Temple Of Saints - Shite

Scottish Premier League - 14/10/2000

Motherwell 4 Saints 0 League Table Here

Team: Main,Sylla,Blaster,Dods,Kernaghan,Dasovic,Pope,Kane,Connolly, Lovenkrands,Hartley
Subs: Cuthbert,Parker,Evers,Malcolm,Lauchlan

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we left the ground after being torn apart by Hibs. Well that was a world-class performance compared with the amateur shambles on display today. It's been a long time since I've been so disappointed at the attitude of supposedly professional players who should at least have some pride in wearing a Saints shirt.

It wasn't as if Motherwell were that great a side but they were far more tactically aware and willing to attack whilst Saints looked for the most part like 3rd Division amateurs who had never met before and who couldn't care less about the club or the fans. It's hard to even begin to put into words how angry and cheated I feel that after defending the manager and his tactics and the players over recent weeks to see such a totally inept display on the park.

Clark made the changes after the Hibs game with Paddy returning to the side after his spell in the back of beyond known as Ayrshire. He went up front on his own with a 5-man midfield of Tommy and JR on the wings and Kane, Dasovic and McBride in the centre. Great, we finally play 2 wingers but only play a wee striker through the middle - just about sums it all up really. The subs bench saw as many changes with Lauchlan making an appearance alongside new boy Sean Evers.

The game started evenly enough with a close midfield battle developing early and Kane and McBride putting together some nice moves. Unfortunately the lack of strength up front with only Paddy to shield the ball in attack meant that for all the work there was little to show for it.

Worse though was the defence. Both Bollan and MoMo looked missing from the start and it meant that the Motherwell wingers got forward fairly easily with Kernaghan and Dods having to move out from the middle to cover for the absentee full backs. MoMo looked even worse in defence than ever and showed more and more that he's a midfielder not a full back - too often during the first half he was up the park supporting Hartley which meant a long ball to the Motherwell left-wing left him stranded. And as for Bollan he badly needs his arse kicked. For all the good he was last year far, far too often he's missing tackles, being caught out of position or for pace and as an attacking force his apparently unwillingness to pass to Tommy means that the whole left side is ineffective in attack.

Anyway back to the game and Main made an excellent save after 10 minutes from a McCulloch header although with the Well player totally unmarked it was more than a bit worrying. At the other end Kane saw a long-range effort go just wide, whilst Kernaghan was called into action to block a Spencer shot after MoMo was caught out of position.

The same move was repeated on the 20 minute mark as Well broke down their left. MoMo did excellent in getting back and putting a tackle in at the edge of the box only to see the ball go square and Dods to put into the net for an own goal. Five minutes later and we were 2 behind when a seemingly harmless corner saw a scuffle in the box, Main left flat out and the ball in the net. I didn't see what happened so I'm not going to lay the blame on anyone but Main spent 5 minutes or so receiving treatment and even collapsed a few minutes later before deciding to play on. He should have quit then.

By now the Saints defence was non-existent with the full backs less than useless and the centre-halves being caught out of position covering for them. The good old long ball tactic was being adopted which with Paddy up front meant that we were going nowhere fast. In fact Paddy just proved that no matter how well he's been playing in the first Division he's just not cut out for the SPL.

Just before half-time Saints afternoon was summed up nicely. A free-kick on the edge of the box saw McBride try and square the ball to Kane. Motherwell cut out the all too obvious pass and break up the park. They didn't score but it was getting painful.

Half-time saw McBride and Tommy taken off and replaced by Kiegan (yippee another striker) and new boy Sean Evers. I'm reserving judgement on Evers until I've seen him play in a team performance but he didn't look any worse than Pope.

In fact Saints looked a bit more up for it when the 2nd half started - poor refereeing from Toner didn't help but we were just as bad. Evers had a shot just wide and just before that Kiegan on the right wing proved he was willing to play for the jersey with a lovely run and shot just over.

At the other end poor defending saw Main forced into a reaction save. Unfortunately the resulting corner saw the keeper and defence missing, a Well free header and Saints 3 behind - and there was still half an hour to go.

Ten minutes later though and it got embarrassing - a seemingly harmless long ball saw Kernaghan fluff it. It broke to the edge of the box where the oncoming Main was skinned by Elliot leaving a straightforward shot into the net.

Even when we did get the breaks some shall we say "enthusiastic" defending from Motherwell ensured we wouldn't get forward. Kemble was more enthusiastic than most though and a last-man attempted murder on Kiegan saw him get his 2nd yellow and subsequent red.

By now though Saints were past caring - the body language and attitude just stank. Bollan got caught in possession when he wasn't giving the ball away and apart from a MoMo shot the only other efforts came from free kicks - Kane had the best effort which was well saved by Woods. Lauchlan came on for Hartley but it was more to give him a run out than anything else. With two minutes to go Dasovic missed a sitter in front of goal - summed it up really.

It's hard to get over just how dispiriting this was to the away fans. There wasn't even any signs that the club are progressing and that is more worrying than anything else. As for the sexy 2-winger style of football that the manager promised in the summer - well that's just another way that the fans have been cheated this season.

I've defended Sandy Clark in the past but based on today's shambles of a team he's lost the confidence of the players and supporters. I think we can officially call this a crisis now.

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