Kmcalpin

Excellent comments. Thre's far too much cheating going on in the game, and we're not blameless ourselves. However the SFA ought to be taking an active interest in Armstrong and his manager given that he's been involved in at least two unsavoury and similar incidents this season. Such behaviour has implications for the offended party; their family; and club in terms of loss of earnings and availability. A polite, but stern, letter from the beaks to the Killie Chairman warning him that they're watching Armstrong and McInnes wouldn't go amiss. Will that happen - No. Its also up to the media to call this out - will that happen - No.

This is 95% on Kettlewell and the players, but yes, MW isn't completely blameless. I don't get playing loanee Balcombe in preference to the Ox; and fielding only one striker on Saturday. Yes, our shape is also wrong. All that said, St Mirren, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock sussed out that playing an "industrial or agricultural" midfield would be enough to knock us completely out of our stride. We need to adpat an change PDQ.

I believe so. Prior to yetserday's game, the Official Site reported that he was "being assessed", whereas the BBC said that he was out. Thats all I know. If both he and Balmer are unavailable we either go with a central back two of O'Donnell and Casey or draft in Koutroumbis (???) to the middle as well.

We have to pick a more positive team for next week. Armstong is a target man not an out and out striker. Plange is too lightweight so that leaves us some combination of Watt, Ebiye or Maswhanise behind/beside him. Defence could also be problematic if Gordon is still unwell and Wilson is unavailable. Fingers crossed no more injuries in training this week! As far as I'm concerned, next Saturday is a free hit. The crunch games come after the split (expecting 3 home games).

I would say the next 6 games. MW needs to know the squad and its limitations. Aberdeen helped him do this as are Killie today. I don't think the team we fielded today was our strongest but at least its its letting him see the full squad in action. We can write off next week but really need to pick up a point or two after the split.

Short term pain long term gain.

Andrews can be a bit lightweight in a street brawl. Miller hasn't played well for a few weeks.

Come on St Mirren. You can do it. We still have a good chance of finishing 8th. Today's game was never going to be important. We need to chill out folks.

No Ewan Wilson today. Not expecting anything but you never know.

Killie is pricing this as a category A game. Do we price games against them at Fir Park accordingly?

Thomson is on a 6 month deal. Sparrow's deal is up but Vale's loan will also come to an end.

Thats exactly my take. Maybe the Ox isn"t quite there yet.

I don't disagree, in the main. The problem is that we have quite a few players still under contract for next season. We don't yet know how well MW can wheel and deal. The defence needs to be a priority as its shipping goals. Our midfield set up too has been a major element in that too.

A good post from WellDel on P & B that pretty much sums up my thoughts. "Both Killie and Hearts have a physicality that, based on yesterday, we will not be up to competing with. It's up to Wimmer to come up with a game plan to make us competitive from what we have available, as when it comes down to a battle we're severely lacking. It'll be an even tougher task if Gordon is out following his early departure yesterday. He's no Baresi, but the type of no-nonsense defender you need in these sort of games, because Balmer simply won't do."

So we move on to Rugby Park next week and yet another hard very physical game in prospect on a shocking surface. Both sides suffered heavy defeats yesterday; so which one will pick themselves up. I'd settle for a draw right now.

I won't argue with that. Our defence needs a virtually complete overhaul; our goals against tally makes that crystal clear. That said, we also need to stiffen the defensive midfield - Jordan McGhee maybe?

We should be, but I doubt if we will. Kilmarnock will have taken heart from watching how St Mirren and now Aberdeen physically bullied us. Killie are a hard physical side whereas we have a soft centre. I can't see us taking any/many more points before the split but even at that I think we'll be able to hold onto 8th place. I'm not overly fussed who finishes 11th and 12th so long as its not us. MW publicly aired a few home truths after today's game. We'll see how the players react to that next week.

Great result from Dundee. That maintains our cushion over the bottom two. It also takes pressure off us needing to take anything from the Kilmarnock game, although a point would be most welcome.

Thats pretty much it for me. I didn't quite get all the hype about today's game but a £10 entrance was, for many, a huge attraction and a chance to visit Pittodrie. All today's results went the way I thought they would, and its a game less for St Johnstone to catch up. If Dundee get beaten later, then I'll be happy. We were never going to make top 6 and it we can retain 8th spot before the split I'll be delighted; it'll be tough though. Our line up was limited with only Armstrong being a striker and not a goalscorer at that. Manwhanise, of course wouldn't be fully recovered from his travels. Michael Wimmer will need time to rectify Kettlewell's personnel mistakes as you say, and today's game turned out, in the end, to be an excellent opportunity to assess our weaknesses. Today will be an invaluable lesson for him in his quest to bring in new faces in the summer. Surely defdnce must be a priority? Short term pain long term gain as the saying goes. For me, finishing 10th this season will be job done. Anything better than that is a bonus.

That'll do nicely Callum. The BBC won't be pleased though.

Given Maswhanise's international travels, I doubt if we'll see much of him today.

This should set the alarm bells ringing at SFA HQ, but won't. This is our next generation of talent, so my expectations for the full international side over the next decade are zero.

I agree with most of what you usually say Joe, but not over this. That said, I would not have started Miller for the reasons you state ie. too much at stake. However at some point late on in the game, we could debate the precise time, when it was clear to all and sundry that we weren't going to win or even draw the tie. Miller should have been introduced and given his first cap. Just 5 or 10 minutes. His first chance to play for the full team, play at a Hampden international, get used to the international stage, whatever. The lad could have beee told something along the lines of "The ties lost, just go out and savour the occasion." However that opportunity was missed due to a safety first risk averse manager. Thats one of the reasons we haven't progressed at international level for decades and won't do so for years to come. Our youths are being mismanaged.

Will Manwhanise be fit enough? Surely Steve Seddon must be nearing fitness too.

There would have been no harm whatsoever in bringing on Lennon Miller with a few minutes to go. By that time the tie was well and truly lost. Give him his first cap. That kind of attitude is what is holding our international team back.