St Mirren v Celtic - Wed 22nd Dec 7.45pm

A lot of huffing and puffing last night but chances were likely to be few and far between especially with the St Mirren tactics. I thought Mikey Johnston started promisingly and hoped he might produce the elusive spark but his finishing was again weak and sod's law most of our chances fell to him. Things livened up a wee bit when Juranovic appeared and his delivery from corners was a big improvement from Abada's "short" efforts.

Really missed Kyogo's movement as hardly anyone else makes forward runs, they tend to pull back into space for a sideways or back pass. Strangely, this was a game when we also missed Turnbull. While I'm not his biggest fan, in a compact, tight game like this, he can often come up with a wonder strike, or even a lucky deflection, but I felt without him, we were a bit shot-shy.

League far from over though and we know Satan's X1 have their share of bottlers should push come to shove in the second half of the season....
 
LondonBhoy said:
It's an absolute mystery, who?why?what? Just can't fathom the reasoning behind this signing..
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Talking of McCarthy? If he gets himself up to speed and the fitness levels required for angeball I'm sure he'll come good it was a bit of a gamble bringing him in but we all know he can play if ( if being the operative word as hes injured so often) he reaches the required levels of fitness it might not be until after the break that we start to see the best of him 🤞🏻
 
bhoy4life said:
6 points behind and we’ve dropped 7 to Livvy and St Mirren alone.
Not for us the the points saving MiB decisions when desperately needed, and thats where it is gonna be exceptionally difficult to overturn even this 6 point gap.
Its obvious we are not the finished article yet, thats the county game we barely scraped thru and then last night.
Possession football is wonderful to watch but with no end product teams just soak it up and boom..another 2 points gone.
How any home fan can pay to watch their team camp on their own 18 yard line is beyond me, away I can maybe understand it a wee bit, but at home, and no even against the league leaders, who are also men short?
Appalling, but as ever, glowing reports for a wonderful performance in the rags.
The destination of this years flag had already been predetermined, the only thing that can stop it is us winning EVERY SINGLE GAME…and I just dont see that happening the rest of the season, we throw in too many performances like last night, and as far Sevco dropping points…well we’ve all seen that we list of recent pen decisions etc….they ain’t gonna be dropping much at all, how many games have we seen this season already involving them, playing like we did or worse last night and still they walk away with the result?
Beaton, Madden and Walsh are on their team sheet every time they ref, whether its a game involving them or us, unless they are called out for the cheats they are, thats enough to stop us….unless we just win win win win win…but I honestly can’t see a run like that till the end of the season.
Its just sad oor game here is just crippled with corruption.
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I cant see us winning every game but I cant see them doing that either and I am optimistic that we will have a far better transfer window than them. Who expected us to take the first trophy of the year at the seasons start? I didn't, 6 pts behind is not insurmountable far from it , whilst its disappointing last nights result I take heart in the fact that for all the points weve dropped they are only 6 in front thanks to a penalty v United or that would be 4. I'm keeping the faith despite my disappointment for where this team further down the road I believe we would be clear at the top looking at the points sevco have dropped . Let's hope that the (alleged) incoming j league players hit the ground running like Kyogo and not forget that Ange has us much further ahead after 1 window than any of us could have hoped for HH ☘
 
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Still remain gutted with the result and preformance from last night as I really didn't see that one coming.
But it did, so usually look for the positive in such a shocking night and can only take the fact of this title race still remains firmly in our own hands still.
We are mainly 6 points behind due to the 7 dropped against anti football teams in how they try to get results against us, so time for us to smarten up against such opposition.
Ange Proved he is human afterall and well capable of making mistakes also and last night we still remained tactically short when plan A wasn't working and making such a grind of the match.
Yes, we did create enough chances to win the game but very few were clear cut gilt edge chances either.
Starting Moffat was a huge gamble and clearly still not ready for a starting role yet, and Johnson is so badly lacking in composure in the final third of the pitch, questions are arising weekly now if he is ever going to find it, last night we needed it and yet again failed to deliver when plenty of opportunity's came his way still.
Yet, I still remain totally baffled at our totally tactical decision, of when bringing josip on finally when clearly struggling, we still didn't opt to put scales or Bitton through the centre to compete for the aireal ball and given abada more of a chance with trying to look for a second ball as it was clear he was never going to win the 1st ball and left with scraps to feed off, could have been the case even if kyogo was playing when up against such teams in how they set up and even harder to find that killer pass on such a surface.
Still remains a option in Scottish football still especially against the set up of opposition like last night, all the while in total domination of a match, and yet we preserve with trying to play our way through a packed defence, limiting our amount of opportunity's to actually score.
We are fast becoming a team that if we don't score early we can get far to predictable, hence easier to defend against. We need to find a better option against these anti football teams as its not the last of seeing such set ups against us this season, and 7 points dropped already to the likes has to be addressed now, as these are the likes of games that will cost us the title as any team who try to play football against us will get beaten as we still remain the best football team in Scotland by a long way still and every team knows it with there anti football tactics against us.
Seriously lacked the extra quality needed last night and hopefully that can be provided in January, but the big man, little man through the center of attack shouldn't be ruled out either against such teams as last night imo.
Happy Christmas to all still
HH
 
My take on McCarthy is that he thought the SPFL would be easier to play in than the EPL
In the EPL, you get more time to control the ball and look for a pass, in the SPFL it's sleeves up, teeth out, and hit and make your mark from the first whistle
It's more physical than he's used to and at his age, he's slowed down (happens to most of us...not me of course)...but most of you will understand 😁
There's a player there, but he's not the Broony type (who i ?) who can take a game by the scruff of it's neck, and change the outcome
KTF
YNWA
 
DILLIGAF said:
My take on McCarthy is that he thought the SPFL would be easier to play in than the EPL
In the EPL, you get more time to control the ball and look for a pass, in the SPFL it's sleeves up, teeth out, and hit and make your mark from the first whistle
It's more physical than he's used to and at his age, he's slowed down (happens to most of us...not me of course)...but most of you will understand 😁
There's a player there, but he's not the Broony type (who i ?) who can take a game by the scruff of it's neck, and change the outcome
KTF
YNWA
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He has still had the ability to thread that reverse pass dill, which he has already done on a couple of occasions already this season and was badly lacking last night.
Never thought he even had that in his locker as such, but overall in how Ange wants to play then macarthy will always struggle overall in that style of football.
Still gives us an option for us in a potential formation change imo, so wouldn't totally rule him out as an asset for us just yet still
 
John nó said:
He has still had the ability to thread that reverse pass dill, which he has already done on a couple of occasions already this season and was badly lacking last night.
Never thought he even had that in his locker as such, but overall in how Ange wants to play then macarthy will always struggle overall in that style of football.
Still gives us an option for us in a potential formation change imo, so wouldn't totally rule him out as an asset for us just yet still
Click to expand...
Fair comment and hopefully you're right about him
He might have that in his locker, but the game up north is more physical on a minute to minute basis and he's not going to get the time needed for threading balls through throughout a game in Scotland
I hope he manages to come good for us, but given his age and injury record I just don't think he'll cut it for us this season
A case of 'Nobody cares what you've done in the past' it's 'What have you done for me lately ?'
We Keep the Faith, and support whoever wears the Hoops

HH
 
John nó said:
Still remain gutted with the result and preformance from last night as I really didn't see that one coming.
But it did, so usually look for the positive in such a shocking night and can only take the fact of this title race still remains firmly in our own hands still.
We are mainly 6 points behind due to the 7 dropped against anti football teams in how they try to get results against us, so time for us to smarten up against such opposition.
Ange Proved he is human afterall and well capable of making mistakes also and last night we still remained tactically short when plan A wasn't working and making such a grind of the match.
Yes, we did create enough chances to win the game but very few were clear cut gilt edge chances either.
Starting Moffat was a huge gamble and clearly still not ready for a starting role yet, and Johnson is so badly lacking in composure in the final third of the pitch, questions are arising weekly now if he is ever going to find it, last night we needed it and yet again failed to deliver when plenty of opportunity's came his way still.
Yet, I still remain totally baffled at our totally tactical decision, of when bringing josip on finally when clearly struggling, we still didn't opt to put scales or Bitton through the centre to compete for the aireal ball and given abada more of a chance with trying to look for a second ball as it was clear he was never going to win the 1st ball and left with scraps to feed off, could have been the case even if kyogo was playing when up against such teams in how they set up and even harder to find that killer pass on such a surface.
Still remains a option in Scottish football still especially against the set up of opposition like last night, all the while in total domination of a match, and yet we preserve with trying to play our way through a packed defence, limiting our amount of opportunity's to actually score.
We are fast becoming a team that if we don't score early we can get far to predictable, hence easier to defend against. We need to find a better option against these anti football teams as its not the last of seeing such set ups against us this season, and 7 points dropped already to the likes has to be addressed now, as these are the likes of games that will cost us the title as any team who try to play football against us will get beaten as we still remain the best football team in Scotland by a long way still and every team knows it with there anti football tactics against us.
Seriously lacked the extra quality needed last night and hopefully that can be provided in January, but the big man, little man through the center of attack shouldn't be ruled out either against such teams as last night imo.
Happy Christmas to all still
HH
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Its scary how bad we look when Kyogos not playing ..look at the two finishes in the cup final ..do we have another forward with that composure and finishing ability ..no we dont.Without Kyogo and Jota we're back to looking fairly average.Roll on January for the new recruits.
 
DILLIGAF said:
Fair comment and hopefully you're right about him
He might have that in his locker, but the game up north is more physical on a minute to minute basis and he's not going to get the time needed for threading balls through throughout a game in Scotland
I hope he manages to come good for us, but given his age and injury record I just don't think he'll cut it for us this season
A case of 'Nobody cares what you've done in the past' it's 'What have you done for me lately ?'
We Keep the Faith, and support whoever wears the Hoops

HH
Click to expand...
That's true dill, but games like last night where the oppersition don't engage with you by standing off you can covering all the spaces available then you look for someone with the ability to find that not so obvious pass, something Turnbull has got as well as a decent shot at goal, so sadly missed last night imo.
Think we could have went with a 334 later in such games as last night where maybe Mccarthy in a central role and calmac left and Rogic right cutting in diagonally from midfield, still allows for the overlapping full back for crosses with the big man, little man to be able to go high and low with balls into the box, and at least calmac, Rogic and abada looking for the 2nd ball would be at least an option than doing nothing like last night.
Still think maccarthy could move the ball a little quicker than Bitton in such games like last night still, even if both wouldn't make the starting line up if everyone was available still imo.
Just hoping that with the winter break coming up, that work can be done upon being able to break these anti football teams still, but before that we still have to overcome another one on Sunday still, and believe that we will have a much better approach to that match to get the vital 3 points still
HH
 
Tony said:
Its scary how bad we look when Kyogos not playing ..look at the two finishes in the cup final ..do we have another forward with that composure and finishing ability ..no we dont.Without Kyogo and Jota we're back to looking fairly average.Roll on January for the new recruits.
Click to expand...
Very true Tony, last nights match was like a training session, attack against defence, and we lacked very badly in tempo and imagination.
Special players like Jota and Kyogo give you that edge out of being able to create something from nothing.
That still doesn't excuse how poorly we set about gaining the 3 points on offer still.
But anyway, we still remain a newish team that still needs to learn upon when these matches come along, and far to regular for my liking, but such is Scottish football.
Still need to be able to turn to a plan B when plan A isn't working and the quality of player unavailable to execute it still imo.
 
Docco said:
See this "Covid hit St Mirren" narrative? Loada pish...4 regulars out

Just saying
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Aye, "Goodwin hails incredible result" was a headline that I saw. I didn't read the article but I imagine it would have had to portray something along the lines of:
A rampant St Mirren went toe-to-toe with Celtic and had the lucky Hoops reeling (in other words, trying to turn their markers) and looking anxiously at the clock long before the final whistle (mindful that they hadn't scored in 70 minutes so might need about another hour). In a tactical masterclass (stolen from Livingston), St Mirren were set up to attack (and attack they could because they knew they wouldn't get booked for attacking the Celtic players so Celtic could count themselves lucky that Alan Power wasn't on the pitch). St Mirren launched waves of attacks (two waves of 5 players which almost got to the halfway line... twice!). There was penalty box action aplenty (as Cameron Carter Vickers passed the ball to Bain, who passed it to Welsh). At one point, Bain had a fortunate escape when caught about ten yards from the halfway line but the St Mirren midfielder's shot went past the post (his own post that is, for another corner to Celtic). At he final whistle, Ange Postecoglou was a relieved man (having not had any other players put out of the game).
 
John nó said:
Still remain gutted with the result and preformance from last night as I really didn't see that one coming.
But it did, so usually look for the positive in such a shocking night and can only take the fact of this title race still remains firmly in our own hands still.
We are mainly 6 points behind due to the 7 dropped against anti football teams in how they try to get results against us, so time for us to smarten up against such opposition.
Ange Proved he is human afterall and well capable of making mistakes also and last night we still remained tactically short when plan A wasn't working and making such a grind of the match.
Yes, we did create enough chances to win the game but very few were clear cut gilt edge chances either.
Starting Moffat was a huge gamble and clearly still not ready for a starting role yet, and Johnson is so badly lacking in composure in the final third of the pitch, questions are arising weekly now if he is ever going to find it, last night we needed it and yet again failed to deliver when plenty of opportunity's came his way still.
Yet, I still remain totally baffled at our totally tactical decision, of when bringing josip on finally when clearly struggling, we still didn't opt to put scales or Bitton through the centre to compete for the aireal ball and given abada more of a chance with trying to look for a second ball as it was clear he was never going to win the 1st ball and left with scraps to feed off, could have been the case even if kyogo was playing when up against such teams in how they set up and even harder to find that killer pass on such a surface.
Still remains a option in Scottish football still especially against the set up of opposition like last night, all the while in total domination of a match, and yet we preserve with trying to play our way through a packed defence, limiting our amount of opportunity's to actually score.
We are fast becoming a team that if we don't score early we can get far to predictable, hence easier to defend against. We need to find a better option against these anti football teams as its not the last of seeing such set ups against us this season, and 7 points dropped already to the likes has to be addressed now, as these are the likes of games that will cost us the title as any team who try to play football against us will get beaten as we still remain the best football team in Scotland by a long way still and every team knows it with there anti football tactics against us.
Seriously lacked the extra quality needed last night and hopefully that can be provided in January, but the big man, little man through the center of attack shouldn't be ruled out either against such teams as last night imo.
Happy Christmas to all still
HH
Click to expand...
(y)👏👏👏
 
Hope this shuts up the " should have picked his best team..like Lennon" brigade

"All of them were unavailable, none of them were rested. I don’t know where that came out. I don’t rest players, if they want a rest they can have a rest when they’re 45. Everyone who wasn’t playing tonight was unavailable. Either suspended or injured so that’s the case.”
Ange Postecoglu
 
Docco said:
Hope this shuts up the " should have picked his best team..like Lennon" brigade

"All of them were unavailable, none of them were rested. I don’t know where that came out. I don’t rest players, if they want a rest they can have a rest when they’re 45. Everyone who wasn’t playing tonight was unavailable. Either suspended or injured so that’s the case.”
Ange Postecoglu
Click to expand...
Think it might have been starting Moffat ahead of josip people might have meant Docco, certainly surprised myself and didn't really work for us either
 
John nó said:
Think it might have been starting Moffat ahead of josip people might have meant Docco, certainly surprised myself and didn't really work for us either
Click to expand...

Moffat is an attacker...Jossip is not...i'd have started him too but hindsight is what it is
 
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