{"id":14868,"title":"Should Auld (Firm) Acquaintance Be Forgot","description":"Like spending time with your family over the festive period, St Mirren faced off against Celtic and Rangers either side of Christmas out of anger-soaked obligation rather than desire. A covid ravaged camp (and the SPF\u2019s decision to reject the club\u2019s postponement request) meant that Jim Goodwin was without the majority of his squad for Wednesday\u2019s Celtic clash, calling on the Youth Academy to fill the void of the eleven isolating first team players. With Dylan Reid (2005) Jay Henderson (2002) and Kieran Offord (2004) starting, and a further six academy players making up the bench, many fans were anticipating a long night for the home side","content":"

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

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<\/p>

Like spending time with your family over the festive period, St Mirren faced off against Celtic and Rangers either side of Christmas out of anger-soaked obligation rather than desire.<\/p>

A covid ravaged camp (and the SPF\u2019s decision to reject the club\u2019s postponement request) meant that Jim Goodwin was without the majority of his squad for Wednesday\u2019s Celtic clash, calling on the Youth Academy to fill the void of the eleven isolating first team players. With Dylan Reid (2005) Jay Henderson (2002) and Kieran Offord (2004) starting, and a further six academy players making up the bench, many fans were anticipating a long night for the home side.<\/p>

The subsequent 0-0 draw, however, was one of the most disciplined, organised and downright impressive performances we\u2019ve seen from St Mirren in seasons.\"\"\"\"
The stats (via Fotmob) may conjure notions of \u201canti-football\u201d, tweets decrying \u201chammer-throwers\u201d and buses being parked. Frankly though, you use the tools available to you, even if some of Jim Goodwin\u2019s tools on Wednesday night weren\u2019t born for three out of the four Matrix films.\"\"
In the freezing Paisley rain, St Mirren\u2019s defence (marshalled expertly by captain Joe Shaughnessy) did a monumental job of nullifying Celtic\u2019s threat. Operating in two defensive banks, Saints frustrated both Celtic and the onlooking Ange Postecoglou. The visitor\u2019s 30 attempted shots versus their xG of 1.64 paints a picture of a side severely lacking in creativity without the absent Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota and David Turnbull. Despite not having trained in a week - and with some of the squad meeting for the first time before kick-off \u2013 St Mirren showed incredible mental fortitude and concentration to limit Celtic\u2019s space to operate. By dropping RWB Matt Millar and LWB Scott Tanser deeper than usual and effectively turning the back three into a back five, central trio Shaughnessy, Charles Dunne and Marcus Fraser were able to tighten up into a more compact unit (as illustrated by the below heatmap of the JG, CD and MF, courtesy of whoscored.com) to deny Celtic the opening they so sorely craved.\"\"
Whether attempting to unlock Saints through the middle, or out wide through Mikey Johnstone and Josip Juranovi\u0107 (Celtic averaged nearly 2 attempted crosses per minute across the game) Saints were able to deal with everything Celtic threw at them. On the occasions the ball did find its way through the sea of red shirts, stand-in goalkeeper Dean Lyness was more than a match, winning one of the most hard-fought clean sheets of his Saints career. Under the circumstances, the point gained can be viewed alongside any victory this season.<\/p>

An endlessly pleasing night for club and fans alike \u2013 rounded off fittingly by Dylan Reid\u2019s mother having to accept the not-yet-legally-allowed-to-drink midfielder\u2019s MOTM champagne on his behalf.<\/p>

Brilliant.<\/p>

However, with the quick-fire nature of the December fixtures allowing no time to dwell, minds quickly turned towards the club\u2019s Boxing Day tie with Rangers.\"\"
Despite being able to name an almost full-strength team, Saints had been able to train only once in the lead up to the game, and with the majority of players only just having returned from isolation, squad preparation was virtually non-existent. The result was a rather perfunctory 2-0 win for the home side.<\/p>

Saints once again lined up ultra-defensively \u2013 however, where Celtic failed to deal with the low block Giovanni van Bronckhorst\u2019s men found reward.<\/p>

Note the similarity in the average positions of the Rangers side we faced on Boxing Day when compared to the Celtic side from Wednesday evening, in particular the high positioning of the centre backs (Rangers #3 and #6, Celtic #20 and #57 in the graphics).\"\"\"\"
Rangers\u2019 pairing of Connor Goldson and Calvin Bassey were able to more effectively maintain pressure on the opposition, circulate possession and build moves from the back. With Ryan Kent and Scott Wright constantly looking to collect and run at Saints\u2019 defence, and wing backs Borna Bari\u0161i\u0107 and James Tavernier\u2019s crossing ability a constant threat, Goodwin\u2019s men were up against it from the word go. Wright in particular impressed on the right of Rangers\u2019 front three \u2013 his endevour and eagerness to get to the byline and stretch our defence a real feature of his side\u2019s game on the day. It was the former Aberdeen man who opened the scoring on thirteen minutes, nodding home after taking advantage of some slack set piece defending by Saints (oh, hiya old friend). Just twelve minutes later, the game was ended as a contest when Alfredo Morelos lashed home his own rebounded effort into an empty net.<\/p>

The major difference between the two games, in my mind, was the drop in concentration levels. The tactical organisation on show against Celtic on Wednesday simply was not there at Ibrox. Obviously, the performance should be accompanied by a rather sizeable Lateral Flow Test-shaped asterisk, but the manner in which we conceded to Rangers on Sunday was once again frustrating to watch.<\/p>

There were a couple of bright sparks in the game \u2013 Alan Power once again impressing and young Jay Henderson exhibiting the type of fearlessness and drive that has had many shouting for a more regular starting position for the 20-year-old.<\/p>

Ultimately, it was a game to chalk up to \u201ccovid\u2026 Ibrox\u2026 shrug\u2026\u201d and look towards the now rescheduled January break.<\/p>

So, there we have it: we end 2021 ninth in the table, five points above bottom placed St Johnstone, and winless in eleven league games. It is not hyperbole to say that January will be a massive month for us. With Goodwin previously outlining his desire to trim the squad, I\u2019d wager we can expect a fair amount of business being done in the coming weeks.<\/p>

\"\"
With a more detailed look at what that business may look like being written AS YOU READ THIS, WOW, there is nothing else left to now but to wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year, and to say a sincere, heartfelt and not-at-all-uncomfortable thank you for reading my words here.<\/p>

See you in 2022<\/p>","urlTitle":"should-auld-firm-acquaintance-be-forgot","url":"\/blog\/should-auld-firm-acquaintance-be-forgot\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/should-auld-firm-acquaintance-be-forgot\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/miseryhunters.co.uk\/blog\/should-auld-firm-acquaintance-be-forgot\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1640689397,"updatedAt":1640690169,"publishedAt":1640690169,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":106606,"name":"Misery Hunters"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/eda6pn3ucts5aeoqdan2cd37ekvtcszdu28qlyotgdkzyfcd.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/eda6pn3ucts5aeoqdan2cd37ekvtcszdu28qlyotgdkzyfcd.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/eda6pn3ucts5aeoqdan2cd37ekvtcszdu28qlyotgdkzyfcd.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":37338,"title":"The Back Five #8","url":"\/blog\/the-back-five-8\/","urlTitle":"the-back-five-8","division":106606,"description":"Misery Hunter's writer Andrew Christie casts a sideways look over the past seven days of St Mirren FC.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/trbqlmczribfrmz80djvzcyeopdmmr4tzvcvvto2b7brvt3x.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/trbqlmczribfrmz80djvzcyeopdmmr4tzvcvvto2b7brvt3x.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":19382,"title":"Ethan Erhahon: The Key to Unlocking Stephen Robinson\u2019s St Mirren","url":"\/blog\/ethan-erhahon-the-key-to-unlocking-stephen-robinsons-st-mirren\/","urlTitle":"ethan-erhahon-the-key-to-unlocking-stephen-robinsons-st-mirren","division":106606,"description":"After an underwhelming ninth-placed finish last season, St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson is in the midst of a huge overhaul in Paisley. With the League Cup (a tournament we kicked off with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Arbroath) essentially replacing pre-season there is no time to waste in laying the groundwork for potential improvement. One area of the summer rebuild is a midfield that has recently lost fan favourites Jamie McGrath, Alex Gogi\u0107 and Connor \u201cDon\u2019t Fall In Love With Loan Players\u201d Ronan","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/iofk9qpz4xditgrdrixsljaoqda8v65r2u6znvwj2ci1qpmd.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/iofk9qpz4xditgrdrixsljaoqda8v65r2u6znvwj2ci1qpmd.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":19357,"title":"(Re)Taking a Stand","url":"\/blog\/re-taking-a-stand\/","urlTitle":"re-taking-a-stand","division":106606,"description":"Money. Depending on who you ask, it\u2019s either the root of all evil , what makes the world go round, or the surname of the greatest goalkeeper that South Ayrshire has ever produced. It\u2019s probably all three","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/7l9aoxqmdlktw6ovekyziv15j0jid754jt9ywuawmdyismwo.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/7l9aoxqmdlktw6ovekyziv15j0jid754jt9ywuawmdyismwo.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}