St Johnstone v Motherwell 07/11/2023

[texanwellfan]

15 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

Poor as our striking options are, we're 6th top scorers in the league. You may want to look at the part our defence is playing in this run. Only Ross County have a worse record there.

Earlier in the season our defence looked very comfortable. Our midfield were playing some lovely football but we couldn’t score. Now our midfield and our defense are posted missing but we are scoring a decent amount of goals. SK needs to figure out a formation, players and tactics where all 3 aspects are working. With the league being so tight a decent run of form and results will catapult any team up the league. 

[texanwellfan]

5 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Just watched the highlights two very good goals from us and Wilkinsons goal being disallowed was a joke his arm by his side, the ball played onto it by the StJ defender never a feckin handball, another VAR shite decision.

Unfortunately, correct call by the VAR team. It’s the rule that is shite!!  

[Stevie73]

Even the manager mentioned all Shaw has to do is lift his head and it’s a tap in, send him back, bring the wee boy Ferrie back he can’t be worse than Shaw.

[texanwellfan]

30 minutes ago, Stevie73 said:

Even the manager mentioned all Shaw has to do is lift his head and it’s a tap in, send him back, bring the wee boy Ferrie back he can’t be worse than Shaw.

Or give the other young lad a run out again…..Lucas? 

[mio]

45 minutes ago, Stevie73 said:

Even the manager mentioned all Shaw has to do is lift his head and it’s a tap in, send him back, bring the wee boy Ferrie back he can’t be worse than Shaw.

I honestly think that every single one of our players, defenders included, that found themselves in shaws position at the end would have squared the ball.

I could have almost forgiven him if he’d have taken the shot on himself, but do try what he did and cut back etc it was beyond explanation. 

[wellup83]

Just watched the highlights. The cross from Gent and the movement of Mika to get in front of the defender for the equaliser was top class. The former has to be nailed on to start at the weekend surely.

[SteelmaninOZ]

1 hour ago, Spiderpig said:

Just watched the highlights two very good goals from us and Wilkinsons goal being disallowed was a joke his arm by his side, the ball played onto it by the StJ defender never a feckin handball, another VAR shite decision.

Correct did VAR miss his appointment with Specsavers?

[mcguru]

Looks like BBC highlights spared those of us who haven't yet seen Shaw's chance at the end. Think they're contractually obliged not to show it.

I tell my 12 year old get your head up and look around, you might just see a team mate with no defender near him.

[SteelmaninOZ]

Nice goal 

 

[bobbybingo]

25 minutes ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Correct did VAR miss his appointment with Specsavers?

The rule's ridiculous but simple - if the ball hits the goalscorer's hand or arm it's disallowed. Accidental doesn't come into it. Wilkinson knew it as soon as he scored.

[bobbybingo]

45 minutes ago, mio said:

I honestly think that every single one of our players, defenders included, that found themselves in shaws position at the end would have squared the ball.

I could have almost forgiven him if he’d have taken the shot on himself, but do try what he did and cut back etc it was beyond explanation. 

I've no idea if he was ever a decent striker - the Killie fans definitely had a laugh when we signed him. He can't possibly be as bad as he's looked but his confidence must be completely shot. Couldn't get a game down south, more than a year since his last goal, missed some great chances here early on and made such an arse of it last night Kettlewell singled him out. I feel kinda sorry for him, but the sooner he's away the better for both parties.

[MJC]

Under the ridiculous laws of the game then a foul has to be given for handball there however I still fail to see how Wilkinson could have done anything to get his hand out of the way.

[grizzlyg]

Just watched highlights (benefit of working from home today,) 🤪🤪

Been huge Casey fan but last few games been very poor and 1st goal he was nowhere.   For disallowed goal it's very harsh but it's probably right decision. If that was at other end of park we would have been claiming a foul.

For equaliser it's a peach of a cross from Gent and class finish from Mika who really is such a vital player for us

[SteelmaninOZ]

3 hours ago, texanwellfan said:

Or give the other young lad a run out again…..Lucas? 

Might need his mate ade to help no? 

[Kmcalpin]

My take on last night's game from a "foggy" McDiarmid Park.

A very strange game last night but we fully deserved the draw. The proverbial game of 2 halves. First half we were dire, but in the second half we played well for about 30 minutes before finishing poorly. We could have won the game in the second half but equally could have lost it before the end. 

We did ourselves no favours though with the starting line up and tactics. Quite why Wilkinson is being played out wide I've no idea. It’s a role for which he’s totally unsuited and I feel sorry for him. He is a penalty box striker with no pace and is a square peg in a round hole. SK obviously didn't learn that lesson from Kilmarnock. Very unlucky to have his goal chalked off. I don’t like the rule but can live with it as long as its being applied consistently, which it isn’t.

In the first half, there was no urgency and we were second to every ball. Biereth suffered from lack of service and there was no link up with Wilkinson. We had no pace and no width and our attacks comprised either long hopeful punts or painfully slow, walking pace progression up the park. To their credit, Saints had pace, width, looked organised and closed us down very quickly. No less than I expected from them. By comparison we looked disorganised and afforded them acres of space. Our midfield and defence were very poor.

Saints had about 3 or 4 efforts on goal and scored with 2 of them. Certainly, the first goal looked as though it was coming. Poor defensive work at the goal itself although the lead up to the corner was 10 times worse. The Saints’ attacker advanced unimpeded to the edge of our box and was allowed a free hit on goal, which deflected off our defender. That said the goal should have been disallowed by VAR as the ball was outside the arc when the kick was taken.

The first 30 minutes of the second half was far better and SK rightly hooked Slattery and brought on Bair, who I thought played well. Unless it was for game management purposes, I simply don’t understand why he didn’t start. However, putting Spittal to LWB was unfathomable. Why? Gent was then introduced and made a difference on the left. His cross for the 2^nd goal was a peach. He’s a double edged sword. A young lad he’s great going forward but poor defending and was easily outmuscled.

After the equaliser, Saints upped a gear and we retreated into a shell. Barring Shaw’s excellent run and bad miss we did virtually nothing else of attacking note and were lucky not to concede a late goal.

An acceptable result at a difficult venue, but huge issues remain. Had we not equalised, then simmering fan anger might really have erupted. Did we just paper over the cracks?            

[joewarkfanclub]

Just seen the highlights and feel sorry for Wilkinson as it was a really cool finish. However, the law is clear, any handball committed in the scoring of a goal is a foul regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Its a shite rule, but it IS the rule so we cant argue it. 

Wilkinson clearly has some ability, but its how we manage to get him in positions to allow him to show it thats the problem.

The same could be said for a few of our players and I think its in this regard that I think criticism of SK is fair.

He signed the players knowing their strengths and weaknesses, I would have hoped he had a formation and tactics in mind before doing so.

Of course injuries and suspensions have hampered a settled team selection, but I hope he he is getting closer to identifying who he can trust and how we want to play.

 

[SteelmaninOZ]

Mika scored a good goal 

 

[mfc]

Lovely goal that second from last night,that should be a big part of our game moving forward,full backs bombing on and getting the ball in as often as possible,it's a mystery why we have stopped that this season giving how effective it was when furlong and johnstone were here.on the early evidence we have a pretty lethal striker in mika and we should be doing everything to play to that strength,I don't rate wilkinson or bair but there more likely to do something if there getting balls crossed in like last night rather than asking them to play 30 yards from goal.

[bobbybingo]

3 hours ago, MJC said:

Under the ridiculous laws of the game then a foul has to be given for handball there however I still fail to see how Wilkinson could have done anything to get his hand out of the way.

Pockets in shorts. It's the future.

[texanwellfan]

2 hours ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Might need his mate ade to help no? 

Grizzly-itis is apparently contagious 

[texanwellfan]

1 hour ago, Kmcalpin said:

My take on last night's game from a "foggy" McDiarmid Park.

A very strange game last night but we fully deserved the draw. The proverbial game of 2 halves. First half we were dire, but in the second half we played well for about 30 minutes before finishing poorly. We could have won the game in the second half but equally could have lost it before the end. 

 

We did ourselves no favours though with the starting line up and tactics. Quite why Wilkinson is being played out wide I've no idea. It’s a role for which he’s totally unsuited and I feel sorry for him. He is a penalty box striker with no pace and is a square peg in a round hole. SK obviously didn't learn that lesson from Kilmarnock. Very unlucky to have his goal chalked off. I don’t like the rule but can live with it as long as its being applied consistently, which it isn’t.

 

In the first half, there was no urgency and we were second to every ball. Biereth suffered from lack of service and there was no link up with Wilkinson. We had no pace and no width and our attacks comprised either long hopeful punts or painfully slow, walking pace progression up the park. To their credit, Saints had pace, width, looked organised and closed us down very quickly. No less than I expected from them. By comparison we looked disorganised and afforded them acres of space. Our midfield and defence were very poor.

 

Saints had about 3 or 4 efforts on goal and scored with 2 of them. Certainly, the first goal looked as though it was coming. Poor defensive work at the goal itself although the lead up to the corner was 10 times worse. The Saints’ attacker advanced unimpeded to the edge of our box and was allowed a free hit on goal, which deflected off our defender. That said the goal should have been disallowed by VAR as the ball was outside the arc when the kick was taken.

 

The first 30 minutes of the second half was far better and SK rightly hooked Slattery and brought on Bair, who I thought played well. Unless it was for game management purposes, I simply don’t understand why he didn’t start. However, putting Spittal to LWB was unfathomable. Why? Gent was then introduced and made a difference on the left. His cross for the 2^nd goal was a peach. He’s a double edged sword. A young lad he’s great going forward but poor defending and was easily outmuscled.

 

After the equaliser, Saints upped a gear and we retreated into a shell. Barring Shaw’s excellent run and bad miss we did virtually nothing else of attacking note and were lucky not to concede a late goal.

 

An acceptable result at a difficult venue, but huge issues remain. Had we not equalised, then simmering fan anger might really have erupted. Did we just paper over the cracks?            

 

While the refs in Scotland are crap, I do think the handball/scorer rule is consistently applied. It’s other handball situations that are totally inconsistent. 

[grizzlyg]

2 hours ago, SteelmaninOZ said:

Might need his mate ade to help no? 

Jeez!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[grizzlyg]

15 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Grizzly-itis is apparently contagious 

And travelling to other side of the world ,🤣🤣

[well_said]

50 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

Pockets in shorts. It's the future.

Stevie wood tried that , it didn't work.

[Kmcalpin]

49 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

While the refs in Scotland are crap, I do think the handball/scorer rule is consistently applied. It’s other handball situations that are totally inconsistent. 

Did Ross County not wrongly benefit from this recently or is my memory failing?