{"id":17026,"title":"Connor Roll","description":"A massive week for St Mirren\u2019s season kicked off \u2013 as great tales so rarely do \u2013 in Dundee last Wednesday evening. Stephen Robinson took his Saints side to Dens buoyed by the return of creative fulcrum Connor Ronan to the squad following his suspension. It was the 24-year-old who would prove to be the difference, his dramatic 93rd minute winner - a fine diving header from an inch-perfect Jay Henderson cross \u2013 sending the travelling fans wild and keeping Saints\u2019 top six dream aliveWhile the 1-0 win was far from a classic, the performance was slightly closer to how Robinson has talked of wanting his side to play","content":"

By Andrew Christie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\"\"
A massive week for St Mirren\u2019s season kicked off \u2013 as great tales so rarely do \u2013 in Dundee last Wednesday evening. Stephen Robinson took his Saints side to Dens buoyed by the return of creative fulcrum Connor Ronan to the squad following his suspension.<\/p>

It was the 24-year-old who would prove to be the difference, his dramatic 93rd minute winner - a fine diving header from an inch-perfect Jay Henderson cross \u2013 sending the travelling fans wild and keeping Saints\u2019 top six dream alive.<\/p>

While the 1-0 win was far from a classic, the performance was slightly closer to how Robinson has talked of wanting his side to play. Despite the game being somewhat light on incident, St Mirren kept the ball well and always looked the more likely to claim the points on the night. The midfield pairing of Alan Power and Alex Gogi\u0107 did well to circulate possession and tire the hosts, offering passes through pressure to the more creative elements of the squad. The two managed a combined 13 duels won, 3 interceptions (2 in the opposition half), 11 ball recoveries, 5 clearances as well as 3 successful dribbles and 69 completed passes (9 of those accurate long balls). If the likes of Eamonn Brophy and Jordan Jones (who had a couple of huge chances each) had been that bit more on it on the night, we could have been out of sight long before Ronan\u2019s late goal.<\/p>

The win sees St Mirren sit in ninth place in the Premiership on 36 points, just a solitary point behind Hibs in fourth, with the middle section of the league starting to resemble Mr Burns\u2019 immune system.\"\"
Putting the ridiculousness of the league to the side for one weekend, Saturday saw the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals take priority, with a trip to the capital to face off against Robbie Neilson\u2019s Hearts in front of the BBC Scotland cameras.<\/p>

The game was a thrilling contest, with the phrase \u201cding dong cup tie\u201d being thrown around as liberally as the home fans\u2019 attitude to the bad song book (what can we say, BBC goes out in Govan and The Gorgie Boys were in the mood to impress) as Hearts ran out 4-2 winners.<\/p>

A more even contest than the scoreline may have suggested (50\/50 possession, hiya symmetry fans), neutrals were treated to two teams absolutely going for it in search of their spot in the semi-final.<\/p>

As they did against Dundee midweek, Power and Gogi\u0107 controlled the midfield, dominating central duels and covering gaps, with Hearts\u2019 Peter Haring and Beni Baningime struggling to affect the game for large spells.<\/p>

Where Hearts had us beaten, however, was in our full back areas, with all four Hearts goals coming from crosses into the St Mirren box. Key to this was the movement of Liam Boyce, who was able to attach himself to Richard Tait or Scott Tanser to create 2v1s in the wide areas for Barrie McKay and Ben Woodburn to take advantage of.<\/p>

With Hearts playing like this, far too much was asked defensively of Saints wingers Jordan Jones and Greg Kiltie and the home side were able to carve us open on the break, with Tait repeatedly targeted. Athletic and robust, Tait clearly has the attributes that manager Robinson values in a full back, but this was a game that got away from him defensively.<\/p>

Despite finding ourselves 2-0 down after 29 minutes, Saints battled back gallantly with Eamonn Brophy superbly turning home a Tait cross to half the arrears going into the half time break.<\/p>

The moment of the match, however, came on 62 minutes when Connor Ronan picked up a loose ball 25-yards from goal and fizzed a sensational strike into Craig Gordon\u2019s top corner. The latest in a long line of moments of magic from a player who is truly testing the \u201cdon\u2019t fall in love with loan players\u201d adage.<\/p>

\"\"
With an ever-impressive number of travelling fans willing them on, Saints looked to push forward in search of a winner. However, the addition of Aaron McEneff and some slack defending led to Hearts taking the lead on 67 minutes (McEneff) before doubling it on 85 - Ellis Simms booking Hearts\u2019 place at Hampden a close-range finish.<\/p>

A disappointing end to Saints\u2019 Scottish Cup dream, but one that allows us to focus our full attention on the season\u2019s primary aim: a top-six finish.<\/p>

Looking at the throng of teams between fourth and tenth in the league, some can be seen to be overperforming (Ross County) and some underperforming (Aberdeen); however, our opponents on Saturday - Dundee Utd \u2013 are an example of a team that has very quietly gone about its business, and in boss Tam Courts they have a manager who knows what he wants from his squad and exactly how to get it.<\/p>

Typically lining up in a 352, Courts has instilled in his side the ability to grind out results (only two of their nine wins this season have come from a winning margin of more than a goal) and, while our record against Utd this season has been good (a 0-0 draw in Paisley and a 2-1 away win), they will be coming to the SMISA Stadium in search of a top-six spot that they feel is theirs for the taking.<\/p>

Despite not winning in the league since February 9th, Courts will be galvanised by what he has seen on the park from his side of late. Dogged draws against Hearts, Aberdeen and Rangers in recent weeks have highlighted their ability to shut an opponent down, while playing some attractive football of their own in the process. Chief to this has been Courts\u2019 decision to move full back and ex-Saint Liam Smith to central midfield, where his awareness and ability to pick a pass (as well as a couple of goals) have allowed him to drive Dundee Utd\u2019s play both on and off the ball.\"\"
Our midfield of Power and Gogi\u0107, with Ronan dropping deep, will look to nullify Utd\u2019s midfield threat, taking control of the central areas to allow our wingers (most likely Jones and Kiltie) to do their thing. Jordan Jones in particular will look to the joy Celtic\u2019s Daizen Maeda found himself getting on Monday night in the space between Liam Smith, Keiran Freeman and Calum Butcher on Dundee Utd\u2019s right wing. We will need to see a great deal more discipline from our full backs than we saw against Hearts, in order to tread the tricky line between opening up and attacking an opponent without leaving yourself exposed at the back.<\/p>

Saturday will not be an easy game by any means and with the margins being so fine we will look to any small advantage we can get. A noisy home crowd, an almost full-strength squad and the promise of getting one foot in the top half of the table will be huge.<\/p>

While the making of Stephen Robinson\u2019s time at St Mirren will not be defined by what happens between now and the end of the season (how he rebuilds the squad in the summer will be much more telling), he inherited a St Mirren side with more than enough gas in the tank to get over that line. Saturday\u2019s visit of Dundee Utd is a huge opportunity to begin delivering on that potential<\/p>","urlTitle":"connor-roll","url":"\/blog\/connor-roll\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/connor-roll\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/miseryhunters.co.uk\/blog\/connor-roll\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1647426526,"updatedAt":1647426982,"publishedAt":1647426982,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":106606,"name":"Misery Hunters"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/2dgzuiqxl5ezaaflq1l8c7bxfxk19arzzwpp5mk12vg186jo.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/2dgzuiqxl5ezaaflq1l8c7bxfxk19arzzwpp5mk12vg186jo.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/2dgzuiqxl5ezaaflq1l8c7bxfxk19arzzwpp5mk12vg186jo.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":37185,"title":"The Back Five #7","url":"\/blog\/the-back-five-7\/","urlTitle":"the-back-five-7","division":106606,"description":"Welcome to The Back Five. A weekly rundown of the best St Mirren FC has to offer, with Misery Hunters' writer Andrew Christie","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ftb5lhrarxyjnd0bvwi2nuhpfwrovbw9gx85yvbmbe2h8anb.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ftb5lhrarxyjnd0bvwi2nuhpfwrovbw9gx85yvbmbe2h8anb.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":36954,"title":"The Back Five #6","url":"\/blog\/the-back-five-6\/","urlTitle":"the-back-five-6","division":106606,"description":"Join Misery Hunters main man Andrew Christie on a whirlwind tour of the past seven days in the world of St Mirren Football Club.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/nvtgmzescoao8tfuf7hnrsvriasm56x5h22kxctdvk7bhbsa.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/nvtgmzescoao8tfuf7hnrsvriasm56x5h22kxctdvk7bhbsa.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":42062,"title":"The 2024\/25 Scottish Premiership Shirts, Ranked","url":"\/blog\/kit-ranking-title\/","urlTitle":"kit-ranking-title","division":106606,"description":"Misery Hunters resident football shirt enjoyer, hipster and legend Andrew Christie rates this season's Scottish Premiership kits.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/w2eitv2d9twkniayvttextqligscyxfrnf5ax8r6vqdoq9no.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/w2eitv2d9twkniayvttextqligscyxfrnf5ax8r6vqdoq9no.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}