing Mark as a trialist on Saturday but the injury is something that
will be a big factor and we will have to wait and see how it comes on over
the next couple of days."
November
26th - M-Ro (right) is set to
have talks with Saints today after being freed by Scumdee yesterday. He
said, "It a case of speaking to St Johnstone now and I’ll
have a chat with the manager and see what comes of it. I would like to
think they are keen to keep me on but I don’t know what will happen".
However given the stories of his wages at Dens it could be a stumbling
block in any move to McDiarmid. Stewart Duff
said, "He is now a free agent and will have to weigh up his
options but there will be interest in keeping him here."
Billy Stark said much along the same
lines. "It is an unusual situation—the loan deal was due to
run until January and we would not have been able to extend it beyond
that. I would be interested in keeping the player here but at the moment
he will just be trying to come to terms with the situation he finds
himself in. It is a bit early to say whether or not we will sign him but I
would certainly be hopeful that something can be sorted out. "
November
25th - First up apologies for anyone trying to access the WAP site.
The blokes at Wappy who I've been using
for the short URL redirection to the WAP Temple have informed me their
short links don't work with non-Nokia phones (the site was originally
built for a 7110). Have no fear though - all you have to do is use the
proper URL which is http://www.grange.demon.co.uk/saints/wap/index.wml.
Enter that as a bookmark and it should be fine. Any problems email me
to the address below (and let me know what phone you're using).
Meanwhile the reserves had a good 4-0 win last night with
Paul Lovering and
Cap'n Jim getting another 90 minutes under
our belt. Goals came from Chris Hay,
Keigan Parker and a double from
Ryan Stevenson(right).
Elsewhere and the manager was trying to raise the spirits after the
weekend's defeat. He said, "The players are a bit down as it was
a pretty big defeat. However, that is part of football. We had gone on a
good run but it had to finish some time. It was a poor day and now we need
to pick it up again and start trying to put another run together. Of
course 4-0 is a bad result but it is still very close and there are still
a few teams—including us—who could see a good result on Saturday
putting them top.". As for the red card he said, "We did
not really give ourselves much of a chance, although I thought the
sending-off was harsh at the time and, having seen it on TV, I still think
it was harsh. Unfortunately that is just the way it goes sometimes and we
will have to make sure we respond positively. ". Meanwhile
M-Ro is still out and is unlikely to
resume training before the end of the week.
5.30pm - And this afternoon the future of on-loan midfielder
M-Ro was even more unclear as the
Aussie became one of the first to be freed under the cost-cutting exercise
being implemented as a consequence of Scumdee going into administration.
His contract (along with a load of others) was terminated this morning so
from what can be gathered he's now a free agent. Whether or not he's
willing to sign a permanent deal with Saints and take what is rumoured to
be about a 75% cut in wages to do so remains to be seen.
Finally the WAP bookmark this morning was wrong - the correct one is the
one above.
November 24th - Despite
Scotsport's coverage giving more evidence in Darren
Dods favour yesterday, Mixu Paatelainen
was still a disappointed man today. Speaking of Saturday's defeat he said,
"It’s only three points lost and we will keep battling away
because there is a long, long way to go. That has stopped the run of nine
unbeaten games we were on but if we do the same again starting next week
we will remain close to the top. The whole season isn’t going to go
your way but we now pick ourselves up and produce another run. We were
threatening going forward and we got opportunities which we should have
done better with. We then lose a goal from a set piece and 2-0 with a man
down makes it very difficult. I was confident about winning the game
beforehand because of the way we had been playing but we’ve shot
ourselves in the foot and have to bounce back again."
As for the manager he kept his comments to "The defeat was
self-inflicted. At first sighting, I do not think it was a sending-off."
November
22nd - It's the First Division game of the day today and Saints are
urging the fans to turn up early with a big crowd expected. On the park
and Peaso is hoping to continue his
goalscoring form but is expecting a tough match. "We have a few
injuries with Mark Reilly and
Mark Robertson out and
Paul Bernard hasn’t trained much
this week, and we really need our strongest team for these games. Despite
the last game, I’ve never doubted they would be up there with us—
they are a strong side and it will be a difficult game. But we are
confident because we’re on a good run, and while that’s got to
end sometime hopefully it won’t be tomorrow."
Billy Stark isn't expecting a repeat of
the 3-0 win at Ochilview in the first meeting of the clubs though. "You
don’t go into games like that expecting those scores, although we did
play well on the day and took our chances. But they are on a good run just
now, having gone to the Highlands two weeks in a row and taken six points
and then beaten Raith. It’s a pressure game, because we don’t
want anyone jumping ahead of us. It is important at the halfway stage to
be in a challenging position, which we are in just now, but all the other
teams are of the same view and it’s very cutthroat.". The
manager has also praised the recent performances of the Saints defence.
"Defending better breeds confidence throughout the team because
if they know we won’t lose a goal the creative players can work at
their own game. Set-pieces especially will be important as the games
against Falkirk last season didn’t have much between the teams in
open play but we lost every goal from a set- piece."
Elsewhere and it's congratulations to Henry
Hall who's been named manager of Montrose.
6.30pm - Nightmare day with a red card for
Darren Dods in controversial
circumstances as we were beaten 4-0 by
the Weans who proceeded to go to the top of the table leaving us in
4th place. One to forget....
November
21st - One definite starter tomorrow will be
Paul Bernard on his return from
suspension but Billy Stark is still
awaiting some tests before deciding whether or not to play
Mark Robertson(right) who has
suffered from a thigh strain all week. If M-Ro
can't make it then it will be Eddie Malone,
Ryan Stevenson or
Martyn Fotheringham who'll get a
chance. The manager said of the game, "We've already had a good
win against Falkirk this season so that certainly gives the boys a bit of
confidence straight away. We are in also good form going into this game.
Peaso's continuing to find the back
of the net and guys like Chris Hay and
Eddie Malone are knocking the goals in
in the Reserve matches so we definitely have options. We're all looking
forward to the match. Undoubtedly it's a big game for both teams but we
are 100% focused and looking to complete the job in hand."
Meanwhile it's bad news for Scumdee who look set to go into
administration with a real possibility the club can fold. Capone is still
trying to call everyone's bluff over the affair but things are looking
bleaker than normal at Dens. Now we know how much we hate Dundee etc but
let's hope they can survive this - possibly with relegation to the 3rd
Division though.
November
19th - A strong Saints reserve side beat their Arbroath
counterparts 5-0 last night in the Forfarshire Cup. Goals came from
fit-again Keigan Parker,
Chris Hay (2) and a brace from
Eddie Malone(right).
Paul Lovering and
Cap'n Jim got another 90 minutes is as
well.
November 18th - The bad news
from Sunday's win over Brechin is that midfielder
Mark Robertson is now rated doubtful
for this weekend's visit of Falkirk after picking up a thigh strain.
Billy Stark said, "At this
point Mark would have to be rated as a doubt for Saturday".
Meanwhile, Keigan Parker is back in
training today after missing out at the weekend due to flu.
November 17th - -
Billy Stark was realistic about
yesterday's scrappy win. He said, "We were very poor in the first
half and reasonably competent in the second. We worked hard and used our
bit of extra quality in the one to one situations. Brechin are a handful
and I am surprised they have not done better in terms of results. We
showed determination and resolution to do enough to get a result. We can
play a lot better and I am delighted to get the three points."
November 16th - It wasn't pretty
but in the end a Peaso header just
before the interval sealed the points in a 1-0
win at Brechin although QoS victory over Ayr by a similar margin
means we're still 2nd ahead of the Weans on goal difference.
November 15th - Saints slipped
down to 3rd last night as the Weans went to the top of the table following
their 3-2 win over Raith. Elsewhere and Caley and County played out a 3-3
draw whilst Clyde beat St Midden 2-0. Still means we can go top tomorrow
if we beat Brechin and Queen of the South don't take all three points from
Ayr.
Tomorrow's skipper Ian Maxwell is
expecting a tough game at Glebe Park. "I actually won the third
division title with Ross County with a 1-0 win at Glebe Park. I know all
about the slope and the hedge and the fact that the surroundings may not
be all that luxurious, but I’ve done pretty well in the past there.
There’s no way we’ll treat Brechin lightly. They’re coming
off a good home win, then an away draw against St Mirren last week. They’re
organised and they work hard. The league’s that tight and it wouldn’t
take many results for Brechin to get themselves into the pack They’ll
be reasonably confident and they have some ex-Saints in
Marc McCulloch,
Marc Millar (signed this week)and
Charlie King who’ll be up for this
game."
As for his own performance he's looking to start scoring some goals.
"I seem to be hitting posts and bars this season. I’ve had a
few knockdowns which have resulted in goals for others, but even big
Darren has more than me.". All three injury victims this week
seem to have recovered and are expected to play.
Billy Stark is also expecting a tough
game. He said, "Any time you go to Glebe Park you’re in for
a difficult game and I don’t think their league position is a true
reflection of their form. There are a lot of games they could have won,
but defended poorly and lost a bad goal. After the two games we played
against them earlier in the season we don’t need any reminding of how
difficult they will be to overcome. We’re playing really well,
though, and we pose a goal threat. I think we’re second top
goalscorers and that was the big thing that needed to be addressed this
year."
November
14th - The good news is that John
Robertson was back in training yesterday but the flip side was that
Ian Maxwell(right) had to skip
training with a "hip strain" and is in the doubtful
category for the weekend - sorry but how the feck do you strain a hip?
More good news is that Simon Donnelly
should train today.
Elsewhere in the league and the SFA have ruled that the SFL can have a
similar exemption from the transfer window restrictions as has applied to
the Nationwide League - this allows clubs outside the SPL to sign two
players a season outside of the transfer window. However before you get
all excited about it all, the deal is restricted to domestic transfers
between the SFL clubs. So Zidane will have to wait a bit before coming to
Perth.
Finally Ian Maxwell will be skipper
this weekend, out to beat the curse which has recently befallen
Cap'n Jim, Mavis
and Paul Bernard.
Billy Stark said, "It makes
sense for Ian to captain the team; he's in a rich vein of form and he has
previously captained Queen's Park and Ross County. We want to keep this
good run going and of course that means coming away with a win on Sunday.
That said, we are expecting a tough game up at Glebe Park so we know we'll
have to be up for it."
Oh yeah and the Daily Record Fans Forum
for Monday night has been cancelled - no doubt awaiting Jim Traynor
swotting up on the names of the Saints youth team. Ticket refunds from
McDiarmid.
November 13th - Whilst
Paul Lovering and
Cap'n Jim came through Tuesday's reserve
game unscathed and are on the way back, Billy
Stark has some worries ahead of Sunday's game.
John Robertson is still suffering
from a stomach complaint but is likely to start training today. It's not
so good for Simon Donnelly who still
hasn't trained this week after picking up a knee knock.
November
12th - The Reserves won their League Cup game 5-3 at Forfar last
night. Cap'n Jim(right),
Paul Lovering and
Chris Hay all got another 90 minutes under
their belts. The latter got one of Saints goals whilst the others came
from a Forfar own goal, Keigan Parker
and a brace from Mark Ferry.
Billy Stark said of the skipper's return
that he was "delighted with Jim’s progress so far.",
although he's ruled out a target for a first team return.
Meanwhile, next Sunday's opponents have their own troubles ahead of our
visit. First-choice Brechin keeper Derek Soutar is for some inexplicable
reason part of the Scotland U-21 set-up this coming weekend so is
unavailable. Reserve keeper David Hay is set to play for the Glebe Park
men but their reserve keeper will come from the junior ranks as a
trialist.
November 11th - Billy
Stark has taken the positive view on the red card from the weekend.
Paul Bernard is out of this weekend's
trip to Brechin but has apparently been carrying a toe injury and the
manager said, "The ban means he will miss Sunday’s game
against Brechin so that will allow him to rest the foot.". He
also confirmed the midfielder won't be fined for his sending-off. Also set
to have a wee rest is 2-goal hero Simon
Donnelly with Billy Stark saying,
"Simon has a niggly knee problem so he won’t be taking part
in training during the early part of the week but should be OK for Sunday."
As for the game this weekend he's not being over-confident. "We
are on a good run at the moment and it is not easy to do that in this
division. But we have a tough, tough game coming up and there will be no
hint of complacency."
Meanwhile there's some good news for skipper Jim
Weir. Yup Cap'n Jim is set to start
another comeback tonight at Forfar in the Reserve League Cup tie. Without
trying to tempt fate in the slightest he said, "Being out with a
long term injury is incredibly frustrating, it's annoying for any player
to be watching from the sidelines week in week out. I'm glad that the
recovery period has been quicker than expected; originally I thought it
was going to be into the new year before I got back to action but I have
pushed myself and hopefully that determination will pay off."
November
10th - With Saints still full of the joys, you can see and hear
Billy Stark's thought's on the Clyde
game courtesy of STV at
the
Scotsport site where there's a 3 minute RealPlayer interview.
Speaking to the papers todayBilly Stark
said, "We got our just rewards and the scoreline was a pretty
accurate reflection of the game. Every other game between ourselves and
Clyde has been tight but we’ve been playing well and I expected us to
play well again today. I thought the sending-off might affect us worse
because we were set up very offensively in midfield, but
Simon Donnelly and
Brian McLaughlin had to come in and
play as proper midfielders. Paul Bernard
has been a driving force for us recently and it speaks volumes for the
players that it didn’t turn out like that and we adapted well and at
every stage we looked really threatening. We are on a good run just now
but I’ve been long enough in football to know that doesn’t mean
it will be happy ever after, so we’ll keep working on things for next
week because there’s still a log-jam of teams at the top of the
table."
And the man who scored the opener at the weekend was paying tribute to
the manager. Peaso said, "We
are going well, the boys are working extremely hard, especially at home,
where results weren’t so good earlier in the season. We have been
winning away and the gaffer’s asked us to work a bit harder and we
have responded and done that and it shows in the results. It is a really
difficult league because there are five or six teams at the moment looking
like they could win it, so it’s probably the most difficult league of
the four. We just need to keep playing well week in week out like we have
been recently and hopefully the results will keep coming."
November 9th - Well given the
recent form Sunday's are becoming dull with the worst post-mortem confined
to "Just how shite were the opposition?" . So whilst
waiting on Scotsport to wade through the rugger and bring us the extended
(aye right) highlights of yesterday's one-sided display, I've stuck a new
file on the website containing a theme for a Pocket PC (basically the
results of some weird experimenting this afternoon). Works on a
PocketPC2002 system so feel free to download the file from
here. As usual I'm not responsible for
what you do with it but if anyone does download it and uses it drop me an
email to show that my time wasn't totally wasted........
November
8th - Mixu Paatelainen is the man
talking up the big game today (Christ even the Scotsport main camcorder
will be in attendance!). Speaking of his time at McD he went all
McDonald's advert and said, "I am absolutely loving it here and
really enjoying every game I am involved in. It is a very tight league and
wins at this stage are absolutely crucial. Promotion is the only thing the
team is focused on,. Obviously it is nice to score goals, but as long as
we are winning I do not mind who is scoring."
Looking ahead to today's game he continued, "The last few
results have been really good but it will be difficult to beat Clyde. They
are very aggressive and excellent defensively. However, we have beaten
them once already this season and we have to look at that result and take
something from it. The good run we have been on lately has raised
confidence levels and long may it continue. However, we must not get
carried away just because we have had a decent spell. What is important is
consistency, and that takes hard work."
Mark
Reilly will sit out the game but John
Robertson will face a late fitness test despite missing training due
to flu and Peaso should also play.
6.30pm - Despite both teams going down to 10 men as Fraser of
Clyde and stand-in skipper Paul Bernard
walked for fighting, Saints still went on to cruise to a
3-0 win over the Clyde Cloggers thanks
to an early goal from Peaso and a
couple either side of the break from Simon
Donnelly(right). It could easily have been more though. Results
elsewhere saw the Doonhamers win and Falkirk take three points at Dingwall
meaning we're up to 2nd ahead of the Weans on goal difference.
November 7th - Tickets for the
quarter-final of the CIS Cup are now on sale at the club priced £17
and £8. The ticket office is open from 9am to 5pm
Monday-Friday and after the game on Saturday. Alternatively you can phone
them on 01738 455000.
John Robertson has been named as a
doubt tomorrow after missing training yesterday due to illness.
November 6th - The bad news is
that Mark Reilly is set to be out for a
month after Saints got back the results from the specialist about his
ankle injury. However Peaso has
better news with his specialist giving him the all clear.
Billy Stark said, "Peter
MacDonald has been told he can continue as he is, but Mark Reilly has been
advised to rest for about a month" (didn't I just say that?)
Last night saw Saints exit the Youth Cup after going down 3-0 to the
Arabs although we only had 3 full-time players in the line-up.
Meanwhile it was good news last night with Clyde/s solitary-goal win over
Caley Thistle meaning we're still safe in third place.
November 5th - The CIS
quarter-final trip to the Death Star has been put back a date - the game
will now be played on Wednesday December 3rd.
Meanwhile the reserves have a League Cup clash of their own against
Forfar next Tuesday at 7.30 with Paul
Lovering set to make his comeback from his broken toe injury.
November
4th - Mark Reilly is set to see
a specialist about his knee injury. Billy
Stark said, "Mark is going to see a specialist about the
knee and we all have our fingers crossed that everything will be OK.".
As for the weekend draw, the manager continued, "In terms of the
performance it was as good as anything we have produced this year - and
that includes the win over Dunfermline last week. We played some really
good stuff and totally dominated for long spells."
Kevin Cuthbert(right) was disappointed
at the weekend though, looking at the Palmerston draw in terms of the
points dropped. He said, "When we saw the results we knew we
would have been top if we had won. But we're not too downbeat. At the end
of the day, we are still in touch, only two points off the top. We just
need to bide our time. We have to put our foot on the gas as we have some
important games coming up. We don't want to let ourselves down and throw
it away. It's taken a while for the players to get to know each other, but
they have now and it's important for us to keep this run going. I'm
pleased with my performances, but we need to keep it tight at the back. I
thought we looked the more likelier to score on Saturday and maybe on
another day, the chances would have gone in. We're trying to forget about
being labelled favourites and we know that no matter what happens the team
will stick together."
Meanwhile the club have announced the not unexpected closure of the
Official Saints Site .
Whilst the main reason given is the potential for legal action against the
club and posters (part of the general fallout on the net from the rape
allegations in England), the degree of sometimes petty and infantile
criticism aimed at the club and players as well as some of the more
highly-publicised postings which caused ructions within the club have left
them with no real choice in the matter. For anyone still wishing to keep a
level of unofficial debate going,
Blue Heaven has launched
their own free forum
November 3rd - - Not much
happening after the weekend's games (even Scotsport deigned to give us all
of 1m 40s of coverage in between wittering on about the OF). There has
been a new addition to the Rogues Gallery (which
really needs a lot more names to be added so send the photos in.
Meanwhile, Off the
Ball are set to broadcast live from the Muirton Suite on Saturday
December 6th prior to the Ross County game. It's a ticket-only affair
but the free tickets will be available from McDiarmid next Monday.
November
1st - Billy Stark isn't expecting
things to be easy at Palmerston this afternoon. He said, “It’s
going to be a very tough game and the players know that. It would be a
tough fixture even if Queens were sitting bottom of the league because
Dumfries is always a difficult place to go but given their league position
and current form we know what to expect. I don’t envisage that they’ll
be duly troubled by last week’s reversal at Dingwall. However, if our
attitude is right then we have a good chance of coming back up the road
with the points.”
Keigan Parker is expecting Saints to
continue their form though. "Even as short at time as three weeks
ago the fans were booing us after that draw at home against Ayr United. It
just shows you what can happen in the space of a few weeks. Everybody is
beating everybody in this league at the moment and if we could put five or
six wins together I think we could find ourselves a few points clear.
Hopefully we can win at Queen of the South tomorrow and keep our run
going. Certainly, if we play like we did on Tuesday night and in our last
two away games at Ross County and Falkirk then we shouldn’t have any
fears. "
Expect some changes in the team - Peaso
(right) is struggling after picking up a bug midweek (see that's
what you get for being within 6 feet of a Fifer!).
Mark Reilly is in contention for a
return and we're unlikely to see Mixu
Paatelainen sitting on the bench again.
7.30pm - Not a great game for Saints fans but a good advert for
the First Division saw Saints draw 1-1 at QoS
thanks to a deflected Brian McLaughlin
shot 20 minutes from time. Results elsewhere mean we're now third on goal
difference and 2 points off the leaders.
Top Of News
October
October 31st - Billy
Stark knows it will be tough to upset the odds in the quarter-final
but he's looking forward to it. "First and foremost we were
delighted to be in the draw for the quarter-finals. We were the only first
division team so in any game we would be underdogs, but this is the most
difficult draw we could have been given. It will be a real test for us but
we have to look to experience this arena and see how we handle it. We
would all love to progress to the final, but this type of draw makes that
a lot more difficult—we will clearly be rank outsiders. You have to
categorise and say that the Old Firm are a different proposition, but we
did great against Dunfermline and I think we will do well at Ibrox. They
have a great record there and it will be a tough, tough task for us.
However we will enjoy the underdog tag and look for our best players to
step up to the challenge. The chairman tells me it’s 40 or so years
since we won at Ibrox, but cups do throw up the odd shock."
October 30th - Saints are now
the only non-SPL team left in the CIS Cup following last night's
departure's of Clyde and the Weans. And Keigan
Parker is hoping to build on Tuesdays dumping of Dunfermline in the
forthcoming games. He said, "Everybody is delighted with the win.
It's a real morale booster for a First Division side to claim the scalp of
an SPL team. `There was no pressure on St Johnstone to get a result but we
went out there and proved that we were more than a match for them. It was
never a 3-2 game and a few of the boys were disappointed to concede two
late goals we ended up doing it the hard way. But we have quality players
and most of them have been in the SPL and this is the kind of opposition
you like to face. Our priority is to win the First Division and get back
to the SPL and this will do our confidence no harm.'' . Meanwhile the
Retard has "former Celt" Simon
Donnelly keen for a return to Parkhead in the quarter-finals the
draw for which is made at 2.30 today. Here we go again then......
Finally commiserations to youngster Neil
Gibson who's picked up a couple of nasty leg breaks which will rule
him out of the youth and U-21 side for several months.
October 29th - Billy
Stark has spoken more in this morning's paper of last night's win.
Speaking of the late Pars comeback he said, "It wouldn’t be
like us to give ourselves a comfortable night! I thought we merited our
win and after Dunfermline scored their two goals we could have lost our
composure, but we didn’t. It’s great that the players showed
their mettle and I’m delighted that we’re in the quarter-final
of a national competition." . As for
Sid's goal, the manager simply said
it was "pure class".
8.30pm - As we should have guessed the draw for the CIS
quarter-finals has ensured that the old "hot ball and cold ball"
trick worked beautifully - yup we're off tae the Death Star to take on The
Forces of Darkness. The full draw is Aberdeen v Livingston, Hibernian v
Partick or Celtic, Dundee v Hearts and Ginger McLeish's mob against
Stark's Stormtroopers. Well at least it will keep the Retard headline
writers in a job for a while.
October
28th - Saints have confirmed that there are some "walking
wounded" after Saturday and Billy
Stark said that "We might have to make one or two changes
to the team, but it will be the strongest side we’ve got available
which takes the field. We’re clearly not the favourites for this
match. Dunfermline are an established top six SPL team with a number of
quality players. We’ll be tested far more defensively than usual but
we’ll also get more room to play when we have the ball. We’ll
see how we handle a different, better type of pressure. It will be a good
test for us and hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy the underdog tag. I’m
expecting the players to work hard and do everything to try to get us into
the next round. They would enjoy the plaudits they would get for a win, so
it’s worth having a real go.".
The full list of injuries includes Mark
Reilly's ankle injury which could leave him sidelined along with
Mixu (knee),
Paul Bernard (toe),
Ross Forsyth (arm) and JJohn
Robertson (calf).
Simon Donnelly(right) is happy going
into the game as underdogs. He said, "Every week we’re
expected to win. We’ll go into this match as the underdogs, though,
and it’s a chance to show how good we can be against an SPL team. We’ve
got a lot of experienced players who have played at the top level at
different times in their careers in our side and hopefully we’ll give
a good account of ourselves. I think it should be quite an open game. It’s
our aim to be playing against the likes of Dunfermline on a regular basis
next season and this will gauge what stage we’re at just now."
Finally, remember as well that season tickets aren't valid tonight - you
got yer moneys worth in the Accies game didn't you? Let's just hope that
we don't take until extra-time to deal with the Plastic Pars tonight.
11pm - Well in the end it was almost an easy win. Despite a late,
late comeback from Calderwoods Plastic Men, Saints ran out
3-2 winners over the Pars thanks to
2nd half goals from Darren Dods and
Peaso following up a cracking
Simon Donnelly lob over the keeper in
the first-half. After the match a well-chuffed
Billy Stark (who even waved to the fans
tonight) said, "We thoroughly deserved the win even at 3-0".
October
27th - With the Official
Saints Site forum still locked, if you want to access a new
unofficial one, there is now a Blue
Heaven Forum which has been set up and will run until the future of
the official site is clarified.
Meanwhile Ian Maxwell was happy with
the win at the weekend which stretches the unbeaten run in Perth against
the Paisley tinks to 11 years. He said, "St Mirren are always
easier for us to play against because they will come here and try to
attack and give us a bit more space than other teams would. It was a big
win and sets us up nicely for next weekend. We would take 1-0 every week
and the gaffer’s said we will have seven or eight of them over the
season if we are going to win the league. You always feel one is never
enough, though, and we are always pushing to score more and kill the game
off and we did have more chances like my header and a good shout for a
penalty, but they never went in today. I seem to love hitting the post
here but can’t seem to score them—my three goals so far have all
come away from home. But I’m just happy with the zero at the other
end because that’s what I’m really on the pitch to do."
Billy Stark was still unhappy with
Keigan Parker(right) not being awarded
what he thought was a penalty towards the end. The manager moaned, "Other
than teaching him how to go down, I don’t know what else to do. All
the ones on him were fouls but when a player has pace like that it’s
hard for the referee to distinguish but he again got nothing and I’m
getting fed up talking about it. It was a brilliant piece of play by him,
beating four men and then he was going to shoot and there was definite
contact made but luckily we were already in a winning position. It was a
well-merited win and if Maxwell had scored the header, which he should
have done, we’d have seen the game out comfortably. It’s a big,
big win for us and, while we’d have loved to have won by a bigger
margin, St Mirren will make it difficult for teams this season, and it
sets us up nicely for next week."
October 25th - Billy
Stark is looking for a big improvement today in Saints' home form.
"We should never be in a situation where we were as poor as we
were against Raith Rovers here and then show what we have shown in other
matches. It’s not as if I haven’t mentioned the home form to the
players over a period of time, but this week we’ve looked at it head
on. Talking is all you can do until you get the chance to turn it around
on the pitch, and that chance is there tomorrow. To be fair to them, the
players have not made excuses. We know we can’t sort it out in one
home match against St Mirren, but we have to begin to do it."
Paul Bernard is another one who knows
it has to improve. "We’ve proven we can do well in tough
away matches and our away performances are the type of performances we
want every week. Last season I believe it was home form which let the team
down, and this season so far we’ve stuttered a bit as well, with one
or two terrible results and poor performances. Although you don’t
want to dwell on it, it’s something we’re mindful of and
something we’re looking to put right. We’ve discussed it this
week and a few things have been mentioned. With a few good results it will
all be forgotten. I thought after our opening-day win over Queen of the
South we would go on to establish McDiarmid as a difficult place to come
to. The first quarter is over but we can still do that. In my own mind I
think it’s a matter of time before we start to show our best form
here, and hopefully that will start against St Mirren tomorrow."
7pm- In the end it was a good three points as we
beat the Paisley Tinks 1-0 thanks to a
cracking first-half goal from Mark
Robertson. Not a pretty game but Queen of the South's defeat at
Dingwall means we're now up in third place and with a chance of going top
after next week's trip to Palmerston.
October 24th - Sid
looks set to play tomorrow after recovering from his calf knock.
Mark Reilly is also set to play through
the pain barrier earning him some praise from Billy
Stark who said, "Mark is determined to play and it's a
great example to set the rest of the players.
Simon Donnelly will also play on
Saturday and up front I'm starting to look at Chris
Hay also coming into contention. Chris has looked good in training
recently but it's a lack of match practice that has kept him on the bench
so far. He's now had a couple of run outs for the reserves and I know
he'll do the job if called upon. It's important we get a good start in
Saturday's game and turn around our home form which has been disappointing
so far this season. If we can continue our form from the Ross County win,
we'll be in with a great chance."
October 23rd - Chris
Hay missed out on the reserve win after picking up a dead leg in
training but should make the bench at the weekend.
Simon Donnelly is back in training
but Mark Reilly faces a scan on his
foot injury. Billy Stark said, "It’s
just a precautionary move really because we are confident the problem Mark
has is caused by wear and tear and playing and training on hard grounds"
October 22nd - The Saints
reserves won the first round of their Reserve League Cup matches last
night with a 2-0 win away to Queen's Park. Chris
Hay missed out on more match practice with a calf knock but it
didn't prevent a win with goals from Steve
McManus and Mark Ferry although we
also hit the woodwork twice and the latter saw a penalty saved.
October
21st - Billy Stark is now looking
for the home form to improve starting this weekend. "It is by no
means impossible for us to conquer the difficulties we are having at home.
Teams don’t and won’t make it easy for us here. But the way to
overcome that is by building confidence and results like we’ve had at
Falkirk and Ross County in recent weeks can only increase our self-belief."
He also found time to praise hat-trick hero Mixu
and said, "I knew when we brought Miksu here that he would do
lots for us but I had not anticipated that 14 games into the season he
would have nine goals to his name. And I am delighted for him because
players of his age are all too readily written off if they have a poor
game. Miksu was excellent in his first few games for us and everyone was
praising him. Then when he didn’t do so well it was being said he was
past it. People should remember that players can turn in below-par
performances at any age. "
Injury-wise Simon Donnelly didn't
train yesterday after picking up a calf strain at Dingwall whilst
Mark Reilly's (right)foot injury is
still causing him problems.
October 20th - Not much
happening. Saints have confirmed that the Brechin match scheduled for
Saturday November 15th will now be played on Sunday November 16th
to avoid a clash with the Scotland play-off.
October
19th - Surprise, surprise Billy Stark
has his smiley face on today after yesterday's win. He said, "We
limited them to a handful of chances and they are not far off top scorers
in the league. We knew that would be key today. It suits us better playing
away from home when teams have to come out and attack us and have a go.
The problems have been at McDiarmid Park where we haven't been managing to
take an early lead and gain confidence from that. If we were playing
Premier teams and showing the form we have in games against County and
Falkirk I'd be confident of giving them a right good game and maybe
beating them, because the onus would be on them to come at us. I know when
everyone is fit and available we can come to places like this and win.''
October
18th - Saints still appear to be favourites for the title with the
bookies even if the rest of us are doubting their championship
credentials. And confidence is the key according to
Ian Maxwell(right) who said, "An
unbeaten run of say five or six matches would get us into good shape. That
would give us the confidence we need, because it is fragile just now. The
Falkirk 3-0 win was easily the best result in my time here, then we go out
against Ayr, don’t start particularly well and everybody’s
thinking—here we go again. When you go 1-0 up and the other team is
reduced to 10 men you expect to be able to see the game out, which we didn’t.
This will be the last game of the first quarter and if we win we should
make ground and be further up the table, and then we can hopefully kick on
from there."
As for his old side he continued, "Alex Smith has brought in a
lot of players and I think they’re unbeaten at home this season, so
it will be a really tough match. We’ve been struggling at home but
our away form has been pretty good apart from one game at Clyde. County
will have a go at us, which should make it an open game and give us space
which we can hopefully exploit. "
Mark
Reilly faces a late fitness test as does
Paul Bernard before the manager will
pick his line-up.
Billy Stark has revealed that
competition in the squad will improve soon as well. "Paul
Lovering is expected to return to training next week and could play
for the reserves on Tuesday and that would leave just Jim and Paddy. How
long that will last remains to be seen, but if we get 90% of our players
fit and available I would be very hopeful for the second quarter. “I
would say that the second quarter is a very important spell. We’ve
got a nucleus who have shown already they can score, which was always
going to be a big thing for us this year, and we have also looked the part
in a number of games. "
9pm - Well in the end it was a relatively simple
3-0 win at Dingwall courtesy of a
Mixu Paatelainen(right) hat-trick in the
first-half which sent a large travelling support home more than happy.
Results elsewhere kept the league relatively unchanged although Queen of
the South's win over Caley put them up into top spot.
October
17th - Paul Bernard(right)
missed training due to illness yesterday and is now doubtful for the trip
north, along with Ryan Stevenson who
also had the flu. Mark Reilly did train
yesterday and should make the squad along with
Brian McLaughlin and
Simon Donnelly.
Billy Stark is happy enough to play
Reilly despite his lack of training
this week. He said, "I wouldn’t worry about that. Mark knows
what his body requires in training and he knows what his role in the team
is. Ryan Stevenson and Paul Bernard have had the flu so we’ll wait
and see what they are like tomorrow."
Meanwhile it's been confirmed that Mark
Baxter has been called up to the Scotland U-19s and so will miss out
on the St Midden and Pars matches next week. As for the Brechin game on
November 15th that's still likely to be moved to make way for the Scotland
v Holland game - currently the Friday night or Sunday are the preferred
dates but no decision has yet been made.
October 16th - Not much to
report today. But it's congratulations to the Saints u-19s who came back
from 2-0 down at half-time to beat Preston Athletic 3-2 at Prestonpans in
the youth cup on sunday to go through to the next round. U-17 star Richard
Bowers got the winner.
October 15th - The good news
from yesterday is that only Mark Reilly
missed out on training yesterday with his ankle knock.
October 14th - Add another
couple of names to the treatment table with
Simon Donnelly and
Mark Robertson's knee injuries
keeping them away from training last week. The manager's hopeful of the
pair making the trip north at the weekend though.
Chris Hay is set to keep on gaining match
fitness with a reserve runout tomorrow at Raith.
October 13th - Well a week away
and nothing important's happened in Saintee land. The away strips hit the
Asda store in Perth last Friday though so you can all get dolled up for
this weekend's trip to Dingwall. Saints have also confirmed the Pars CIS
Cup tie will take place on Tuesday October 28th at 7.45pm.
Admission to this will be £15 for adults and £5 for concessions.
On the playing front and Mark Reilly,
Brian McLaughlin and
Paul Bernard are in line for a return
at the weekend. Billy Stark said, "It's
obviously a blow having all three out at the same time, but we've landed
lucky with having the Scotland game this weekend as this gives the players
a wee bit more time to recover. Reilly has an ankle knock, McLaughlin a
groin strain and Bernard a back problem but hopefully all will be
available for selection on Saturday."
October 5th - Billy
Stark was his usual disappointed self after seeing Saints throw
another two points away. He said, "We failed to close out the
game with a second goal. They defended well but we were off the pace we
wanted to play at. I can’t remember losing as many scrappy goals as
we have recently." .
Meanwhile let's hear it for Scotland on Sunday's report which has
the classic mealy-mouthed sentence of The responses from some
quarters in calling for Stark’s dismissal are not only insensitive
and untimely but also imprudent and unreasonable. - sez who?
Finally last update here for a week or so as I get out of the country to
avoid all the depression currently associated with Saints. Check the
Official Saints Sitefor any
Saints news.
October
4th - Mark Robertson(right)
is determined that Saints will show the same form today against Ayr as
last week. "You see it happen all the time—teams winning
against the bigger sides and then flopping against the so-called lesser
clubs. “Being able to beat both is the mark of a good team and that’s
what we have to show against Ayr United. Some of these matches won’t
be the prettiest, but the most important thing at the moment is getting
good results. The confidence should now be there after the win at Falkirk.
Falkirk have been a thorn in the flesh of St Johnstone so for the boys to
beat them 3-0, with all three goals top quality, was a big psychological
boost. It’s now a matter of us finishing off teams when we get the
chance. There’s a two-week break coming up after this match and it
would be good to go into it with things going well." . He's back
today after suspension but to prove he's not totally on Planet Earth he
said of the red card against Raith, "I didn’t feel I
deserved to be sent off. At first I thought it would be the Hamilton cup
match that I was banned for but then it became clear that it would be the
next league match, which myself and the manager were both really
disappointed about"
Paul Bernard meanwhile knows he's
still got a lot to prove to justify his signing in the summer. "I
know what's expected of me here. I know I've to play my part in getting
this club back to the SPL. The fans are perfectly right to have those sort
of expectations. Big things are expected from us and we have to deliver. I
was warned teams come to McDiarmid and sit in against us but we have to
cope with it.''
No more team news other than the chances of
Brian McLaughlin playing are even
slimmer than before. Craig Nelson has
recovered from his ankle knock and will make the bench.
7pm - Saints blew it again although were perhaps a tad unlucky to
end up drawing 1-1 with Ayr. That man
Peaso gave us the lead with a
spectacular overhead kick but Ayr equalised with two minutes to go. Apart
from that the game was pretty poor and the only plus point from today is
that results elsewhere saw nobody manage to draw clear.
Finally the Official Saints Site
forum is currently locked until further notice. This has been done
"on legal advice".
October
3rd - First up it's the chance for anyone wishing to get their own
back on our favourite media "personalities". Saints have
announced that there will be a Daily Record Football Forum in the Muirton
Suite, McDiarmid Park on Monday 17th November. Doors open at
7.00pm and it's a fiver a head to laugh at Traynor and Murdo. A bar
facility will be available on the night. Contact the ticket office at McD
for more details. Mind you when you think about it, it might be a bit late
in starting - I mean we all know how much difficulty the Scottish Mirror
journos seem to have in finding McDiarmid these days.
The prospect of another impatient home crowd tomorrow has got
Billy Stark(right) pleading for some
patience from the fans. "If we’re giving all we can and just
haven’t got the breaks, then stick with us. When Celtic scored their
first goal against Lyon in midweek it was the result of a long series of
passes. If our fans can see we’re playing with a hunger and
determination then their backing can lift the players that wee bit more.
We’ll ram home to the players that they have to play a high-pressure,
high- tempo game in these type of home matches. We didn’t get that
against Raith Rovers and it has to be there from the start. What got us
the win at Falkirk was the determined approach we had from the off and
defensive solidity."
He does accept the criticism about the inconsistency of form though. "People
can genuinely level that at us, because we have been inconsistent since
the start of the season. It comes back to confidence. What we’re
trying to do now is put together a long enough run that produces a real
collective confidence and self-belief." .
Team-wise and Mark Reilly and
Brian McLaughlin will be late
decisions although Mark Robertson
returns from suspension.
October 2nd - Chris
Hay won't be rushed back into the first team from his hernia
surgery. Billy Stark said, "The
intention is to get Chris confident in his fitness and comfortable playing
90 minutes before we involve him at first-team level again. That’s
two full games he now has under his belt following the reserve match at
Montrose on Tuesday. But we have further reserve fixtures against Forfar,
Raith and Queen’s Park coming up this month and these are available
for him to continue this process. I am not saying he’ll play all of
these games before we reintroduce him, but if everyone stays fit then
Chris won’t be rushed."
Mark Reilly looks set to play this
weekend after getting an injection for his ankle knock. The manager said,
"The problem is one of wear and tear and Mark has had a jag. At
the start of the week he was struggling, but it now seems he has a chance
of making Saturday. ".
October
1st - Chris Hay(right) continued
his comeback getting both goals in last night's reserve match against
Montrose at Links Park. Saints side featured a couple of under-18 players
and makes it 3 wins out of 3 for the season.
That's the good news - the bad is that Brian
McLaughlin is set to miss out on Saturday after his groin flared up
against Falkirk (ooer missus). Billy Stark
said, "Brian’s groin is not as bad as it was, He is almost
certainly out for Saturday but with a two-week break to follow hopefully
that’ll be the only match he misses.". Of more worry is the
absence last night of backup keeper Craig
Nelson who is also struggling for the weekend. Trialist keeper
Joe Arnott played in the reserve match
last night and the manager said, "Craig twisted an ankle when
blocking a shot in training on Friday and is causing us a bit of concern".
Top Of News
September
September 30th - Confirmation
from the club that Peaso has
suffered no ill effects after Saturday's wee run out at Ochilview despite
going off just after the hour. Billy Stark
said, "Sometimes it can be difficult coming back and you get the
odd problem but thankfully Peter is fine and trained."
It's not so good for Mavis who has
picked up a foot knock. The manager said, "He has played a couple
of games with the problem but only really complained about it on Saturday."
- what a brave wee soldier he is.
September
29th - Mixu has joined in the
chorus of players hoping that Saints are about to start a run of good
form. "The second half against Raith Rovers was very poor and
there was no hiding from that. We needed to show determination after that
and we did. This has been a massive week for us and now we have to look to
keep a run going and show more consistency."
As for Saturday the Finn was full of praise "They were fantastic
goals from Peaso. He isn’t
fully fit yet but he’s got a very good knowledge about how to play up
front. He’s a goalscorer and I’m sure there will be a few more
in his locker"
The manager was just as happy with the quality of the performance. "This
was a big, big game in so many ways and I would have settled for a scrappy
1-0 win. You can never budget for getting three goals of that quality, but
I felt that the quality of the goals was in keeping with the quality of
our play. In the last couple of games the players have done what I asked
of them and have gone out and shown people what they’re made of. The
test that was put in front of them on Tuesday night was as hard a test as
they’ll face as a group of players and they came through it with
flying colours. They took that into the Falkirk match and in many ways
improved on it. I’m proud of all my players. They’ve shown the
character that is in the team and now they need to show it on a game by
game basis."
No word yet on Brian McLaughlin(right)
who limped off on Saturday with what looked like a groin injury.
September 28th - What's this?
Sunday morning and we're all upbeat? Billy
Stark summed up yesterday's performance saying, “The
players did what I asked of them. They went out and showed people what
they’re made of and answered the questions the critics have been
asking”. Two-goal hero Peaso
was also happy. “It was a great win because Falkirk are obviously
one of the teams who will be challenging. The first goal gave me
confidence and when we got the free-kick there was only one person going
to take it. My calf muscles are a bit sore now and my feet are a bit
tender but winning’s a great pain-killer.”
September 27th - Simon
Donnelly reckons we can get back in the hunt for the title today.
“We’re coming off some disappointing league results so it’s
important we get back on track. We are only four points off the top and a
win will out us right back in there.”
Billy Stark reckons it'll be a different
game from Tuesday night's cup win. “Falkirk, by nature will have
a go so it will be more end to end and will require different things from
us which are more enjoyable—the defenders will not have to be on the
ball all night, being invited to do something with it. It’s not like
Raith and Hamilton coming and sitting with 11 behind the ball, inviting us
to break them down—there will be more room for the ones further
forward to go and do something.” . Let's just hope that the
players realise how important a win today is - lose and we're 7 points
behind the Bairns and the calls for the manager to go will no doubt be
heard once more.
7pm - Well we didn't and instead won in style with a cracking
3-0 win over the Bairns at the
shambles they call Ochilview. Two beautiful top-corner finishe