SteelmaninOZ Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Home win yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The African Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Has to be seen as a "must win" game for Saints. As such, they will be very dangerous opposition. We need to be ready for a battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellfan Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 When was the last time this shower of chicken hearts won a ‘must win’ game? We all know the script here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Not hopeful on this occasion. It'll be a real battle and we're not suited to that kind of game. I have it down as an away win. 3 points would certainly steady our ship though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 What happens in this one will, once again, very much depend on whether Wimmer will be ruthless enough to start wielding the axe on those who havent been performing for him, and give opportunities to others, in some sort of effort to solve the connundrum he has found himself in. We have enough players of sufficient quality in the squad to get the result we need. Im just not convinced he has identified who they are yet. I guess much of that will depend on who is fit enough to play. Having Gordon Kaleta and Seddon available would help. Although, given we had a clean sheet on Saturday he probably wont change the backline. Unfortunately that will limit what we can do in attack. Really hope Im wrong, but I foresee a same again type team selection and a rather dismal performance, scraping out a low scoring draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellHighlander Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Looking at post-split fixtures, this has to be a game where three points are huge as I just don't see us winning at Hearts, Dundee or Ross County, while Killie at home is tough. Like many, however, I would question if enough players have the heart for the battle this game will be. St Johnstone are now in a position where simply put they pretty much have to win every game to even have a hope of getting a play-off. Essentially, they have nothing to lose as for many they are already down. My fear is that we could very well sleep walk into that play-off place if we are not extremely careful. Given the tight nature of the bottom six, every point is a prisoner, while three is massive. We certainly don't want to be going to County needing a result on the final day. A big concern is how many players genuinely care? Many will know that regardless of what transpires they'll be heading for the door when the season ends. I remember speaking to a player of a relegated side a few months after they suffered the drop. He said what killed them was not just the amount of loan players they had, but also the fact some were out of contract and knew they were going. They didn't have the stomach for the fight because they weren't going to be at the club. That, for him, was the biggest failing in them being relegated - a squad of individuals the majority of whom cared only about their situation. I really hope I am wrong and we get ourselves safe as soon as possible, but all the evidence points to it being a very nervy end to a season to forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 3 minutes ago, WellHighlander said: Looking at post-split fixtures, this has to be a game where three points are huge as I just don't see us winning at Hearts, Dundee or Ross County, while Killie at home is tough. Like many, however, I would question if enough players have the heart for the battle this game will be. St Johnstone are now in a position where simply put they pretty much have to win every game to even have a hope of getting a play-off. Essentially, they have nothing to lose as for many they are already down. My fear is that we could very well sleep walk into that play-off place if we are not extremely careful. Given the tight nature of the bottom six, every point is a prisoner, while three is massive. We certainly don't want to be going to County needing a result on the final day. A big concern is how many players genuinely care? Many will know that regardless of what transpires they'll be heading for the door when the season ends. I remember speaking to a player of a relegated side a few months after they suffered the drop. He said what killed them was not just the amount of loan players they had, but also the fact some were out of contract and knew they were going. They didn't have the stomach for the fight because they weren't going to be at the club. That, for him, was the biggest failing in them being relegated - a squad of individuals the majority of whom cared only about their situation. I really hope I am wrong and we get ourselves safe as soon as possible, but all the evidence points to it being a very nervy end to a season to forget. The answer to that would appear to be to play the majority of players who are still under contract and do actually give a shit about the club. Question is, do we have enough quality within that group to get what we need? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Following on from the previous post, if I was picking a team under the remit of contracted players that will get the job done, Id go...... Ox Koutroumbis Gordon Balmer Wilson Miller Halliday Sparrow Slattery Maswanhise Armstrong But given Wimmer is unlikely to move away from a 5 at the back, and Casey isnt likely to be one of those that chuck it he could go........ Ox Balmer Gordon Casey Koutroumbis Wilson Miller Slattery Sparrow Maswanhise Armstrong For me the 4 at the back works much better with the players available..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 If I was picking a 5 at the back though, I wouldnt be restricting myself to players under contract. I think in that system the best we have available really requires Seddon to be fit. Ox Balmer Gordon Casey Kaleta Seddon Miller Halliday Sparrow Slattery Armstrong We should be able to press from the front with that team and switch Paton for Halliday on 60 minutes. Koutroumbis for Kaleta and Wilson for Seddon. Watt for Armstrong. Get the game won early then see it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santheman Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 We all know how St Johnstone will play. High intensity pressing game with nothing to lose as a draw doesn't help them. Up to us to match that intensity. Whether we can is a different matter. If we can't raise our game for this then somethings far wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spit_It_Out Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 2 week break before next game we all know what happens when this shower have a 2 week break it always ends in tears. One thing Simo has brought to St J is a fight and battle metality if we get a draw i shall be very happy. One player i would 100 percent start is Koutroumbis for a guy thats been dicked about since he came to the club he hasnt really done anything wrong when on the pitch. Ox has been passed fit by medical staff for 2 weeks now and still on the bench that in itself is a worry. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 the two big centre halves st johnstone have were excellent against celtic,they won every header and kicked it away at every opportunity.i just hope we're going to use the break before this game to come up with a plan that doesn't involve booting it up the park as soon as we get possession as that definitely won't work here,if we play right into there hands we will lose this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyMax Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 1 hour ago, joewarkfanclub said: If I was picking a 5 at the back though, I wouldnt be restricting myself to players under contract. I think in that system the best we have available really requires Seddon to be fit. Ox Balmer Gordon Casey Kaleta Seddon Miller Halliday Sparrow Slattery Armstrong We should be able to press from the front with that team and switch Paton for Halliday on 60 minutes. Koutroumbis for Kaleta and Wilson for Seddon. Watt for Armstrong. Get the game won early then see it out. Has Kaleta's period on the sidelines made him a competent RWB then ? He was gash before he got injured (apart from about 20 mins early in the season). I keep seeing people saying SOD gets caught on the wrong side of his man a lot. Kaleta used to get caught in the wrong half a lot, not chasing and just wondering back or giving up the chase after a few steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellfan Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 2 hours ago, WellHighlander said: I remember speaking to a player of a relegated side a few months after they suffered the drop. He said what killed them was not just the amount of loan players they had, but also the fact some were out of contract and knew they were going. They didn't have the stomach for the fight because they weren't going to be at the club. That, for him, was the biggest failing in them being relegated - a squad of individuals the majority of whom cared only about their situation. As I said previously, Wimmer will only have himself to blame if he continues to pick the masses of loanees and journeymen acquired by the previous manager. Now is the time to field those with skin in the game and to sideline the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellfan Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 2 hours ago, joewarkfanclub said: Following on from the previous post, if I was picking a team under the remit of contracted players that will get the job done, Id go...... Ox Koutroumbis Gordon Balmer Wilson Miller Halliday Sparrow Slattery Maswanhise Armstrong But given Wimmer is unlikely to move away from a 5 at the back, and Casey isnt likely to be one of those that chuck it he could go........ Ox Balmer Gordon Casey Koutroumbis Wilson Miller Slattery Sparrow Maswanhise Armstrong For me the 4 at the back works much better with the players available..... A back four is a no brainer for this squad. Christ knows why Kettlewell and Wimmer think otherwise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyMax Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 13 minutes ago, wellfan said: A back four is a no brainer for this squad. Christ knows why Kettlewell and Wimmer think otherwise. Genuine question. If the three centre backs can't restrict chances given to the opposition from balls into the box, why is picking two out of the same three to do that very job a 'no brainer' ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellfan Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 22 minutes ago, AllyMax said: Genuine question. If the three centre backs can't restrict chances given to the opposition from balls into the box, why is picking two out of the same three to do that very job a 'no brainer' ? Because we’re persisting with a system that requires proper wingbacks to function effectively, which we do not have. The alternative is, therefore, a flat back 4 with 2 defensive midfielders sitting in front to protect them, and 3 midfielders in front of them to provide some attacking penetration and width to feed the 1 up top. A simple 4-2-3-1 as proposed by @joewarkfanclub above. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzlyg Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 The same loan players and out of contract ones were those that won at ibrox a few games back. On Saturday I didn't see a lack of effort, just a lack of quality. You would think we were already doomed reading a lot of the posts. I ain't saying everything is rosy but win this and it could just about make us safe, for now I am in the glass half full club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellgirl Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 11 hours ago, Spit_It_Out said: 2 week break before next game we all know what happens when this shower have a 2 week break it always ends in tears. One thing Simo has brought to St J is a fight and battle metality if we get a draw i shall be very happy. One player i would 100 percent start is Koutroumbis for a guy thats been dicked about since he came to the club he hasnt really done anything wrong when on the pitch. Ox has been passed fit by medical staff for 2 weeks now and still on the bench that in itself is a worry. St J are still bottom of the table. The fighting mentality counts for squat if you aren't picking up the points. I'm also not going to get into being worried about why Ox is or isn't playing. When he broke his fingers it was said initially that he wouldn't be back until mid April I said on here a couple of weeks ago that I thought Ox should start and I was accused of picking on Balcombe. It's obviously up to Wimmer. Don't think it's always going to be that easy as swapping one for the other but I do think Aston should start next game There were plenty of people saying he was crap before he got injured though 5 hours ago, grizzlyg said: The same loan players and out of contract ones were those that won at ibrox a few games back. On Saturday I didn't see a lack of effort, just a lack of quality. You would think we were already doomed reading a lot of the posts. I ain't saying everything is rosy but win this and it could just about make us safe, for now I am in the glass half full club I get the sense of some fans turning on Wimmer now - I don't get it tbh. I do not believe for one second that the loanees don't care about the club. Would folk have said the same about Biereth or Gent? Don't think so. I might regret saying this. But fuck it. We are staying up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunderwell Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 A couple of people have mentioned the word battle. I think if there's one team that battle doesn't apply to in this league is St Johnstone and I doubt the game will play out that way. Their celtic game victory was backs to the wall but that's a different thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 A draw at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzlyg Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 3 minutes ago, MJC said: A draw at best. From yourself I will take that as a positive 🤪🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davkel Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 Don’t see why anyone would want Kaleta back in the team .. guys attitude stinks .. not interested at all ..spends his whole time pulling down his shorts that far down he cannot run in them ..oh and by the way , he cannot defend to save himself…..no thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewelllfan Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 If we're picking a team of players under contract you'd surley go: Ox SOD Gordon Balmer Koutrombis Sparrow Miller Slattery Wilson Watt Maswanhise Watt's only 1 that's not under contract but he's OOC at end of season and trying to play himself into the shop window and Stam isn't fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted April 15 Report Share Posted April 15 10 hours ago, AllyMax said: Has Kaleta's period on the sidelines made him a competent RWB then ? He was gash before he got injured (apart from about 20 mins early in the season). I keep seeing people saying SOD gets caught on the wrong side of his man a lot. Kaleta used to get caught in the wrong half a lot, not chasing and just wondering back or giving up the chase after a few steps. You need pace and delivery to play wingback in a 5. He has both of those. Defending is less important than in a 4 which is why I didnt pick him in my 4 at the back line up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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