{"id":14511,"title":"You\u2019re A Mean One, Mr Cinch","description":"St Mirren Football Club \u2013 whit we like?In our most recent \u201cnot necessarily must-win but also kind of\u201d game came in the form of a trip to rainy, blustery Pittodrie where Stephen Glass\u2019 Aberdeen looked to put right their own stuttering Premiership campaign. While the eventual 4-1 win for the home side may have looked a more one-sided affair than the game as a whole actually delivered \u2013 it was another frustrating low point in a season that has been far from short of them. In what has become a bit of a recurring piece of commentary in recent times, Saints could have taken the lead but for a lack of clinical finishing in front of goal","content":"

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By Andrew Christie (written prior to last nights match & the sacking of Jack Ross)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

St Mirren Football Club \u2013 whit we like?<\/p>

In our most recent \u201cnot necessarily must-win but also kind of\u201d game came in the form of a trip to rainy, blustery Pittodrie where Stephen Glass\u2019 Aberdeen looked to put right their own stuttering Premiership campaign.<\/p>

While the eventual 4-1 win for the home side may have looked a more one-sided affair than the game as a whole actually delivered \u2013 it was another frustrating low point in a season that has been far from short of them.<\/p>

In what has become a bit of a recurring piece of commentary in recent times, Saints could have taken the lead but for a lack of clinical finishing in front of goal. With barely two minutes on the clock, Eamonn Brophy is played through by a superb, slotted pass by Joe Shaughnessy. Attempting to fire through the advancing Dons keeper when a dinked shot may have been the better option - Brophy saw his shot deflected past the post.<\/p>

The game remained goalless for all of three more minutes before an Aberdeen free kick saw Marley Watkins afforded the freedom of the North East to try not one, but two unchallenged attempts on goal \u2013 finding the back of the net with his second.<\/p>

Less than 180 seconds later, the lower-case trials turned to capital T Tribulations as Christian Ramirez slotted home from a deflected Jay Emmanuel-Thomas ball, with the entire St Mirren team waiting for an offside flag that would (rightfully) never come.<\/p>

With the game now threatening to get away from Saints, it was now imperative to get a foothold back on proceedings. What followed was an impressive period of football from the visitors. After a hamstring injury forced Eamonn Brophy off after half an hour, his replacement Curtis Main led the line admirably. Saints harried and pressed Aberdeen well at times, with a total of 7 ball recoveries in Aberdeen\u2019s final third across the 90 minutes.<\/p>

One element of St Mirren\u2019s game this season has been the high positioning of the wing backs. If we look at RWB Matt Millar and LWB Scott Tanser\u2019s heat maps from Saturday (data from WhoScored), we can see that this is very much a trend that continued in Pittodrie.<\/p>

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While this style of football has been effective for us in the past, it requires a vast amount more discipline than we are currently showing, particularly in the defence (we\u2019ll get back to yous guys later) and holding midfield areas. Goalkeeper Jak Alnwick\u2019s distribution on the day (hampered by conditions) was poor, with only 10 of his attempted 25 long passes finding their man. This leads to our lines stretching, and without a proactive defensive unit, the opposition are \u2013 as Aberdeen frequently were - able to carve open the space vacated by pushing our wing-backs high.<\/p>

However, in true \u201ca broken clock is right twice a day, you idiot\u201d<\/em> style, it was Saints\u2019 wing-backs who combined on 42 minutes to half the deficit; Scott Tanser neatly firing a Matt Millar cross past a helpless Joe Lewis in the Aberdeen goal.<\/p>

With St Mirren now just a goal behind, the door was open for Goodwin\u2019s men to try and fight their way back into the ga- aw naw wait it\u2019s 3-1.<\/p>

No sooner could you tweet \u201ccomeback\u2019s on, baby\u201d Aberdeen were once again two goals to the good thanks to Marley Watkins\u2019 second of the afternoon. It was a goal that laid bare the deficiencies of the back three in the current system.<\/p>

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Following Aberdeen\u2019s second goal, Joe Shaughnessy was moved to the left side of the three in an attempt to nullify the physical threat of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. This decision was sound in theory, but Aberdeen\u2019s third exposed the frailties in its practice. As Ryan Hedges advances, Shaughnessy is dragged into the middle, and Marcus Fraser caught in two minds as to who he should be covering. With Charles Dunne slow to react, and Alan Power unable to help his defence, Watkins is free to fire home his second of the afternoon.<\/p>

At half time there was a feeling that the game had goals in it. One of those contests that we knew would either finish 4-1 or 5-5.<\/p>

Haha, you\u2019ll never guess which one happened?<\/p>

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<\/p>

With Aberdeen resolute in protecting their lead, the opening phases of the second period huffed and puffed somewhat - and as Christian Ramirez\u2019 placed his second goal of the day into Saints\u2019 empty net on 71 minutes, our fate was sealed. The game then became an exercise in damage limitation, as the afternoon drew to a disappointing close.<\/p>

So here we sit - eighth in the league, six points off bottom placed Ross County (who along with everyone else below us, have at least a game in hand).<\/p>

The question that now looms large: what next?<\/p>

After the initial task of me somehow turning \u201cI dunno man\u2026 I dunno\u201d into a couple of hundred words, we welcome Hibs to the SMISA Stadium \u2013 with Jack Ross\u2019 side currently sitting in seventh in the table on 19 points (with two games in hand \u2013 one of them being a trip to Livingston on Wednesday night).<\/p>

The Hibees have won only three league games since the start of September, and both sides will look to Saturday as an opportunity to remedy recent malaise in form.<\/p>

The Edinburgh outfit are actually fairly similar to us in a lot of ways, with phrases like \u201cindividual mistakes\u201d \u201cno service to strikers\u201d \u201cgood performance but\u2026\u201d and \u201cfuck off Jack Ross\u201d ringing around the respective echo chambers.<\/p>

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We are similar in the way we set up too, with Hibs also favouring width and possession. In recent times they have focused much of their play down the right through attacking talisman Martin Boyle. This season has seen a downturn in this trend, with only 46% of their play being focused down that wing.<\/p>

In Hibs\u2019 last two games (a 1-0 loss to Rangers and a 1-1 draw with Motherwell) Ross has set his side up in a 3412 formation, with Boyle partnering Kevin Nisbet up top.<\/p>

In both of these games, service to the Hibs frontman was an issue. In the draw with Motherwell, for example, Boyle notched a single shot (off target), and completed two of five attempted dribbles.<\/p>

Without the strikers\u2019 movement, Hibs\u2019 midfield felt somewhat hobbled, and unable to really create for their front line. If our defence commit to placing Saturday\u2019s performance at Pittodrie firmly in the rear-view and takes heed of this, we could effectively limit Hibs\u2019 attacking threat.<\/p>

One positive to take from Saints\u2019 defeat in Pittodrie was the reintroduction of Ethan Erhahon off the bench. As far as I\u2019m concerned, the 20-year-old is a must-start on Saturday. With the impressive Joe Newell, Scott Allan and recent starter Josh Campbell in the squad, Hibs are not without creative outlets. With Erhahon and Alan Power in Saints\u2019 engine room, the team has what it takes to silence Hibs.<\/p>

Hibs have had similar issues to us defensively too, a back three frequently let down by poor positioning and individual errors. At Easter Road on Saturday, Motherwell\u2019s front line of Tony Watt, Dean Cornelius and Kevin van Veen gave them a torrid time; Hibs frequently unable to deal with their darting, fluid movement.<\/p>

As Eamonn Brophy looks set to face a potentially lengthy layoff (Goodwin was quoted on Sunday as saying he could be without his striker until mid-late January) it gives us an opportunity to play around with the forward options (whether Curtis Main, Kristian Dennis, Lee Erwin or a combination thereof) in an attempt to take advantage of any defensive deficiencies in Hibs ranks.<\/p>

Whichever way you look at it, eight games without a win is not good enough. Admittedly compounded by best-left-for-another-day off the field issues \u2013 the feeling around the club at the moment is one of frustration and exasperation, frequently threatening to boil over into anger. The next three fixtures see us face last year\u2019s Premiership top three in Hibs, Celtic and Rangers. To claim anything from these three games would give Jim Goodwin a good foothold in his attempt to steady a season that is threatening to get away from us. The squad remains good enough to do so, of that there is little doubt. It is turning the potential into reality that will be the making of the team over the next few months.<\/p>","urlTitle":"youre-a-mean-one-mr-cinch","url":"\/blog\/youre-a-mean-one-mr-cinch\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/youre-a-mean-one-mr-cinch\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/miseryhunters.co.uk\/blog\/youre-a-mean-one-mr-cinch\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1639044908,"updatedAt":1639045703,"publishedAt":1639045703,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":106606,"name":"Misery Hunters"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pla6otz0csg3vx6jmrvzf9hc93xnq6azwoxiieoktilar999.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pla6otz0csg3vx6jmrvzf9hc93xnq6azwoxiieoktilar999.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pla6otz0csg3vx6jmrvzf9hc93xnq6azwoxiieoktilar999.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":20857,"title":"The Many Saints of Nae Luck","url":"\/blog\/the-many-saints-of-nae-luck\/","urlTitle":"the-many-saints-of-nae-luck","division":106606,"description":"St Mirren\u2019s run of three consecutive wins met St Johnstone\u2019s run of three consecutive losses on Saturday. Mix that in with a bit of general bad Perth vibes and Callum Davidson\u2019s side\u2019s 3-0 win was a result that was met with a widespread \u201caye that sounds about right\u201d.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/6sssv11z9ljscfqjbdqi68uanjs5kqfhybuqswtdlfyze5mp.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/6sssv11z9ljscfqjbdqi68uanjs5kqfhybuqswtdlfyze5mp.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":38931,"title":"The Back Five #15","url":"\/blog\/the-back-five-15\/","urlTitle":"the-back-five-15","division":106606,"description":"Join Misery Hunters writer Andrew Christie as he takes a look at St Mirren's first post-split week.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/tpfcdvmmrwdstis1ekllqsdq2sadbvjziviytci12cdnvyx2.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/tpfcdvmmrwdstis1ekllqsdq2sadbvjziviytci12cdnvyx2.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":16830,"title":"Ronan in the Deep","url":"\/blog\/ronan-in-the-deep\/","urlTitle":"ronan-in-the-deep","division":106606,"description":"There was an air of excitement around the SMISA Stadium on Saturday as Stephen Robinson took to the dugout for the first time as St Mirren boss, facing off against Robbie Neilson\u2019s Hearts. It was the first of two meetings in three weeks between the two sides, with the Scottish Cup Quarter Final at Tynecastle lying in wait on March 12th. As dress rehearsals go, however, Saturday could not have got off to a worse start when Connor Ronan was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Beni Baningime with just 22 minutes on the clock","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/1blvjcr6wznuyp6paij0ryxhn7kpd1w7k8c5ayzulzt9lxvj.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/1blvjcr6wznuyp6paij0ryxhn7kpd1w7k8c5ayzulzt9lxvj.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}