29/12/2024 – DUNDEE (H)

We can’t win them all.

As disappointing as this defeat was, we had to remind ourselves during the post match debrief that we have a small squad hampered further by injury and suspension, and 3 games in just 8 days simply took its toll.

The effort required to beat Ross County with 10 men for most of a half on Saturday, and then go again a few days later in a high tempo victory over Rangers was a tremendous effort from more or less the same players.

They had to do it all once more against Dundee, and it was probably a step too far, as we looked a bit flat and jaded throughout the match, and in truth never really got into top gear at any point.

For once, VAR and the referee didn’t overshadow absolutely everything, in fact we can’t even remember a controversial incident which makes a pleasant change from the past few months where all we seemed to do as fans is talk about the officials. More of this in 2025 please!

We did have periods of domination as you would expect at home, but Trevor Carson was never really tested for a sustained period, and his strange “Upsy Daisy” pink kit (parents will probably know this “Night Garden” reference) remained clean enough at the end of the match, sadly.

It is obvious to say it was “classic Saints” following 3 victories where the players showed enormous character against the odds to collect 9 points, and then lose a match we were favourites for, but in our view the reasons already detailed were more of a factor than historic traits, although this probably still did play a part!

In hindsight, maybe we could have played with 2 up front from the start, or rotated more, but it was a winning team and formation so we can understand why the manager kept it going. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it we say, and even if SR had changed it up a bit, he’d get criticised if the same outcome occurred!

It was probably fitting that Toyosi Olusanya scored the final goal of the year however, his 13th strike of 2024. This time last year Toy was a bit part player of the squad, having scored just once for Saints and used as an occasional substitute.

Now, he is the undisputed number one forward at the club, and a player feared by any opposition due to his searing pace, strength and goals. It’s arguably been the biggest transformation of any Saints player, possibly ever, and 2024 was undoubtedly his year.

This defeat against Dundee however, shouldn’t detract from a wonderful calendar year for the club and support. We started it dreaming of another top 6 push and potential European adventure and ended it with memories of touring Scandinavia during the summer watching our club proudly back on the continental stage, with the exact same dream a realistic possibility again for 2025.

There has been many ups downs as always, but any calendar year that includes European football can only be described as an overwhelming success in our opinion, so despite the defeat yesterday, we at Consilium would like to thank the manager and all the players lucky enough to pull on our shirt this year for their contribution to our great club.

Our hopes and wishes for 2025 are pretty straightforward. We’ll take European football again, and I’m sure the manager and players will be doing everything possible, to firstly get a top 6 place for the third season in a row, and then try and qualify for Europe, although it will be harder this season as Scotland has one less continental place and only the top 4 are likely to qualify.

The other way to do this is of course win the Scottish Cup. Last season we delivered European football for the first time since 1987, so we can only dream this was the first part of a 1987 double. We are hopeless romantics at Consilium though, we concede!

I’m sure you’ll have your own wishes and dreams on the football park for the coming year, and whatever they are, we hope they come true as we wrap up the 147th year of St Mirren Football club. It was a good one, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Have a great New Year and COYS!

Dundee Players of the Match:

5 points – Alex Gogic

3 points – Killian Phillips

1 point – Elvis Bwomono