PERHAPS St Mirren are taking this total football thing a bit too far.
It is all well and good preening themselves about the quality of play they are trying to produce this season, but surely the sight of Jim Goodwin arrowing a sumptuous shot into the top corner against Motherwell is an indication that it does not always look natural.
That is a little unfair on the St Mirren midfielder – who could be punished retrospectively for an alleged punch on Steve Jennings during a fraught episode in the first half – but given he is better known for his operose work in pursuit of the ball rather than his opulence with it, it was a remarkable moment.
But, then, this was a match in which it all started to come together for the Paisley side. Admittedly earning a draw at Fir Park isn't as impressive as it should be given The Lanarkshire club's impoverished home record, but it was still a performance which Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager, could afford to extol. Which he did.
Goodwin's goal may be held up as a sign that his squad have been willing to adopt the style proffered by Lennon but, in Kenny McLean, the St Mirren manager has a player who is naturally suited to it. Having graduated into the first team last season, the teenager has now become ensconced as an integral component of St Mirren's midfield, his delicate poise and assured passing ability emblematic of how his side are being asked to play their football this term.
For a player of such modest top-flight experience, he is still just 19, McLean is seldom fazed and exudes the sort of maturity and deportment which means he is trusted with possession by more seasoned colleagues. He was unable to add to his three goals at Fir Park – although he did rattle the bar from all of 30 yards in the first half – but he was often the conduit for St Mirren's most threatening forays up the park.
There are still kinks that need to be ironed out for the Paisley side, though. While McLean's passing can be exemplary, it has yet to prove beneficial to Steven Thompson. Having been heralded as a marquee signing in the summer – along with Gary Teale, another who has seemed out of sorts lately – the former Scotland internationalist has scored just six times.
It is easy to see what the striker offers his side – put simply he is a brawny, intelligent target man – but it is notable that Lennon's abhorrence of the long ball can often leave Thompson seeming a little redundant. He was peripheral once again against Motherwell.
It is a similar problem to that facing Michael Higdon, although he has developed a handy knack for popping up with the odd goal.
If only the Motherwell forward could do it more often at Fir Park it would help ameliorate his side's inert home form. Three wins at their own ground this season is a paltry record, even if Stuart McCall's men have still been able to consolidate their position in third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League by enjoying far greater success on the road.
Not that they are too perturbed about it. "What are we overall? We've lost once in 10 games," said Higdon, who had put Motherwell ahead on Saturday with only his side's seventh league goal at Fir Park.
"That's the record we look at, not the home record. If we could win at home then we would be closer to Celtic [who are in second place] but we didn't get beaten either."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article