Temple Of Saints - Pathetic

Bells League Division One 15/12/2007

Accies 1 Saints 0 League Table Here

Team : Main, Irvine, Stanic, Craig, McManus, Anderson, Peaso, Quinn, Jackson, Milne, Sheerin
Subs: Cuthbert, Stewart, Moon, Weatherston, McLaren

Hamilton has always been a decent hunting ground for Saints over recent years although of course our last visit there didn't exactly bring back a lot of happy memories. Times have moved on since then and we've got a new manager still trying to find his feet and the adjectives "mixed" and "inconsistent" have been used in polite circles to describe our form in recent weeks - in less polite surroundings the air has turned more a Saints shade of blue. But already we'd beaten the form book to inflict a heavy defeat on Billy Reid's side earlier in the season and there were some vague forlorn hopes that the memories of some of the nightmares in defence from the Morton game last weekend would soon be banished and Del would get his first win as manager. For their part, Accies were looking to get back on track after the humiliation of losing to Ambitious Meadowbank last weekend so it looked like it was going to be a cracking game.

In the end it turned out to be the sort of turgid depressing defeat that makes you wonder why the feck we even bother. If we thought last weekend's debacle was a disaster today was nothing more than the end of the road for some of the side with too many disinterested passengers in the side and nothing like enough fight or hunger to warrant Saints taking anything from the game. Yet again McInnes tactics and formation have to be called into question and if his idea of creative play is the sort of hopeless hoofing up the park we are seeing Saints play from defence week in and week out then perhaps he isn't the man for the job - and if he doesn't want the players to play that way then he better start looking at footing some arses given that the players are obviously ignoring him. Too many of the side are too slow or unable to move with the ball and to continually play high balls on the artificial surface at Accies is just asking for trouble (and no the playing surface can't be used as an excuse). And don't even get me started on the goalkeeping situation.

Going into the match, McInnes again had to reshuffle his side with Kevin Rutkiewicz out after losing the plot last week (aided and abetted by the referee it has to be said). Hardie, James and McCluskey were already ruled out and Andy Lawrie had been suffering from a bug in midweek. But there was still a decent squad to pick from and we'd even managed to pick up some new faces during the week with Liam Craig joining from Falkirk for a month on Thursday night and the ubiquitous trialists hanging round the club during the week as well. Added to that the boost of Savo signing a new contract and Derek McInnes had received a fair bit of praise from the fans during the week - the question being how he was going to set out the side against an Accies side that have had a decent run of form at home this season, and whether or not the criticism deservedly aimed at Alan Main after last weekend was going to lead to any major changes at the back. He decided to line up with Saints starting with a 4-3-3 with McInnes replaced by Craig and Rusty by Jacko starting on the right wing. That meant a call up to the bench for Mooner and McLaren with Lawrie missing out completely. For Accies Simon Mensing started at right-back with another ex-Saintee in Bryn Halliwell practicing his timewasting antics in the home goal.

The opening stages of the game saw Saints start reasonably well and almost created our first chance in the second minute when Rocco sent a good ball through the middle for Savo but the referee decided to blow for a foul against the striker. Two minutes later and Peaso was onto a loose ball - he took one touch before trying a shot that was well held. Saints were enjoying a reasonable amount of pressure but we kept on resorting to the long high ball when it seemed easier to run at the home defence especially when Peaso was having a rare old time taking the piss out of Mensing. We won our first corner a minute later thanks to Peaso and Savo and from Rocco's kick, Savo tried a backwards header that went just over the bar. Main was called into action in the 8th minute to deal with a simple Accies cross but yet again his distribution was woeful with his throw-out going straight to a home player. But the rest of the team covered for him and again we pressed forward.

Irvine tried a decent cross in the 10th minute that was only half-cleared and thanks to some persistent play from Andy Jackson on the right he won the ball back and took it in from the byeline only for his final shot to be held by the keeper. He held the ball and Hamilton broke up the park with a simple break down the right wing. A simple square ball into the middle saw the Saints defence all over the place and McCarthur got into the box and played a low drive which didn't really seem to have any power behind it but had more than enough to beat Main who again was slow to get down to the shot letting it pass under him into the net. Ten bloody minutes gone and we were down already. Almost immediately the heads went down, we lost our shape and the defence decided to have a wee game of silly buggers.

Even when we got the ball forward there wasn't any real movement or creativity in the final third of the box. Our midfield was simply non-existent and too often the workrate of the strikers (Peaso and Savo having good games) was in vain. Not that Hamilton were much better and once they'd taken the lead, they were more than happy to sit back and soak up the pressure. Offiong forced a corner in the 20th minute but that was easily cleared while McCarthy had a decent run a couple of minutes later with another low drive at Main which he took two attempts to hold.

The game did spark into life in the 24th minute on the left wing when Peaso showed a neat turn of pace and then some lovely skill to skin Mensing - he didn't take too kindly too it with a nasty foul on the Saints striker. That earned Mensing a booking while Rocco's freekick was held by Halliwell. Even that was controversial as Savo, quite rightly. stood in front of the keeper to block any quick kickout which Halliwell didn't take too kindly too pleading for the referee to let him take his kick - Savo eventually earning an undeserved warning from Mr Tumilty. Liam Craig had a pretty quiet debut for Saints but did lose the ball on the half hour mark at the edge of his box though luckily the defence cleared the danger. A minute later he was involved at the other end with a long ball from McManus headed across goal by Peaso for Craig to head goalwards only for the keeper to come out and punch the ball clear. Irvine tried another cross in the 34th minute which found Savo but his header was wide of the goal .

Then a minute later, Peaso ran down the touchline into a bodycheck from Mensing which earned the defender another warning. The freekick into the box was sent back by McManus only to be put behind for a corner. That ended up being cleared as far as Peaso who tried a volley that went just over the bar. Two minutes later and the referee was on the end of some criticism from the Saints fans as a Craig run was ended with a nasty tackle from behind by Mensing. The referee awarded the foul but when everyone was expecting a second booking for Mensing nothing happened. The freekick was wasted as well. A minute after that though there was even more controversy when a cross from the left was knocked on. Rocco went to chase it down as did the Accies keeper only for Halliwell to completely over-react when he caught the ball and leapt into Rocco. That earned Rocco a completely soft booking which was harsh given it was a 50-50 ball.

The half was rounded off with another couple of Saints chances. A Goran cross found Jacko who laid the ball off for Savo and he in turn laid it back for Peaso but his volley went over the bar. Then another corner was won by Craig in the final minute but as with so many other ones this season it was completely wasted. While three up front had seemed like a good idea at the start, it was obvious to most of us that we needed to switch things about as the Saints midfield were totally failing to have any sort of impact on the game. Unfortunately Del saw things differently and there were no changes at the break.

In fact it was Accies who made the first change at the start of the second-half with Mensing removed (before he was sent off presumably). It didn't make much difference to Saints though and from the start of the half we seemed to have slowed down and settled for a defeat with little impetus in the side. Both sides were struggling to provide any sort of entertainment for the frozen fans and it wasn't until the 52nd minute that we saw a shot when a simple ball over found Winters in space but he shot wide of the goal. Four minutes later we had our first chance with another long hoof into the box finding Peaso on the left and he did well to turn and flick the ball over into the box but a defender beat Savo to head it behind the goal. Sheerin's corner was wasted, and Accies again broke straight up the park , where Stanic was too slow and caught napping. Graham got in and tried a shot but Main managed to block the effort although the defence was again too slow to cover their keeper. The corner ended up with a foul on Main - just as well given he had missed the ball again.

Saints by this time were looking ragged with no one able to control the ball or take it forward. Too often the first touch was missing or players failed to move on or off the ball and we looked static especially in the midfield where it seemed we were unable to play any through passes along the deck, instead sticking to the tried and trusted (and failed) process of too many dodgy square balls in defence before a hopeful punt up the park where an Accies defender would easily clear the danger. We did come close to scoring once though in the 62nd minute when Rocco released Irvine into space on the right and his deep cross found Savo who powered home a great header. Well it would have been a good goal but Halliwell somehow pulled off a brilliant save to tip the ball onto and over the bar.

Rocco managed one shot from the edge of the box but that was easily held. - otherwise it was the same old story and plenty of Saints fans in a decent-sized travelling support were becoming more and more disillusioned. That seemed even worse in the 70th minute when Wake and Gilhaney replaced Offiong and Graham for Accies final change, especially given the lack of movement in the Saints dugout. Irvine picked up a warning from the referee for his first foul and then after another Saints corner was blown, Accies once more caught us napping when they broke up the park. Stanic mistimed his tackle but luckily for him Irvine was there to clear the danger. That was enough and McInnes finally made a change with McLaren coming on to replace Savo who had arguably been our biggest threat up front. That meant Peaso moving forward along with Jacko.

A minute later and Peaso and Wullie linked to cut the ball back for Craig but his effort went over the bar. Hamilton came back up the park and while they pressed Main was off his line and caught in no mans land as Wake tore into the box. Luckily the defence were back to block the shot on the line before Irvine cleared. There was more trouble ten minutes from the end as Accies kept up the pressure on a lacklustre Saints side. Ando made a good tackle on Wake in the box and then a cross in from the right found Main unable to hold the ball and when it broke to Gilhaney he was lucky the Accies winger sclaffed his shot.

Davie Weatherston finally got a run out for the last eight minutes replacing Stanic but it was too late to make any real impact. Accies in fact came closer to extending their lead with another simple break which ended in a low ball across the goal missed by everyone. Winters picked up a booking for blocking a freekick after Ando had been fouled and Stewart replaced Jacko for the last couple of minutes (Mooner still not that good then eh Del?) but apart from a couple of crosses from Weatherston and Peaso we didn't threaten and barely launched an attack for the closing stages - of such performances are titles lost.

Boos at full-time and thoroughly deserved. I don't think I've felt as pissed off in a long time at a Saints performance that lacked drive, conviction or any sort of team work. Accies played like a team, we didn't. Plenty of individual mistakes and to be honest, the manager has to start looking at how many of these mistakes, tactical plays and lack of pace amongst players are costing us points. It's almost Xmas and we've only won four bloody games in this league - that's simply not good enough. In terms of pluses in the side good performances from Peaso and Savo again who at least showed what hard work was about but MoM for me goes to a midfielder with Rocco practically doing everything himself in the middle of the park.

Get it sorted Saints.

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