December 30th- Ex-Saints star
and all round Scotland-hater Leigh Jenkinson is back having signed
a 2 1/2 year deal with the Gorgie Scum for £50,000. Of course there
is no danger that his personal terms will bankrupt the Tynecastle club.
Also moving to Gorgie on a 2 month loan deal is one-time Saints target
ex-Morton striker Derek Lilley which rules him out of a future
move to Perth.
Saints are set to receive £25,000 towards youth development as part
of the latest divvy-up of TV proceeds by the SFA.
December
29th- Saints have doubts over several players ahead of tonights
derby match with Dunfermline. Phizzy Scott,
Paul Kane,
John O'Neill and
Paddy Connolly are all rated doubtful
and will face late fitness tests.
11.30pm - Yet another woeful display of finishing combined with a
crap refereeing decision to award the Pars a penalty as Saints
drew 1-1 with
Paul Kane (right) getting an equaliser
for the home side with 9 minutes remaining.
December 26th- A valiant Saints defence in the first half at Hells Pasture should have helepd secure at least a share of the points at Ibrox. But despite TFOD having Hendry red-carded, Saints missed the resulting penalty and let the Spawn score a jammy goal as they lost 1-0. St. Sandy, interviewed of Radio Chicland post-match said that he "wasn't angry with the players but frustrated at their lack of cutting edge".
December 24th- Little news to
report. No fresh injury worries for Saints ahead of Saturdays trip to
Wegieland and with Gary Bollan back from
suspension, Saints defence will hopefully look a bit more solid than at
Fir Park.
The club have opened dealings with Phizzy
Scott regarding a new contract, whilst striker
Legend will also be having negotiations
soon.
December
22nd- Latest news on the comeback trail is that long-term Achilles
victim Jim Weir (right) is now halfway
through a 12-week recovery program which should see him back in action for
the reserves in January.
Meanwhile Keith O'Halloran is now back
in full training. As for Il Biscotti it
seems likely that he will not be fit again before the January league
shutdown.
Media reports have linked Saints with Scumdee wantaway midfielder Darius
Adamcheat, but the Courier todays says that Saints have only
made an enquiry and were put off by the players personal terms (either
that or personal hygiene).
December
19th- Some magic skills from sub and winning-goal scorer
Legend (right) saw Saints get revenge for
their opening-day defeat at Fir Park by beating
Motherwell 2-1. Saints opener came from
Paddy Connolly. The result sees Saints
established in 4th slot, 6 points clear of 5th place Hearts.
BBC Radio Scotland reported tonight that Saints one-time target Paul
Hartley has signed for Hibs subject to a medical.
December 18th- Team news for the
Well match tomorrow sees Paddy Connolly
looking set to retain a starting slot. The bad news is that left-back and
latest goalscorer Gary Bollan is
suspended and that Gerry McMahon
picked up an ankle knock in the midweek U-21 match. Youngster
Marc McCulloch could be set for a
first team debut at left-back.
Saints have again denied any speculation regarding a move for Leeds Derek
Lilley.
Congratulations to Saints unofficial mascot and piper Crawford Buchan
who got 3rd place in the half-time entertainer poll on C4s Under the Moon
sports programme.
December 16th- Motherwell beat Dundee 2-1 tonight in a rearranged fixture. More importantly for Saints though was the red card for Well defender and all round hacker Shaun Teale. The sending off rules him out of Saturdays match with Saints.
December
15th- I don't normally slag Saints off but as anyone who visits
the other WWW sites or reads the mailing list knows the club has banned
Crawford Buchan from playing his bagpipes at McDiarmid in an
effort to drum up some noise from the home support. Those of you who go to
the away games (or have seen him on Sky Sports) know what sort of
publicity he generates for the club. Anyway, suffice to say that I for one
am pissed off at the actions of the club (which is pretty symptomatic of
the PR which they generate). To that end I'm backing the e-petition run by
ALL SAINTS.
For more info about the campaign, click on the picture of Crawford, or if
you want to sign up, e-mail your name to
savethebaggie@saints.force9.co.uk.
In other news I've received an e-mail from the guys at
Go-Ahead Eagles, a Dutch
1st Division side. Apparently Saints are having their dress rehearsal for
the Euro campaign by playing the Eagles in Malaga on Jan 12th. To give you
an idea of their quality, Jan Michels, one of Kampmans rejects at
Motherwell is rated as one of their top players.
Saints are scheduled to keep their U-21 league top spot tomorrow at 1pm
by disposing of the Judas Juniors.
December 14th- Saints' chairman
Geoff Brown has categorically denied
any interest in Radovic saying "I've never even heard the name".
Meanwhile Saints are hoping that McDiarmid will soon be the site of one of
4 Scottish Indoor Centres with a 3,000 seater indoor arena to be built at
the ground. As well as being used by the club to train during bad weather
it's hoped that the centre will be a focus for youth development in the
future for all Scotland's clubs.
Looking forward to the Boxing Day Revenge match the TFOD Dutch Hun "Gary"
Numan has already been ruled out.
December
13th- Today's News of the World links Saints with
Yugoslavian attacking midfielder Zeljko Radovic (right)from
Austrian club Grazer AK. Nope I've never heard of him either, but
he's one of their top scorers and 6ft tall.
December
12th- Over 6000 took advantage of the reduced admission prices to
watch Saints draw 1-1 with Scumdee.
Despite dominating for the whole 92 minutes and with a new striker pairing
of Paddy Connolly and
Nathan Lowndes up front it took a
wonder debut goal from Gary Bollan (right)
to ensure that the robbing Tinks didn't snatch all 3 points which they
never deserved. Results elsewhere mean that Saints still lie 4th in the
league.
Tickets go on sale to season ticket holders this Monday and Tuesday for
the Boxing Day trip to Ibrox to tackle the Spawn of Satan in their own
Hell's Pasture. Briefs are priced £15 and are limited to 2 per season
ticket.
December 11th- St. Sandy is planning to make changes up front for tomorrow's local derby with Scumdee, saying that the forward line "lacks punch". Favourite to get a starting spot isNat King Goals. Il Biscotti is ruled out through injury.
December 9th- Saints fought out a 1-1 draw with Hearts tonight in a fairly dull game with none of Gods Chosen Ones hitting anything like top form. Still at least we're still clear in fourth spot in the League. Best laugh of the night was the announcer playing "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys for all the Wegie media (Barbour Ann - geddit?).
December 8th- Saints have plenty
of injury worries ahead of tomorrows crucial match. The worst news is that
striker George O'Boyle will be out until
the New Year after a scan showed a groin tear which will sideline him
until after the winter shutdown. Also set to miss out on the Jambos visit
is Allan Preston who is already rated
doubtful for the Dundee game on Saturday, Allan
Ferguson and Stuart McCluskey
with the latter set to undergo a hernia op. For the Gorgie Gits, McCann,
Hamilton and Ritchie have all missed training but given their injury
faking during a match don't be surprised if they all make a recovery.
Media reports of a conflicting nature today - The Retard says
that Phizzy Scott is set to quit Saints
in the summer and open contract talks with other clubs in the New Year.
Meanwhile the Scum also reports that he is able to speak to other
clubs but goes on to quote the player as saying how happy he'd be to stay
at McD and how he's enjoying being back in the Saints first team. Nothing
like the whole truth eh?
No word on moves for Paul Hartley although with the player's contract up
at the end of the season he looks set to stay in Kirkcaldy until then.
Saints are set to offer reduced admission prices on Saturday. Kids will
be allowed in free if accompanied by an adult whilst the normal price is
reduced to £10. The offer applies to the away support as well giving
them plenty of value for their Giro.
December 6th- The papers are still full of talk about a transfer move for Raiths Paul Hartley with both the Screws of the News and Hunday Mason saying that only personal terms have to be agreed.
December
5th- Legend (right) scored a
penalty as Saints drew 1-1 with Judas'
Scum although they should have won the game. Needless to say the
travelling support gave Judas a
sporting welcome - NOT
On the transfer front Paul Hartley has rejected a move to Saints
and earned the wrath of Raith manager Jimmy Nicholl who reckoned that the
deal on offer was excellent for the player. Ah well his loss.
Mediawise Bill Lecki of the soaraway Scum has managed to
infuriate the Perth support with another slagging and patronising column
in todays paper following the sarky reply in the PA yesterday to his Cup
Final report. Suffice to say that for a St. Mirren supporter to talk about
inbreeds outside of Paisley shows just how stupid some Wegies can be.
December
4th- Allan Preston (right) is
expected to start tomorrows natch against Judas
but the Saints side should be largely unchanged from the heroic team of
last Sunday although George O'Boyle
could be missing thanks to the ankle knock inflicted on him by the Spawn.
Interviewed on Scotsport Extra Whine tonight,
Judas ranted on about his gits being
in the top 4 in Scotland whilst Saints were only in the top 6. Methinks
it's a nice wee incentive to the boys tomorrow.
On the transfer front, Saints are reported to be set to sign Paul
Hartley from cash-strapped Raith Rovers for £200,000 or
£275,000 depending on who you believe this weekend. Both
clubs have agreed a fee with only personal terms to be agreed. Meanwhile
one player on the way out is youth striker Charlie
King who has been sold for a "nominal fee" to Livingston.
Whilst his first team appearances were limited (and not likely to increase
in the near future), he always gave his heart so I for one wish him well.
Geoff Brown has rewarded the players
with a holiday in Spain in the winter shutdown next month with some of the
prize money from the League Cup run financing the weeks break.
December 2nd- Little news today as life gets back to normal. The Saints squad were back in training yesterday with George O'Boyle the only player missing with an ankle knock.
December
1st- Saints re-arranged league fixture against the Jambos,
originally set for tomorrow night has been rescheduled for Wednesday
Dec 9th - well I suppose it'll give us a chance to get the vocal
chords back into action.
Geoff Brown (right) has been quoted in
the media today warning off other clubs who might be tempted to bid for
Saints cup final side. "Saints, just now are more interested in
buying rather than selling. Sandy has had a chance to see all the players
in action and it's now time to strengthen the side" - although no
names have yet been mentioned.
Meanwhile Nick Dasovic, Saints most
outstanding player on Sunday is quoted in the Sun as saying how he would
like to "break the MoM award into 11,000 pieces for the
supporters". He also says how moved he was by the 100 or so fans
who turned up at McDiarmid on Sunday night to welcome home the team bus.
There are more photos of Saints in the Cup
Final Match Report including pix of the guys getting their medals
(something you would have missed if you watched the game on Wegie TV).
November 29th - A battling
Saints side lost 2-1 to TFOD in the
League Cup Final with Nick Dasovic
getting the Saints goal with a cracking 20-yard volley and the MoM award
as well. We probably didn't deserve to win but the performance deserved at
least extra-time. Still it was a fun day out with 11,000 Saints
supporters making the journey from Perth and drowning out the Spawn until
they started their bigoted rants at full-time.
St. Sandy was reported in the media
afterwards as saying howproud I am of the players echoing my
opinions exactly.
November 28th -
COME ON YE SAINTS !!!!!!
November
27th - The build-up for the final continues with
Kieran McAnespie and
Miguel Simao today's media focal points.
Meanwhile ex-Saintee Sally McCoist has tipped us to do well in the final.
The Sun also has a mention of the Saints Jinx with supporter and mailing
list contributor Dave
Low featured going on about his bloody trip to Paris which is
causing him to miss the final. Tonights Tele also has some Saints news
with the lastest ticket sales standing at 11,000.
Gary Bollan is pictured right with
another classy Saints left-back, Willie Coburn showing off his
medal from the 1969 League Cup Final.
Finally word of the bonus has sneaked out - win the cup and the Saints
players stand to pick up £5,000 each.
November
26th- The media went to Perth yesterday and the delights of a Cup
Final preview are in all the papers today. The Retard has the best
quote though with Roddy Grant (right)
saying "Hateley would be a good signing - I'd give up my Cup
Final place to him if it helped Saints" - total bollocks. There
was also keeper Alan Main wearing the
jesters hat a la John Martin. The ex-Arab has already spoken to the PA
about his desire to stay at Perth.
The best quote is saved for the Sun which has
Paul Kane saying how he wants to "Win
it for Aggie". Says it all really.
As to the footballing side of things,St.
Sandy (right with the Cup) has said that he already has the team
worked out. With George O'Boyle and
Allan Preston both coming through
Tuesdays U-21 match with the Jambos he almost has a full squad to pick
from. As for Mr Hately - St. Sandy has
put the stops on any signing moves and was pretty pissed off with the
Retard story today.
November 25th- Ex-TFOD diver
Mark Hately is apparently spending this week training with Saints
in the hope of getting a short-term contract in Scotland. All I can say
that if the 37-yr old gets a deal ahead of any of the current Saints
strikers then something is definitely wrong.
Meanwhile the papers report that Leeds Utd have halved the asking price
of Derek Lilley to £300,000 with Saints still being quoted as
being in the running.
November 24th- The Cup Final
build-up has begun. With blue and white sausages now on sale in Scone's
butchers and Perth charities set to benefit from the proceeds of media
interviews and exclusives with the Saints players who are donating all
fees. Ticketwise, over 9000 Saints supporters are making the
quarantine trip on Sunday.
On the park, todays U-21 match against the Jambos was the last chance for
Allan Preston and
George O'Boyle to claim their places in
the final 14 on Sunday, both having recovered from injury but in need of
match practice.
November 23rd- Reserve striker
Charlie King seems set to leave McD. The
youngster, who was farmed out to Ross County last season has been on a two
month loan to Livingston and in the media today he's reported as being
keen on making the deal permanent.
Paul Hartley of Raith has again been linked with Saints but with
bids already being denied by the club it looks like more paper talk.
Meanwhile Judas' Scum have put Sieb Pornstar Dykstra on the
transfer market after he threw a tantrum at being dropped in their defeat
against Dundee. No doubt the rumour mill regarding
Alan Main will start up once more.
November 21st- Saints continue
their run of wins at Pittodrie with a 1-0
victory which saw some of the worst Saints defending of the season
but Miguel Simao scoring for the second
week in a row. George O'Boyle was on the
bench but played for the last 5 minutes.
Elsewhere Cup Final opponents TFOD were slaughtered 5-1 by last
weeks Saints gubees Celtic.
November 20th-
Allan Preston and
George O'Boyle are both still rated "highly
doubtful" of making the side tomorrow. Apart from that Saints have no
further injury worries.
Saints have been drawn at home to Falkirk in the next round of the Youth
Cup - the tie is to be played by December 13th.
November 19th- Gary Wales
has turned down a move to Saints despite Accies having accepted a fee of
£100,000 or £150,000 depending on which paper
you read.
Meanwhile Allan Preston hopes to take
some part in Saturdays trip to Pittodrie to try and claim a place in the
Cup Final squad. More good news on the injury front with new Saints physio
Nick Summersgil, hoping to have
Keith O'Halloran fit in 2-3 weeks
after scans showed that the knee ligament damage wasn't as bad as first
thought.
November
18th- According to the Sun newspaper Saints are set to
splash out £300,000 on Hamilton striker Gary Wales
(right) assuming the player passes a medical this morning and
finalises personal terms. The 19-yr old has scored 10 goals in 16 games
for Accies this season and is attracting interest from Newcastle,
Middlesboro, Derby and Spurs. He was also called up to the Scotland U-21
squad this week but had to withdraw with a thigh strain. The paper goes on
to say that the strikers signing paves the way for frozen-out striker
Paddy Connolly to leave.
Also linked with a move to Perth is transfer-listed Leeds striker Derek
Lilley with Saints, along with Scumdee and the Gorgie Has-beens set to
watch him in action for Leeds reserves against Liverpool tonight. More
details on the Prospects Page
Cup Final ticket sales have now past the 8,000 mark !!!
November 17th- Bad news on the
transfer front with a rumour from
Stuart Low that
Alan Main is set to move to Tannadice and
the Arab Scum in a swap deal for Sieb Dykstra after the final. If
any of this is true then IMHO Allan
Ferguson should be installed as first-choice keeper immediately.
More bad news with the ref that loves the TV cameras Shuggy "Red
Card ONeil" Dallas being announced as the man in charge of the
final.
November 16th- Defender
Danny Griffin has been promoted from
the U-21s to the full N. Ireland international side for their match this
week. On the transfer front, although Saints' bid of £400,000
for Hearts striker Jim Hamilton was accepted by the Tynecastle
board, the player has knocked back any potential move. Huh, didnae want
him anyway.
Keith O'Halloran has knee ligament
damage and will be out for a month.
Looks like the media will have to eat their words again - Saints sold
6,000 tickets in 3 hours yesterday for the cup final at
the end of the month - almost half the allocation.
November
15th- Sunday Mail reports that Saints are set to line up a £400,000
bid for out of favour Hearts striker Jim Hamilton (right).
Meanwhile young central defender Stuart
Malcolm has gone to Cowdenbeath on loan.
Tickets went on sale this morning for the Cup Final. I've got mine !!!
November
14th- Saints showed that the Rangers match was a one-off as the
fought to a well-deserved 2-1 win over
Celtic with goals from Miguel Simao
and substitute Kieran McAnespie in a
weakened side which was missing George
O'Boyle. The whole delightful escapade is on BBC Sportscene tonight.
Keith O'Halloran was taken off midway
through the first half on a stretcher suffering from damaged left knee
ligaments -no word yet as to how long he'll be out.
Meanwhile the U-21s continue their rise recording a 1-0 win over Dundee
this week.
November 13th-
George O'Boyle is rated only 50-50 for
the match against Celtic tomorrow, whilst Paul
Kane misses out through suspension. The Wegie unwashed have their
own problems though with Reiper, Stubbs, Lambert and Burley
all set to miss out through injury and suspension. Still no doubt having a
Wegie ref in Eric Martindale will ease their worries.
New out for the match is Issue 1 on the new Saints fanzine
The J-Files priced £1.
It's the first fanzine since the departed Wendy Who and True
Faith.
Tickets for the League Cup Final are set to go on sale at McDiarmid this
Sunday (Nov 15th) from 10.30am to season ticket holders and anyone with a
stub from a semi-final ticket.
November
10th- Saints already have several injury worries ahead of the
second-half of the OF double-bill this weekend. As well as the continuing
groin injury of Allan Preston,
George O'Boyle (right) has picked up a
foot injury which could rule him out.
On the international front Danny Griffin
(far right) and George O'Boyle
have been called up to the N. Ireland U-21 and full international teams
respectively.
November 9th- In a desperate attempt to avoid media exposure today, the only non-depressing piece of news is a rumoured Saints interest in 19 yr old Hamilton striker Gary Wales rated in the £300,000 range and also the subject of interest by Middlesboro. Check the Prospects Page for all the latest details.
November
8th- From the highs of making the League Cup Final, Saints managed
to make one of their poorest showings in years for the dress rehearsal as
the TFOD slaughtered us 7-0 (yup seven)
with Paul Kane (right) red-carded in
the first half for a foul in the box.
The only slight consolation in it all is that we're still 4th in the
League and it might waken up some of the lazier players who have begun to
believe their own hype.
November
6th- Some League Cup Final ticket details have been announced with
Saints getting 13,000!!!!!! tickets priced from £14 - £18.
Tickets are expected to go on sale to season ticket holders from November
15th although block bookings are being taken now. Full price details
are ::South East stand (rear) £18; South East stand (front)
(Family section) adults £14 child £4; East Stand (upper) £16;
East Stand (lower) £15.
Latest Team news for Sunday has St. Sandy
set to field the same team for the 6th!!! successive match. After
the TFOD European jaunt last night, they are set to be missing keeper Lionel
Charbonnier and the new wunderkid Ferguson faces a late
fitness test.
November 3rd- Saints have been
linked again with Leeds striker Derek Lilley with the Scotsman
reckoning the asking price of £600,000 is too much for Saints. On the
injury front Jim Weir has returned from
treatment at Lilleshall on his Achilles injury.
Ticket details for the cup final will be announced at the end of this
week - Saints are believed to be getting 10,000 briefs.
November 2nd- Back to normal on
the media front with Bill Leckie in the Scum having a wee rant
about Saints non-OF style support at East End Park. But it was only a
small part of a crap piece of reporting that didn't seem biased at all
towards the team he's been with for the last two weeks as part of book
research.
The TFOD had their ad in the same tabloid for postal applications for the
League Cup Final at the end of the month. From seat locations in the ad it
looks like Saints will be allocated the East Stand (nope I don't know what
one it is either. Tickets seem set to be priced around the £20 mark.
November
1st- Finally some good news on the media front with the launch of
the PA's own web site. Twice-weekly sports news on Taysides no. 1
written by journalists who know how to spell Simoa at
http://www.s-un.co.uk/perthshire/advertiser/SPORT/index.html.
October
31st- A second-half goal from John
McQuillan (right)saw Saints share the points in a
1-1 draw with Dunfermline after a
controversial Pars opener was allowed by ref Stuart Dougal (yup him
again). Elsewhere results saw Saints remain in 4th spot but just behind
Celtic on goal difference.
October 30th- More information
on the cup final. Saints and TFOD will both wear their away strips. Saints
are expected to receive a cheque for £300,000 as their share of the
final gate. Theres also a special LC Final range of merchandise from Xara
with T-Shirts, Sweatshirts etc available.
Looking to tomorrows "derby", Saints are at full strength with
the Immortal Il Biscotti shaking off a
knock picked up in midweek whilst the Pars are set to have Elbows Smith
back. Meanwhile the Daily Mail has St.
Sandy once more linked with a £500,000 bid for Derek Lilley.
Fame for the guys at
Blue Heaven
with the Biscuits for Scotland receiving the ultimate accolade of
a mention in the P.A.
October 29th- As the hangovers
clear some details are emerging of the cup final. Chairman
Geoff Brown is interviewed in most of
the papers (and obviously doing his best not to gloat). He is planning to
ask for a 10,000 ticket allocation for Saints which given the
fairly poor 3000 support at Easter Rd on Tuesday is probably about right.
It also ensures that season ticket holders of both clubs get tickets and
probably means the main Parkhead stand being given to Saints. Speaking in
the Sun, Geoff said I spoke to an SFA official at full-time and he
said that he hoped the big fat final cheque would be nice. I told him to
keep the money just give us the trophy. Whilst the cash will pay for the
new all-weather pitch, I'd much rather see Saints lift the cup.
Meanwhile the Jambos match at McDiarmid which was due to be played on Nov
28th has been moved to Wed Dec 2nd with a 7.30 kick-off.
Hopefully the boys can show off the trophy before the match.
Continuing St. Sandy's winning run, the
U-21s humped Aberdeen 3-1 yesterday. No doubt "Aberdeen
reserves in crisis" are being tried out by editors all over the
North-East.
October 28th- STILL
CELEBRATING !!!!!!!
Stephen Robertson has completed his
loan period at Hamilton and is back in Perth. Oh and a happy 42nd
birthday to St. Sandy.
October
27th- Midnight - Celebration time as Saints end a 30 year
wait for an appearance in a major final with a crushing 3-0
victory over Hearts seeing da Boyz confirm their date
with destiny on Nov 29th. Classic first half goals from
Nick Dasovic and
the Immortal Il Biscotti saw Saints
cruise to a 2-0 lead before Georgio
finished of Jeffries Rejects at the death.
Its doesn't get any better than this !!!!!!!!!!!!!
October
26th- Latest news from the Saints camp ahead of tomorrows
semi-final is that there are no injury worries. Hearts on the other hand
have several players struggling to make the match including Pressley,
Hamilton and Weir although Stephane the Frog is
expected to make the match. One-time Saints target Gery McSwegan
is cup-tied but Ritchie will play despite receiving a red card at
the end Saturdays defeat.
Main media comments today came from Alan
Kernaghan (right) who has praised the new McD managerial regime.
Speaking in today's Sun Father Dougal said "Sandy has taken the
shackles off a bit, especially for our midfield lads. Paul Sturrock was
all about us keeping clean sheets and that's not a bad thing, but at times
he worried a bit too much about the opposition whereas Sandy encourages us
to play nice football and score goals." Nothing there then thats
not been obvious to the Saints support in recent weeks.
October
24th- After being 2-0 up Saints let slack defending and some
arseing about by Alan Main (right)allow
Killie to snatch a 2-2 draw at Rugby
Park after Saints dominated for over 3 quarters of the match.
Elsewhere Celtics win over the hopeless sheep mean that we slip back to
4th. Cup semi opponents Hearts lost at home to Dundee Utd.
October 23rd- Little news ahead
of tomorrows trip to Rugby Park for the top of the table clash
with Killie. St. Sandy has almost a full
squad to choose from so expect the starting line-up to remain the same one
that put 5 past Motherwell last week. Looking ahead to Tuesday's cup-tie
the Jambos have several injury problems with Lee Makel (who got their
jammy equaliser against Saints at Tynecastle) out for a fortnight with a
swollen ankle (as opposed to head).
One ex-Saintee in the news is midfielder Gary
Farquhar who after moving to Inverness over the summer has now been
put on the transfer list by the Highland club with Thistle stating that a
"lack of professionalism and dedication to full-time training"
finally causing them to lose patience. Given the stories of his time at
Perth it seems that oor Tadger still has a wee bit of a problem in the
socialising department.
October 22nd- Saints U-21 side
continued the clubs winning run with a 3-2 win over the Motherwell U21s
although the game was apparently a lot more one-sided than the scoreline
suggests.
Tickets for the League Cup semi are selling fast with both the upper tier
and family sections sold out. Some lower tier tickets for the South Stand
remain (but remember yer brolly).
October 21st- The St. Johnstone Mailing List is now archived on the WWW at http://www.egroups.com/list/saintees.
October
20th- Today's Sun reports that Saints made an offer of £100,000
+ striker Paddy Connolly for 22
year old Raith Rovers striker Paul Hartley (right)who used to be
at Accies. Raith have rejected the bid however and are looking for double
the fee.
11.00pm - St. Sandy has denied
any bid.
October
18th- Saints leapt to 3rd in the league with a more than
convincing 5-0 gubbing of Motherwell
with goals from Georgio (2)(right), home
debutant Miguel Simao anbd defenders
Alan Kernaghan and
Darren Dods in one of the most one-sided
matches this season.
The cup semi-final tickets went on sale today to season ticket holders
and going by the queues at McDairmid when I left its unlikely that any of
the 3,600 allocation will be left over for general sale tomorrow.
Saints new away top is out in the shops. For those of us of a more
artistic tendency however its not all good news, with County Sports
machine for adding the names and numbers currently knackered. Looks like
Il Biscotti will have to wait for a while yet.
October
16th- No word on team news for Saturday yet. Saints have almost a
full squad to choose from for the match against Motherwell and debut
manager Billy "Driving Licence" Davies.
Congratulations to Saints chairman Geoff
Brown (right) who helped Saints interests in his role on the SPL
committee to listen to Scumdees appeal for a share of the TV cash. The
appeal was thrown out leaving the Dens Parkers £350,000
poorer than the rest of the clubs. Excellent stuff.
Due to the delights of Saints putting the semi tickets on sale on Sunday
morning, there won't be a match report until Sunday afternoon
since I'll be in Perth Saturday night.
October 14th- Saturday's match
against Motherwell took on another dimension today with the resignation of
Well boss Harri Kampervan. Former Well player and known dodgy
driver (according to his brother) Billy Davies has taken over.
Saints have announced that striker Charlie
King will have his current loan spell at Livingston extended by 2
months. Sandy Clark has said he would
rather see the players getting regular first-team action than play for the
U-21s.
October 13th- Saints keeper
Alan Main has one less excuse to moan
about Saints with the withdrawal of Bandy-legs Leighton leading to
media specultation that the Arab-wannabe will take more part in future
Scotland squad activity.
Meanwhile Sandy Clark has taken the
weekend break to examine the squad in more detail. He has now seen every
player in action except for long-term injury victim
Jim Weir and hamstring victim
David Xausa (remember him?).
October
9th- Saint's Scottish U-21 goalkeeper
Stephen Robertson(right) has had his
loan period to Hamilton extended by another month. Also, according to
today's PA there is no substance to the stories linking Saints
with ex-Morton star Derek Lilley.
October 8th- Its been fairly
quiet this week with the players enjoying 2 days off.
St. Sandy has seen the injury list clear
with Gerry McMahon still suffering
slightly.
On the transfer front Derek Lilley is reported as now interesting
THEM which could see the end of
Saints' interest.
Tickets for the League Cup Semi-Final against the Jambos go on sale to
season tickt holders on Sunday October 18th priced £15.
Tickets are limited to 2 per season with voucher 29 required to
secure a brief. Why they couldnt put them on sale immediately after the
Motherwell game I dont know.
Finally another Saints WWW site has been launched.
The J-Files was going to be
the official site (hence the URL) but has since been rejected by the club.
Still for some good T-shirt ideas and inside stories check it out.
October 6th- Saints won 6-0 against Forfar last night in the Forfarshire Cup. Goals came from Kieran McAnespie, Nat King Goals (2), Paddy Connolly, Roddy Grant and Stuart Malcolm
October
3rd- A majestic goal from Scotlands favourite uncapped player
Allan Preston (right) saw Saints take
the lead but a Makel effort saw the game end
1-1 with Hearts. The match also saw
right-back John McQuillan make a
successful return from his shoulder injury.
In other matches there were 1-0 wins for TFOD over the Scum and the Tinks
over the Sheep.
October 3rd- Saints reserves beat the Arab Tinks 3-1 this week. Goals scored by Miguel Simao, Andy Whiteford and Kieran McAnespie.
October
2nd- Saints are reported in toda'y's Sun as being set to
line up a £500,000 bid for ex-Morton and current Leeds
striker Derek Lilley( right). Manager Sandy
Clark watched the player in action for the Leeds reserves last
night.
Looking ahead to Sundays game at Tynecastle, Miguel
Simao, Keith O'Halloran and
Phizzy Scott have all been added to the
squad. Alan Main is expected to keep his
place in goal but Stuart McCluskey is
suspended. Last week's stretcher case Gerry
McMahon has recovered from his injury and is set to play.
For the Jambos, danger-man and diving git Neil McCann seems set
to miss out after picking up an ankle injury in Mallorca.
Congratulations to Stephen Robertson
who was selected for the Scotland U-21 squad today.
October
1st- Saints have had their usual high quota of players called up to
the N Ireland squads. Striker George O'Boyle
is in the full squad with winger Gerry
McMahon on standby. Meanwhile Danny
Griffin (right)has also been called up to the U-21s.
1998 News Archive 1997 News Archive
September 29th- Not much to
report in the papers today. The P.A. is critical of
Alan Main after the weekends fuss. The
remaining tabloids has reported that the
Hilltoon Whore has denied any interest in the Saints keeper.
Meanwhile St. Sandy has declined to be
drawn on the affair, although it will be interesting to see any team
changes next weekend.
On the playing front, Gerry McMahon
looks set for a possible return on sunday as his injury isnt as bad as
feared. Allan Preston,
Gary Bollan and
Nat King Goals also look like
recovering from their knocks. Long-term injury victim
John McQuillan is still set to miss
out which could leave a problem over the right-back slot.
September
28th- There is angry reaction from Saints chariman
Geoff Brown to the comments by keeper
Alan Main (right) in the media about
wanting a move to a bigger club and join his friend
the Hilltoon Whore at Tannadice.
Speaking in the Daily Record Brown "insisted that the player
would cost more than £1 million to replace. He said "Players
who sign contracts should keep their mouths shut. If his contract was good
enough to sign then it's good enough to honour. I wouldn't entertain a bid
for Alan or any of my players. St. Johnstone are not in the market to
sell, we're looking to buy players......Anyway this is all speculation.
There has been no bid. All there has been is a bit of banter between
ourselves and Paul Sturrock". The report goes on to say that "sources
at the club" have indicated that the price tag would have to exceed
the record for a Scottish goalkeeper, which currently stands at £1m
for Andy Gorams move from Hibs to TFOD.
Similar sentiments have also been reported in the Sun and Daily
Mail with the latter's report on the match going into considerable
detail about Alan Main's appearance and
remarks at the press conference. The Courier as usual has sided
more with the tinks but believes a move will be on the cards by the end of
the week with either Andy McLaren or Roger Boli being
offered as a part-exchange, whilst the Sun believes Sieb
Dykstra could be involved.
The Hilltoon Whore himself denied any
move in tonight's Tele but given the lies from that city no-one
believes him.
Personally I think the whole matter stinks. At the very least Main has shown himself to be extremely insensitive to the club and its support. If there is no move then expect either a "I was misquoted" type apology in the papers at the end of the week or else St. Sandy will drop him. Christ knows what the rest of the squad think about him jumping ship. I'd never thought I'd say this but if he's playing in a St. Johnstone jersey next Sunday then I for one will not be cheering him on. - Richard
September
26th-Saints league fixture for next weekend at Tynecastle has been
moved to a 3pm kick-off on Sunday to allow for the Jambos to
recover from drowning their sorrows when they get kicked out of Europe on
Thursday. Tickets priced £16 are on sale at McDiarmid.
On the park things finally went off track with Saints going down
3-1 at home to Judas and his cohorts
with Stuart McCluskey also sent off
for a last-man offence when the Scum got their second from the penalty
spot. Even worse for the home support was the stretchering off of winger
Gerry McMahon (right)with a broken
ankle/leg after a clash with an Arab hacker. With the added delights of
Alan Main mouthing off in the PA
and all but asking Dundee Utd outright to come and get him, and looking
very slow at the first goal it was not a good afternoon for Saints.
11.30pm- Gerry McMahon's
injury is apparently an upper leg muscle one - not a break as first
feared. More controversially, John
Watson reported that Alan Main
gatecrashed the post-match press conference. John says thatMain said "I'm
ambitious and while I will continue to do my best for St Johnstone I would
like a move to a bigger club." Only one person was prepared to ask
the obvious question. "Do you see Dundee United as a bigger club?"
Answer, "Yes I do, I know Paul Sturrock likes me and rates me as a
player." While remaining careful not to link a move to the Arabs with
the furtherance of his embryo Scotland career he went on to imply that a
move east would suit him down to the ground, even stating that United were
able to afford a better class of player (cue examination of the league
tables for the last 18 months!). The whole interview sounded like an
invitation to Luggy to come and get him.
September
25th- John McQuillan seems set
to still miss out on first-team action tomorrow as his shoulder injury
continues to give problems. Also doubtful is John
O'Neill(far right) with a knee injury.
Kid Goals (right) has recovered from
his concussion and trained with the team in a double training
session yesterday. Also on the comeback trail is
Paddy Connolly who played in a bounce
game.
September 23nd- Saints buried
another jinx tonight with a superb long-range effort from recovered injury
victim Nick Dasovic securing a
1-0 gubbing of Celtic, in our first
win over TFOE in the Premier league at Parkhead. Nice ground though.
The win also sees us go 4th in the league and saw a performance of pure
teamwork from the boys.
September 22nd-
Nick Dasovic seems set to miss out on
the trip to Wegieland tomorrow night as he struggles to regain fitness.
John McQuillan is also set to miss out
despite having restarted training. Phizzy
Scott and Paddy Connolly both
played for the U-21 side last night as they went down 1-0 to the Forces of
Darkness.
The ticket allocations for the League Cup semi-final have been announced
with Saints getting 3,500 tickets. Thats less than a quarter of
the capacity of Easter Rd. Tickets, priced £16 will go on
sale early next month.
September
21st- St. Sandy has reported that
the ankle knock to midfielder Nick Dasovic
(right)is not as serious as first thought and the Canadian should be
fit for Wednesdays trip to Wegieland.
There's been no further word on any move for Pat McGinlay -
hopefully it was just Chic Young's overactive imagination.
September 19th- Another
excellent performance saw Saints run out 2-0
winners over Aberdeen to put us 6th in the League and 5 points clear
of bottom club Dundee Utd. Goals from
Sir Nathan of Lowndes and
Gerry McMahon with a spectacular lob
put paid to Inglis and his mutton-molesting mates.
On the transfer front, a report on BBC Radio Scotland tonight linked
Saints with a £400,000 bid for Pat McGinlay of the
HIVBees. IMHO this is a total waste of money but hopefully theres no truth
in it. Meanwhile Alan Main was featured in
several papers including the Daily Mail bemoaning the fact that he
is no longer guaranteed the no. 1 jersey at the club. Commenting on a
possible move elsewhere the keeper said "if they made an offer
I'd have to think it over. Dundee Utd are a bigger club". Now
maybe hes been misquoted but if this is an attempt to put himself in the
marketplace as Dykstras replacement in Tinkland it won't wash well with
the Saints support.
Tickets for the League Cup semi are set to go on sale in early October
priced £16. Saints supporters have been allocated the South
Stand.
September 18th- Team news for
Saturday sees Alan Kernaghan struggling to
make the game against Aberdeen along with John
McQuillan whose shoulder injury looks like keeping him out again.
Paul Kane is available after
suspension.
Paddy Connolly is set to feature in
Monday nights U-21 league match as he tries to get back into first team
contention.
Congratulations to ex-Saintee Colin Miller who has been installed
as St. Sandy's successor at Hamilton.
September
17th- Billy Kirkwood has been
named as the new assistant manager. The ex-Arab (Spit) manager has signed
a 3 year deal and joins Saints without having met
Saint Sandy, following recommendations
from Juteopolis Judas and
Geoff Brown. Kirkwood who also coached
the reserves at Hells Pasture comes from Hull City where as all Retard
readers know he's been helping Mark Hateley get the sack. He has pleaded
homesickness having coached in Hong Kong prior to this but it has to be
said that there are question marks over his appointment especially given
his history with a certain bunch of tinks.
September 16th- Saints squad is
heading back to full fitness with Allan
Preston and Alan Kernaghan have both
shaken off knocks and are expected to be avaiable.
Phizzy Scott has also seen his fitness
improve this week and has impressed Saint
Sandy
Meanwhile Saints are now top of the Scottish Premier U-21 league
following a 2-0 win over Killie with Roddy
Grant getting both goals. On the downside midfielder
Keith O'Halloran went off injured.
September 15th- Saints are set
to be outnumbered at the League Cup semi-final. The game on 3Tuesday 27th
October at Easter Road will have a 16,500 crowd capacity limit. Saints are
expected to be allocated only a third of the tickets.
John McQuillan is taking time
recovering from his shoulder injury. The right-back is still only rated as
"doubtful" for Saturdays local(!) derby with Aberdeen.
September 14th- Ex-Dundee United boss Billy Kirkwood is expected to be named assistant to Saint Sandy this week. The former Arab player and TFOD coach is currently assistant to Mark Hately at Hull City. Expect the traditional Arab and TFOD links to be mentioned in the press.
September 13th- Transfer news in todays papers has Saints once more linked with Derek Lilley although apparently they will face competition from Barnsley and the Arabs for the £500,000-rated hitman.
September
12th- 5.00am NEWS - Team news for Saturday sees
Danny Griffin (right) expected to come
off the bench to replace the injured John
McQuillan at right back. Meanwhile Paul
Kane's position in midfield should be filled by
Phizzy Scottwhilst the ex-Don is
suspended. Andy Whiteford,
Stuart McCluskey and
Miguel Simao have all been drafted into
the squad.
7.00pm - A Nick Dasovic goal
in the first half was cancelled out by a dodgy Pars penalty as Saints
drew 1-1 with Dunfermline. Still it was
a good enough performance. All the other games were draws except at
Tynecastle where Scumdee got their first win of the season leaving
Juteopolis Judas and his henchmen
anchored at the foot of the table.
Tickets for the Celtic match at Parkhead on Sept 23rd go
on sale this Monday from 10-5 priced £15.
Finally congratulations to Kiegan Parker
on his call up to the Scotland U-16 squad.
September 10th- Saints have
drawn another bunch of Auld Reekie HIV gits in the semi-final of the
League Cup and Saint Sandys Crusade takes on the Hearts. TFOD face
Airdrie in the other tie. Matches are to be played on the 25th and 27th
October (with Saints on the Tuesday night). Both games will be live on
STV.
John McQuillan is set to miss the
Dunfermline game this weekend as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Also
set to miss out is Paul Kane who is
due a one-match suspension. Meanwhile reserve keeper
Stephen Robertson is set to be loaned
out to Hamilton to help ease their keeper crisis.
September
8th- 4.00pm NEWS - George
O'Boyle is set to return from suspension for Saints but thats about
the only news. Off the Park, the Juteopolis
Judas has denied planning any moves for Saints players, saying that
he wants to check out his squad first. Whilst his lies are well known now,
if this is the case it will no doubt be around 3 years before he signs an
Albanian 19 year old on trial.
Saints have announced that the prices for the Dunfermline game this
weekend will be £8 for adults and £2 for kids
and OAPs. Hopefully that and some attacking stylish football "the
Clark Way" will get the fans in.
11.00pm-
Panic not it seems like the good days are back again as
Saints destroy HIVBees 4-0 to make the
semi-finals of the League Cup where they will face Rangers, Airdrie or the
winners of the Hearts/Ross Co. tie. Absolutely brilliant performance saw
Saints 3-0 up at half-time with the star being 2-goal hitman
Nathan Lowndes (right).
Elsewhere the P.A. has revealed more from the exit of
Juteopolis Judas. Apparently only a
few of the players received personal phone calls from the Traitor on
Friday. Not amongst thjem were Allan
Preston (heard from a reporter) and Darren
Dods (got it on the Teletext). Geoff
Brown also confirmed in an interview in tonights match programme
that there have been no moves for any of Saints players.
September
7th- 2.00pm NEWS - Sandy
Clark (right)was announced to the world as the new Saints manager at
a press conference by Geoff Brown (far
right). In what was probably the worst kept secret, with the
ex-Hamilton boss having overseen a full-scale practice match and training
session yesterday morning), Clark said "Paul Sturrock will be a
hard act to follow. My long-term aim is to maintain and then improce on
the standards set by Paul but priority now is to reach the semi-finals of
the League Cup". Sandy also said that he would be making "subtle
but stylish changes. I want to win games with flair. I've always advocated
playing attacking and attractive football". Speaking of his new
manager Geoff Brown said that "I
believe that he is a better man than Paul Sturrock". So no sour
grapes there then.
A compensation deal was agreed with Hamilton on Saturday night and the
figure to be paid to the 1st Division club is believed to be around £60,000.
The question of his assistant has still to be resolved. Amongst the
favourites are Miodrag Kirvokapic (his assistant at Accies) and
Craig Levein (currently Cowdenbeath boss but skipper of Hearts
under Clark). Also in the frame are ex-Saints Ray Stewart and Hibs
youth coach Donald Park
Speaking to the Sun newspaper after the training session.
right-back John McQuillan said that
the match was a chance for everybody to go out and impress the new boss. "He's
obviously going to want to bring in his own players in the course of time.
He has worked with a lot of people over the years and I would imagine
he'll be given some money to spend. He sat everyone down and said that if
we worked hard and get on with the job we'll all get on fine.".
Hopefully the shake-up at the club might be enough to extract the
rectal-covered finger for some players, especially now they won't be
guaranteed starting places.
Meanwhile the spectre of Judas still
haunts. Both he and the other traitor
were at McD to say farewell to the players yesterday and according to the
Daily Mail were still trying to give tactical hints for tomorrows
match. Todays papers also have linked Alan
Main with a move to Tinkland.
The new managers first job was watching Saints U-21 side beat Hearts 1-0
at Simpson Park. Kieran McAnespie
scored for Saints. Looking ahead to the cup-tie Saints have several injury
worries. Allan Preston,
Phizzy Scott,
Nick Dasovic,
Legend and Paddy
Connolly are all rated doubtful.
September
6th- 11.00am NEWS - E-Retard has confirmed that Saints
have made an approach to Hamilton for Sandy Clark (right)as their
new manager. Geoff Brown is confident
of installing the ex-Hearts boss within the next 48 hours. If he does move
a compensation fee of around £50,000 will be required.
Both the Sunday Post and News of the World back up the
Clark story with the compensation fee beleieved to be $50-70,000. The NotW
story had Geoff Brown speaking to
Clark on Friday but with the manager still under contract to Hamilton no
official word is forthcoming. However an official announcemnet is expected
to be made on Monday. The 41-year old ex-Hun has previously
managed Partick, Hearts and Hamilton and has a good reputation for
bringing youngsters forward as well as working on a tight budget, two
attributes which will no doubt stand him in good stead at Perth.
The Sunday Post however has the almost unbelievable report that
Judas and his assitant traitor are
going to be at McD today to take a training session ahead of Tuesdays
match. The paper quotes Judas as
saying "I didnt want to let Saints down after arranging the training".
Congratulations on the quote of the season. Saints are to claim
compensation for the Assistant Judas.
Meanwhile
the same article has the Hilltoon Whore
set to make his first raid to buy a Saints player. It is believed a fee of
around £1 million would be involved in buying midfielder
Phizzy Scott (right) to Tannadice. Sorry
but if its that bunch of poaching gits IMHO the fee has just risen to £5
million.
Finally some good news - belated congratulations to ex-Saints player
Callum Davidson who came off the bench
yesterday to make his Scotland debut. Saints are believed to be set to
receive £50,000 for the cap from his current club Blackburn Rovers -
enough to get us a new manager.
September 5th- 5.00am NEWS
- According to the Scotsman, Sturrock (also christened the Hilltoon
Whore by my wife) has signed a 5 year deal with the Arabs. It quotes
Jim McLean as saying that the club had planned to bring back the fans
favourite from the day he left five years ago. "We had an
agreement with St Johnstone when Paul left and they have honoured that
agreement, People outside say we have no business acumen. This shows a wee
bit of foresight on the directors part."
This is bound to fuel anger amongst the Saints support especially as it
has been announced that despite Sturrock having 3 years left on his
contract signed in February there will be no compensation from Tannadice.
Looking forward Geoff Brown, said last
night a formal approach for their first choice - described as a "Scotsman"
in a managerial capacity - would be made this weekend. Aberdeen's Paul
Hegarty and Billy Brown of Hearts are the two names mentioned
but IMHO another Arab at McD is most unwelcome. Other names mentioned on
the Saints mailing list include Sandy Clark, Ian McCall
and Steve Patterson with Kevin Drinkell another choice.
Daily Record has more sensationalist stuff with an interview with
Geoff Brown saying how "gutted
and sickened" he was that Sturrock left. The names mentioned here are
Sandy Clark and Billy Brown with token Wegies Aitken
and Murdo McLeod also included.
It also reveals that John Blackley
will not go to Tannadice until after the cup-tie which implies he will be
in charge of team affairs until then. What this means in terms of
supporter reaction on Tuesday night is hard to tell. Personally I would
kick the Judas bastards arse out now.
1.05PM - On the Balls Stuart Cosgrove just referred to Jim
McLean as a "chisel-faced wee poacher" and came across
as having the same feelings as most of the Saints fans - very let down.
2.30PM - Having checked the papers it seems that the first any of
the Saints players knew about the change of manager was when the media
called them in the afternoon. In the Sun
Paddy Connolly says that Sturrock was
his usual cheerful self on Friday morning and gave no hint at his
departure. Ray Stewart is the latest name to be mentioned. However
a Radio Scotland post-match interview with Sandy Clark had
the Hamilton boss saying that he "would like to move up to a
higher level if possible". Meanwhile the only respected pundit on
the BBC Bob Crampsey reckons Saints could be in relegation trouble
if things aren't sorted out soon.
September
4th- Latest on the signing front is that Senor X the
mysterious Spanish striker played in yesterday's bounce game against Utd
and scored twice. El luggino was set
to speak to Geoff Brown and managing
director Stewart Duff this morning about offering the player a
deal. He is available for nothing under the Bosman ruling which only
leaves personal terms to be agreed. Saints are hopeful that the deal can
be done.
Alan Kernaghan managed to play for some of
the game as well with no reaction.
5.30 NEWS - Dundee Utd have sacked Tommy McLean - reports say
that El luggino has taken over.
6.30
- Luggys departure has been confirmed. Saints chairman
Geoff Brown(right) was quoted on STV's
Scotland Today as saying that the days events had left him "sick"
and that Saints tonight are a club in "limbo". This appears to
be a veiled reference to the way Sturrock left. Sturrock was interviewed
but said nothing about Saints - thats gratitude for you. Geoff Brown has
stated that he is confident of having a successor in place for Tuesday's
League Cup Tie. There is no word on the position of assistant boss
John Blackley
10.30 - John Blackley has
confirmed he is going to Tannadice to join Sturrock. Tommy McLean
is quitting football management according to his big brother. BBC Teletext
quoted Sturrock as saying
"St. Johnstone gave me the chance to nurture the managerial ambitions
but I always wanted to take over the club where I started my footballing
career (given previous interviews to Saints fanzines this is more than
a tad hypocritical). But it's taken a lot of soul-searching for me to
leave. St. Johnstone have a superb set-up and stuck by me through some
very difficult times".
Interviewed outside Arabland on Friday Sportscene tonight Sturrock did
seem emotional when describing his resignation meeting with Geoff Brown.
But its unlikely that will wash with the Perth support.
Even more worrying has to be the statement issued by
Geoff Brown and read out on the
programme. It says
"I am very disappointed because Paul hadn't yet finished the job
he was doing at St. Johnstone. But he came from Tannadice and I had a
gentleman's agreement with Jim McLean to let Paul go" - this last
sentence implies that St. Johnstone have been treated as nothing more than
a training ground by both McLean and Brown for Sturrocks talents. If that
is the case then it does not reflect well on either the chairmen of the
clubs or Sturrock. And if true then it surely asks the question as to why
the hell the Saints support should bother to turn up at weekends if all
they are doing is helping their rivals. Personally it's left a very bitter
taste in my mouth - probably the last thing Saints need when trying to
break in a new manager.
September
2nd- Despite the washout of yesterdays bounce game,
El luggino is hopeful of arranging
another one this week. This will allow Saints to give
Alan Kernaghan (right) some match
practice. The Irish defender was scheduled for half a game yesterday but
another bounce match and next weeks U-21 game should do.
On the transfer front El luggino has
also denied any moves for Scumdee Utd striker Gary McSwegan saying
he had had no contact with the player. However according to the Scotsman
Saints are watching ex-Morton striker Derek Lilley play for Leeds
reserves in Birmingham tonight.
September
1st- Paul Kane has reached the
penalty points mark following his yellow card at Hells Pasture. The
midfielder will miss the home League match against the Pars on September
12th. Hopefully it'll see some better form from the Saints midfield.
More transfer rumours with ITV Teletext reporting that Gary McSwegan
is set to walk out on Dundee Utd with his contract ending this month. Both
Dunfermline and Saints have been linked with the 27-yr old ex-striker.
Meanwhile Miguel Simao was set to play
against Utd in a closed-doors match today prior to flying back to Portugal
to sort his affairs out. Martin Nash has been let go by Saints -
the Canadian internationalist saw his trial period dogged by injury and is
now suffering from 'flu. With the signing of "Miggy" Saints are
covered on the left wing.
Phizzy Scott has had a scan on his foot
injury from Hells Pasture and there are no broken bones.
August 31st- Plenty of transfer
stories and rumours today. The Waily Retard has Saints linked once more
with Barnet striker Sean Devine whose price has apparently dropped
from £500,000 to £350,000. Also linked is Partick kid Martin
Lauchlan who Saints had watched on Saturday.
As for our players, Stephen Robertson
has failed to move to Wigan yet as the English club were unable to arrange
a bounce game for the reserve keeper. However they are still interested
and plan to watch him play for the Saints U-21 side this week. Any
possible move should involve a fee of around £70,000.
August 30th- The Saints players were in for extra training this morning - 'nuff said.
August 29th- Despite the appearance of Saints new signing Miguel Simao who signed this morning there was nothing to prevent Saints being gubbed 4-0 by TFOD in Hells Pasture. In his post-match comments El Luggino talked about the "staleness in the side". Hopefully it means a few heads will roll.
August 28th- The two foreign
trialists who played in a closed doors match against Scumdee yesterday are
apparently Portugues winger Javier Simao and an unnamed Spanish
striker. More info on the 1998-99 Prospects Page.
Red George has only been given a
one-match suspension after being sent off at Dens which means the striker
will be available for the HIVBees cup-tie (which is definitely on
September 8th at 7.45pm). He misses the trip to Hells Pasture tomorrow and
with Paddy Connolly struggling with a
calf strain Saints striking hopes dont seem too great.
Meanwhile Geoff Brown has pledged to
find the Saints fans who improved the lavatorial facilities for males at
Dens last Sunday. Despite claims of the loos having been demolished I
personally can only remember seeing some of the quaint 17th century
pipework having come free of the walls. Anyway the club have said that the
fans will be barred from McDiarmid which given the current size of the
home support seems fairly unlikely.
August
27th- Saints and ex-player Steve Tosh
are the subject of a £50,000 damages claim from Clyde over a tackle
by the current Raith player in a Challenge Cup tie 3 years ago. Despite
the referee not giving a foul both parties will contest the claim at
Airdrie Sherriff Court. If it goes against them Saints part of the damages
will come from insurance.
Another ex-player in the news is Callum
Davidson who has finally been given the call-up to the Scotland
squad by Pa Broon for the Lithuania match on September 5th - nice to see
hes changed that much since leaving Perth. Still the N. Ireland team does
contain some current players. Red George
has been called up for the full squad with Gerry
McMahon on standby. Danny Griffin
will play for the U-21s.
Saints were due to gub Scumdee in a closed-doors match this afternoon.
Finally Xara have got round to flogging the new
strips. They're out this weekend. Anyone wants
to look for me it'll be 69 - Casanova or 3 - Il Biscotti.
August 26th-
Stephen Robertson seems set for a move
to Wigan Athletic if he impresses in a trial this week. Saints are unable
to offer the young keeper the first-team opportunities he needs now that
he is third-choice so a move would benefit both sides.
Saints drew 0-0 at Dunfermline last night in the U-21 SPL Reserve League.
August
25th- El Luggino has said he is
taking no additional action over the sending-off of
Red George on Sunday night saying that
there was "no malicious intent".
Nathan Lowndes was set to play for the
U-21 reserves against the Pars tonight. Meanwile rumoured Saints target
Andy Gray of Leeds is set to join Notts. Forest. for a fee of £200,000.
However Saints are giving a trial to two unnamed players this week.
Congratulations to Roddy Grant (right)who
became a father on Sunday night. All that and beating the Scum?
August
24th- Red George seems set to
land in more hot water after his post-match comments. He's reported in the
Courier as saying "I don't know why I was sent-off. I am in the
dark. He had two bites at me and I was just trying to shield the ball and
feel for him. We got the free kick and I moved away but then the referee
called me back and sent me off and, when I asked him why, he just said 'On
you go'. The boys are telling me though that Adamczuk held his mouth until
the red card came out then let it go and, if he did that, it is very
unprofessional and not the sort of thing you want to see in the game."
. El Luggino has refused to make
any comment until he's seen the TV Pictures. However based on his opinions
last night fists would be a better way of talking to the ref. With the
usual accuracy from the media when Saints play a TV match the
Media Falsehoods has been updated with the
million errors.
Saints Quarter-final tie against HIVBees seems set for August 8th unless
the TV companies choose to make mugs of us. The game seems set to be
all-ticket as well.
Nick Dasovic missed the Dens match with
a back spasm and will require treatment if he's to be fit to face TFOD on
Saturday.
August
23rd- A 60th minute goal from Phizzy
Scott was enough to see Saints gub
Scumdee 1-0 although the match was mired by a red card for
George O'Boyle, after a clash with
Adamczuk (henceforth the Cheat) which sees Saints striker banned for next
weeks trip to TFOD. Todays referee was from Glasgow. Hmm.....
The Hunday Mason reported that Saints were now in the chase for Leeds Utd
Scotland U-21 striker Andy Gray whilst
Stephen Robertson is apparently
involved in talks with Wigan Athletic. More info on the
1998-99 Prospects Page.
August 22nd- With Saints not
playing until tomorrow, the papers main line has been about the mysterious
Norwegian. Apparently hes a Swedish striker Ludwig Ernstsson
currently playing for Norwegian side Kongsvinger. The 26-year old is
highly rated and valued by his club at £500,000 but with them
involved in a relegation battle, the club refuse to release the player. If
you want to see what he looks like check the 1998-99
Prospects Page.
Gerry McMahon will face a fitness test
tomorrow but he is Saints only injury worry. New signing
Nathan Lowndes is set for a place on
the bench.
A new section on the Saints Youngsters
has been added. Its a bit bare at the moment but should fill up as the
season progresses.
August
21st- Saints have announced a £1 million profit for the last
year. Although the majority came from the fee for
Callum Davidson only £1m of that
has been received and as part of his contract the player received 15% of
the total fee (£262,000). In addition, Saints have spent £300,000
on the upgrade to the training pitch at McDairmid with work due to start
in October.
Geoff Brown (right) said that "I
am very happy with the progress the club is making" and stated
that money is available for new players with
El Luggino already targeting a
striker, midfielder and left winger as the main requirements of the side
for this season.
August 20th -Kieran
McAnespie has been told to take 2 weeks off to recharge his
batteries after his summer World Cup Trip. Media
Falsehoods page has been updated with the Scum inaccurate
tale of how Keyring was yet to feature in the first team this season.
Saints have drawn HIVBees at home in the quarter-final of the League Cup
with the game to be played on either the 8th or 9th of September. Typical
- just as we get seeded for a draw we get the worst one. Other ties are
Hearts v Ross County, TFOD v Ayr and Killie v Airdrie.
Gerry McMahon's hamstring injury is
responding to treatment and the player should be able to face Scumdee. On
the signing front the mysterious Norwegian El
Luggino saw last weekend will not be joining Saints since his club
were unwilling to let the still-unnamed player leave before the Norway
season ends in October.
August
19th - Saints finally signed a striker as
Nathan Lowndes(right) put pen to paper
on a move from Watford. He's expected to make his debut in the gubbing of
the Scum on Sunday. One player who will possibly be missing is
Gerry McMahon who went off with a
hamstring injury at Brockville and is rated doubtful.
Mike McCurry one of Wegielands finest has been announced as the
ref for the match on Sunday. Surely he can't be any worse than the other
idiots this season.
August 18th - The glorious cup
run extends to 2 matches as Saints get REVENGE over Falkirk with a
1-0 win courtesy of a 90th minute lob
from Paul Kane.
The rumours continue about Hagar X the Scandanavian (believed to
be Norwegian) striker El Luggino saw
over the weekend. To quote the boss "he's of the standard we require
and we've started talks with his club". Saints are hopeful that a
deal can be completed in time for the player to make his debut in the SKY
match this Sunday. Of course no-one knows the club or the name but no
doubt several media inaccuracies will appear over the next week.
Finally tickets for the Rangers match on the 29th go on sale this Friday
at the club priced £15.
August
17th - Saints and Hibs have agreed a fee believed to be around £140,000
for centre-half Darren Dods with a
percentage of any sell-on in the next 3 years going to help Edinburghs
lower division club. The agreement means that a transfer tribunal is
avoided and given the performances so far this season looks like a bargain
for Saints. In other moves, Saints are believed to have agreed a fee for
Watford striker Nathan Lowndes who could sign in the next few
days.
Courier reports that El Luggino flew
to Scandinavia at the weekend to look at a striker he's had his eye on
with the paper seemingly confident that a deal will be struck. The rest of
the media has indulged in its usual round of Falsehoods
with the Sun, Record and Evening News all hitting the mark
today.
In the wake of the weekend tragedy in Omagh, the N. Ireland FA has called
off this weeks friendly against Malta which means thatGeorge
O'Boyle, Danny Griffin and
Gerry McMahon will all be eligible for
tomorrows League Cup match. It's just a pity that the circumstances
surrounding the postponement weren't so tragic. Saints other doubt for the
match is defender Stuart McCluskey who
has flu.
August 15th - In a fairly
entertaining game in windy conditions Saints
drew 0-0 with Kilmarnock with both
defences looking fairly solid. The result leaves Saints 8th in the League.
Sun today reports that Saints are interested in Junior Mendes
of St. Mirren, however today's Courier has a denial saying that
Saints were interested at one point but that is no longer the case.
August 14th - Sun
reports today that Watford are prepared to let Nathan Lowndes go
for a fee of around £50,000.
On the playing front, Roddy Grant is
still suspended but Paul Kane is set
to return. Phizzy Scott is suffering from
a groin strain and could miss out. Luggy
is heading abroad straight after the match to continue the great striker
hunt.
August
13th -Alan Main could be set to
return to Saints first team on Saturday depending on how he plays in a
friendly tonight. Whilst Saints won't rush into bringing him back from his
shoulder injury, Luggy will make a
decision on Friday night.
August
12th - Another day another failed transfer. Despite a clear medical
the deal for Steve Livingstone is off after the player changed his
mind. However Luggy is still chasing
Watford player Nathan Lowndes.
The N. Ireland FA have rejected Saints request to release
George O'Boyle or
Danny Griffin from international duty
next week.
More disappointment on the silverware hunt as a strong Saints side
featuring several first team regulars lost 2-1 to Forfar in the
Forfarshire Cup final last night. Saints goal from
Gary Bollan (right)was cancelled out by
a penalty after Stuart McCluskey
handled and a gift when Stephen Robertson
misjudged a cross and dropped the ball. Still there was some good news for
Saints fans as Alan Main played the last
25 minutes of the match and up front both Roddy
Grant and David Xausa had good
games.
Alan Kernaghan has restarted light running
as he recovers from his hernia op but is still 3-4 weeks away from match
fitness.
Finally the Temple received some wonderful praise from the "Interactive"
section of the Scotsman today -
obviously they don't bear any grudges after a certain Keevins backlash 2
years ago.
August
11th - Saints cup-tie against F**k**k has been set for next Tuesday
(18th) at 7.30 pm. No word yet on whether the game will be all-ticket.
Saints will be missing George O'Boyle
and Danny Griffin who have been called
up to the N. Ireland squad for the game against Malta on the Wednesday
night. Also a possible absentee is winger Gerry
McMahon who is in the standby squad for the match. Still at least
the LEGEND will be available.
Hopefully this means Saints will sign a striker. Theres little to report
on both targets today. Steve Livingstone had an ankle scan today
but at 5.30 the results were still not known. However, with Grimsby
spending a record £400,000 on Lee Ashcroft today it looks more likely
that they will offload Livvo. As for Nathan Lowndes,
Luggy has confirmed he is interested
in signing the player but will have to wait and see what Watford's asking
price is.
August 10th - Todays Sun
has confirmed a £50,000 move by Saints for Watford trialist
Nathan Lowndes. Meanwhile the long-running saga to sign Grimsby
striker Steve Livingstone has hit a snag with the announcement
that the player has an ankle injury. Saints are awaiting the results of a
scan to see whether there is any longer-term damage - if so the deals off.
In the draw for the 3rd round of the League Cup the Gods decided to shite
on us from a great height as Saints get another revenge draw, this time at
Brockville where they take on media darling Alex Totten and his bairns.
Expect a very trying time if you're a Saintee.
Finally congratulations to the Sun newspaper who rated the Saints fans as
the "BAD" in this weeks footie supplement because we slagged off
George O'Boyle for missing some chances.
Despite the fact that the same page has Georgio listed in their nightmare
team and that statements such as "St Johnstone through and through"
and "most valuable Saints player of the last decade" which give
you a good idea of the verage intelligence of Mr Chris Gilmour the
reporter who wrote the rant. This was the same guy that had
El Luggino in signing talks with
HIVBees when he was watching a game in Inverness. A definite addition to
the Media Falsehoods page.
August
9th - According to todays Sunday Mail
El Luggino is set to make a £70,000
bid for Watfords Nathan Lowndes who impressed in his trial last week.
However keeping to the more traditional side of the media there were 3
(count em) Media Falsehoods in todays News
of the World "Bells" Premier supplement. Nice to see some
things don't change.
August 8th - Goals from
Keith O'Halloran,
Paddy Connolly and
George O'Boyle secure Saints a place in
the 3rd round of the League Cup with a 3-0
win over Stranraer. Other results saw both Scumdee and the
Pars lose to Alloa and Livingston respectively whilst Dundee
Utd were taken to penalties by Stirling.
Steven Livingstone is still not a Saints player with "last
minute" hitches delaying his £200,000 signature. Rumour has it
that his wife is unwilling to make the move to Gods Pasture in Perth.
August 7th - Saints are still
waiting to confirm Livvo's signature but the media seems certain
that the deal goes ahead with the cost now being nearer £200,000. The
player is in Perth in signing talks after returning to Grimsby yesterday
to discuss the deal with his family. If the deal goes ahead he will play
at some point tomorrow.
On the injury front keeper Stephen
Robertson has picked up a severe ankle knock in training. However
first-choice Alan Main goes back into
light training next week with a first team return in 2-3 weeks. Also on
the way back is Father Dougal who could be
set to return in 4 weeks.
Congratulations to ex-Saints star Sergei Baltacha who has taken up
the post of youth coach at Love Street. He still had more talent in his
little finger than a lot of the players at the club today.
August
6th - Latest on the "Livvo" saga is that a fee of
£100,000 has been agreed between Saints and Grimsby and the player
has been in Perth since yesterday having signing talks. If everything can
be settled he is expected to line up in the non-grudge match against
Stranraer on Saturday. Meanwhile another striker has arrived for a trial
with Saints. 21-yr old Nathan Lowndes (right)currently plays for
Watford having moved there from Leeds in 1995. As part of the terms of the
move the player will not play any games for Saints.
Another rumoured signing target is French winger Jean-Francois Peron (
far right) a 32yr old currently with Walsall and also known as "Jeff".
More Details as they happen on the here
Gary Bollan came through a closed-doors
match with Scumdee this week and could be set to play in the Cup this
weekend.
August
5th - Conflicting rumours over Saints new signing target Steve
Livingstone(right).. The Waily Retard reckons the deal is dead
because Grimsby Towns asking price of £600,000 is double what Saints
want to offer. However the Sun reports that the deal is very much on with
the player in Perth discussing personal terms. Confirmation of this on the
Grimsby WWW site and via their
Clubcall which said that a fee had been agreed and the player was in Perth
(Thanks to John Watson for
that information. Of course the Perth rumour mill is well under way with
the latest being that Livingstone will join Saints,
George O'Boyle will move to Arabland as
Robbie Winters joins the Jambos......All this and the seasons less than a
week old !!!
August 4th - Latest name in the
Great Striker Search of 96/97/98/99 is 28-year old Grimsby Town striker
Steve Livingstone. El Luggino
has admitted interest in the player but says that he is one of "several"
he has made enquiries about. More info here.
Meanwhile there is no substance in the rumours surrounding a possible
English move for Stephen Robertson.
On the playing front Paul Kane has
been given a heavy club fine for being an arse at Fir Park. He also is
suspended for Saturday's League Cup Tie. Paddy
Connolly and Phizzy Scott have
shown no after-effects from their game on Saturday and
John McQuillan has shaken off a groin
strain he picked up.
August 3rd - Saints U-16 team lost 3-0 at the weekend to the Chile U-16s in the Edinburgh Youth Tournament but emerged full of praise for their performance and the quality of the youth players in the side and coming through the ranks.
August
2nd - Latest media stories have Saints reserve keeper
Stephen Robertson (right) linked with
a move to Wigan Athletic now home to ex-Saintee Leigh Jenkinson.
August
1st - Oh well another start to the season and still no win. A
narrow 1-0 defeat at Motherwell as the
gets of to a wonderful start, sees Saints continue a dismal run aided and
abetted by the daft red card for Paul Kane
(right) for retaliation (and a heavy fine from Saints to follow) and
the inept refereeing of Alan Freeland(check the latest ratings
here. Still there are some signs that there is
hope - Darren Dods had a good game in the
heart of defence and Paddy Connolly
came on as a sub looking very sharp. Still the problem remains the lack of
goals and El Luggino hinted on Radio
Scotland post-match that moves may be made this week to bring a fresh
face in.
Saints will face Stranraer in a game sure to bring back bad memories next
Saturday in the League Cup after they beat Albion Rovers today. Oh Boy.
July
31st - Saints still have plenty of injury worries ahead of
tomorrows season opener at Fir Park. With only 17 first team players
available the competition for the 11 starting jerseys and 5 slots on the
bench isn't exactly tight. Georgio has
been picked as captain and is about the only certainty in the side.
Phizzy Scott,
Paddy Connolly and
Gary Bollan are all set to play despite
suffering from a lack of match fitness. The defence seems set to consist
of Darren Dods and
Danny Griffin in central defence with
Allan Preston and
John McQuillan occupying the full-back
positions.
El Luggino has decided to give
trialist Martin Nash more time to prove himself worthy of a deal.
The 1998-99 Media Falsehoods page has been
updated as well with BBC's teletext responsibly for todays cock-up.
Finally congratulations to Jim Weir (right)whose
wife gave birth to a baby girl this week.
July 26th - Martin Nash suffered a hamstring pull in yesterday's closed-doors match so a signing now seems more doubtful. Whilst Saints are happy with his skills his fitness is apparently a problem. The match was used to give some of the less fit players a run out and.
July 25th - Saints rounded off their Highland tour with a 2-0 win over Ross County with Georgio scoring 2 late goals. Phizzy Scott managed to play for the entire first half as Saints made it 4 out of 4 on the tour. Nick Dasovic was taken off with an ankle injury but it is not thought to be serious.
July 24th - Latest quotes in the papers today has Saints set to make a firm decison on trialist Martin Nash next week once hes been seen "up against a better quality of opposition" in a closed-doors match set for Monday. Meanwhile El Luggino has a dilemma over midfielder Phizzy Scott with the player still not fully fit but badly suffering from a lack of match practice having only played 21 minutes so far. He may feature in tomorrows tie against Ross County.
July 23rd - Saints kept up their unbeaten tour at Brora last night with a 2 - 0 win with Bollan and Grant getting the goals. Paddy Connollys injury fears are easing with El Luggino saying that the ex-Airdrie players condition had improved considerably in the last 24 hours and that the club were hopeful that he could resume training next week. He has apparently been under the weather for a while and this has been attributed to an abscess in his mouth which has been treated by the dentist. Just as well because The Legend is suspended and Davide Xausa is still injured.
July
22nd - Latest on the injury to Paddy
Connolly is that the problem is a recurrence of his calf strain and
seems set to keep him out of the opening fixtures of the new season.
Bummer said Dougal.
July
21st - Another win for Saints last night as they cruise to a
7 - 1 win over Elgin City in a game
which saw trialist Martin Nash score a 25-yarder. On the down side
however Paddy Connolly was taken off
after 14 minutes with a bad injury.
El Luggino has announced another
change to the captaincy whilst Alan Kernaghan,
Alan Main and Jim
Weir are out injured. Nick Dasovic
and Georgio will share the armband at
the start of the season, although quite how this will work out on the park
remains to be seen.
July 20th- Saints expect to give
Gary Bollan and
Allan Ferguson starting places in the
line-up to face Elgin City tonight. Despite minor knocks both
The Legend and
Gerry McMahon are also expected to
play.
Meanwhile the Courier is raving about Martin Nash with
reports of the Rothes match saying that the player impressed greatly in
the hour he had on the park. El Luggino
is reported as saying that the ex-Stockport County reminded him of "a
young John Robertson". So hes either a diving git or else a fat
winger.
July
19th- More details on the trialist Martin Nash(right) who
played for part of the match against Rothes. Hes a 23-year old Canadian
international midfielder born in Dec 75 and is 5ft 11. He's been freed by
Stockport County. As to whether or not Saints will sign him, we'll have to
wait and see. According to Gary Pantons match report he had a quiet first
half but improved in the second. More details on the
1998-99 prospects page.
Congratulations to the Sunday Mail today for ensuring that their sister
papers lead in the 1998-99 Media Falsehoods
wasn't going to last long.
July
18th- Right, I'm back from my 2-week pre-season liver-pickling
break. A quick summary of the Saints-related news follows.
On the injury front Alan Kernaghan
underwent his hernia op last Friday and is aiming to return to first team
action in September. With other long-term victims
Alan Main and Jim
Weir still missing, this weekends pre-season Highland tour seems set
to see Saints play with Darren Dods and
Danny Griffin in the central defence.
Reports on the games will be added as I get
the scores. The first match against Rothes finished in a
4-0 win for Saints with a strong
first-team line-up including a trialist Nash.
On