One of the major problems has been the tactics used, especially at home. The increasing popularity of games such as Football Manager may have turned everyone into an ill informed moron who thinks he knows it all - and I'm no exception. The persistent use of a 4-5-1 formation is strange, considering we don't really have the players for it and it has rarely provided points. The aim of it is to avoid getting hammered, but against the likes of Celtic this season it has failed. Using it at home, such as on Saturday, is almost inexcusable and effectively admitting you're not going to attack that much and are happy with a point. The cautious approach isn't even getting us that - but there seems no willingness to change.
That neatly takes me on to the problems evident in Saturday. Dundee United were able to boss the game and were rarely troubled by a Saints team that registered just a single shot on target. After the game, Saints boss Gus MacPherson talked about "matching up" to United's formation - a bizarre thing to do. As the home team, we should set the way the game goes and the other team should have to adapt to the way we play. Besides, matching up still got us a heavy defeat! Inverness Caley Thistle showed 24 hours later exactly what happens when you have a go at the opposition - beating Celtic after being 2-0 down.
The negative tactics at Love Street don't exactly get the fans excited, leading to a fairly muted atmosphere. Playing with one up front, or two holding midfielders against the likes of East Fife, is hardly going to get the fans being the 12th man they so brilliantly were at Motherwell in May.
Another key problem is the playing squad. There were major losses in the summer, but the main ones - Kirk Broadfoot and John Sutton - were offset with the arrivals of Will Haining and the mythical Craig Dargo. It's what happened after that that's the problem. There may have been seven summer signings in total, but they were merely replacements for departing players. There was no adding numbers to the small squad we found ourselves with.
As a result, we've found ourselves desperately short of cover. Dargo's injury was almost inevitable, and left us with a horrendous strike force. However, as people have rightly pointed out, even if Dargo had been fit we'd still have had the same strikers as back up. Billy Mehmet has produced the goods occasionally this time, but the others have yet to prove they are anywhere near SPL standard. Likewise, in defence we have been found woefully lacking - the way to solve John Potter's poor form was to replace him with either a 42-year-old who had apparently retired or an untried teenager. We chose the former. Then, when Haining got injured and we were woefully exposed, we ended up throwing Ian Maxwell in at Parkhead - despite him not having played in five months!
The lack of squad depth provides problems during injuries and suspensions, but also provides a lack of options when players are in poor form or things just aren't working. This should have been addressed in the summer, but wasn't. We've needed an extra defender since January, an attacking midfielder since summer 2006 and an extra striker for just as long, if not longer. None of these things happened, despite the efforts of both board and manager. How often did we hear the phrase "No better than what we have"? Considering the current squad, any players we look at in January who hear this should hang up their boots - and MacPherson should walk if he can't find anyone better than the current mob. Another Roy Dayan affair would also be a disgrace.
In more general terms, the squad lacks height, pace, creativity and a finisher - someone who is also willing to shoot on a more regular basis would also be nice. All problems that need addressing or the current poor performances we're being served will continue.
Another phrase was that "It's hard to attract players to a club like St. Mirren" - not exactly something a prospective signing or the fans want to hear - especially when the likes of Falkirk seem to manage it without much difficulty. But neither are comments about the opposition being "good SPL teams" as if forgetting that we should also be a decent SPL side. It's almost as if there is still a lot of a first division mindset at the club - particularly in signing targets.
Only Craig Dargo has been a signing from a Scottish club that wasn't at an SFL side or one just relegated to it (Paul Lawson aside) since our promotion. And the players that have been brought in haven't even been the SFL's cream, like John Rankin or Richard Offiong. They've been decent players at that level, sometimes even ones their old club wanted shot of (Alex Burke anyone?). All this leads to a squad that is far from SPL class, and many feel it would struggle in the first division. Too often faith is kept with the players from a few years ago over ones who would be up to the job, and we've often seen some odd team selections.
The next few weeks are crucial for MacPherson. The home form must improve and the fans must be given something to cheer and shout about. A more attack minded approach would sort that out. And big strides must be made in the January transfer window - the same excuses we've heard before will simply not do, especially when there is such a dire need of a new players.