Temple Of Saints - 2007 Archive News From The Oracle
December
December
31st - Saints might be ending the news on a downbeat note for fans
with the word that Rocco may not be
playing for us after the bells toll, after the clubs failed to agree a fee
to make his current loan deal permanent. In today's Courier,
Derek McInnes is quoted saying, "It
looks like Rocco is going back as no deal has been agreed. That’s
disappointing for Rocco and for ourselves, because I believe he’d
have been brilliant for us in the second half of the season, but we wish
him all the best. " - the Parkhead club are believed to have been
pleading biscuit-tin levels of poverty and placed a six-figure sum on the
player's head. As for the weekend, the manager went on, "The boys
who came in at Broadwood did well and have given me a problem. But I’m
still looking to bring a couple of new players in for January 2 and I’ll
pick the best 11 available to me for that game " One of those
could be Morton midfielder Chris Millar. Having already signed a
pre-contract agreement, he could be on the verge of moving early to Perth.
Back to Saturday though, and one of those who's returned to the fold is
cult-hero-in-the-making Dyron Daal(right).
The striker's hardly been seen all season but he said of his starting slot
at the weekend where he missed a second-half sitter, "It’s
been a long time since I started a game or got a standing ovation from the
crowd. So this was a big thing for me today. The reaction from the fans
was great. It’s nice to feel appreciated. The only way this feeling
could be better is if I had taken that chance. I had to take a good look
at myself because for a time there I wasn’t doing well enough. Since
then I have worked my socks off to get back in the team. And now I’ve
done that I’ll work my socks off not to let them down, although it’s
entirely up to the gaffer whether he picks me. I know I have goals in me.
I just need to get started. And there definitely wouldn’t be a better
time to get that first goal than against Dundee on Wednesday. I enjoyed my
time with them but I have to look out now for myself and Saints. "
Derek McInnes said of the win, "There’s
been a question mark over whether we could grind results out at places
like Clyde. And every one of the players came up with the right answer
today. We had to dig in and fight our corner and we did that. I was as
happy with how we won as the fact we won. It was a fantastic team
performance. We’ve played better than that and lost this season but
we’ve not worked harder as a team or competed that well. I left
people out not because of form but to give us a bit of freshness and
impetus. It had been a big ask for the ones who have been playing week in
week out and I just wanted to raise the energy levels. ". And
there was a bit of psychology in his praise for his striker as well, "Up
front hasn’t been a problem area for us and I didn’t feel Dyron,
who lets his head go down at times, had been doing enough to warrant a
place. But I told him if he kept working away he’d get his chance,
and against Clyde I felt we needed the presence he provides. There’s
a question mark over Dyron concerning whether he puts himself about
enough, but he certainly did today. He led the line well and I was
delighted with his contribution "
4.30pm-
Just when we thought it was going to be a quiet day, up steps a new loan
signing with Caley Thistle defender Stuart
McCaffrey(right) joining Saints on a 6-mth loan deal with a view to
a permanent move. Speaking of the deal, Derek
McInnes told the Official Site, "Stuart will be a good
addition to the squad. He has a great deal of experience but at 28 still
has a number of years in the game ahead of him and I am delighted to have
secured his services.". There's still some paperwork to be
completed but the plan is for him to go into an otherwise unchanged squad
for the Scumdee visit on Wednesday. While we currently seem to be awash in
central defenders the rumoured departure from full-time football in the
summer of Andy Lawrie and
Kevin Rutkiewicz (the latter apparently
heading to Australia to no doubt be a wandering minstrel) means it might
be an area we need to strengthen. The club have also announced that there
will be a minute's applause ahead of the kick-off in memory of Phil
O'Donnell who tragically died at the weekend. Wednesday's OF clash has
already been cancelled after both clubs asked for a postponement, but the
SFL fixtures will all proceed.
Tomorrow also sees the start of the transfer window and the current update
on the pending / rumoured deals is:
Kenny Deuchar - Gone back to Gr£tna
and despite all the talk while he was at Saints there's been little more
said on a possible permanent deal so this looks dead.
Rocco Quinn - Despite Saints and the
player agreeing everything, the Poverty-ridden Forces of Evil have decided
that their biscuit tin isn't full enough so slapped a six-figure sum
(rumoured to be around quarter of a million) on the player and based on
the McBride-factor, it looks like this
deal too is buried - at least until the summer when
Rocco will no doubt be freed.
Chris Millar - The Morton player looks set to come to Saints
sooner than the summer after Jim "Sulky Bugger" McInally threw a
strop and dropped him from the squad for signing a pre-contract agreement
with Saints.
John Stewart - Gone tae Falkirk. Not
one who'll be missed.
Liam Craig - His month-long loan is up
soon but neither Saints nor the Bairns have said anything about his
future. Rumours abound that he's done a Stewart
and had a bust-up with Yogi but with the Falkirk manager also possibly
being linked with a departure to head to Easter Rd, things are still up in
the air. No doubt he'll be suspended by then anyway.....
December
29th - Savo(right) is the
pre-match pundit in the paper today and he's highlighted in the Courier
how much draws are holding us back (next week he discusses how the Pope is
a catholic and where bears shit). "We are a bit behind and we
need to start turning these draws into victories and these are the kind of
games we need to win. We’ve not done that this season and hopefully
we can start to go on a bit of a run against Clyde and get a bit of
confidence ahead of the Dundee game. No one here is thinking we are too
far behind to catch Dundee and Hamilton. I don’t think there’s
anything between us and on our day we can beat anybody as we’ve shown
when we played Hamilton here and won 4-1. As for the game earlier in the
season against Dundee at Dens, in the first half we battered them but they’ve
come back second half and won the game which it’s hard to say they
didn’t deserve to win because they took their chances. It’s
quite hard to put your finger on it because we’ve played well in a
lot of games that we should have won, but ended up drawing. We’ve
been unlucky in some and in other games it’s been individual mistakes
that have cost us, so we’ve just got to put that right starting
tomorrow. I just think we’re nearly there and if we can string a few
results together we’ve got a good chance. ". One away win
all season though is hardly challenging form but he's happy with his own
form and went on, "It’s been okay so far but the games are
coming thick and fast just now so it’s pretty tough going when you’ve
been out for as long as I have, so I’ve just got to get through this
period. My form has been a bit up and down. I’ve played the last four
games and played pretty well in two of them and the other two I’ve
been disappointed in my own performance. The team’s performance hasn’t
been good overall on those occasions either so I just hope we can get the
win on Saturday and kick on from there. "
Rocco Quinn is still a doubt for what
could be his final game after twisting his ankle but Saints are hopeful of
extending his deal to the end of the season either as a loan extension or
permanently.
7pm - It wasn't pretty but a changed Saints side ground out a
3-1 win over Clyde at Broadwood with
goals coming from Andy Jackson, a
Peter MacDonald penalty and
Kevin Moon who had an impressive game in
place of the injured Rocco. The result
keeps in comfortable 3rd as both Accies and the Scum won their games.
Meanwhile Scottish football is in shock tonight over the sudden death of
Motherwell's Phil O'Donnell who collapsed when going off in their game
against Dundee United. The former Celt was only 35 and our thoughts go out
to his family.
December 28th - Looks like Chris
Millar is set to make an early appearance at McDiarmid with the Morton
midfielder lined up for a move to Saints in the January transfer window.
Derek McInnes told the Courier, "Chris
was one we had originally earmarked for next season but in an ideal world
we would get him sooner. The club has been speaking to Morton to try to
get it resolved quicker than anyone had expected. I don’t think he
will play again for Morton so it would be good to get him here in January."
- which doesn't really make it any clearer. It also looks like agreement
about a permanent move to Saints for Rocco
Quinn is getting nearer after everyone's apparently agreed the terms
of the move. The midfielder himself is a doubt for tomorrow after twisting
an ankle against Stirling.
Elsewhere and Martin Hardie is stepping
up his return to fitness. He's on track for the Januay 19th match against
Dunfermline for a comeback.Kevin James
is also improving greatly. He told the paper, "I hope to be back
in full training in the middle of next month and we’ll take it from
there. I’m undergoing a course of prolotherapy. That involves a
dextrose solution being injected into the affected area to strengthen the
ligaments which, unlike the muscles, don’t strengthen on their own.
It’s better known in the USA than in this country but a specialist in
Leicester offers the treatment and some high-profile players have been
successfully treated in this way "
As for Wednesday's boredom-fest, the manager merely said, "It
was disappointing at Stirling, especially after the weekend performance
against Livi. That sums-up our season so far I suppose. Conditions were
difficult but we really only played with the tempo and ball movement
required for a 15-minute spell before half-time. We didn’t do enough
to deserve a win. Stirling had done their homework and we faced two banks
of four. You don’t always get the chance to play nice football.
Sometimes it’s about digging in. If you want to compete for a title
you have to go to places like Forthbank and Broadwood and win. Clyde are
always right in your face so we know what to expect. But we also know we
have to match the run-in we had to last season to give ourselves a chance.
"
December
27th - Peaso(right) provides
the post-match quotes in the paper today and surprise, surprise with all
the insight of indicating that grizzlies do indeed excrete bodily wastes
in a forest-like environment, he reckons that draws are becoming a problem
this season. As we failed to beat bottom of the table Stirling for the
second time this season, the Saints striker told the Record, "It's
very frustrating because we are trying to catch them. But all credit to
Stirling who did well. They got in about us and could have stolen it at
the end when we were pushing on. But we are not getting too down about it.
We need to try to win every game because we keep getting draws ".
He was even backed up by the manager who again failed to point out that
the high ball is a pish way of playing football but told the paper, "We
never really had a cutting edge and didn't produce enough good passing
play to merit a win. It's another draw and a missed opportunity"
December 26th - Saints go to
Stirling today with a fair bit of confidence surging through the ranks
once more and loan signing Liam Craig
has been impressed with his new teammates. He told the Courier, "have
quickly noticed that we are a team capable of scoring goals. The lads up
front all work so hard and that makes it easier for the midfielders. I
didn’t know too much about Andy Jackson before coming here but we
travel together to training every day. He was just saying he hadn’t
scored for a while so I was delighted to see him back on the scorehseet
against Livingston on Saturday. Stevie Milne
was outstanding, too, and had a part in nearly every goal against Livi. He
is a Premier League class striker, no question, and has great movement. He
has told me he has had no ill effects from his knee operation and that is
great news for him and St Johnstone. He reminds me of Pedro Moutinho at
Falkirk, who was injured when he first came to Scotland. With training and
hard work behind him, Falkirk are now seeing his class—and hopefully
that’s the same with Savo. While it
is great to have good strikers playing in front of you, it is also
important for the midfielders to chip in so I was delighted to get a goal
against Livi. It was a real morale boost for me "
"The gaffer wants us to play football and it’s the same at
Falkirk, so it has been easy to settle in. As far as I am aware the loan
is only for a month and Livi was just my second game but I am delighted to
be here. Falkirk won again at Motherwell on Saturday so they might not
take me back. Seriously, there are a lot of games coming up for St
Johnstone and we want to take 12 points out of 12 over the festive period.
Hopefully the front two will slip up and we can close the gap."
Derek McInnes has warned against
complacency though. He said, "There was a lot to be pleased about
on Saturday but we haven’t been too accomplished at producing
back-to-back wins. So winning the game will be what counts for me and
playing well again will be a bonus. Like ourselves, Stirling have drawn a
lot of games, but they will know that a couple of victories will see them
back in amongst it. We will need to reach a high standard once again if we
are to get all three points."
7pm - Another big travelling support and another disappointing
performance from Saints as we failed to keep the momentum going from
Saturday's five-goal thriller and ended up with a rotten display to barely
earn a point in a goalless draw away to
Stirling Albion. And while the unchanged team didn't produce the
goods there were more than a few worries tonight with
Savo and Rocco
Quinn both picking up knocks during the game. Elsewhere there was a
small crumb of comfort with Accies only drawing at home to Clyde and the
Scum losing - so at least we didn't slip any further behind.
December 24th -
Rocco Quinn told the Courier today that
he'll miss training tomorrow. He said, "The gaffer has given us
Christmas Day off and that’s unusual for me because I have been used
to training in previous years. As a footballer it is something you just
get used to and accept as part of the job. It is great that this year he
is allowing the lads to stay with their families. Although we are off, I
will still be preparing the way I do for every game—so that means no
turkey dinner. I will be having some pasta instead, but I might get my mum
to keep me some food to have later in the week, maybe after the game at
Stirling on Boxing Day. "
As for the weekend result he went on, "We are delighted with the
performance, and that has sent us away really happy. We try to play a good
passing game all the time and our training is geared up for that, so it is
really pleasing when things click the way they did. Everything seemed to
go right for us and on another day we would have scored even more goals.
The quality of the goals was fantastic and, during the second half, we
looked like we could score every time we went into their half. But we are
not going to kid ourselves on and get carried away now. It was a great
win, but we have a lot of hard work to do to get back on track—the
main thing now is to keep it going into the next game. The lads here
certainly feel we are capable of catching the teams at the top of the
table. Hamilton and Dundee will slip up sooner or later, but the way it is
just now we are not going to look too far ahead. The main focus has got to
be on the Stirling game now "
Derek McInnes was happy as well and
the manager said, "The boys were magnificent, especially to come
back from a goal down and produce a performance like that. Our choice of
pass and decision making was excellent—it was a real team
performance. The goals seemed to get better with each one, and there were
three or four moves we didn’t score from which were brilliant as
well. I have known that we are capable of playing like that. The one thing
for me in the past has been how we react when teams have a go at us, like
Livi did early in the second half. But we kept our discipline, saw it out
and then went on to control the game again. That really pleased me "
December
23rd - Andy Jackson(right) told
the Sunday Mail today he's glad to get back on the goal trail. After
hitting his 9th and 10th of the season yesterday, the Saints striker said,
"It had been five weeks since I'd scored and obviously Kenny had
left as well, so I was glad to get on the scoresheet. It also shows
Savo and I can play alongside each
other. Some people thought we were too similar - but they said that about
Rooney and Tevez too " (didn't elaborate on who was who though!)
Derek McInnes was just as happy and he
said, "It was a great attacking performance."
December 22nd -
Derek McInnes made his first foray
into the transfer market yesterday signing up Morton's Chris Millar
on a pre-contract agreement. The right-sided midfielder might be arriving
before that however as he seems to have pissed off his current employers
with Morton saying that because they were kept in the dark about any
possible moves, he'll "never play for the club again"
which, one might argue, might see him head to Perth in the January
transfer window.
Meanwhile with an important clash against Meadowbank today,
Alan Main has promised to do better
(though whether he even starts remains to be seen with
Kevin Cuthbert talking about a
possible McD January departure if he doesn't get a chance). The Saints
keeper said in the Courier, "lost a bad goal and it was blatantly
obvious it was my fault. I’m not going to hide behind the pitch. I am
old enough to take responsibility for things. It wasn’t a great
strike, nor was it that bad. But Gary
Irvine has gone to block the shot and it’s gone through his
legs and under my arm. The surface didn’t help. Early on
Gary played a ball back to me along the
ground and by the time it reached me it was six inches off the deck so I
was expecting a bobble which didn’t happen. But no excuses. "
(erm having just made them?) "The older you get the greater the
scrutiny you find yourself subjected to. I’m under a lot more
pressure second time around here at the age of 40 than I was during my
first spell. But I’ll know myself when it’s time to say ‘That’s
it’. If I wasn’t feeling right I wouldn’t kid myself on or
cheat anyone else. But I lost goals when I was 20 and when I first came to
Saints I’d a difficult time of it. Whatever age you are you just have
to push through that. And I’m strong enough to cope with any
criticism that’s flying my way. It’s not just myself who has to
move on from losing to Hamilton. We’ve got to do that as a team
because every game now is a massive one for us. We’ve a new manager
and a new coach and, for as enjoyable as the training has been, it takes
time to blend. But the games are obviously starting to run out so the
pressure that’s on us to go out and perform is increasing. "
Derek McInnes is taking the glass
half-full approach to today's encounter and he said, "If we can
play in the same manner in which we did at Hamilton we can get the three
points. Although we lost to Accies there were positives to take out of
that game and I am optimistic. "
7.30pm - Well it's safe to say that the improvement on last week
was more than noticeable as Saints slaughtered
Livi 5-2 with goals from an Andy
Jackson double, Rocco Quinn,
Liam Craig and
Peter MacDonald.
December
21st - Goran(right) is in the
Courier this morning saying how much he loves Saints and wants to end his
career there.....though not until after next summer. The 35-yr old
Macedonian has come in for a fair ole slagging this season for not meeting
his own high standards and he told the paper, "I have been in
Scotland for five years and I'd love to finish my playing days with
Saints. This is my third season in Perth and I really enjoy everything
about the club, the management, players, staff and supporters. If
possible, I'd like to get another contract to keep me here."
"My performance levels haven't been as good as last season. But I
have been training and playing with painkillers for weeks. I feel much
better now though and hopefully I can get to the same levels of
consistency as last season. It's disappointing to be so far behind the
leaders. We didn't expect that. The problem is obviously the number of
draws we've had. We have only lost three games and that's one less than
Hamilton. But we have to get wins under our belt. People wrote us off last
season in January when we were well behind Gretna. They didn't think we
could catch them but we almost did it on the final day so it is far too
early to say the league is finished. We need to start getting
victories though during the busy Christmas and New Year period."
Saints will train on Monday and have Xmas day off ahead of the Boxing Day
trip to Stirling. Derek McInnes said
of the plans, "When I was a player at West Brom, Gary Megson used
to give the boys Christmas Day off and that's an example I intend
following. There were times at West Brom, when we were away to Manchester
City and Bolton, that we travelled on Christmas evening to spend the night
in a hotel. But the day itself was spent with the family and I believe
that's the way it should be. We'll train longer than normal on Monday and
do all the talking about the match then. You don't do much physically the
day before a game and I just feel there's little benefit in having boys
travelling all the way from Edinburgh or Glasgow and being away from their
families for up to five hours. New Year will be different though. We'll be
in then."
Training has been different this week as well with the backroom staff
trying to deal with our defensive problems. "I was happy enough
with most aspects of our performance against Hamilton." (no irony
there either), "But if we are to start winning games we've got to
stop losing poor goals. And we have been working hard this week on trying
to keep the back door shut." No word on the flug bug victims but
Willie McLaren apparently had some
teeth removed but should still play. (cue loads of witty responses to
that)
December 19th - Papa Niang
has left McDiarmid following his trial period. The club were unable to get
a closed doors game arranged to have a closer look at the player and
there's no word of any follow-up being planned.
Meanwhile both John Stewart and
Savo have apparently been suffering from
the flu but both are expected to recover for Saturday's home match against
Livingston.
December 18th -
Derek McInnes seems to know where the
problems are in the side. He told today's Courier, "We may have
drawn a blank on Saturday, but I am not too concerned about our ability to
score goals. We do tend to create chances, and if we can just get someone
in with height and presence to do the job Kenny
Deuchar was doing for us before returning to Gretna we’ll be
fine in that regard. What does concern me is the goals we’ve been
losing in recent weeks. Looking back over the past three matches, all five
of the goals we’ve conceded might have been avoided. The two against
Partick were easy crosses into the box, Morton’s first goal was a
catalogue of errors, and the second a long punt into the area which should
have been dealt with. Then on Saturday Alan
Main has accepted responsibility for the goal we lost. For me the
problem has been lack of concentration, and we need to improve things in
that regard."
Transfer moves are still going on with talks ongoing for
Rocco Quinn and
Kenny Deuchar while apparently we're
keeping track on Simon Mensing's
situation (someone who blotted his copybook with some hefty tackling at
the weekend), with the manager being all enigmatic saying, "If
Simon was to become available he is a player I’d be interested in.".
There's better news for Kevin James
with a return to action still pencilled in for January. The manager said,
"Kevin was back at the specialist last week and got a couple of
injections to improve the healing process and strengthen the knee. But the
specialist was more than pleased with the progress he is making. Kevin is
getting frustrated at the speed of his recovery, but he’ll just have
to show a bit of patience. He is starting to build things up and remains
on course to return sometime between mid to late-January. "
December 16th - With Saints in
4th and 16 points off the pace, it seems that
Derek McInnes is about the only one
sticking to the cliches and not giving up (unlike most of his players
yesterday). The manager told the Sunday Mail, "If we win our game
in hand it's down to 13 points and nobody in our dressing room will ever
give up. The demand at this club is to be in the SPL so of course we are
disappointed to be where we are. But we were 12 points adrift last January
and we took it right down to the final seconds of last season and we have
to try and do that again. "
December
15th - Liam Craig(right) is
straight into the squad for today's trip to leaders Hamilton. The
midfielder told the Courier, "Tomorrow is a massive game to look
forward to. Obviously Hamilton are top of the league so they must be doing
something right, but hopefully I can get off to a good start with a win.
From speaking to a couple of the lads, John Stewart and Rocco Quinn, I
know that the team have been playing quite well but drawing a lot of
games. Hopefully I can bring something to the team and help St Johnstone
get some results. I’m here until January 10 and I’m really
looking forward to it. When the manager said St Johnstone were interested
in taking me on loan I didn’t have to think twice about agreeing. St
Johnstone were actually the first professional club I trained with when I
was a young boy. I think I was about 10 and I’m happy to be back
again a few years later."
The Saints manager said, "He’s gives us another option in
midfield. Liam's a good player with a
lot of Premier League experience and has been frustrated playing
reserve-team football this season. John Hughes was reluctant to let him go
but saw the bigger picture and knows this loan spell will benefit him.
Obviously everyone involved then will have recollections of what happened
in our last game of the season at Hamilton. That day we were on the top of
our game but we haven’t really got up to that level this time around.
We have to realise the importance of this game. It’s a chance not
only to get three points, but also to start making inroads into the gap
between us and the leaders. Hamilton have been impressive and their home
record is second to none, but we’re more than capable of winning. A
win against the leaders would give everyone a great boost in confidence. "
Kevin Moon was again being talked up by
Derek McInnes and the manager went on,
"I rate him highly and it’s time he stepped up his progress
by becoming a regular contender for a first-team place"
7pm - Another piss-poor performance saw a lacklustre Saints side
go down 1-0 at Accies effectively
killing off any hope of a title run this season.
December 13th - Alan
Morgan's turned Saints down to sign an 18-month contract with Killie
last night. But there was some signing news today with Saints announcing
that Savo has signed a 2-year extension
to his contract taking him through to the summer of 2010.
Derek McInnes told the Official Site,
"I spoke to Steven last week and I'm delighted it is sorted out.
He is the first of a number of boys whose contracts I want to tie up
because quite a few expire next summer. Savo has looked very sharp in
training and probably would have been back in the side quicker had it not
been for the form of Andy Jackson and
Kenny Deuchar. I know what he can
bring to the team and I sense a real hunger in him at the moment to get
back playing regularly and scoring goals. It is a good bit of business by
the club and I am delighted."
And Savo said, "I enjoy
training and playing here and everything about the club so I am delighted
to be extending my stay. I have been out for a while but ' touch wood'
things seem to be settling down for me. I've had three operations but how
I am at the moment is the best I have felt in all the time I have been
here. I just want to get back playing and scoring goals for Saints."
11pm - And the first of a potential double signing for the weekend
arrived tonight with the news that Saints have taken Falkirk's
Liam Craig on a month's loan. The 21yr
old left-sided midfielder can also cover in defence.
December 12th - The reserves
chalked up a 3-1 win last night with the goals coming from an og,
John Stewart and
David Weatherston the latter
providing the assists for the other two. There was no sign of any of the
trialists in the side.
Meanwhile apparently an SPL club are also interested in signing Alan
Morgan so it doesn't look too hopeful for the short-term deal we've
offered the midfielder.
December 11th - While there's
plenty of talk between Saints and Celtic about the future for
Rocco Quinn he says he wants to
concentrate on playing. The midfielder told the Courier, "I’m
aware that the manager has been on the phone to Celtic but I don’t
know much more than that and am quite relaxed about the whole thing. I
have not really had time to think about anything other than preparing for
games, training and playing. Thoughts of my future have been put to the
back of my mind. Instead, I have been fully focused on what’s
important, ie Saturday afternoon at three o’ clock and training. What
matters is improving my game, helping the team as much as I can and
winning games for St Johnstone. The whole point of coming here was to get
first-team football and it’s been a great experience for me. I am in
the middle of something and I would not mind seeing it through. It would
be nice to see what the club can do between now and the end of season. The
change of manager has not made a difference to my thoughts about that.
Indeed, when Derek got the job after
Owen Coyle left everybody was thrilled. For me, it could not happen to a
better guy and the players are happy about it. "
"We know we have had too many draws and some of the results have
been down to us letting victory slip away. Of course we want that to
change. I know it will be a tough game on Saturday because Hamilton are
the league leaders, but they were top when they came here earlier this
season and we took four off them. So there’s nothing for us to fear.
Some people might think we should be nervy about going there but, really,
the boys can’t wait for the game to come around, especially after
what we viewed as a missed chance on Saturday. I see it as an opportunity.
Hamilton may look at it and say that if they win this one that will put St
Johnstone to bed but for me and my players this is a real chance to make
headway into the points deficit. I saw enough against Morton to be
confident. I think we got anxious at times, made mistakes and took wrong
decisions, but the second half performance was encouraging as we created
opportunities and showed we can still be difficult to play against when we
do the right things. We know we are capable of winning the game, as long
as we realise what’s at stake. If we keep drawing matches we will not
be up there challenging. Saturday was a poor point and there have been too
many of them, there’s no getting away from that. Hamilton have lost
four matches in this league campaign whereas we have lost only twice. We
have suffered through dropping too many points. We have not had the
ruthlessness required to go on a winning streak that we had in the run-in
last season and we need to get it back. We need more clinical finishing
and to stop gifting goals"
Saints have a Reserve League Cup tie at Montrose tonight. The game kicks
off at 7.45pm and Saints could another new face. As well as Collin
Samuel and Alan Morgan who have been training with the club,
24-yr old Senegalese defensive midfielder Papa Niang may also get
a run out. He's had a trial at Coventry and is apparently on the fringes
of the Senegalese national squad. Derek
McInnes said, "I know what Sammy can give us and he has
showed up well in training but that’s as far as it goes at the
moment, while Craig Brewster is happy to let Alan train with us this week
and he has been doing fine. Papa has been recommended to us and if all the
paperwork is completed in time then I could have a look at him up at
Montrose. He was down at Coventry for pre-season and has been playing over
in Senegal more recently. He has also been with the French-based
Senegalese players preparing for the African Nations Cup. They have a
squad of 22 for the tournament and a back-up pool of six—he is in the
latter. So he has a good pedigree and has shown himself to be really keen
to be here. His attitude has been such that it’s only fair that I
take a look at him " - if you want a photo, it looks like he had
a spell in Finland with
FC Opa
The manager has also seen the video footage from Saturday and after
calming down a bit he's freed Kevin Rutkiewicz
of blame for his second booking. "I was not too happy about the
first one and told Kevin that but I have no complaints regarding the
second booking as there was no contact. The referee has made a huge
mistake and it’s had a bearing on the game—there’s no two
ways about it. Having watched the video tape back there’s nothing in
it. It wasn’t even a foul. "
6.30pm - This afternoon's update from McD seems to indicate that
Derek McInnes is hoping to get his
first signing on board for this weekend. Papa Niang holds dual
nationality so assuming the red tape for tonight can be sorted out and he
impresses at Montrose, he should be free to sign. Meanwhile Saints have
made an offer to TFOE for Rocco Quinn
and are awaiting a response while a short-term deal has also been offered
to Allan Morgan and the club are waiting to hear from the player.
December 9th - As you'd expect,
Derek McInnes wasn't too impressed by
the start to yesterday's game. He told the Official Saints site, "One
of the last things I said before we left the dressing room was not to
overplay things at the back – and that is exactly what we did. Alan
shouldn’t have given the ball to Goran,
Goran shouldn’t have played it to Steven
Anderson who obviously should have done something different with it
to what he did! I thought we reacted well though and for the next 15 or 20
minutes took the game to them but overall the first half was poor from our
perspective. The 3 against 1 at the back wasn’t working so I changed
it at half-time and we were much better with a straight back four. We
started the second half well and Morton stopped enjoying the game and I
felt Andy Jackson dragged us back into
the game. Steven Milne and
Peter MacDonald were excellent
throughout – Savo’s first touch on the long ball from
Gary Irvine was excellent and got him
into the position that brought the penalty."
As for the sending-off of Kevin Rutkiewicz,
the gaffer has reserved judgement saying, "The first yellow card
was cheap – it was petulant and not acceptable. I spoke to the
referee at the end about the second yellow and he says that in the build
up to the ball going out for a throw that Kevin caught their player but I
would need to view the video before I committed myself"
December
8th - Steven Milne(right) is
hoping to start this afternoon but knows there will be a change in shape
to the team with the departure of Kenny
Deuchar. He told the Courier, "We played without a big
striker before Kenny came here, so it’s something we’re used to.
We’ve got players who like to pass the ball and get the ball wide, so
I don’t think it should be a problem. Kenny did really well, and I’m
not belittling what he’s done here, but I’m sure we can adjust
and play more balls to feet or in behind the defenders for the strikers to
run on to. With Kenny in the team the temptation was always there to lump
it forward, which we were probably guilty of doing against Partick last
weekend—and that suited them rather than us. Hopefully it might make
a positive difference—that’s how we have to look at it."
"It’s 11 months since I last started, and hopefully I’ll
get my chance today. I’ve been training fully for seven or eight
weeks— I’ve played 90 minutes in the reserves a few times and I’ve
come off the bench for the first team. My knee is fine and my fitness is
good. It would be a dream to come back into the team and score, but my
main target is to perform well for the team. A win is all that matters,
and that will be the case for the next few games. We’ve been written
off already by a lot of people, but everyone here still thinks we have a
chance. Every game is important now—we need a win against Morton,
which would set us up for the Hamilton game the following week. We can’t
afford to keep drawing games—a good few of the matches we’ve
drawn have been ridiculous. "
Derek McInnes isn't revealing anything
about the starting lineup though. "We’ve got options, but
none of them are the same as Kenny gives you. He gave us a real presence,
and of course his goals were invaluable. They’re good players,
though, and hopefully they’ll be hungry to make their mark. Kenny was
an outlet to get us up the pitch when we were under pressure, but last
week we played too many long balls. There can be a tendency to think it’s
your only ball, and we’re a better side when we get it down and play.
". The manager may also play with Martin
Hardie missing. "I was really disappointed with the goals
we lost last week and we’ve worked on a few things ahead of tomorrow’s
game—if we keep the back door shut I’m always confident we’ve
got goals in us. We’re just doing okay at the moment, but just doing
okay isn’t going to get us to where we want to go."
He also revealed that he rates Alan Morgan who is training with
Saints and the plan is to have a closer look at him over the next week.
8.30pm - Well with our usual style we ballsed it up completely
today throwing away a lead to draw 2-2 at
home to Morton which thanks to Partick winning sees us drop to 4th.
A Steven Anderson own goal and an
error from Alan Main (one of many over the
afternoon from the whole defence) gave Morton the goals either side of a
Paul Sheerin penalty and a neat finish
from Savo. And to add to the fun
Kevin Rutkiewicz damaged his captain's
reputation with a couple of stupid bookings to miss the Accies game next
week. Another bad day at the office.
December
7th - Tomorrow marks the first home match since
Derek McInnes took over at the club
and surprise, surprise it's against the team where he arguably made his
name. Saints have no real injury worries other than the usual missing
culprits - Gary Irvine,
Goran Stanic and
Allan McManus all recovered from their
knocks and bugs this week. The manager told the Official Site, "I
have the line-up for tomorrow in mind and I'll just need to be sure that
there are no last minute problems. Kenny Deuchar will be a big loss in
stature as well as his goal scoring contribution but I have to say that
all the strikers are looking good in training. Players such as
John Stewart,
Dyron Daal and
David Weatherston haven't featured
as much as they would have liked and they will all quite rightly be seeing
my move to the management role as the chance to start afresh. I have no
problem with that and they will all be given the chance to show they
deserve to be in the team. I know these lads strengths and weaknesses and
I understand that their heads might have dropped a bit ? I know myself
what it is like when you are not playing. To be fair, these boys
understand that Andy Jackson and
Kenny Deuchar have been playing
exceptionally well together but that partnership is ended now so they have
the chance to stake a claim."
As for tomorrow's opponents, he went on, "They were very good to
me as a club. Allan McGraw and John Mcmaster gave me the chance and showed
me how to be a professional footballer and I will always be grateful for
that. I'm delighted that they are heading in the right direction and they
have been a great addition to the First Division. Their supporters have
high expectations and I know everyone at Cappielow is working hard to
realise those. Saints fans made it a cup final at Dens in terms of numbers
and noise and it would be great if the players could receive similar
backing at McDiarmid. I appreciate that it is unlikely we can generate the
cup final-type atmosphere but a noisy, supportive home crowd is a great
tool for any team to have in its locker."
Meanwhile the club have opened talks with Rocco
Quinn(right) and Celtic about the midfielder making his move to
Saints a permanent one. His loan is up at the end of the month but he's
already said he'd like to stay on.
December
6th - There's little concrete news coming out of McD this week with
the rest of the media concentrating on the sacking of Stephen Kenny in
Parsland. The rumour mill hasn't stopped though with ex-Bairns and Airdrie
striker and current TFOD reserve Alan Gow the latest name linked
with a possible loan move to Perth.
6.30pm - Saints have confirmed that the Challenge Cup DVD will be
on sale at the club shop on Saturday priced £10, with the historic
win also available to order online from next Monday.
Meanwhile another victim for the treatment room with
Jamie McCluskey(right) out for about
6 weeks after breaking his toe in training earlier in the week. Hopefully
he'll be back soon since he's one of the players who thoroughly deserves a
run in the first team. Elsewhere and 24yr old Alan Morgan is
training with Saints after being released by Caley Thistle due to an
apparent surplus of midfielders in the Highland capital.
December 4th -
Martin Hardie's lay-off is talked about
in the Courier today. Derek McInnes
said, "They are opening up the groin a little and stretching it
to address the fact he is still getting a bit of discomfort. The surgeon
has carried out the same operation on Stephen Pearson, Bobo Balde and
Steven Gerrard with 100% success. And he has given Martin confidence that
he’ll come out the other end of the process completely pain free. He’s
been told it’ll take four to six weeks for him to recover from the
surgery, although I suspect six weeks is more realistic. It’s very
disappointing to lose him because he is a talisman for us. But it’s
more important he gets sorted out as this has been going on too long. We
knew last week that he’d need the operation but the medical advice
was that playing against Partick Thistle wouldn’t do any more harm
which is why we included him I’m not entirely convinced, however,
that it worked for us—although he was involved in the equalising
goal. It would have been hard enough for Martin on a decent surface, but
on a difficult pitch with a groin problem it was tough for him "
He was happier with the performance at Firhill (about the only one) but
expects more. "To drag ourselves up to get something from the
game after being 2-0 down was a fantastic effort from the boys and they
deserve credit for that. We’ve drawn too many games this season and
that is killing us. But Saturday was a good point all things considered."
With Kenny Deuchar returning to Gr£tna,
Steven Milne has a chance to stake a
claim for a starting jersey. The manager went on, "We have to
focus now on the players who are here and in particular Stevie Milne who
has possibly been unlucky not to start before. He is very much in my
thoughts for Saturday, although he is a completely different type to
Kenny. Savo is sharp as a tack, intelligent, pacey, a great finisher and
works ever so hard. He has loads going for him. But having a bigger one
would help take the weight off of him. I think it is good to have a big
player as an option up front and this week we will be trying to get
someone in if we can "
Savo knows how important the coming
weeks are. He said, "I feel as if I could start a game now. “It
might be another story whether I could finish it, though hopefully I
could. It’s been good to get back involved as a substitute and now,
with Kenny going, there’s an opportunity. I am available but would
understand if I didn’t get straight back in the starting line-up when
I’ve not started a match since January. I’ve lost count of the
amount of people who’ve said to me Hamilton will start dropping
points—but they aren’t so we need to be winning games not
drawing as we did on Saturday. They are 14 points ahead of us and although
we’ve a game in hand that’s a long way to be behind. The good
thing is we play them in a couple of weeks time and if we can put together
a run that includes beating them then we can change things a bit."
Meanwhile Saints have offered Colin Samuel training facilities
while he is on his break from the MLS but haven't ruled out a move for the
T&T winger. Derek McInnes said,
"Sammy hasn’t played since October 20 and he asked if he
could come in and train to keep his fitness up. I’m glad to do him a
favour. There’s no more to it than that at this stage, although
things could change. Colin’s contract with Toronto is finished but as
we understand it he may still be tied to them. We are trying to find out
exactly what the situation is. I’ve mentioned to Sammy the
possibility of maybe getting him on loan for a month and he indicated he’d
be interested in that if it were possible. But we’ll have to see. "
December 3rd - There was more
bad news for Saints today with the announcement that
Martin Hardie, who has just returned to
the first team has gone under the knife to fix his groin injury - this
means that the Saints midfielder faces a 4-6 week lay-off. No doubt the
manager is already getting his boots ready for the weekend visit of his
ex-club Morton. There was better news for Allan
McManus with his calf injury clearing up so he should be fit for the
weekend.
December
2nd - Strangely enough Derek
McInnes (right) was full of praise for his players (God knows why).
He told the Sunday Mail, "I knew the team had character and
fighting qualities but you've got to think you're dead and buried with
such little time left. I'm delighted they kept going and judging by our
second-half performance a draw was no more than we deserved. In the first
half our crosses into the box weren't from good enough angles but we
sorted that out in the second and played a lot better.
Paul Sheerin did a tremendous job for
us and stuck away the penalty and it was nice to see
Big Kenny finishing his loan spell at
the club with a goal. One of the first things I did when I took the job
was to phone Gretna and see if we could keep him - but they want him back
from Monday. Deuchar didn't have his best game but we wish him well. He's
a fantastic lad and if things don't work out for him I'd obviously be
interested in getting him again in January "
December
1st - Allan McManus is set to
miss out with his calf injury today so it looks like an early start for
Kevin Rutkiewicz(right) after his
appearance at Dens off the bench last week. Just back from a year out, the
defender-cum-popstar said in today's Courier, "My injuries have
cleared up and I’m feeling stronger and fitter. I’m ready to go.
“The gaffer knows everybody here and what they’re capable of,
but as far as I’m concerned it’s a clean slate for all the
players in terms of how the future is going to work out. A new manager
will always have his own ideas. This is a transitional period for
everyone, players and new management, and we have to adapt to it quickly.
There may also be players leaving and new players coming in. But we have
to keep the ball rolling from the cup final. That win has lifted everyone
at the club and hopefully the fans will be right behind us. We’ve
fallen a bit behind Hamilton and Dundee and it’s important that we
claw the gap back by the time we get through the festive period. Last
season I think a total of 66 points won the league and I don’t see
that being beaten this year. Hamilton are well organised and Dundee are
big and strong but there isn’t a team much better than the rest in
this division. Coming second best is getting frustrating and we’re
running out of excuses like bad starts and cup runs. "
As for the new manager, the defender went on, "It is strange
calling him gaffer but we’ll soon get used to that. His knowledge of
the game is second to none and he commands respect straight away from his
playing career alone. He was already a big character in the dressing room
as a player. He’s a thorough professional in the way he approaches
games and he will expect the same attitude from his players. When
Owen Coyle came here he had a good
impact on the club and his enthusiasm brought St Johnstone to the
attention of people outwith Perth. Derek
comes to the job with similar experience that Owen brought to it so he can
be just as successful "
The new manager can't wait to get going either - he told the paper, "The
place is buzzing after our cup win and it’s important we use that to
give us some momentum to go on the run that’s required to get in
touch with Hamilton and Dundee. I firmly believe we can do it. Firhill is
always a difficult place to go and I expect it to be a very competitive
game. I’m really excited about my first match in charge and hopefully
we can get off to a winning start. "
7.30pm - A rank rotten performance was only rescued by two goals
in the final minutes from a Paul Sheerin
spot kick and a farewell-for-now Kenny
Deuchar header to share the points in a
2-2 draw against Partick which did us
bugger all in terms of favours as both Accies and the Scum chalked up
wins.
Top Of News
November
November 30th -
Derek McInnes has been praising his
new assistant Tony Docherty with the
Saints gaffer telling the Courier, "“I’m delighted to
get Tony here and to get him here so quickly. I’ve got my chairman
and Dundee United to thank for that. It was important that we got somebody
in and Tony will be great. The boys will really enjoy working under him.
He’s a top coach who really knows the game and will be great on the
training pitch, which will be a big help to me. Tony has been around at
every level— the SFA, youths, reserves and first team. In recent
times he’s been heavily involved with the first team at Dundee
United. Whichever role he’s had he has always done well. United are
reaping the benefit of the young players he’s helped to bring through
the ranks. Age doesn’t come into it. First and foremost you need
somebody who is good at their job."
As for the new assistant manager he said, "I would have been at
Tannadice five years come January. I’ve been very happy there,
particularly this season, and the easiest thing would have been to sit
there and continue to be number three. But I jumped at the chance to come
here and be number two to Derek. It’s a big difference being first
team coach to being assistant manager. This is a really exciting challenge
and it’s an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down. I knew there
was a good squad here but after today’s session I’ve seen for
myself that the standards are even higher than I thought "
Looking ahead to tomorrow, the manager has still to decide whether or not
he'll play. Del said, "As far
as playing goes, I’ll take every game as it comes. I’ll keep
training every day, but I’ve still not made up my mind for Saturday. ".
But Allan McManus may be missing with
a calf injury. The gaffer said, "He only managed to train once
ahead of the cup final because of a calf injury and he put himself on the
line in that match, which is a credit to him. He’s not ruled out yet
but he’s very doubtful".
Finally Del confirmed that if
the Doc has to return to Gr£tna,
Saints will be back in the hunt for him when the transfer window opens.
He's also concentrating on trying to get Rocco
Quinn to remain at the club.
3.30pm - The Official Site preview of the Partick game has mixed
news about our loan signings. Not so good news for
the Doc with
Del quoted as saying, "It is
really disappointing news but I have spoken to Davie Irons and I can
understand that in Gretna’s position they are looking to start
scoring more goals and Kenny is their player. Kenny has been good for us,
not just in terms of the goals he has scored but also what he has done for
the team overall. That said, I think we have been good for him too and he
reiterated to me when I took over on Tuesday that he wanted to stay with
us. However, it is not to be for the moment and although the chances of
him returning to Perth in the future are not completely dead I have to
move ahead and plan on the basis that he will not be here and I have told
him that.". However the future looks like being a little less
green for Rocco Quinn as the manager
continued, "Rocco is happy here and has spoken to me indicating
he would be keen to stay with us on a longer-term basis. I certainly want
to keep him so we’ll need to speak to Celtic and try and take things
forward."
November
29th - First up and the club have announced that for a simple £2
donation to charity on Saturday, you can turn up to the Centenary Suite at
McDiarmid and get your photo taken holding the Challenge Cup.
Derek McInnes is talking up the return
of Savo to the first team in the Courier
today. The manager said, "He has been worth his weight in gold to
this club. He has looked terrific in training for a few weeks now and
appears to be as sharp as ever. I would prefer to be cautious about asking
too much of him too quickly, while the other strikers have been doing
really well. Nevertheless it’s a terrific boost to have such an
experienced striker back in the squad. ". And for his part,
Alan Main has praised the managerial
appointment (sook, sook!), "It is a good appointment as Derek has
all the attributes. Owen didn’t have much experience when he came in
and I think Derek is in a similar sort of position. However, he has played
at the highest level and, once he has the backroom staff he wants, I am
sure he will be fine. I can’t see his lack of experience being a
problem, to be honest. Hopefully the new manager can provide the wee push
that we need. We have to go on a run of wins to catch Dundee and Hamilton
at the top of the table. "
Elsewhere and Saints and the Arabs have agreed compensation for Tony
Docherty so expect his appointment to be announced this week. But with one
arrival, we also have a departure as Kenny
Deuchar(right) returns to Gr£tna this weekend after his loan
ends. And while there's no way we can extend it, there is nothing stopping
Saints making a bid for the striker in the January transfer window or
earlier with special dispensation from the SFA. However that will involve
a fee as Gr£tna "coach" Davie Irons said, "St
Johnstone could only try and buy him in January as you can’t have
another loan deal to the same club. But if they were to try and do that,
it would involve a fee as we are not prepared to let Kenny go for zero
pounds. As far as we are concerned, Kenny will be back here on Monday
morning."
1.30pm - The 4th round of the Scottish Cup was drawn today and
Saints face Raith Rovers at McDiarmid with the match set for January 12th
2008. It's also been confirmed that Tony
Docherty has taken up his coaching position at the club.
November 28th - Tony
Docherty looks set to be the new assistant manager after the Arabs
gave him permission to speak to Saints with only compensation to be sorted
out. Meanwhile, Geoff Brown is
expecting to see differences in the style of management under the new
boss. He told the Courier, "Derek is a different personality to
Owen Coyle but they do share certain qualities which is why Owen brought
him here. And if he was good enough for Owen Coyle then he is good enough
for me. I’ve seen Derek here and how he goes about his business and I
believe he’s an individual who is more than capable of being our
gaffer. At times he might be seen as being a wee bit aloof compared to
other players because he is extremely self-disciplined. But that will
benefit him. This (moving into management) has always been his aim,
something that’s been planned in his head for a long time. And, while
the chance may have come along a little earlier than he’d expected it
to, he has all the attributes to be a success. I very much admire his
attitude towards hard work. He is also very professional and fit. And as
far as the fitness thing goes he will pay particular attention to others
who may not have the same work ethic as he does, which isn’t a bad
thing. "
And the first task for Derek McInnes
is to sort out the future of Kenny Deuchar.
The manager told the Courier, "I’d love to keep Kenny here
and I’ve told him that. Anyone who has watched us can see what he
brings, he’s a different kind of player to what we had and his
scoring record is excellent. He’s brought the best out in the other
strikers so he’s definitely someone we’re looking to hold on to.
"
The new reign got off to a good start last night with the Reserves
beating the Pars 3-2 in the Reserve League Cup with two goals from
Savo and one from
David Weatherston.
November 27th - Despote all the
attempts at secrecy last night it seems certain that
Derek McInnes(right) will be named as
the new Saints manager this morning at a 09.30 press conference. There is
talk this morning that it might be a combined player/manager role which
isn't exactly gaining much favour on the forums but again a lot depends on
who his assistant will be.
Meanwhile back to Sunday and Alan Main
dedicated the cup win to the chairman and fans. He told the Courier, "It
was a great occasion, one that meant a lot personally. I wasn’t sure
I’d be playing and only found out a few hours beforehand that I was.
And to pick up a winner’s medal after getting to a few finals without
really winning anything is fantastic. But more than anything this was for
the fans and the chairman. It’s been a long time coming for him. But
the biggest thing was winning the trophy for the fans— and I’m
not just saying that for the sake of it. They were fantastic and deserve
it. A big thank you to them for the backing they gave us. The way we
started the game was phenomenal. And although we let them back into things
by conceding a sloppy goal it ended up a terrific day. But the incident
just before half-time when Darren Young hit the post was really important
to the outcome. If they’d gone in only 3-2 behind they’d have
been coming down the hill in the second half with a bit of momentum. As it
was, we still had to defend for our lives at times. However, we ended up
winning —and that’s what matters."
Elsewhere and Kenny Deuchar wants his
future sorted out. "At the moment I only have the one game left.
And obviously with the manager leaving and not knowing who’ll replace
him it’s difficult to sort something out. I don’t even know if I’d
be in the plans here with a new gaffer coming in. But it has to be sorted
out before Saturday or else I’m headed back to Gretna. Unless and
until Saints and Gretna agree something, I have no option. The way it’s
looking, a week from now I’ll be leaving McDiarmid Park. But I’ve
had a great time here and as I’ve said before —why would I want
to go somewhere else? ". And Peaso
was also happy with the win. He said, "I had played in two semis
prior to this final. But Sunday felt better. There may only have been 6500
people there, but it had more of an edge to it than when we played Celtic
at Hampden or Hibs at Tynecastle. I thought our fans were magnificent. And
if we could get the kind of backing we had at Dens every week it would be
like having an extra man. There would be no stopping us. ".
Sunday marked his 100th start for Saints and he went on, "I was
surprised to start. Between injury and Jacko and Deuchs being on fire, I
hadn’t started since the Dundee game back in August. But Sandy
Stewart asked me to go in and do a job on the left side and try to support
the front two as much as I could. I did my best and managed to get a goal
out of the shift I put in, which was a bonus. Any goal is welcome, but one
scored in a final is extra special. "
Finally
Owen Coyle is also interviewed in the
Courier today and he said, "I was really chuffed for the players
and Sandy Stewart, but most of all the chairman Geoff Brown and managing
director Stewart Duff. The relationship I had with Stewart and Geoff was
second to none and it is great that they have got something tangible to
show for their commitment to St Johnstone. We really moved things on there
over the past couple of years to the point where Saints have at last won a
cup and are in a position to go on now and mount a challenge for
promotion. I loved my time at McDiarmid Park and have left behind a
fantastic club full of really good people. I never doubted they would win
the cup and it was nice to be able to go into the dressing room at the
end, both to congratulate them and say cheerio. "
09:45 - The managerial appointment was confirmed at this morning's
press conference with Derek McInnes(right)
being awarded a two and a half year contract. Plenty of quotes from the
conference as well on the Official Site with
Geoff Brown saying, "After
the bombshell of Owen taking up the opportunity to go to Burnley we asked
Sandy to take charge of the side for Sunday’s cup final which he duly
did. In between times the Board of Directors discussed the way forward and
although we were inundated with applicants for the post we felt that the
club was in a not dissimilar position to when Paul Sturrock left and that
if we could appoint from within we should do so. Derek has been in the
game a long time and in the eleven months he has been here he has been a
superb professional. He came to St Johnstone on the understanding that he
could be involved in coaching the Under 19s and reserves and that has
happened. Sandy Stewart advised me on Sunday evening that he was accepting
Owen’s offer to join him at Burnley so it was never in the equation
that Sandy could be offered the job and in Derek the Board of Directors
believe they are making the correct appointment."
As for the new man he said, "It has come out of the blue but I
am very excited about the opportunity. The focus for the last few days has
very much been on the cup final and our fans made it a fantastic occasion
and I’m delighted for everyone connected with the club that we won
the trophy. Sandy was a strong candidate for the job but when I heard that
he was leaving to join Owen at Burnley I turned my thoughts as to whether
I should put my name forward for consideration for the post but before I
could think about it too much I was contacted by the Chairman yesterday
morning and offered the chance to take over. I am very excited by this
opportunity and I’m desperate to get started". He's still
likely to keep playing in the short-term. Meanwhile discussions are
ongoing with a contracted coach to come on board as his assistant - with
the new man expected to be Arabs coach Tony Docherty. The new
gaffer finished by saying, "There is not a lot wrong at this club
so there doesn’t need to be wholesale changes. There are aspects that
I feel can be improved on but we have a fantastic set of lads in the
dressing room who can take us forward. It has been great to be involved at
such a good club and I can’t wait to do the hard work and the hours
needed to bring success here."
November
26th - Despite the stories all over the papers linking him to the
Saints job, Sandy Stewart(right) has
confirmed this morning that he's taken the option of joining
Owen Coyle at Burnley. Speaking on the
Official Site, the cup-winning caretaker said,"It is the hardest
decision of my footballing career – particularly after yesterday –
but in the end the opportunity to work down south and help Owen and the
existing staff to try and take Burnley into the Premiership is just too
great. Who knows, maybe in two or three years time I’ll look back and
regret the decision but that is the chance you take and I know that I’ll
regret it if I don’t take the opportunity to try it out.".
He has agreed to stay until the new manager is appointed and went on, "Owen
is keen to have me down there as soon as possible but he is very aware of
the situation with Saints and is very grateful to them for the way they
handled his departure and so won’t be putting pressure on me in terms
of timescales. I’ll be in tomorrow to take training ahead of Saturday’s
match at Firhill and unless I’m told otherwise or an appointment is
made I’ll take the team against Partick Thistle."
In the meantime, more videos of yesterday's action are on the
Putfile Video Archive
6.30pm- The new manager will be unveiled tomorrow with a press
conference planned for McD at 09.30. Latest names in the frame are former
player Billy Dodds with Derek
McInnes as his assistant. Mind you going by the way the Saints board
works, you can't rule anyone out at this stage.
Meanwhile Paul Sheerin has been
commenting on the Official Site on the first medal of his career. The
Saints midfielder said, "It is the first cup win in my career
which is great and to score in the final makes it that bit more special.
We were excellent for the opening 30 minutes but obviously their goal
lifted them a bit before half time. I think if Rocco’s chance had
gone in just after the break rather than hit the post then it would have
been all over. I thought it went a bit flat after that for 20 minutes or
so but then of course they get a massive lift from their penalty and it
was a bit like the Alamo for a while after that! However, we held out for
what I thought was a deserved win. There was a wee bit extra pressure
because you know what is at stake and of course there were a few more
supporters behind the goal than normal! Paul Gallacher went the right way
which always gives you a split-second of worry but it went in which is all
that matters. "
7.15pm - Latest rumour doing the rounds is that
Derek McInnes will be announced as
manager tomorrow morning with Radio Clyde apparently leaking the news
already. Again this is all just speculation and tomorrow will confirm
things one way or another. I must say though that if it is
McInnes then I don't think we can
expect much in the way of a kick up the arse that the team currently needs
- even on Sunday we almost blew the final and in recent weeks there has
been a real staleness creeping into the Saints performances.
7.45pm - It's being confirmed all over the media outlets and you
can expect Derek McInnes to be named
as Saints manager at tomorrow's press conference. No word yet on any
assistant or the makeup of the rest of the backroom team.
November 25th - So it's finally
here - the day of the final and no matter what anyone else says, this is a
national competition and it is not a diddy tournament to the 4000 Saints
fans that will be heading to Dens this afternoon. There's little real team
news with a reported knock to an unnamed player who was being assessed at
yesterday's light training session. Apart from that there's nothing more
to do than wish the lads all the best!!!
7pm - We finally went and bloody did it with goals from a
Paul Sheerin penalty,
Peter MacDonald andKenny
Deuchar putting us three-nil up within the first half hour at Dens
this afternoon before, as only Saints can, we sat back and let the Pars
pull it back to 3-2 before a nailbiting finish finally saw us
3-2 winners of the Challenge Cup.
Derek McInnes was the man to lift up
the Challenge Cup 2007 and send the 4000 Saints fans home with as big a
smile on our faces as we could hope for - it'll be a long time before the
memories of this afternoon fade. Even better was the return to the first
team for Kevin Rutkiewicz,
Savo and Mad
Mental Martin who all came off the bench.
November
24th - Allan McManus reckons
even losing our manager this week won't distract Saints from the biggest
game of the season tomorrow with the boys intent on winning the cup. The
Saints defender told the Courier, "It would have been absolutely
fantastic if Owen Coyle had still been in the dugout. But I’m not
that naive to think he could turn down such a fantastic opportunity as
Burnley presented him with. The fact a team from the Championship came in
for him shows how highly regarded he is. He thoroughly deserved the chance
and nobody was more delighted for him than the boys in our changing room.
Any young manager getting the chance to go and try their arm in the league
below the Premiership in England would be silly to knock it back. And we
wish him well. But we are professional enough to get on and do our jobs
without him."
"This is final number four for me. I’ve won one as captain of
Airdrieonians and been defeated with Airdrie United by Inverness Caley and
Livingston by Airdrie. Hopefully I can even that out on Sunday and make it
two apiece. I’ve been lucky. A lot of players far better than myself
go through their careers never being involved in finals. And although this
competition gets bad press at times, the bottom line is it’s a chance
for clubs outside the Premier League to win a trophy. Challenge Cup finals
have a habit of throwing up shocks and drama and all the ones I’ve
been involved in have been good games. Sunday should be another
interesting one. It is surprising that a club this size has never won a
national trophy. They’ve been to one or two finals in the past but
never picked up the silverware. And last year when we might have got to a
major final it was the old hard- luck story for us again. But Sunday is a
chance to put that right and we’ll be doing our utmost to bring the
trophy back here. We’ve got match winners, experience and have some
great young lads in our side. But so have Dunfermline. I think the teams
are pretty evenly balanced and it’ll come down to who performs best
on the day. We’ve had two goalless draws so far this season and
something will have to give Sunday or else it’ll go to penalties. But
with this being a cup-tie I wouldn’t think either team will be
holding back. I can see it being an end-to-end game, hopefully with us
scoring one more than them. "
The good news for tomorrow is that following a closed-doors game midweek
against Morton both Savo and
Mad Mental Martin are in the squad for
the game with the former in with an excellent chance of playing.
On the managerial front, there are reports in the papers today that
Sandy Stewart is a target for Burnley
as well to join Owen Coyle as his number
2.
November 23rd - See? I go away
for a wee rest prior to the Challenge Cup Final with a view to recharging
the batteries following Scotland's defeat to Italy last weekend and all
hell breaks loose. Sure there had been some paper talk and rumours of a
managerial vacancy at Burnley but it was nothing serious with even
Owen Coyle dismissing it as paper talk.
Or so we thought. Even as I tried to relax in the spa,
Stewart Duffand
Geoff Brown were thrashing out the
compensation deal and with the English side coughing up a reported
six-figure sum to buy out Owen's 2010
contract, it all led to Thursday morning's announcement that the Saints
manager had left McDiarmid to sign a three and a half year deal at Turf
Moor. The man himself said that "I owe St Johnstone a lot because
they have been great. Leaving St Johnstone was a wrench because of
everything I have done at the football club. But as soon as Burnley came
on the scene, it was a no brainer for me and the sooner I could get down
here and get going, the better. In the end it was just too great an
opportunity to turn down and there was no chance of that happening .".
While most Saints fans have plenty of respect for
Owen and what he's achieved over the
last couple of years, there was a feeling that at times his tactics left a
bit to be desired. Added to that, results this season had failed to live
up to expectations after the semi-finals and dramatic end-of-season climax
last summer. Despite a lot of rebuilding over the summer an abundance of
draws has left us behind the leaders. Even so I think we all hoped the
manager would be there for the long haul, and I never imagined he'd be
poached by a Championship club at this stage of his career. It's hard to
argue with his decision in terms of the opportunity it present and
Geoff Brown said "Owen has
done an excellent job for us, and whether we like it or not, St Johnstone
is stepping stone. He was rewarded with a three-year contract in the
summer, but Burnley have decided to come in so, unfortunately, here we go
again. It’s a bitter blow, and one that has come completely out of
the blue. There was stuff in the papers down in England last weekend and
that disappointed me because, as usual, someone had spoken to Owen before
speaking to the club. But I have no problem with Owen: from my perspective
as the chairman he has been great to deal with. And as a career move he’s
probably going up the league from number 100 to number 35, so if you take
that into account we shouldn’t be too disappointed. He’ll need a
bit of luck if he is to succeed down there, but he certainly has the
capabilities. As we all know he has the gift of the gab, and when you have
those attributes there’s not a lot to stop you. I would hope that
Owen could eventually go to clubs who are higher up the league than
Burnley. I’ve worked with a lot of managers and in 21 years I’ve
had contact with a lot more and there are not many I’ve come across
who are better than him. He’s done a wonderful job here for us ".
And unlike the events surrounding the Sturrock departure in 1997, I
personally wish Owen all the best in the
next stage of his career.
As for a longer-term replacement, the club has invited applications but
nothing is likely to be sorted out before next week, although at the same
time, the club need to get a new man in soon to let him assess the squad
before the January transfer window opens. It hasn't prevented the papers
starting to link various people with the job hoever, with the list of
names appearing on various websites and publications including the
following :
Stirling gaffer and ex-Saints winger Alan Moore is one early
favourite in some of the papers. A decent record with the Beanos might
help him, but it's believed that he's not a favourite in the McD
boardroom.
Russel Latapy has come out in the papers today and admitted his
desire to move into management stating that he thought Saints was a "very
good club with a good stadium and good working conditions". One
added plus is that Bairn's manager John Hughes has said he wouldn't stand
in Latapy's way should the chance present itself.
Graham Rix. The phrase "outside bet" springs to mind
here.
Maurice Malpas - Linked by the Courier (surprise, surprise)
John Brown- Set to take over at Dumbarton but cited personal
reasons for reneging on a handshake so who knows?
Jim McInally- Done well with Morton and may fit the criteria.
Jim Duffy. Twice in charge of the Scum, he at least knows the
Scottish game well.
Billy Dodds. Still a popular former player and has definitely got
the enthusiasm but a real lack of experience.
There's little doubt that Geoff Brown
and the board are hoping to attract a surprise package with the odds
likely to favour a manager getting on the first rung of the ladder. And
given the situation at the club in terms of financial stability as well as
the potential of the crowds and squad, we're more than likely to attract a
high calibre of candidates for the job.
Of course the timing of his departure couldn't have been much worse as
Saints prepare for the Cup Final. While there had been some talk of Owen
being in charge of team selection, his new job takes priority and that
means that Sandy Stewart (who as yet
hasn't been included in the moves) is being given the caretaker role for
Sunday. He's being assisted by Derek
McInnes, although the latter is more than likely to take some part
in the action on the park. Saints have announced though that
Owen has been invited to Dens as a guest
of the club to watch the cup final and "to let the Saints support
show their appreciation and give the manager a proper farewell".
And with Saints set to take 4,000 along the road to Scumdee, here's hoping
we send him off with a victory. And for those of you stuck in foreign
shores shock as the SFL catches up with the 21st century and the game has
been made available online for the princely sum of £1.99 - see
http://www.ScotlandFootballTV.com
for details.
November 19th - OK so there
haven't been many updates in the last few day but that's because we were
all distracted by a certain game at Hampden. Now that's ended it's back to
reality. The main news dominating the papers is a possible move for
Owen Coyle as he is apparently on the
5-name shortlist for the vacant Burnley managerial job. Whilst the gaffer
has laughed off the speculation, it's been covered in most of the media
with the Championship club expected to name their new boss tomorrow.
Unfortunately the Temple won't be covering it - with a cup final to
mentally prepare for it's time to skip the country - next update Friday.
November 13th - Latest coaching
theory according to manager Owen Coyle
is that a wee bit of hard work will see us back on form (preferably done
around 3pm on match days). The manager said in a cliche-ridde quote in
today's Courier, "On the evidence of the second half against
Dunfermline, it was clear we could have won the game. It was always going
to be hard because Dunfermline were up for it with everything that had
been said about them in the lead up, but we should have had two stonewall
penalties. Seeing them on the video again just vindicates what I said at
the time, but sometimes you don’t get the decisions and you have to
dust yourself down and get on with it. We’ve seen three games go by
which we should have won with Clyde and then Dundee away—and we all
know what happened in that one—and then Saturday again. But the
bottom line is we have to get ourselves back on track and the only way to
do that is with hard work. This isn’t a break for us as such because
we’ve got to prepare for the Challenge Cup final which we are really
looking forward to. More tickets went on sale for that today and I’m
pretty sure it’s going to be a sell-out from the Perth side. "
There's a bounce game against Falkirk this afternoon with a strong Saints
side expected to take the field (and no doubt do some hard work into the
bargain)
November 12th -
Andy Jackson was less than happy with
the result at the weekend. Speaking in today's Courier, the striker said,
"I don’t think I had a chance at all. But I would say I
should have had a definite penalty, the one where I’ve turned Sol
Bamba. I can’t believe that one wasn’t a penalty, but obviously
you get some and not others. I would rather have got the three points. It
was a good game, quite fast-flowing but there weren’t many chances.
We’re looking to win all our home games so we’re really
disappointed. It feels like a defeat, especially with Hamilton winning as
well. Dunfermline are a good team but this was probably the best time to
play them "
Owen was also more intent in talking
about the penalty incidents than the otherwise poor performance. He said,
"I thought it was an even game, there were loads of chances at
either end. I have to say that I thought there were a couple of stonewall
penalties in the game. I am trying not to be biased but for the life of me
I can’t see why they weren’t given. We know that Dunfermline
have a good squad of players but having said that we were looking for
three points so we are disappointed and a little bit frustrated. The
second half was better from us, we forced the play and had to score when
we were on top. A few chances went a begging. I don’t know if Deuchar
impeded the lad in the first half. That was probably one of our better
moves—down the left and a great cross and a great header from Kenny
but the referee has deemed it to be a foul. When Bamba went through the
back of Jackson, for the life of me the whole stadium and I thought that
was a penalty. As it was it wasn’t given and these were big turning
points in the game. "
November
10th - Kenny Deuchar has come
out in the papers and admitted he wants to remain a Saint after his loan
spell ends at the start of next month. The striker told the Courier, "People
keep asking me what is going to happen with Gretna. The honest answer is
that I really don’t know. Gretna and St Johnstone would have to sort
something out before I had a decision to make. And Gretna hold all the
cards But I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and would like to stay.
Gretna basically washed their hands of me last season then sent people to
watch me when I was at Northampton which I found a bit strange. Now it’s
happening again. I have been with them three years so I can’t
understand why they should be sending people to watch me. They should
already know what I can do. I want to know exactly where I stand before
the end of the loan because, while I can sign here permanently before the
loan is up, I would have to go back to Gretna otherwise, even in the short
term. I realise that what’s been happening there over the last few
days is taking up most of their time and they won’t have been
thinking of me too much. But hopefully they’ll sit down soon and
decide what they are going to do about me."
"Why would I want to leave a place where I am enjoying myself ? I
love coming into work here and it’s great to be appreciated again.
That’s what you are looking for as a footballer. You want to feel
part of things and that you are contributing to the team. That’s what
it is like for me at St Johnstone. I’ve struck up a partnership with
Andy Jackson which has been as
enjoyable as it has been profitable. Jacko
is great to play with. He works so hard and can turn a bad ball from me
into a good one at times. He’s keen, enthusiastic and desperate to
learn and because of that has been terrific to work with.".
He's looking to get back to winning ways after the last couple of games.
He said, "We should have put last week’s game out of reach
by half-time. We had the chances. But we’ve learned a valuable lesson
from that. You learn more from a defeat than a win and hopefully we can
take that on for the rest of the season. Me and Jacko have scored quite a
lot of our goals in the last 10 games but I’m sure the other boys
will start chipping in sooner or later. We had a chance to nick the first
meeting at the end but didn’t take it. But getting them back at home
now we’ve got to be confident of taking the three points "
6.30pm - Another dour goalless draw
with the Pars did little to help our title chances as Accies won
again and just as bad did even less to convince me or the other fans that
the manager has managed to do anything to try and improve the recent poor
run of form. Dull game with little goalmouth action and precious little
real entertainment.
November
9th - Despite only really lacking in match sharpness,
Owen Coyle isn't planning on risking
Savo (right) against the Pars. The
manager said in the Courier, "Steven
Milne has trained away fine again so we’re trying to get the
Livingston game arranged for him to build it up. But even though he’s
looking good in training and is a naturally fit boy I won’t be
pushing him back too soon. He won’t be in the squad for Saturday
because I don’t want to put pressure on him before he’s played a
game. Once we get 90 minutes under his belt we’ll think about it but
until then I’m going to leave him out. "
There was good news for Kevin James as
well as he got permission to step up his training, while
Martin Hardie is also on the way back.
The gaffer went on, "Martin is
about 80%, which is a lot better than he has been, but he’s not ready
to join in yet. However, he’s having a fitness programme designed for
him and I’m hoping that by the middle of next week he’ll be
ready to come back and remain pain-free. It has been frustrating for him
but he’s making progress and it’s important we manage his
recovery the proper way. Kevin saw his
specialist and he is pleased with the way his knee is looking and has
allowed him to step up his rehab a bit. He’s still a long way away
from being match-fit and I think it’s still going to be around
Christmas at this rate before he’s ready for a game. "
As for the weekend's game, despite the Pars' woeful form in recent weeks
which makes a change of manager almost inevitable,
Owen isn't taking them lightly. "Dunfermline
impressed me during the game we played against them at East End earlier in
the season. And despite their recent results they are still dangerous
opponents because they have a lot of experienced, quality players in their
squad. They were the title favourites in the summer and rightly so because
of the way they ended last season. They have players with a lot of SPL
experience under their belt so they will be hurting badly because of the
past few weeks. And in football one result kick-starts things again. We’ve
just got to make sure it doesn’t come against us."
Derek McInnes is expecting a tough
game though and told the Official site, "Dunfermline are a
good side as they showed against us at East End Park earlier in the
season. They have had a few disappointments recently but player for player
they are as good as any side in the league and are always dangerous. None
of our players are being drawn into thinking that we are odds-on
favourites tomorrow because of their recent results. It was a huge
disappointment for us all last week and we have to use that disappointment
as motivation. We had enjoyed a great run up until then and there is no
reason why we can?t get another run underway starting tomorrow."
November
8th - Steven Anderson(right)
has promised an improvement for fans this weekend as Saints take on the
Pars. The defender is quoted in today's Courier saying, "We just
have to put the Dundee game behind us and get back to winning games
because we’ve some catching up to do. The good thing about last
Saturday was that we created a lot of openings. And I am sure we will
continue to create chances. It’s just a matter of taking them.
Against Dundee I had a couple myself but didn’t take them. That’s
life. You can’t help missing chances. All you can do is try and make
sure next time you find yourself in that kind of situation you do better.
However, as a defender my objective is to stop the opposition. Scoring at
the other end isn't something I see as my main priority. My job first and
foremost is to keep goals out. ".
Owen Coyle praised him as well saying,
"Steven has come on a ton over the last while. Last year he
played a lot of games without perhaps considering himself to be a regular.
But I said to both him and Andy Jackson
in the summer that he had to come back ready to play in the team week in
week out, and he has done that. "
November 6th - The refereeing
controversy from the weekend goes on and Saints have asked the SFA to
clarify the last-man rules and why Gary McKenzie wasn't red-carded for his
deliberate handball at the weekend. Owen
Coyle told the Courier, "I thought ourselves and Dundee
served up an excellent game, so the last thing you want to be talking
about is refereeing decisions. But we could have been 1-0 up and playing
against 10 men and what happened at the penalty was there for everybody to
see. I’ve never seen anything like it. Somebody dives full length to
keep the ball out of the net then I am told after the game that it wasn’t
a goalscoring opportunity. I went to see Iain Brines, along with our
managing director Stewart Duff, not advocating red cards but seeking an
explanation of his decision. He indicated that he felt the ball was going
to the goalkeeper. I can’t say whether it was or it wasn’t but
the bottom line is this—why would Gary MacKenzie dive full length to
save the ball with his hand if he thought the keeper was getting it? The
intent was clearly to stop the ball going in the net, regardless of
whether there were 10 people behind him. The player obviously thought the
ball was going in and that’s why he did what he did. And the fact is
he prevented a goal- scoring opportunity. Any shot on target is a
goalscoring opportunity. I have phoned up Hugh Dallas—who is doing a
good job along with Don McVicar in bringing things forward—looking
for clarification of the decision. Hopefully they’ll have a look at
the situation and give us a clear indication of what the rules are and how
they should be applied. Nothing can change what happened on Saturday. But
we are all for improving the game and if something good comes of that
incident then great. ". The manager is particularly annoyed after
another refereeing blunder at Almondvale almost cost us dear. "Saturday
came on the back of three weeks ago when we scored a penalty at
Livingston, then had an indirect free-kick awarded against us for
encroachment when I’d have thought the response should have been a
retake. I’m just waiting for the day we actually get a favourable
decision! In fairness, refereeing is a thankless task and one I know refs
don’t take lightly. But as managers and coaches all we look for is a
bit of consistency. You need be in a position where if something happens
in a game then everyone knows what the punishment will be. You have to
know that if a player prevents a goal-scoring opportunity by diving to
save the ball with his hand then it is a red card. Not a red card one week
then a yellow the next."
He went on, "I don’t want that to detract from the match
because both teams went out to win it. First half we were terrific and the
game should have been put to bed regardless of the penalty incident. But
we knew Dundee would come out fired up for the second half as they did.
From my perspective we should have stood up better to that.“But we’ll
take this kick in the teeth and bounce back again. The good thing is there
were a lot of positives to take from the game, particularly the way we
passed the ball against a very good Dundee side and created opportunity
upon opportunity."
November 5th -
Paul Sheerin wasn't sure why we lost
as the weekend. He told the Courier, "We battered Dundee at the
start but got a dose of our own medicine in the second-half. When chances
fall to you, you have to take them. Kenny Deuchar and Andy Jackson have
scored a barrowload recently but today they maybe only got one half chance
between them. The opportunities we had fell to others and maybe the
defenders and midfielders need to take on more responsibility."
(so say all of us). As for the penalty, the midfielder was still confused
as to why the Dundee defender didn't walk for deliberate handball. "I
am not having a pop at the referee but I do find it strange he only booked
the boy. Iain Brines said Sammy was behind him, but I thought the ball was
going in and he’s stopped a goal."
November 3rd - All four injury
worries returned to training yesterday so Owen
Coyle is optimistic they'll be available for selection. The Courier
quotes him saying, "The situation is slightly better. Some of
them are still not 100% but they did enough to suggest they should be
okay. We have no fresh injury worries. I hope that we’ll have the
same squad that we had last week, apart from the long-term injured. I don’t
think the games come any tougher in this league than Dundee away. Alex Rae
has a good team there with some very fine individual players and we know
it’s a very tough venue to go to. The good thing is that both teams,
whether home or away, always look to try to win the games. We’ll go
there and be positive and try to take the game to Dundee."
7.30pm - Paul Sheerin's
penalty put us in front but poor defending and a pish last-minute winner
gave the Scum the points as we crashed 2-1
at Dens with the only bright light on a dismal day being Accies
defeat at Palmerston so we're no further off the pace of the leader's.
November
2nd - So much for yesterday's prediction with the news today a bug
has done the rounds at McDiarmid with four players sent home as
Owen Coyle(right) tries to protect the
squad. The manager should still have the same squad to pick from and told
the Courier, "It’s always a great game to be involved in
with a brilliant atmosphere. Our fans always get right behind us at Dens
and we’ll give them every effort and hopefully play our best
football. The derbies have always been keenly fought contests and I’m
sure this one will be no different. It’s got the makings of an
absolutely cracking game. We’ll give Dundee every respect because
they’re a big, strong side with some good young players. But we’ve
got some good players ourselves and we go out to try and win every match
we play in. This match will be no different and we’ll be looking to
take it to them. Even though we only drew against Clyde last Saturday we’re
still on a terrific run of 10 games unbeaten and we’re determined to
keep that going. Both teams will be going all out to win this match and
that’s the way it should be."
Allan McManus is also expecting a
tough game after the first bruising encounter in August. "I think
my nose is still moving about after that game. I got caught with a flying
elbow that afternoon and I’ve lost count now of how many times it’s
been broken. Derby games are always a bit spicy but there will be nothing
carried over from that match. My philosophy is what happens on the pitch
should stay there and be forgotten about afterwards. We’ve done
really well recently. Saturday was a wee blip, but there’s nothing
better than a derby game to get you back on track. We know they’re a
big, physical side who have been going really well and we’ll have to
be at the top of our game to beat them. We’ve set high standards as
individuals and a team recently and the fact that dropping two points
against Clyde was seen as a crisis shows that. "
Meanwhile one ex-Saints player who might be making a surprise appearance
tomorrow is Eddie Malone with the wee ned apparently being farmed out on
loan by the Paisly Thugs to their Dens Park counterparts - no doubt with
him and Rae in the side we'll see the sort of fair sporting contest that
we always enjoy when we visit Dens.
Away from the action on the park and Saints today announced that McD is
turning into a concert venue next summer with Elton John set to play on
Sunday July 6th. Tickets go on sale Monday (although not from the club)
priced at £40 and £60 which hopefully means a pretty decent
whack of cash heading for the Saints coffers.
November 1st - With the big
derby looming this weekend, there's no sign of any new injury worries. For
the Scum, there are reports they are trying to line up a loan signing from
an SPL side in time to face us.
Top Of News
October
October 30th -
Peaso is in the paper today talking
about the view from the bench. The striker is waiting on his 100th start
for Saints but has been kept on the fringe thanks to the form of
Kenny Deuchar and
Jacko. He told the Courier, "It
is frustrating not getting in the team, but Jacko has come in and done
exceptionally well. Because of that he deserves to be in the side. No one
can argue with that. If he slips up I’ll be waiting in the wings, but
at the moment I can’t grumble. It seems like ages that I’ve been
waiting for the 100th start, but it’ll come. And from the club’s
perspective it’s a healthy situation having so many strikers to
choose from. Apart from Kenny Deuchar and Jacko, there’s myself,
Dyron Daal and John Stewart, and of course Steven Milne coming back. This
is the strongest competition for striking places that I’ve seen in my
time here. And over the course of the season we’ll no doubt make use
of that. "
Savo is due to see his specialist today
to hopefully get the all-clear to resume full training.
Dyron Daal should also be fit for the
weekend (although he's unlikely to get a start) while
Andy Lawrie is still recovering from
his neck injury.
October 29th -
Kenny Deuchar reckons Saturday was
just a blip in form for Saints. In this morning's Courier he said, "Obviously
Hamilton have started the season well, but we are still on a good run and
are unbeaten in the league. We have to just keep concentrating on what we
are doing, and I think we can still take positives out of the Clyde game
and look to get a good result up at Dundee next Saturday. It was
disappointing not to take all three points from a home match—these
are games we should be winning if we are to challenge at the top—but
we did show character to come back after being a goal down. I got a break
for the goal and we had other chances. Maybe we could have snatched it,
but that perhaps would not have been fair on Clyde as they did very well
to come here and put us under pressure. At half-time, with the game tied
at 0-0, I thought we would get stronger as the game went on, and we did
get back into it nearer the end. However, we were not really at the races."
Owen Coyle was just as disappointed
saying, "We started the second half poorly and lost a terrible
goal—it was naive defensively from us. We carried the fight after
that without being fluent or passing and moving as well as have been
doing. But we still looked to go and win the game. The goal we scored was
fortuitous, but we had other chances—a few goalmouth scrambles—and
how some of them didn’t hit the back of the net I’ll never know."
October 27th -
Derek McInnes reckons the big
difference between the Saints side that will play Clyde today compared
with the one that lost to them earlier in the season is up front. He told
the Courier, "The most important change since then is that we’re
a real goal threat now. “We’ve shown in our subsequent games
that we can create chances and, more importantly, take them—now we
have to maintain that. There’s a bit of pace about the team which we
probably lacked last season. Gary Irvine
goes from strength to strength, and