A late Tom Walsh goal grabbed Saints a share of the points against Falkirk this evening and caretaker manager, Allan McManus was more than pleased by what he saw from his side. He said:

“Delighted to get a point on the board, to be fair I think we deserved a point. I don’t think we played as fluently as we did last week, to be fair Falkirk are a very well organised team. The goal that we lose is typical of what has been happening all season, it’s a horrible deflection and we’re one down. But all credit to the boys in the first half as they have done what I have asked them to do, to be patient with the ball and pass it and they got into some decent areas.

“In the second half I thought we huffed and puffed a wee bit more and I thought the players started to doubt themselves a wee bit for periods. But I said to them at half-time that if it takes till the 89th or 90th minute we have got to keep going, as long as you work your backside off we’ll get back into the game. And all credit to Walshy, he has been absolutely magnificent in training this week and it was a real dilemma to not start him today. He has been very professional about it and I knew that when he got on the pitch that he would make an impact on the game, and he certainly done that.”

Saints once again lost a goal of a freak nature as a wild deflection spun the ball past Jamie Langfield, but Allan reckons the breaks will go in Saints favour before too long. He said:

“It happened last week, it’s happened this week, it’s happened all season. You can see the reaction in the stadium, the fans are thinking ‘here we go again’, there is nothing you can do about it. You just have to get on with it because as the season goes on it will turn for us and we’ll get those wee breaks but again I can’t fault the work rate, their effort and how they played. As I said, we weren’t just as fluid as last week moving the ball but they still tried to pass it. It gives us something for the new management team to build on.

“There has been a lot of criticism thrown at them [the players], everybody is entitled to their opinion but sometimes it has been unjust I think to them, and all credit to them they have absolutely worked their backside off since I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them. I had no doubts they would continue to work and they deserved that point.”

The late goal seemed to revitalise Saints and they looked the more likely side to win the match after the equaliser. Allan said:

“I think that’s what the guys needed just to get a wee bit of positivity and it was the same last week when they got a goal in front and then back level, it gives teams the confidence. You know, where we are in the league just now players won’t be as confident as they usually are but all credit to them, they pushed on and didn’t just sit in and looked to go and get that win. It wasn’t to be but it gives us a point to build on.”

As we await the appointment of a new manager, Allan reflects on his time as caretaker boss. He said:

“We’ll be back in on Monday and start preparing for next week’s game. Whenever a new manager comes in he will take over the reigns but until I’m told otherwise I’ll do my best to prepare the boys for next week’s game against Hibs.

“I’ve absolutely loved it. I keep saying that it is not about me but I’ve absolutely enjoyed my time, I have learned a lot about myself. Something that I thought that I might not be interested in doing but to be fair it has gave me a wee taster. Maybe the next five, ten years, who knows? But I’ve got a lot to learn still and I am more than happy doing what I’m doing at the Academy just now which is a fantastic job.”

I want to thank each and every one of the near 2,000 St Mirren supporters who came along to this evening's match against Falkirk.

With the game on TV and a kick off time of 5:15pm, it was great to see a crowd of 2,000 plus at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

I thought the backing from the Saints fans was absolutely wonderful with some of the players mentioning how good the support was in driving them on to get a draw.

I had asked supporters to come along in my statement on stmirren.com yesterday and I genuinely can't thank all of you who did enough for the support you gave the team until the very end.

Of course we wanted to get a win but you can see how Tom Walsh's late goal spurred on both the supporters and the players and hopefully we can replicate that in the coming weeks and months.

Your support of the football club is vital and never taken for granted and thank you all once again for coming out in your numbers to cheer the team on.

Gordon

Saints picked up their first home point since the opening day of the season thanks to some late drama at the Paisley 2021 Stadium this evening.

It looked as if visitors Falkirk would leave with the victory thanks to Craig Sibbald's early free-kick, which took a huge deflection that gave Jamie Langfield no hope of keeping it out of the net.

However, with just a few minutes remaining sub Tom Walsh strode up and sent a tremendous shot into the bottom corner to salvage a draw for the Buddies. It meant the fans left in a far cheerier mood than had looked likely, however with Saints still two points adrift of Dumbarton whoever the new manager is has their work cut out for them.

Langfield was back in the team at the expense of Scott Gallacher, who dropped to the bench. Andy Webster had been set to take over from Jack Baird in defence but picked up an injury in the warm-up meaning the young defender started after all. Namesake and former Buddie John led the Falkirk attack.

Some Saints corners in the glorious sunshine provided some early hope for the home fans that was quickly extinguished as a few spots of rain began to fall. After Lewis Kidd dragged an early shot wide, Craig Sibbald was fouled at the edge of the box. The midfielder took the free-kick that followed and it took a huge deflection off the wall before spinning beyond the reach of Langfield into the bottom corner.

Saints weren't playing badly but they weren't creating a great deal either, Stephen Mallan turning and shooting well wide from 25 yards all they had to show for their efforts in the opening quarter. They had managed to restrict the Bairns relatively well until some nice passing play created an opening for John Baird, however he shot wide from the edge of the box.

There was concern 10 minutes before the break when John Rankin's thundering shot hit Gary Irvine directly in the face. The stand-in Buddies captain was in a spot of bother, struggling to get to his feet before a doctor was called to make sure he was okay. Fortunately he was and the leftback continued. Saints hadn't created much of note but could have been level just before the break, a deep free-kick only being cleared as far as Hardie who smashed the ball over from 12 yards out when he should have hit the target at least. In stoppage time Falkirk almost extended their advantage, Langfield's legs blocking a Falkirk shot, creating a bit of a stramash before he smothered the ball.

Half-Time: St Mirren 0-1 Falkirk

There was a lucky escape for Saints early in the second half as Falkirk thought they'd doubled their lead. John Baird's shot deflected kindly for Bob McHugh and the striker slotted the ball home, however the celebrations were cut short by the offside flag. McHugh was beginning to cause problems, getting the better of MacKenzie before losing his balance, meaning his shot was no trouble for Langfield.

That was something Rocco Quinn could empathise with just after the hour mark. Hardie's ball into the box was knocked on by Sutton but as the midfielder stretched to shoot he stumbled. He was replaced by Tom Walsh soon after before McHugh had another shot saved, this time his attempt taking a deflection before being grabbed by Langfield. Soon after he was replaced by Lee Miller, James Craigen replacing Tom Taiwo at the same time.

Saints finally registered an attempt on target 15 minutes from the end, Hardie miscontrolling the ball before recomposing himself enough to turn and shoot, however his effort was straight at keeper Rogers. Falkirk made their final change as Sibbald was replaced by Hippolyte, whose first involvement was to curl a free-kick straight into Langfield's arms. Kyle Hutton picked up a cheap booking a few minutes later for complaining about a free-kick given against Irvine for his challenge on Craigen.

The Bairns were looking the more likely of the two to grab a goal, Langfield blocking Craigen's header with his legs after a great Baird cross. David Clarkson was introduced five minutes from the end at the expense of Hutton and just two minutes later Saints snatched a point. Walsh collected the ball midway inside the Falkirk half and ran forward before unleashing a tremendous shot that left Rogers grasping at air as it flew into the bottom corner.

Suddenly the Saints players and fans could sniff an unlikely first win of the season and it almost arrived in the dying moments. Mallan had a curling shot deflected behind before Lewis Morgan worked himself some space on the left and drilled a ball that flew across goal with no takers when the slightest touch off anyone would have sent it into the net. Pushing for a winner left the Buddies slightly exposed at the back and in the final minute of injury time Falkirk managed to force a corner that thankfully came to nothing, meaning the points were shared.

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Falkirk

St Mirren: Langfield, Naismith, Irvine, Baird, MacKenzie, Quinn (Walsh 62), Sutton, Mallan, Hutton (Clarkson 85), Morgan, Hardie.
Subs Not Used: Webster, Shankland, McDonald, Whyte, Gallacher (GK).

Falkirk: Rogers, Kidd, Leahy, McCracken, Rankin, Taiwo (Craigen 64), Kerr, Baird, Sibbald (Hippolyte 76), Gasparotto, McHugh (Miller 64).
Subs Not Used: Austin, Shepherd, Watson, Deniz (GK).

Referee: John Beaton.
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross.
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence.
4th Official: Gavin Ross.

Attendance: 2,344.

Match report and gallery pictures by John Millar and Allan Picken – © Allan Picken Photography and © John Millar.

St Mirren and Falkirk meet for the first time this season tomorrow in an early evening kick-off at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Falkirk made it to the promotion playoffs final last season and while they eventually lost out to Premiership side Kilmarnock it was expected that Peter Houston’s side would make another strong challenge for promotion again this season. The Bairns early season form looked to be contradicting that prediction but over the last month or so they look to have got themselves back on track.

Over the summer Houston lost the services of the impressive duo Will Vaulks and Blair Alston who both moved on to new pastures but he has done well in plugging in replacements for a squad that hasn’t changed too much since last season. Pick of the bunch is midfielder John Rankin, the former Dundee United, Hibernian and Inverness Caley Thistle player is sure to bring a lot of strength and drive to the Falkirk midfield. The Bairns gaffer also weakened some of his promotion-chasing opponents by snapping up Lewis Kidd from Queen of the South and James Craigen from Raith Rovers. Another nice pick-up was Luca Gasparotto, the former Rangers man impressed in a loan spell with Morton last season where he slotted nicely into the Greenock side’s defence.

Falkirk had a poor start to the season losing to Stirling Albion in the first Betfred Cup outing. They redeemed themselves with a 3-0 win over Elgin City which was followed by a 3-0 loss to Premiership side St Johnstone. The group was rounded off with a 2-0 win over Brechin City but The Bairns didn’t tally-up enough points to advance to the next round.

It was a tough start to the league season with fixtures against Hibernian, Morton and Queen of the South as their opening trio of matches. After going down 2-1 at home against Neil Lennon’s Hibernian side, The Bairns nabbed a point at Cappielow with Luke Leahy’s 90th minute equaliser against Morton. A trip to Dumfries followed but a Stephen Dobbie double kept the points with Queen of the South.

The following week their match against Dumbarton looked to be running out as a no-scoring draw until Lee Miller scored an 86th minute winner, since then Falkirk have forged ahead. After a 6-1 win over Elgin City in the IRN-BRU Cup league wins against Raith Rovers (2-0), Dundee United (3-1) and Ayr United (2-0) have catapulted The Bairns up to third place in the league, four points off top spot.

St Mirren got themselves ahead twice in last Saturday’s match at East End Park but somehow managed to still lose out by the odd goal in seven against Dunfermline. John Sutton gave Saints the lead on the half-hour mark which only lasted ten minutes as Nicky Clark pulled The Pars level again. But that man Sutton was on target again just before the break to send Saints into a half-time lead. A freakish own-goal from Andy Webster saw Dunfermline level again and then Clark put them into the lead for the first time. Saints thought they had grabbed a share of the points when Ryan Hardie’s shot flew into the back of the net but Farid El Alagui took advantage of some slack defending from Saints to nab the points for Dunfermline.

Saints didn’t do well against Falkirk last season losing three of the four league outings, the other match saw them get a share of the points in a goalless draw in Paisley at the beginning of March. You have to go back to 17th October 2009 for St Mirren’s last win against Falkirk when goals from Craig Dargo, Billy Mehmet and Tom Brighton countered Brian McLean’s opener for Falkirk.

It has been nearly two weeks since we made the decision to change our manager. The process of appointing a new manager can be a lengthy one and we have spent those near two weeks reviewing the 50 plus applications we have received and trying to reduce that to a manageable number to interview. Tony's experience has been invaluable and a couple of our existing board members have past experience when it comes to this so, as a board, we are not entirely new to it all. 

We started the process by aiming high and approached a couple of ex-English Premier League managers. It was always going to be a long shot but I believed, after meeting them, that one of them might have paid off but it wasn't to be. With the breaking news in England regarding the managerial scandal, I feel it's no coincidence that one of them may be waiting it out to see if anything becomes available down south. However, it was worth a try and we thank him for coming in to speak to us. We had a few productive chats and I gained valuable insight into what it takes to be a top manager. 

After that we then looked closer to home and had another worthwhile conversation with one of the leading agents in Scottish football. One of his clients was high on our list to interview but unfortunately, as it stands, he wants another crack at trying to be a success in England and we wish him well. 

We have now whittled down our list and hope to finish the interviewing process early next week with the aim of having someone in place prior to next Saturday's trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian in the IRN-BRU Cup. That list contains a good blend of experienced and up-and-coming managers. We know how important it is to get the right person in and rest assured that when we appoint someone we'll have done everything we can and carried out all due diligence to ensure that they are the best person for the job. For us it is important to get some stability and start planning for the long term. 

I also have to ask you for your support at tomorrow's game against Falkirk. It was a big, and costly, decision to change manager and we need all the support we can get through the turnstiles. While the result against Dunfermline last week was not what we wanted, you could see the commitment from the players for 90 minutes and I can assure you that they are working as hard as they can to turn things around. 

As a club we need your support more than ever right now, so please come to the game on Saturday and drag along any doubters and get right behind the team. 

Gordon. 

Our match day programme, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, will be available from the Club Shop ahead of Saturday’s game.

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Championship match against Falkirk, is a 48 pager with a £3 cover price.

The latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Lewis Morgan.
The Chairman - St Mirren Chairman Gordon Scott’s message to the fans ahead of the game.
Matchday Gallery – A gallery of pictures from the post-match presentations in the corporate suite after the recent home game against Queen of the South.
Buddies News Update – News of the latest happenings in and around the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Last Time Out – A look back at last week’s match against Dunfermline Athletic.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher looks back at the BBC's recent four-part documentary 'Scotland's Game'.
The Opposition – Brian Corry gives the lowdown on Saturday’s visitors – Peter Houston's Falkirk side.
Hall of Fame – David Cochran highlights the St Mirren career of Bobby Rankin.
Player Interview – John Sutton says it is important that we all stick together to get St Mirren back on the right road.
Action Shot (Centre Pages) – Lewis Morgan.
Fans Corner – Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary.
Championship Round-Up – Kyle Gunn’s run down on weeks 5 and 6 of the Ladbrokes Championship season.
Saints in the Community – A catch-up with the latest happenings at St Mirren in the Community.
The Academy – A look at the under-20 side’s recent outings in the SPFL Development League.
Kit Sponsors 2016/17.
Marketing Matters – Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy brings us up to date with all the commercial activities within the Club.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2016/17 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2016/17 season click HERE.

Paisley Panda will be a busy mascot once again at this Saturday’s match with match day competitions ‘Bung a Baw’ and 'Spot Prizes'.

To take part in ‘Bung a Baw’ fans need to purchase a small foam ball which is numbered and they will then have a chance to throw their ball towards our club mascot Paisley Panda in front of the Family Stand. Each person will have 60 seconds to do this and the winner will be the person who has thrown the ball closest to the feet of the Panda with the winner being confirmed over the PA system.

The competition is sponsored by The Linwood Farm Restaurant who are supplying a family meal voucher as the prize for the contest winner.

Each ball will cost £1 to buy. The balls will be available from sellers inside the Family Stand in the 30 minutes leading up to kick-off and then again in the first 5 minutes of half time before the competition starts (subject to availability). Each ball is numbered and participants will also get a ticket with the corresponding number which they will use to claim the prize if they win.

'Spot Prizes' gives all Season Ticket holders and anyone who buys a ticket for Saturday’s match against Falkirk before the St Mirren Ticket Office closes on Friday, will be entered into a prize draw.

On the 30th and 60th minute of the match a seat will be selected at random which will be displayed on the scoreboard with the winners each receiving a family munchy box (4 slush puppies, 4 hot dogs, 4 ice creams and 6 packets of traditional sweets) from Tasty Treats of Bridge of Weir.

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM MALLAN’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then Stadium Announcer Phil Clark will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Saturday’s game against Falkirk and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s top football side live in action each and every home match day.

This service, which is delivered by media students from the University of the West of Scotland, will cover all of St Mirren’s home games in the Ladbrokes Championship.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from the Paisley 2021 Stadium when Falkirk are the visitors on Saturday evening.

If you want to tune in here is the info you will need:

St Mirren v Falkirk
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 1st October 2016
Kick-off: 5:15pm BST

To access this match day service:

1 Day Pass – €6.99 EUR
Season Pass – €69.99 EUR

To view Terms & Conditions and get started with St Mirren TV please click HERE.

For technical support with St Mirren TV please e-mail tvsupport@stmirren.com

St Mirren in the Community are delighted to confirm that the SMiSA Panda Club will be open as usual for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Falkirk at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Due to the later than usual kick-off the Panda Club will open at 3:00pm on Saturday. Parents please note that you should pick up your kids after the final whistle from the community office at 7:00pm.

The cost is just £2 per child (aged 5-12) for those without a season ticket and completely FREE to our young season ticket holders (remember and bring your smartcard with you).

Panda Club details for Saturday’s game are as follows:

St Mirren v Falkirk
Saturday 1st October 2016
3:00pm – 7:00pm

To find out more about the Panda Club click here