More Paisley woe for St Johnstone.
St Mirren’s stadium has become a venue for Perth fans to dread this season.
The hope was that the Saints players would exorcise the ghosts of a 4-0 thrashing there in October but Saturday’s emphatic defeat turned out to be another painful experience.
Courier Sport picks out three talking points from an afternoon that saw Ross County close the second bottom gap to just two points.
Echoes of October
In what would prove to be his last post-match press conference as St Johnstone manager, Steven MacLean didn’t hold back, suggesting some of his players looked like they “chucked it” in defeat to St Mirren.
Four months later, back in Paisley under the charge of a new boss, the C word couldn’t be thrown in anybody’s direction.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t echoes of the October debacle in the weekend performance.
Look back at another of the MacLean quotes.
“You have got to do the basics of football.”
That means being able to make the right decision who to pass to, executing it, making a good first touch as the receiver and reacting quickly if one of the above hasn’t gone to plan.
This was another display pretty much without merit.
St Mirren’s aggressive, high press could have been turned against them with a bit of in-possession quality from the visitors but that never looked like being the case.
As Stephen Robinson observed, Saints “kept still trying to pass the ball and obviously we were able to take it off them on numerous occasions.”
A lot goes into the winning of a game of football but being able to pass and move is a big chunk of it.
The frequency with which that has deserted this team since the winter break is a source of real concern.
Wing-back churn
St Johnstone don’t score many goals.
They’ve now got the lowest total in the league, 17.
That’s one behind Livingston.
Take away goals from set-pieces and you’re into single figures.
Take away goals from set-pieces and Graham Carey wonder strikes and there really aren’t many left at all.
Getting wide players into good crossing positions has long been a problem, which now takes in three managers.
By my maths, this season alone, the total is now 14 for players who have filled a wing-back or full-back role for St Johnstone.
I may even have forgotten about one or two brief cameos in a second half tweak.
And 11 of those 14 have played on the right.
It was Tony Gallacher’s turn there on Saturday.
Wing-back isn’t an issue in terms of the defensive side of the game but creating goals from wide areas remains a fundamental flaw in this team/squad.
Drey Wright’s injury has to go down as one of the most impactive in Saints’ recent history.
Hopefully the same will yet be said about his return.
Meet fire with fire
Neil Warnock started his team talk for Saints’ clash with Aberdeen straight after the Dons’ defeat to Kilmarnock.
“We got bullied.
“I wouldn’t want to watch that every week, but they played to their strengths and you have to match that.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a team that’s been bullied in my time but you can’t put into players what they haven’t got.”
He has thrown down the gauntlet to his players (actually, Barry Robson’s players, which will be a key part of his frustration) ahead of a vital midweek fixture for both teams.
There’s no guarantee the veteran boss will get the physical response he wants, of course.
However, we’ve all seen enough Warnock team-talks on video to be confident this isn’t a double bluff.
It may not last long but Aberdeen will bring fire and Saints will need to be ready to meet it with the same.
Do that and the ingredients are there for an opposition to wilt, a manager to question why on earth he’s there and a home crowd to turn.
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