All in the preparation as gloss finish left unapplied

RICHARD WINTON AT ST MIRREN PARK

7 Nov 2011

ST MIRREN 0 HEARTS 0

IT is easy to dismiss Danny Lennon. His garbled grammar, peculiar phraseology and defiant declarations all offer fertile material for Scottish football’s satirists and have led many such wits to consider the St Mirren manager little more than a figure of fun.

Certainly, references to his gospel and depictions of his players as saviors amid the aesthetically barren wastes of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League do little to discourage such mirth-making but, more often than not, a kernel of truth is concealed within all the bluster.

Take Saturday, for instance. While most of the post-match audience were still grappling with his claim that “football needs a Graham Carey”, Lennon had segued into a salient observation about the enhanced quality in his squad.

He might have erroneously made similar suggestions last season, but judicious summer recruitment has offered evidence to frank his contemporary claims; Steven Thompson and Gary Teale brought nous to their weekend performance against Hearts, Nigel Hasselbaink a dash of unpredictability, and Paul McGowan a furious guile hitherto diluted by his erstwhile status as a loanee.

Defensively, too, his resources appear burnished. The absence of Darren McGregor to a serious knee injury has not been felt as keenly as was anticipated, with Lee Mair and Marc McAusland keeping clean sheets in consecutive matches as they grow into a surprisingly robust centre-back pairing.

“We’re getting a good understanding with each other,” McAusland, the junior member of the partnership, said. “We’re quite pally off the park – as are most of the boys – and we talk each other through games and training, pick up wee things along the way and it’s working well just now.”

That, too, is indicative of a growing belief and heightened esprit de corps. Lennon made much on Saturday of the bond among his players, citing the attitude of those not involved as a hugely encouraging sign, and pointing to the disappointment at failing to beat Hearts as evidence of their development. Yet it is perhaps, too, evidence of their shortcomings.

For all their incisive attacking at the weekend, they failed to breach Marian Kello’s defences and remain the lowest scorers in the division with just 12 goals in 14 matches.

Creating chances was not a problem on Saturday but a combination of the goalkeeper’s agility and a deficit of composure prevented them from scoring the goal that would likely have secured only their second victory in six matches.

While they sit proudly in sixth position that is not too troubling, but the tightness of the league means they are no more than a bad fortnight away from being bottom.

At least their concerns are restricted to the pitch. After a tumultuous week, Hearts will be content to have quietly slipped into the chill Paisley evening with a point and no further disciplinary woes.

Paulo Sergio’s side were never less than durable and diligent – which was remarkable in itself given the events of the past few days – but had little to commend in an attacking sense and seem destined for a grim winter of stolid, stuffy resistance.

Even with most of their better players available, the Tynecastle side lacked inspiration; an ominous portent perhaps of what might be to come after the January sales.

Lennon offered a few words of consolation but, not for the first time that afternoon, his thoughts were no laughing matter.

ONE MINUTE PUNDIT

23’ Paul McGowan plays a one-two with Jeroen Tesselaar but Hearts’ Marian Kello saves his shot.

58’ Steven Thompson’s diving header clatters into the frame of the goal.

80’ Kello diverts Nigel Hasselbaink’s rising lash over the bar.

88’ David Obua’s half-volley from 35 yards beats St Mirren’s Craig Samson but rattles against a post.

Taken from the Herald