Last Season
Well, season 2012/13
for St Mirren will just have to be called a ‘cathartic’ experience for everyone
involved, this despite St Mirren finishing in the bottom three once again.
I am of course alluding to their historic League Cup success at Hampden
against Hearts. Danny Lennon showed exactly what he was made of in that game,
his tactical changes during that match coupled with the impact of his loan
signings exposed Gary Locke as an example of someone who may well be out their
depth.
The League cup victory
showed the whole country what St Mirren has been threatening to do for a few
years now under Lennon. Their stunning victory over Celtic in the semi-final
showed the damage that a focussed Buddies side can inflict, with both Celtic
and Hearts struggling to cope with their abrasive attacking style spearheaded
by Steven Thompson with ample support from Gary Teale and Ismael Goncalves.
The issue for Lennon
and St Mirren is they could not produce these performances on even a semi-regular
occurrence in the SPL. Lennon likes to insist on his teams passing out from the
back but that all too often led to opposition strikers receiving gifts, maybe
due to the lack of pure football ability in the St Mirren back five. So in
terms of the SPL it will have felt like groundhog day for the fans, but with a
tinge of frustration due to the relatively big names at their disposal and the
examples of performances they offered sporadically throughout the season.
Summer Activity
Like most Scottish
clubs, St Mirren are spending another summer trimming their squad with many
more leaving than coming in. On top of the twelve permanent players leaving,
they have also lost one of the signings of the season in Goncalves, who was on
loan from Rio Ave.
In addition another two successful loan players, left back Paul Dummet and
midfielder Connor Newton have returned to their parent club, Newcastle. That amount of departures would
worry any team, never mind one who has been involved in a relegation battle
every season in the top flight in recent years.
Nearly every position
has taken a hit; the pretty dependable Craig Samson has rocked up at Killie to
battle Reguero for the gloves. This leaves only new capture from Blackburn, 19 year old Chris Dilo and last seasons under
20s goalie Kieran Hughes to challenge 22 year old David Cornell for the gloves.
Furthermore they have lost a lot of experience which may have helped settle the
up and coming talent quicker with Imrie, Parkin and Guy all leaving although I
don’t imagine many Buddies fans losing sleep over those three. They may however
wonder why they have allowed Graham Carey to sign for Ross County
as he looked more than capable at times last season. It does give the
impression of being a very thin squad although they have began to rebuild with
the likes of full back Danny Grainger from Hearts and the creative enigma that
is Gary Harkins jumping on the Paisley express. It must be said though; the
lack of players must make the fans anxious, literally days before the big kick
off and they will be hoping Danny Lennon can use the loan market to his
advantage once again.
Key Player
Steven Thompson – Players like ‘cheesy’ (Marc Macausland)
improved dramatically last season and the emerging talent of John McGinn, who
looks a real quality midfield player cannot be underestimated but apart from
the much enhanced Teale there is no doubt Thommo is the main ‘Buddy’. He has
been the key player since the moment he arrived at his boyhood heroes. A good
target man, especially at Scottish Premiership (AHHHH!) level, he brings
personality and the will to win on top of his obvious abilities. Not always
been a prolific scorer but scored well in to double figures last season and Lennon
will hope the former Dundee United forward steps up to the plate once more
holding the ball up so he can bring the creative trio of McGowan, Teale and
Harkins into the game.
Manager
Is Danny Lennon a good
manager? This is a question I ask myself on weekly basis. He has certainly
shown he has an eye for a player in recent campaigns and he must be commended
for trying to get St Mirren to play football the right way even if it
invariably ends in defeat. He has spent, relatively speaking, a lot on wages
and the league form must improve. It is difficult for a manger to keep coaching
this philosophy to brand new batches of players brought in every season from
the lower leagues in Scotland
and England.
This is the reason that despite great flashes they are eventually overpowered
or victims of confusion within their own ranks. To see the best of Lennon’s St
Mirren, I fear he would need a settled team for two or three years, which as we
all know is unlikely to happen.
Projection
As I said the front
four of Harkins, Teale, McGowan and Thompson hold the key to success for St
Mirren and keeping them fit is of paramount importance due to the lack of depth
in the young squad. Fans will be keen to see more of McGinn this season after
being looked after last term with a bit part role. Unfortunately I can’t see
the four attacking players staying fit as Thompson and Harkins are somewhat
injury prone and we will need to hope McGowan has recovered fully from his long
injury and can rediscover the form that made him so sought after a year ago. A
cup run is again not out of the equation but I am afraid the bottom three seems
likely and the Buddies will be glad for the 15 point cushion on Hearts. This is
last chance saloon for Lennon and if he does not at least challenge for top
six, the fans may forget all about Hampden and look for a new direction.
Fan Opinion
“Expectations this year are 11th place, saved only by Hearts. And unusually for the Buddies, that’s a viewpoint shared across the majority of the fans. Our pre-season results (and more importantly, performances) have been terrible, including three games where we lost four goals. Indeed, the only convincing victory was a 16-0 mismatch against a local amateur side.
I used to have all the confidence in the world in Danny Lennon until this summer, but now I really wonder what he’s up to. He’s signed two goalies, one of which is a midget and the other seems to be scared of football, we barely have a defence or strikeforce and an abundance of midfielders. I really hope he knows what he’s doing.
Two players ready for breakout seasons are John McGinn and Thomas Reilly. Reilly is small and not quite ready for Premiership (god I hate saying that) football, but his pace and eye for goal will be a valuable weapon from the bench until he fills out a little bit more. McGinn, we all saw his talent in the second half of last season, but he’s now got a full season to grab this league by the scruff of the neck.
Who’s on their last chance? Sad to say it’s Gary Teale and Steven Thompson. Now don’t get me wrong, they’re club legends after last season and their performances were a total joy to watch, but they’re both 34 and their legs were going towards the end of last season, particularly Thommo’s. I think this’ll be their last season in the black and white, and it’ll be a damn shame when they go.”
Verdict
Major struggles ahead for St Mirren and Lennon will be lucky to survive the season. They stay in the Premiership but have to be careful about 11th place.
Calum: 12th
Craig F: 11th
Craig T: 9th
Joel: 9th
Tony: 11th
If you have enjoyed the blogs then you must check out the podcast. The latest episode was called Celtic’s Trojan Horse (Scottish Premiership Preview).